Carina Katigbak

As an acute care nurse in the early- and mid-2000s,听Carina Katigbak, Ph.D., RN, wondered how she could help her cardiovascular patients avoid surgery in the first place. She went back to school to become an adult primary care nurse practitioner, earning a master鈥檚 degree from New York University College of Nursing in 2007 and a doctorate in 2013. Katigbak鈥檚 academic interests include immigrant and minority health, health disparities, and cardiovascular
care. As a new assistant professor, she plans to build on her dissertation research (which captured a Distinguished Doctoral Dissertation Award from NYU) on the role community health workers play in helping ethnic minorities, especially Asians, connect with health services and adopt healthier behaviors. Though she studied these lay workers鈥 impact on addressing hypertension, 鈥淚 now see they can be used for any disease progression,鈥 Katigbak said. She joins the Connell School with several years of teaching and research experience at NYU, where she most recently was an adjunct instructor and junior research scientist. Katigbak, who is coteaching an undergraduate class on health development across the life span this fall, applauds Boston College for supporting new faculty as they transition to new positions.

鈥攂y Debra Bradley Ruder, photograph by Caitlin Cunningham