Alumni

A glimpse into Rhaea Photopoulos’ workday reveals a purposeful hum into the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center’s Gastrointestinal Oncology Clinic where she has worked as a Nurse Practitioner for the past twelve years. The fast pace is well matched by her long-standing commitment and she…

Energy and excitement sparkle like gemstones when Sheila Evans talks about her work. Her career evolved from a front-line oncology nurse to a director role with several hospitals, including the Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Sibley, and the Royal…

Sara Robinson is a Wildcat. She attended UNH as an undergraduate, worked with UNH Health Services and her grandmother served with the Nursing Department faculty.  In 2022, Robinson graduated from the online UNH DNP program while serving as Program Director of the Post-Master’s Psychiatric Mental…

Openness is a way of life for Isaac Ndungu, 2020 graduate of the UNH Online post master’s Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program. Originally from Kenya, he emigrated to the United States in 1983 to study industrial engineering and later attended the University of Massachusetts for…

Michael Robustelli knows from experience that the path of discovery is not a straight line. During a lucrative career as a commodities trader in NYC, Michael felt something was missing. “My dad tells me that at age seven I wanted to become a doctor,” he remarks with a smile. “I needed to get…

How would you explain your discipline and/or research to those unfamiliar with the subject? I would describe Health Data Science as the intersection of computer programming, statistics, and healthcare domain experience. Data-driven decision-making is a key component of healthcare delivery and…

A New Hampshire native, Gina Apgar was raised in economically challenging circumstances but she has worked steadily to improve her destiny. Starting with her first babysitting class at age eleven, her education has culminated in a master’s degree in social work from UNH in 2021. “I’ve…

Angela Boswell knows what it means to train hard. A former Pearl iZUMi triathlon team member, she conquered the triad of athletics – swimming, running, biking - by overcoming her fear of water, teaching herself to power walk, and building endurance. Boswell became an ambassador for GOTribal, an…

Born in Brazil, Marcelo Castro has logged many miles, from education to career to travel. Although he started his career in the airline industry, Castro’s own health became the catalyst for a lifetime change of focus. A nagging asthma condition that shadowed his life with doctor visits and…

"As a UNH alumnus, I was drawn to come full circle, back to the University of New Hampshire for my doctoral degree." Born in England, Catherine Loiselle met and married an American serviceman, then emigrated to the United States where she planted strong roots living, working, and raising a…

"As the first person in my immediate family to earn a college degree, I broke a long-standing generational cycle since none of us had an education beyond high school. I always say, if you want to hear the universe laugh, tell everyone about your plans."

Raised in New Mexico, Laurel Christensen knows how to handle the heat but the COVID pandemic brought with it unexpected personal and academic challenges. On a broader level, however, it deepened her understanding of the resulting, universal stress and grief that has affected the entire global…