George Washington University, Department of Nursing Education: Staff Information

Ellen Dawson , PhD, ANP

Phone: (202) 994-5192

Kimberly Acquaviva , PhD, MSW

Phone: (202) 994-5192

Assistant Professor

I can’t help thinking to myself that I am the luckiest person in the world to have such an amazing job. I get to work with bright, inquisitive students who love to learn and from whom I learn so much. I get to work side by side with an incredibly enthusiastic, dedicated, and bright group of faculty who never cease to amaze me with their commitment to their students. And most of all, I get to wake up every day energized by the thought of having the opportunity to spend another day doing what I love to do (teach and do research), surrounded by people I love to do it with (our faculty and staff), working together to serve those we do it for – our students.

Andrea Brassard , DNSc, MPH, ANP

Phone: (202) 994-7795

ANP Program Coordinator

I was appointed to the faculty of the School of Medicine and Health Science in January 2006. Most of my education and experience has been in the New York City /northern New Jersey area, where I’ve alternated between nursing education and nursing practice for more than 20 years. I feel privileged to work with the faculty in The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, which provides me the unique opportunity to serve the residents of the nation’s capital and educate experienced health-care professionals across the country.

DNP Executive Coordinator

Catharine Kopac , PhD, DMin, CGNP, RN

Phone: (202) 994-1673

Associate Professor

I am an associate professor within the Department of Nursing Education and I have just joined the faculty as of August 2007. My first love is geriatrics and I have focused on the care of older adults since my early graduate school days in the 1970s. I recently completed a Doctorate in Ministry at Wisdom University in San Francisco, Calif., where my dissertation focused on the use of narrative to study transformation in the lives of professional nurses. I maintain a clinical practice as a nurse practitioner, ethicist consultant in Adult Protective Service in Fairfax County in Virginia.

Yanika Kowitlawakul , Ph.D, RN

Assistant Professor

Teaching has been my passion since childhood. My role model was my mother who was a teacher. She instilled in me a love of learning and teaching. I extremely enjoyed sharing my experiences and knowledge with my students last summer. I learned as I taught them as well. Even though I am new to the Department of Nursing Education, I am very delighted to be a part of this exquisite health professional team.

Ellen Kurtzman , MPH, RN

Phone: (202) 994-9439

Assistant Research Professor

I am committed to expanding the evidence base on which policy decisions are made to ensure that these policies better reflect nursing’s influence on quality, patient safety, and a professional work environment. Over the last decade, there has been an enormous investment in holding healthcare providers accountable for the quality of care provided in hospitals and other settings and this project seeks extend those accountabilities to nurses. Under this project and through a strategic collaboration with the American Academy of Nursing (AAN), the nursing community will be better informed about these issues related to performance measurement, public accountability, and pay-for-performance.

Beverly Lunsford , PhD, RN

Phone: (202) 994-6223

Associate Research Professor

I am thrilled to be part of the Health Sciences faculty for two reasons. First, I am able to pursue scholarly work in advocating for the importance of spirituality to the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities; as well as to our own ability to be caring and compassionate health- care providers. Second, health care provided by interdisciplinary teams is critical to providing high quality and continuous health care. I believe that when we conduct education and research in interdisciplinary settings, we are more likely to recognize our strengths and contributions as an interdisciplinary team of health-care providers.

Kate Malliarakis , MSM, CNP, MAC

Phone: (202) 994-5192

NLM Program Coordinator

My professional passions are leadership and addictions. As a nurse practitioner, I have been fortunate to have a robust and varied career that integrates both. It is exciting to be able to share my passions with my students.

Christine Pintz , PhD, RNC, FNP

Phone: (202) 994-7795

DNP Program Director

I enjoy facilitating student learning and encouraging experiences that cause educational epiphanies. In my view, education should be a transformative experience. Transformative learning requires an open mind and should spark intellectual development and the ability to question previously held assumptions. I am interested in promoting self-directed learning and high achievement in my students.

Administrative Manager

Stephanie Wright , PhD, CFNP, CPNP

Phone: (202) 994-7795

FNP Program Coordinator

I have been a Family Nurse Practitioner for 12 years, having spent my career prior to that in pediatrics. I hold a certification as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner as well. When I am not teaching, I am working as a nurse practitioner at an urgent care center. As the coordinator of the Family Nurse Practitioner Program, I am in the unique position of being able to interact with the many motivated and experienced professionals who are our students, and help formulate an excellent educational program for them. My educational philosophy includes the idea that faculty members are mentors and coaches, who assist students in the discovery of knowledge. My other interests include prescribing by nurse practitioners, complementary and alternative therapies, nutrition, and patient education.

Brenda Sheingold , PhD., RN

NCQA-MSN Program Coordinator

What attracted me to George Washington University was its ability to be flexible and open to addressing the evolving opportunities in a rapidly changing health care system in the United States. My professional interests are healthcare quality, organizational change and workforce culture. I strive to understand the needs and circumstances of adult learners (as one myself) and enjoy supporting the success of my students. My academic philosophy is reflected in this quote, “The most important breeze that blows . . . is your own current of thought.”

Rosemarie Brenkus , M.A.ED, RN

Phone: (703) 726-4493

BSN Program Coordinator

Karen Whitt , PhD, RN

Assistant Professor

I am very pleased to join the George Washington University Department of Nursing Education faculty. It is a wonderful opportunity to work with a talented faculty team and be involved with innovative and cutting edge learning initiatives. I enjoy working with students to facilitate learning and help them to reach their academic and professional goals.

NP Executive Coordinator

I feel honored to be a part of our wonderful Department of Nursing Education team. I have over six years of working experience in an educational environment and have been a distance education student myself for last two years. I know the ups and downs that come with beginning and working through a new program. It brings great delight that I can help make this process easier for students who, most of the time, balance work, family, and study.

Lynn Henrikson , MSN, ACNP, FNP

Phone: (202) 994-7901

Adjunct Instructor

I live in San Angelo, Texas where I have a private practice as a Family Nurse Practitioner. I have experience as an NP in ER and Urgent Care as well. I was originally certified as an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner. I subsequently completed my Post Master's Certificate as an FNP through the GWU distance education program, so I had some first-hand experience with distance education from a student's perspective. I teach courses in the Family and Adult Nurse Practitioner programs and I am also a student in the GWU Doctorate of Nursing Practice Program. I love teaching and taking courses using web-based technology. It's a wonderful way to network and learn!

Kathleen Leoffler , CFNP

Phone: (202) 994-7901

Adjunct Instructor

Teaching Nurse Practitioner students has been a passion of mine since 1994. Prior to this I precepted many students in my clinical practice and this lead me to a Faculty position. My first teaching position was at George Mason University. After moving to Georgia, I was contacted by colleagues at GW in 2001 and asked to help teach the distance advanced FNP program. This has been an exciting and fulfilling position. I continue to practice and teach and working on my DNP here at GWU. Helping students grow in the role as a family nurse practitioner and sharing clinical experiences to develop and enhance clinical skills is very rewarding. I try to bring the 27 years experiences that I have had as a FNP to enable students to be competent, con fident practitioners.

Cheryl Robertson , MSN, CRNP, ANP-C

Phone: (202) 994-7901

Adjunct Instructor

Carol Lang DHSc, RN CCRN

Assistant Professor

Patti Davis , MSN, RN

Whitney Hodges , MSN, RN

Adjunct Instructor

I am passionate about excellence in nursing, which makes it so exciting to be involved with the second degree nursing program at GW. My nursing experience covers Adult Medical/Surgical, Adolescent Medical/Surgical, Pediatric ER, Pediatric Medical/Surgical, Specialty Infusion, and Nurse Management. I have been blessed to have such varied experience as it lead me to my passion to teach. There is nothing that gives me greater joy than sharing my enthusiasm of nursing with wonderfully fresh and eager students. As a member of the dedicated BSN second degree team, I consider myself so fortunate to be working alongside extraordinary nursing role models.

BSN Executive Coordinator

With prior marketing and undergraduate admissions experience, it has been an awesome transition being immersed into a dynamic new program for second-degree baccalaureate students. Working with talented, dedicated faculty members, it is a simple pleasure promoting cutting edge programs and a true reward helping students as they transition from pursuing previous career paths to recognizing their true passion for nursing.

Nancy Falk , PhD., MBA, RN

Assistant Professor

Today’s nurses are expected to be lifelong learners, prepared to tackle clinical, administrative, research, and policy healthcare challenges. As an MBA and PhD educated RN with information industry and Capitol Hill policy experience - my blended background maps well to the educational needs of today’s nursing students - particularly Doctor of Nursing Practice and Master’s students. What a joy it is to work with bright, diverse students - ensuring they have the skills necessary to take on vital and expanding roles within healthcare. My evolving program of research - focused on Retaining the Wisdom of Aging Nurse Faculty - is timely - and involves examination of the employment, aging, and policy challenges and opportunities integral to the healthcare workforce. I am proud to be part of an outstanding team at GWU - working with extraordinary leadership and faculty to provide a top-tier educational experience for nursing students worldwide.

Marjorie Graziano , CRNP

Phone: (850) 665-5856

I am honored to be working as a full-time faculty member for the GWU School of Medicine and Health Sciences here in DC! I am a Family Nurse Practitioner and have been practicing clinically for 14 years. I started my NP career while I was active duty in the United States Air Force and retired in 2002. My area of expertise is within the critical care arena, more specifically urgent care. I teach a variety of classes to include Advanced Health Assessment, Population Health and am entrenched in the FNP program teaching in FNP I, II, and III. I find the quality and professionalism of the distance learning students, faculty and staff of GWU to be simply phenomenal!

Executive Coordinator

I extremely excited about joining the George Washington University Department of Nursing Education team. For the past three years, I have had worked in diverse sectors of academia. From these experiences, I have gained a distinct familiarity with many different student populations and obtained extensive knowledge of higher education programs, policies, and requirements. As Executive Coordinator of the Health Care Quality, Palliative Care, and GMU programs, I will utilize this knowledge to focus my attention on ensuring that the needs of all DNE students, staff, and faculty are met and that they have everything they require to make their time at GWU an indisputable success!