Meet Our Research Community
Our current postdoctoral fellows represent the caliber of emerging scholars transforming nursing science. Each fellow brings unique expertise, asks bold questions and contributes to a collaborative culture where diverse perspectives strengthen everyone's work.
Mireille Chehade, PhD, RN, AGCNS-BC
Postdoctoral Scholar
Mireille Chehade is a Postdoctoral Scholar whose research focuses on understanding the interdependent needs of patients and caregivers to improve cardiovascular care. Her clinical expertise in cardiovascular nursing continues to shape the questions that drive her research. She earned her PhD in Nursing Research and Theory Development from NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing, where her dissertation used a mixed-methods design to explore how patients living with left ventricular assist device (LVAD) and caregivers navigate daily life in a high-stakes care context. During her postdoctoral training, she is advancing her expertise in quantitative methods, including dyadic analysis, to better understand patient-caregiver dynamics and identify opportunities for personalized care. Her research aims to develop and evaluate technology-enabled, precision health interventions that improve cardiovascular disease prevention, management, and outcomes.
Maddie Lee Mason, PhD
Postdoctoral Scholar
Dr. Maddie Lee Mason is a postdoctoral research scholar at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, mentored by Dr. Angela McNelis. She earned her PhD in Psychological Sciences from Vanderbilt University in 2025. Her dissertation centered on the development and empirical evaluation of a technology-enhanced reflection system designed to support nursing students’ self-regulated learning following simulation training. As a postdoctoral scholar, Dr. Mason is expanding this work by integrating competency-based education principles into her reflection system to enhance its practicality and scalability in nursing education.
Sarah McKiddy, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Sunbok Park, PhD, MSN, RN
Postdoctoral Scholar
Dr. Sunbok Park is a postdoctoral scholar at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. A former bedside nurse caring for kidney and liver transplant surgical patients, her research focuses on encouraging self-care behaviors such as sleep, physical activity, and medication adherence and examining their relationships with clinical biomarkers in patients with chronic illnesses. She earned her PhD in Nursing from the University of Virginia under the mentorship of Dr. Jeongok Gang Logan. Her dissertation examined subclinical cardiovascular markers and immune-inflammatory markers to understand the physiological mechanisms linking sleep health and cardiovascular disease in middle-aged adults. Building on her doctoral work, her current research focuses on developing sleep interventions for middle-aged patient-caregiver dyads living with cardiovascular disease.
Could You Be Next?
Our fellows prove that VUSN attracts emerging scholars who are:
- Asking important questions
- Using rigorous methods
- Committed to making a difference
- Ready to work hard and grow exponentially
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Questions? Contact us by submitting an inquiry.