Alexa Parra looked triumphant in her full regalia, beaming ear to ear in a photo taken outside the M. Christine Schwartz Center for Nursing and Health Studies. “Only 1 percent of doctoral degrees are held by Latinas, and I’m proud to be one of them,” announced Parra, Ph.D. ’25, on LinkedIn. Parra—now Dr. Parra—can also count herself among the fewer than 1 percent of nurses who hold Ph.D. degrees. “Earning a Ph.D. and now being a voice for my community is a responsibility I carry with pride and purpose,” she stated.
Parra was one of five students from the University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies who successfully defended doctoral dissertations over the summer. This quintet formed close bonds during their program, promoted a culture of support, and made significant strides as scholars. Three were awarded competitive NIH fellowship grants, two were inducted into Yale University’s prestigious Bouchet Honor Society together, two were named Teaching Academy Fellows at the Graduate School, two started a doctoral nursing organization on campus, a few were invited to present at the State of the Science Congress on Nursing Research (long considered the nation’s top nursing research conference), two conducted research abroad through the school’s Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Training Program, and one served as Graduate Student Association president and student commencement speaker.
The following is a rundown of their dissertation research, which is poised to advance knowledge on an array of important health issues—from clinical AI and cultural drivers of depression to obesity among African American families.
- Alexa Mercedes Parra, B.S.N. ’16, B.S.P.H. ’16, Ph.D. ’25, entered the school’s Ph.D. in nursing science program after earning dual nursing and public health bachelor’s degrees at the U. This DAISY Award-winning RN successfully defended her dissertation, titled “The Effects of Intersecting Identity and Social Determinants of Health on Afro-Latina Maternal Morbidity and Infant Birth Outcomes in Florida,” in May, during National Nurses Week. Her Ph.D. dissertation committee included Cynthia Lebron (chair), Hudson Santos (co-chair), JoNell Efantis Potter, Yue Pan, and Raymond Balise. Parra is the evidence-based practice (EBP) specialist at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami, overseeing and teaching EBP for nurse residents and nursing staff at the hospital. She has had two dissertation articles published to date.
- Dalton Scott, Ph.D. ’25, successfully defended his dissertation, titled “Intergenerational and Cultural Drivers of Depressive Symptoms in Hispanic Sexual Minority Youth," in June. His Ph.D. dissertation committee included Guillermo “Willy” Prado (chair), Audrey Harkness, Alyssa Lozano, Daniel Feaster, of the University of Miami, and Nicholas Metheny, of Emory University. Scott received the Outstanding Research Award at the University's 2025 Lavender Celebration in May. Following graduation, he joined Emory University’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing as a fellow in their Advanced Research Training in Social Determinants of Health. He also began work as a senior regulatory and compliance specialist for the health care tech company HealthStream.
- Judy Greengold,D. ’25, successfully defended her dissertation, titled “Operationalizing Connectedness in Hybridized Health Care: Machine Learning Analysis of Blood Pressure Measurement and Diagnostic Gaps in Real-World Settings," in June. Her dissertation committee included Cindy Munro (chair), Yvonne Commodore-Mensah, Raymond Balise, and Karina Gattamorta. “The 90-minute defense was intense, but it gave me the chance to center something I believe deeply,” stated Greengold on LinkedIn. “Primary care is more than a specialty; it’s a perspective—and that perspective is urgently needed as we reimagine health care delivery, especially in how we design virtual care, apply AI and machine learning, and shape health policy.” Greengold continues to work as a family nurse practitioner and instructor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where she also directs the Johns Hopkins Telemedicine Education Consortium. In addition, she was recently awarded a Johns Hopkins Discovery Grant to fund her postdoctoral fellowship at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, building and researching an innovative large language model-enhanced resource for clinicians to improve connectedness and care for people living with hypertension and cardiovascular disease.
- Jiye Lee,D. ’25, successfully defended her dissertation, titled “Effects of Neighborhood Environment on Child Behavioral Health,” in June. Her dissertation committee included Dean Hudson P. Santos Jr. (chair), Daniel Messinger, Yui Matsuda, T. Michael O'Shea, and Yue Pan. Lee contributed to several University research initiatives, including Toddler’s Talk, an innovation grant funded by The Children’s Trust that used Language Environment Analysis technology to provide insight into child vocal behavior with caregivers. Following graduation, she was named an NIH T32 postdoctoral scholar at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, where she will conduct research related to cancer survivorship.
- Tericka “Teri” Smith Cesar, Ph.D. ’25, successfully defended her dissertation, titled “Examining Obesity in African American Families through a Social Environmental Lens: A Comprehensive Analysis,” at the end of July. Her dissertation committee included Arsham Alamian (chair), Cynthia Lebron, Renessa Williams, and Sara Mijares St. George, of the University of Miami, and Dr. Ali Crandall, of Brigham Young University. Cesar used a family-centric approach to address the high incidence and prevalence of obesity among African American women and families in the United States. “It is unknown if a family’s overall environment and composition contribute to obesity among African Americans,” she stated in her abstract. “My research aims to identify important relationships between the social environment and family health within African American families experiencing obesity. … Knowledge from this research offers the potential to generate potent solutions to family-based health care, research interventions, and resource development.” Cesar, who worked as a research assistant at the school and as a nurse practitioner in clinical practice, is currently exploring health outcomes research opportunities.
Learn more about earning a Ph.D. in nursing science at the University of Miami, https://www.sonhs.miami.edu/phd
