Elaine Marieb College of Nursing Deans, Directors, and Support Staff 2023-2024

Deans

Dean of the Elaine Marieb College of Nursing
Dr. Allison Vorderstrasse
BS in Nursing, Mount Saint Mary College; MS in Nursing, Adult Nurse Practitioner - Diabetes Specialty Concentration, Yale University School of Nursing; DNSc, (Chronic Illness Self-Management), Yale University School of Nursing; NIH/NINR Summer Genetics Institute Certificate, Certified APRN (Diabetes Specialty); Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, Professor. Research Interests: Diabetes, chronic illness.

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Graduate Program Director
Dr. Mary Ellen Burke
BSN, Rutgers University College of Nursing; Certificate in Nurse-Midwifery, Frontier Nursing University; MSN, Case Western Reserve University; Post-Master's Certificate in Nursing Education, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing; DNP, University of Massachusetts Amherst. Certified Nurse-Midwife, Certified Nurse Educator, Clinical Associate Professor. Research Interests: Women’s Health, Obesity Stigma, Nursing Education.

Program Directors

Master of Science Program Director, Graduate Certificate in Nursing Education, and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Certificate Program Director
Dr. Gabrielle P. Abelard
BS in Nursing, University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Nursing; MS in Mental Health Nursing, Adult Clinical Nurse Specialist, University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Nursing; Post Masters Certificate in Nursing, Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, Regis College Richard and Sheila Young School of Nursing; DNP (Integrative Health), Regis College Richard and Sheila Young School of Nursing. Professor.

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Program Director
Dr. Karen A. Kalmakis
BS, Elms College; MS, MPH, PhD, University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Nursing. Certified APRN (FNP), Fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, Professor. Clinical interest in trauma-informed care, public health, and women’s health. Research Interests: Health consequences of early trauma and adversity, the chronic stress response to childhood adversity, and learned resilience.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Program Director
Dr. Rachel (Rae) Walker
BA, BS in Biology and English, University of Virginia; BSN, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellowship, Johns Hopkins University; Oncology Certified Nurse, Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. Associate Professor. Research Interests: Nursing invention and co-creative processes founded on the principles of design justice as vehicles for achieving health equity and social justice, community-directed digital defense against harmful forms of big data, A.I., and other technologies.

Graduate Support Staff

Assistant to the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs
Lynne Walton:  lwalton [at] umass [dot] edu (lwalton[at]umass[dot]edu)

Student Support Center Lead, DNP, & PMHNP Certificate Program Assistant
Karen Ayotte:  kayotte [at] umass [dot] edu (kayotte[at]umass[dot]edu)

Master of Science, MSNE Certificate & PhD Program Specialist & Clinical Relations Coordinator
Lynn Yovina: lyovina [at] umass [dot] edu (lyovina[at]umass[dot]edu)

Affiliation Agreement Manager
Andrea “AJ” Juno: ajuno [at] umass [dot] edu (ajuno[at]umass[dot]edu)

Office of Research

Grants and Contracts Administrator
Monika Valečić:  mvalecic [at] umass [dot] edu (mvalecic[at]umass[dot]edu)   

Strategic Partnerships

Executive Director of Strategic Partnerships
Olivia Frazier:  olivia [dot] frazier [at] umass [dot] edu

Donor Relations

Associate Director, Donor Relations, University of Massachusetts Amherst Foundation
Benjamin Monat: bmonat [at] uma-foundation [dot] org (bmonat[at]uma-foundation[dot]org)

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