Faculty Research Portfolio

Oakland University School of Nursing Research Portfolio Faculty Summaries

FACULTY RESEARCH PORTFOLIO (PhD)

HANAN ABUSBAITAN, PhD, MSN, RN

Assistant Professor

Dr. Abusbaitan’s research focuses on women’s health, with particular emphasis on intimate partner violence (IPV) and its impact on the maternal and mental health of Muslim, Black, and immigrant women. Her work seeks to understand the lived experiences of IPV and the barriers women face in accessing healthcare and support services. Grounded in a community health perspective, Dr. Abusbaitan is committed to advancing health equity through trauma-informed care and culturally sensitive research.

Research Area Interests:

• Intimate partner violence (IPV)
• The impact of IPV on women’s maternal and mental health
• Help-seeking behaviors
• Barriers to seeking help
• Social support
• Trauma-informed care

REBECCA BONI, PhD, MSN, RN, ACCNS-AG, OCN

Associate Professor

Rebecca Boni is an adult-gerontological clinical nurse specialist who primarily specializes in acute oncology care. She has clinical experience with oncology, medical surgical, hematology, and stem cell transplant populations. She earned her PhD at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (2019), her MSN with clinical nurse specialist and nursing education concentrations from Michigan State University (2013), and BSN from Michigan State University (2005). Her interest areas include oncology nurses’ professional quality of life, nursing workforce issues, telehealth, and chemotherapy safety and education. Most recently she led a team to develop and psychometrically evaluate a survey to measure oncology nurses’ professional quality of life, the ON-PQOL. . 

Research Area Interests:

• Professional quality of life in nurses, nursing workforce issues, chemotherapy and oncology nursing practice

CARRIE LYNN BUCH, PhD, RN

Associate Dean for Graduate Programs and Faculty Affairs

Associate Professor

Dr. Carrie Buch has been a faculty member of the SON since August 2000 and has been serving as the Associate Dean since August 2018. In 2024, her role became more focused on graduate programs and faculty affairs. In this role, she is responsible for managing the operations of the graduate programs in the SON and supporting faculty development initiatives.  In addition, she has a significant role in accreditation and compliance including program assessment and evaluation.

Research Area Interests:

• Program Assessment and Evaluation

PATRICIA CAMERON, RN, PhD, CHPN

Associate Professor

Dr. Cameron has been a nurse since 1979, beginning with being an LPN, ADN, BSN, MS and now PhD.

Research Area Interests:

• Use of Technology with Self-care
• Infusion Nursing
• Palliative/Hospice Nursing

TRACEY CHAN, PhD, MSN, ANP-BC, FAANP

Assistant Professor

Dr. Tracey Chan is an Adult Nurse Practitioner and assistant professor at Oakland University.  Previously she was chair of graduate nursing and an associate professor at Madonna University.  She has clinical experience as an adult primary care provider predominantly with vulnerable and at-risk populations. Her area of expertise is nurse practitioner competencies and competency based education.  She has led numerous research projects and professional presentations that relate to both NP education and practice.  She serves as chair of the curricular leadership committee within NONPF and collaborated with committee members to produce the "Competency Implementation Guide for Nurse Practitioner Faculty".  She also serves as chair of the NP education enhancement and sustainment committee within AANP and has been developing preceptor resources. In 2024, she was inducted as a fellow into the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.

Research Area Interests:

• Nursing Education
• Competency Based Assessment
• Entrustable Professional Activities
• Chronic disease management
• Precepting

KAREN S DUNN, PhD, RN, FGSA

Professor

Dr. Karen S Dunn is a Professor. Her program of research is in promoting wellness among older adult populations through the effective use of holistic self-care practices with an emphasis on spirituality, end-of-life care, and pain management.

Research Area Interests:

• Holistic Self-care Practices
• Aging and Spirituality
• Chronic Pain
• Stress and Coping
• End-of-Life Care

OLGA EHRLICH, PhD, RN, CHPN

Assistant Professor

Dr. Ehrlich received her BSN from Arizona State University, her PhD from University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and was a post-doctoral research fellow at the Phyllis F. Cantor Center in Nursing and Patient Care at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA. Prior to becoming a nurse, Dr. Ehrlich was a homebirth midwife. Her clinical career included working as a nurses’ aide, surgical technician, and Med-Surg ICU nurse before finding that her passion was palliative and hospice care, her board specialty. Dr. Ehrlich’s program of cancer pain research has focused on the intersections of perception, behavior, and social processes used by persons with end-stage cancers, their informal caregivers, and their nurses when managing pain, in order to identify and test interventions for poorly controlled cancer pain. Other research has focused on teaching undergraduate nursing instructors how to incorporate palliative care in competency-based learning activities and in reducing disparities in rural palliative care.

Dr. Ehrlich has taught students at all levels of nursing, developed and piloted a primary palliative care curriculum for undergraduate students, presented her research and workshops on teaching palliative care at national symposia, and served as a reviewer for journal manuscripts and conference posters, as well as foundation grants. She is a longtime member of Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association (HPNA), serves on the HPNA Research Advisory Committee, and is a regional co-chair for the ELNEC Faculty support initiative. She currently serves as co-chair for the Oakland University Essentials/Competency-Based Education Faculty Work Group and self-published a manual to help instructors of baccalaureate programs incorporate hospice/palliative/supportive care content into their courses.

Dr. Ehrlich enjoys collaborative research with nurses and multidisciplinary scientists and practitioners, as well as engaging with students as they develop their authentic professional nursing personas.

Research Area Interests:

• Poorly controlled cancer pain, pain in persons with advanced cancers; primary palliative care professional and undergraduate nursing education; palliative care inequities

TONI L. GLOVER, PhD, GNP-BC, ACHPN, FAAN

Professor

Dr. Glover is a researcher, an educator, and a geriatric nurse practitioner. Her research focuses on the care of older adults, palliative care, communication skills for serious illness, and pain. Dr. Glover has over 55 peer reviewed publications in journals such as the Western Journal of Nursing Research, Journal of Nursing Education, American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, the Clinical Journal of Pain, and Arthritis & Rheumatism. She is dedicated to sharing primary palliative care knowledge and skills with nursing students.

In 2024, Dr. Glover was selected for induction for Fellowship in the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN). In 2023, Dr. Glover was recognized as a Distinguished Educator in Gerontological Nursing by the National Hartford Center of Gerontological Nursing Excellence. In 2022, Dr. Glover received national recognition for her work to advance palliative care education with the ELNEC Award of Excellence. In 2020, Dr. Glover was honored with the Nightingale Award from the School of Nursing and the Faculty Award in Research from Oakland University. Dr. Glover serves the community as the Ascension Providence Rochester Hospital Endowed Professor, working with nursing leaders and practice partners to enhance opportunities for research and education. Dr. Glover is a member of the Ascension Ethics Committee, the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association, and Sigma Theta Tau – the international honor society for nursing.

Research Area Interests:

• Geriatric Palliative Care
• Care of Older Adults
• Communication Skills for Serious Illness
• Primary Palliative Care Nursing Education

MARY GOLINSKI, PhD, CRNA, FAANA

Associate Professor

Dr. Mary Golinski is a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA), a Fellow of the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology,  and a nationally recognized professor, researcher and speaker.  Her focused area of scientific inquiry includes anesthesia-related outcomes based on anesthesia techniques, pharmacologic agents, technology, safety and quality processes, acute pain management techniques, preventing chronic postsurgical pain, and identifying anesthesia related healthcare disparities. She has been published numerous times herself and collaborated extensively with graduate nurse anesthesia students, adding evidence-based knowledge that has served to improve anesthesia-related outcomes.

Research Area Interests:

• Anesthesia Outcomes based on: anesthesia methods, pharmacologic agents, technology, safety and quality processes, education modalities, identifying and preventing anesthesia related healthcare disparities.

CALLIE HARRIS, PhD, MSN-Ed, RN, CNE

Assistant Professor

Callie K. Harris has a PhD in Nursing (Michigan State University, 2025) and a Master of Science in Nursing Education (Western Governor’s University, 2016). Dr. Harris' research primarily centers on addressing disparities in cancer and cancer prevention for bisexual people. She has presented research and scholarly work at regional and international levels in the areas of sexual and gender minority health, and clinical reasoning and communication skills for undergraduate nursing students.  

Research Area Interests:

• LGBTQIA+ Health
• Health Equity, Health of Minoritized Populations
• Cancer Prevention, Including Cervical Cancer Screening
• Communication and clinical reasoning skills for undergraduate nursing students

MEGHAN HARRIS, PhD, RN

Associate Professor

Chair, OU Telehealth & Digital Innovations Council

Dr. Harris has clinical expertise in pediatric nursing while her research area has evolved from pediatric simulation in nursing education to patient safety and telehealth. Her recent work is focused on efforts to fund and implement telehealth in both simulation and clinical practice for students in an interdisciplinary context. Dr. Harris is engaged in building community partner relationships in an effort to increase clinical opportunities for students and scholarly opportunities for faculty while increasing the depth and breadth of health care services to underserved populations.

Research Area Interests:

• Telehealth
• Patient Safety
• Informatics
• Simulation

CAROLYNN HUYGHE, PhD, CPNP-PC

Instructor of Practice

Carolynn Huyghe is an Instructor of Practice in the Oakland University School of Nursing. Her clinical expertise is in Pediatrics where she continues her work in a pediatric primary care clinic. Her scholarship focus is the effects of extracurricular activities on pediatric mental and behavioral health. Her research is grounded in Fry’s Spiritual Leadership Theory where she has explored spiritual leadership within nursing.

Carolynn serves on the SIGMA Theta Psi at-Large Chapter Board, and the National Association of Pediatric Nurse practitioners committee. She is also the Student Nurses Association of Oakland University faculty committee member.

Research Area Interests:

• Pediatric mental health/behavioral health 
• Spiritual Leadership within Nursing

ZINA KARANA, PhD, RN, CMSRN, CNL

Assistant Professor

ZORICA KAURIC-KLEIN, PhD, RN, ANP, ACLS/BCLS

Associate Professor

Dr. Kauric-Klein has been a faculty member since Fall 2017.  Her program of research focuses on behavior change interventions to promote adherence to self care behaviors in chronic diseases. She has conducted studies investigating the effect of self-regulation on blood pressure control in patients on chronic hemodialysis. She has also investigated the effect of sodium knowledge on blood pressure control in the chronic kidney disease population. Her research has expanded to mind body interventions to improve physical and psychological outcomes. Most recently, she has investigated the effect of a yoga intervention on physiological and psychological outcomes in patients on chronic hemodialysis which was funded by the American Nephrology Nurses’ Association. She has published her findings in several manuscripts in peer reviewed journals and has presented at several local and national conferences. Currently, she is investigating interventions to help promote exercise in the end stage chronic kidney disease population. 

Research Area Interests:

• Hypertension
• Chronic Kidney Disease
• Hemodialysis
• Interventions to Promote Adherence with Self-Care Behaviors
• Health Promotion Behaviors to Decrease Cardiovascular Risk

PEG KENNEDY, PhD, RN, FNP-BC

Assistant Professor
Student Retention and Success Coach

Dr. Peg (Margaret) Kennedy is a board-certified family nurse practitioner with a strong background in child and adolescent health and trauma-informed approaches to practice and education. Dr. Kennedy has experience as a registered nurse in general and intensive care pediatric settings and as a nurse practitioner in a family practice setting. She is an Assistant Professor of Nursing at Oakland University, where she also serves as the Student Retention and Success Coach. Peg is a three-time OU School of Nursing alumni, earning a BSN in 2009, MSN-FNP in 2015, and PhD in Nursing in 2025. Her dissertation research focused on resilience in trauma-exposed youth through qualitative thematic analysis of interviews with multidisciplinary childhood trauma experts. Dr. Kennedy also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business from Michigan State University. 

Research Area Interests:

• Biopsychosocial impacts of experiencing childhood trauma
• Protective factors and resilience in trauma-exposed youth and young adults
• Child and adolescent health
• Sexual and gender minority health
• Integration of trauma-informed approaches in healthcare and education

SUHA AL-OBALLI KRIDLI, PhD, RN

Professor

Dr. Kridli is a Professor in the School of Nursing at Oakland University whose research focuses on health promotion, disease prevention, and health behaviors in Middle Eastern and Arab American populations. Her scholarly work addresses critical public health priorities, including diabetes epidemiology, childhood obesity interventions, women’s reproductive health, and fall prevention among older adults. 

Dr. Kridli’s research examine the effect of cultural health beliefs, social influences, and personal perceptions on health decision-making and service utilization. Supported by external funding, her work emphasizes culturally adapted health and community-engaged interventions. She has published extensively on these topics in peer-reviewed journals. 

Research Area Interests:

• Family Planning
• Health Promotion
• Middle Eastern Health Beliefs and Practices 
• Diabetes 
• Fall Prevention

JULIE KRUSE, PhD, RN, FAAN

Interim Dean and Professor

HRSA NWD ASPIRE Project Director

Dr. Julie Kruse is Interim Dean and Professor in the Oakland University School of Nursing. Her scholarship and professional work focus on nursing workforce development, student success and retention, population health nursing, health equity, cultural humility, sense of belonging, and the social determinants of health. She has more than two decades of experience in nursing education and extensive experience leading federally funded initiatives designed to strengthen the nursing workforce and support the success of students from diverse and disadvantaged backgrounds.

Dr. Kruse has served as principal investigator or co-investigator on more than $10.9 million in grant funding. In 2026, she received a four-year, $2,219,955 Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Nursing Workforce Development grant for Project INSPIRE. This initiative builds upon her longstanding work developing multilevel strategies to support nursing student success and strengthen the nursing workforce. She previously served as Project Director for the four-year, $2,195,252 HRSA-funded ASPIRE program from 2021 through 2025.

Dr. Kruse is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN) and was inducted into the Academy in 2025. In 2025, she also received the Lillian Wald Service Award from the American Public Health Association Public Health Nursing Section. Her additional honors include Oakland University's Faculty Excellence Awards for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Research.

Nationally, Dr. Kruse has held significant leadership roles in public health nursing. She currently serves as Immediate Past Chair of the American Public Health Association Public Health Nursing Section and has served on the American Association of Colleges of Nursing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Leadership Network. She also contributes to the advancement of national public health nursing certification through service on the National Board of Public Health Examiners CPHN Council and CPHN Standard Setting Committee.

Dr. Kruse's scholarship spans nursing workforce development, population health, health equity, nursing education, student belonging and retention, implicit bias, Just Culture, and professional identity formation. Her scholarly work has been disseminated through peer-reviewed publications as well as local, national, and international presentations. She also has extensive experience mentoring undergraduate, master's, DNP, and PhD students in research and scholarly projects.

Research Area Interests:

• Assessment and Evaluation Processes
• Cultural Humility
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
• International Health and Social Development
• Just Culture
• Nursing Student Retention
• Nursing Workforce Development and Diversity
• Population Health Nursing
• Sense of Belonging and Social Support
• Social Determinants of Health and Health Equity

DALI MAJEED, PhD, RN

Visiting Instructor

SARAH NEWTON, PhD, RN

Associate Professor

Dr. Newton has been a faculty member at Oakland University since 1997. Her clinical nursing specialty is adult liver transplantation and her scholarship focuses on the lived experience of being a liver transplant recipient and return to work post-transplant. In addition, she also writes about nursing education, specifically undergraduate program outcomes and pedagogy.

Research Area Interests:

• Care of the adult postoperative patient 
• Transplant Nursing
• Undergraduate Nursing Education Pedagogy and Outcomes
• Writing for the Discipline of Nursing

EMMA NOBLE, PhD, RN

Visiting Instructor

Dr. Noble’s research primarily involves patient-provider communication, with a specific focus on intersections among gender identity, chronic disease, and healthcare experiences. Her work seeks to understand the lived experience of medical gaslighting and its impact on the physical and mental health of patients belonging to marginalized groups, and to measure barriers in the diagnosis and treatment of chronic disease that occur as a result of medical gaslighting and medical trauma. Dr. Noble is committed to improving healthcare experiences for patients belonging to socially marginalized groups and preparing the next generation of nurses to bridge gaps in care for these vulnerable populations through effective communication.

Research Area Interests:

• Patient-Provider Communication
• Medically Contested Illnesses
• Social Determinants of Health and Diagnostic Gaps
• Healthcare Access and Equity for Queer Individuals
• Qualitative Research Methods
• Use of Social Media in Recruitment and Data Collection
• Mixed Methods Research

RON PISCOTTY, PhD, RN, NI-BC, CNE, FAMIA

Associate Professor & PhD Program Director

Dr. Piscotty completed his BSN at Wayne State University and his masters and PhD in nursing systems with a focus in nursing and healthcare informatics at the University of Michigan. Dr. Piscotty has successfully obtained both internal and external funding for his research. Dr. Piscotty’s research focus examines the impact of technology on nursing practice, leadership, education, and research. Dr. Piscotty has a strong history of publications in peer reviewed journals and conferences. Dr. Piscotty has received several awards for his work including the Junior Researcher Award from the Midwest Nursing Research Society, SIGMA: Theta Psi Chapter Award for Innovation in Nursing, and an AACN and Johnson and Johnson Minority Nurse Faculty Scholar award.

Dr. Piscotty was honored and recognized for his impact in healthcare informatics being named a Fellow of the American Medical Informatics Association. Dr. Piscotty is board certified in nursing education from the NLN and informatics nursing from the ANCC. Dr. Piscotty has served the nursing profession through leadership and participation in several national organizations including: The Alliance for Nursing Informatics, SIGMA, The American Medical Informatics Association, Summer Institute for Nursing Informatics, and serves as a reviewer for the Journal of Nursing Education and Computers, Informatics, Nursing. Dr. Piscotty identifies as Gay, Disabled, and Native American and is a Member of The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.

Research Area Interests:

• Nursing and Healthcare Informatics
• Impact of technology on nursing practice, leadership, education, and research
• Clinical Decision Support
• Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare
• Quality Improvement

LAURA PITTIGLIO, PhD, RN

Associate Professor

Dr. Laura Pittligio has been a faculty member at Oakland University since 1999. Her research interests include coping mechanisms of African American mothers who are living with HIV/AIDS and sexual risk-taking behaviors that put young African American women in jeopardy of contracting HIV. As a certified HIV Test Counselor, Dr. Pittiglio implemented a free HIV and syphilis screening program on campus. Additionally, she continues to examine the impact of simulation on student outcomes.

Research Area Interests:

• The Impact of Learned Helplessness on Sexual Risk Taking Behaviors Among Adolescent and Young African American Females
• Sexual Risk Taking Behaviors in Adolescent and Young Adult African American Women
• HIV Infected Mother's Coping Strategies
• Simulation and Patient Outcomes
• The use of simulation to improve LBTQ+ Health Care Competencies