College of Nursing Fellows
Moroni Fernandez Cajavilca, PhD, MS, RN
Dr. Fernandez Cajavilca is a nurse scientist dedicated to promoting equitable healthcare access and mitigating disparities in marginalized populations, specifically immigrant and Latino populations. His long-term goal is to leverage data to inform evidence-based, culturally sensitive intervention development and policies related to healthcare access. Currently, he leads and collaborates on various studies related to dementia, family caregiving, and avoidable healthcare utilization. Clinically, he practices as a registered nurse in acute care settings and has prior experience in intensive and long-term care settings (as a direct-care worker).
His program of research utilizes both quantitative data disaggregation and qualitative community-based research methods. During his postdoctoral fellowship, he aims to gain career-development training on intervention development, econometric methodologies (e.g., cost analysis to assess cost-effectiveness of interventions), and the immigrant long-term care workforce.
Dr. Fernandez Cajavilca received his BS in Nursing ('21) and MS in Gerontology ('22) from the University of Utah and his PhD in Nursing Research and Theory Development from New York University ('25).
Faculty mentor: Sara Bybee, PhD, LCSW
Selected publications:
Fernandez Cajavilca, M., Zheng, A., Bamidele-Sanni, K., & Sadarangani, T. (2024). Exploring Family Caregivers’ Likelihood of Adopting a Novel App That Connects Care Teams of Persons Living With Dementia: A Mixed-Methods Study. Gerontology & Geriatric Medicine, 10, 23337214241275638. https://doi.org/10.1177/23337214241275638
Fernandez Cajavilca, M., Lee, M., & Ðoàn, L. N. (2025). Reviewing and Advocating for Data Disaggregation in Aging-Related Health Research: NIA Grants and Recommendations for Equity. The Gerontologist, 65(4). https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnaf013
Gabrielle G. Grant, PhD, RN
Dr. Grant is a postdoctoral researcher with the Catalyst Forensic Nursing Science Collaborative at the University of Utah College of Nursing. Committed to violence prevention across the lifespan, her research examines the intersections of violence, technology, and health. Her work focuses on sexual violence and intimate partner violence, with particular attention to emerging technology-facilitated harms and the measurement approaches needed to understand these experiences.
Dr. Grant completed her PhD in Nursing from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she was a Hillman Scholar in Nursing Innovation. Her dissertation examined technology-facilitated sexual violence (TFSV) and the impacts of artificial intelligencemisuse. Her doctoral work included a systematic review of current sexual violence measures, qualitative research exploring survivors’ experiences of TFSV, and a preliminary psychometric evaluation of a new measure focused on contemporary TFSV behaviors. She also earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, with highest honors, from UNC, and a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Before joining the University of Utah, Dr. Grant served as a program manager for an NINR-funded initiative to build capacity for measuring and addressing intimate partner violence in maternal health contexts. She also brings clinical experience as a registered nurse in emergency psychiatry and behavioral health settings, as well as experience in nursing education and collaborative online international learning. Earlier in her career, Dr. Grant held clinical research roles at Massachusetts General Hospital and Shriners Hospitals for Children in Boston, where she contributed to research on burn recovery outcomes among children and their families.
Dr. Grant’s postdoctoral fellowship is supported by the Dick and Timmy Burton funds.
Faculty Mentor: Julie L. Valentine, PhD, RN, SANE-A, FAAFS, FAAN
Selected Publications:
Grant, G.G., Lynn, M.R., Propper, C., Salomon, B., Sinko, L., & Williams, J.R. (2026). Understanding technology-facilitated sexual violence: qualitative insights to guide development of a new measure. Journal of Nursing Scholarship. [manuscript submitted for publication]
Williams, J.R., Burton, C.W., Grant, G.G., Hatcher, A., Villegas, N., & Sheffield-Abdullah, K. (2026). A decision-making framework for selecting intimate partner violence measures in health research. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 58(5),e70120. https://doi.org/10.1111/jnu.70120
Williams, J.R., Tomlinson, E., Grant, G.G., & Beliveau, A. (2026). Family Violence and Nursing Practice. Chapter 1: Defining Family Violence. (pages: 1 – 46).
Woodley, L.K., Woodley, L., Rodriguez dos Santos, M., Cosgrove, B., & Grant, G.G.(2024). A global approach to nursing education: Evaluating the impact of COIL on undergraduate students in the US and Brazil. Transformative Dialogues: Teaching and Learning Journal, 17(2), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.26209/td2024vol17iss21882
Cosgrove, B., Woodley, L.K., Rodriguez dos Santos, M., Thiago Pereira da Silva, T., Grant, G.G., Reis di Gregorio, A. C., & Bousso, R. (2024). Collaborative online international learning with prelicensure nursing students: Teaching family-centered care through a global perspective. Journal of Family Nursing, 30(4), 317-325. https://doi.org/10.1177/10748407241290304
Grant, G.G., Brady, K. J. S., Stoddard, F. J., et al. (2021). Measuring the impact of burn injury on the parent-reported health outcomes of children 1-to-5 years: Item pool development for the Preschool1-5 Life Impact Burn Recovery Evaluation Profile. Burns, 47(7), 1511-1524. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.burns.2021.02.010
Mary Killela, PhD, RN
Dr. Killela is a nurse scientist dedicated to adapting and implementing interventions that reduce the financial burden of cancer for patients and caregivers. Her research focuses on evaluating existing approaches to managing financial toxicity and leveraging emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, to expand their reach and impact. Using human-centered design, she is co-designing AI-enabled tools to help young adult cancer survivors navigate the financial challenges of cancer treatment. Her research is currently supported by the National Cancer Institute (K99CA312814).
Dr. Killela completed her PhD in Nursing from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she was a Hillman Scholar in Nursing Innovation and a predoctoral trainee on the Interventions for Preventing and Managing Chronic Illness T32. She also completed three undergraduate degrees- B.S. in Nursing, B.S. in Biology and B.A. in Chemistry- at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Faculty Mentors: Echo Warner PhD, MPH and Anne Kirchhoff PhD, MPH
Selected Publications:
Killela, M., Turner, C. A., Chevrier, A., Stefanou, M., Vaca Lopez, P. L., Kaddas, H. K., van Thiel Berghuijs, K. M., Warner, E. L., Perez, G. K., Waters, A. R., Fair, D. B., Nelson, R. E., Lewis, M. A., Park, E. R., & Kirchhoff, A. C. (2025). CHAT-S Study Protocol: A randomized controlled trial of a health insurance literacy education program for young adult cancer survivors. Preventive oncology & epidemiology, 3(1), 2455706. https://doi.org/10.1080/28322134.2025.2455706
Killela, M. K., Adynski, H., Adynski, G., Allen Myer, E., Dictus, C., Morgan, L., Hmiel, H., & Williams, J. (2025). Preparing PhD Students for Tenure-Track Faculty Positions. Nursing research, 74(2), E11–E14. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNR.0000000000000791
Killela, M., Biddell, C., Keim-Malpass, J., Schwartz, T. A., Soto, S., Williams, J., & Santacroce, S. (2023). The Use of Medical Crowdfunding to Mitigate the Personal Costs of Serious Chronic Illness: Scoping Review. Journal of medical Internet research, 25, e44530. https://doi.org/10.2196/44530