Board of Advisors

Dean’s Board of Advisors

The Dean’s Board of Advisors of Georgetown University Berkley School of Nursing (BSON) provides high-level strategic guidance to the Dean and the school’s leadership team to achieve the school’s goals for national prominence in teaching, service, and research. As ambassadors for BSON, the Board of Advisors seek to advance the school’s mission, strategic priorities, and trajectory as well as promote the school to potential and current students, employers, legislative leaders, governmental agencies, industry, and private foundations.

Members

Laura Babala

Ridgefield, CT

Laura has worked in the health care industry for over 25 years spanning work in health care policy, public health, disease management, quality improvement, strategic planning and marketing, and direct care. She has experience working in community mental health, urban public health, managed care, start-up entrepreneurial ventures, and the pharmaceutical industry. She frequently speaks about trauma and trauma-informed care to the legal industry, schools and communities as well as hosting training and retreats on healing trauma through embodiment for professionals as well as individuals who have experienced trauma. Laura has taught yoga at studios, in private sessions and through Liberation Prison Yoga. She serves on the Trauma Research Foundation Board of Directors. Laura considers herself a lifelong learner who started by earning a BA in Political Science and Russian from Michigan State University; a Master of Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania; and a postgraduate certificate focused on attachment and advanced clinical skills from New York University.

Kerin Torpey Bashaw (NHS’87)

Napa, CA

Kerin is the senior vice president of the Department of Patient Safety and Risk Management for The Doctor’s Company, the nation’s largest physician-owned medical malpractice insurer, where she is responsible for setting strategy across the nation for a team of nearly 50 patient safety experts. She has more than 25 years of experience in executive positions at top healthcare systems, including Verity Health System, Alameda Health System, Stanford Cancer Center, Sanford Health Care, and Kaiser Permanente. She received her MPH from Yale. While at Georgetown, she was involved with Army Nursing and received an ROTC full academic scholarship. She resides in California with her husband Matthew.

Fran Buckley (NHS’78)

Raleigh, NC

Fran and her husband, Tim, have a long history as Georgetown volunteers and Fran is a long-time board member. She has also served on the University’s Board of Regents from 2001 – 2007 and was reappointed to the Regents in 2011. Fran holds an MBA from Loyola University in Chicago and worked at Arthur Andersen before becoming a homemaker. She has worked as a healthcare consultant and a labor and delivery nurse. Most recently, she serves as a managing member of Joyce Labs, Inc. which manufactures Dry+Goods, an athletic product utilized in MLB clubhouses and by more than 10 NFL training camps. Fran supports the Health Care & Management Policy Fund. She received the John Carroll Award in 2018. In addition to Anne (NHS’08) and Christina (NHS’12), who both graduated with degrees in Health Care and Management Policy, she has two sons, Tim Jr. and Kevin.

Mary Ellen Conway (NHS’81)

Bethesda, MD

Mary Ellen Conway is the President of Capital Healthcare Group, LLC (CHG). Ms. Conway is a nurse with over 35 years of expertise in management throughout the healthcare continuum from acute care to alternate site and post acute. She is known for her special expertise in home health, hospice and home medical equipment as well as physician practice management. She has been a faculty member of both Georgetown University and Catholic University’s Schools of Nursing. She is a nationally recognized health care speaker and author. Her clients range from small, proprietary home health and medical equipment businesses, to large, integrated health care delivery systems. Ms. Conway has been qualified as a legal expert in home health and routinely provides expert testimony for defendants in home health cases. Most recently, she was the Chief Compliance Officer for a national medical supplies provider. While her consulting practice has her traveling nationwide, she continues to enjoy Georgetown basketball and attends as many games as her schedule allows. Her husband is a dentist who graduated from Georgetown with a bachelor’s in biology in 1980. She has three grown children and three Hoya siblings.

Jennifer Couvillon (NHS’96, MSN’97)

New Orleans, LA

Dr. Couvillon is currently the president of Nursing Career Care, LLC which invented the dynamic “Nursing Career Care Plan,” a tool designed to support the novice to expert nurse with career progression. Her most recent academic appointment was National Director of Partnerships for Chamberlain University. She served as Campus President in Louisiana and opened Chamberlain University’s New Orleans Ochsner Health in 2017 and Louisiana Children’s Medical Center campus in 2021. The innovative academic-hospital partnership model embedded the college of nursing in major health systems to help address the nursing shortage through hands-on opportunities. She is a critical care nurse and started her career in the cardiac intensive care unit at Georgetown University Hospital. She received her bachelor’s in nursing with a concentration in critical care nursing from Georgetown in 1996 and her master’s degree with a family nurse practitioner specialty in 1997. In 2002, Dr. Couvillon earned a doctor of philosophy degree in nursing education from Duquesne University. She has served as president of Sigma Theta Tau International, Epsilon Nu Chapter, the American Nurses Association New Orleans District Nursing Association and is board member of the LA State Board of Nursing and the NLN CNEA Commission.

Patricia DuCharme (NHS’87, P’19, P’23)

Summit, NJ

Dr. Patricia A. DuCharme, DNP, RN, ANP-BC, is a registered nurse and board-certified nurse practitioner with extensive leadership experience in global health, dedicated to advancing nursing education and professional development to strengthen health systems worldwide. Patricia earned her BSN from Georgetown University, her MSN from Boston College, and her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from Yale University. She worked for 12 years as a nurse practitioner with the U.S. Department of State in the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong and the U.S. Embassy in Singapore. Upon returning to the United States, Patricia served for nine years as director of nursing at RAD-AID International, where she advanced nursing education, healthcare policy, and interprofessional clinical training across more than 10 low- and middle-income countries. Prior to living overseas, she held senior corporate health leadership roles with Citibank and Revlon in New York City. Currently, Dr. DuCharme supports the advancement of women’s health and the early detection of breast cancer for underserved populations globally through her leadership roles with Zonta International and Curing Women’s Cancer, and is a frequent speaker and published author in global health nursing. Patricia currently resides in New Jersey with her husband, Thomas, and has two grown children, Andrew (MSB’19) and Erin (CAS’23).

Patrick Eronini (NHS’12)

Sunnyvale, CA

Patrick Eronini is a product leader at Apple, where he builds consumer health products across hardware platforms and emerging technologies. He and his teams transform health opportunities and clinical insights into personal tools and intelligent features through close collaboration with clinicians, designers, engineers and scientists. Before joining Apple, he began his product career at Salesforce and First Databank. He holds a BSN from Georgetown University, an MS from Northwestern University, and an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley Haas School of Business. The son of two nurses, Patrick began his own healthcare journey as a Registered Nurse (RN) in the Emergency Department. Those clinical experiences continue to inspire his leadership philosophy as well as his mission of making innovative products that equip people to live healthier lives.

Shavini Fernando (G’18)

Shavini Fernando is the founder and CEO of OxiWear, a health technology company developing an ear-worn device for continuous oxygen monitoring and low-oxygen alerts. Fernando began developing the technology while a graduate student at Georgetown University, inspired by her own experience living with severe pulmonary hypertension. She founded OxiWear in 2019, and the device received FDA clearance as a prescription medical device in 2024. Originally from Sri Lanka, Fernando has a background in web and software development, video games and virtual reality. While at Georgetown, she also worked with the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (now Graduate Studies) in web development and marketing roles. Fernando earned a master’s degree in Communication, Culture, and Technology from Georgetown University, an MBA from Edith Cowan University and a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Portsmouth.

Eileen Brennan Ferrell (NHS’75, MS’83)

Washington, DC

Eileen is co-chair of the Berkley School of Nursing Advisory Board. She retired in February 2023 as the Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital. She has been the CNO here for ten years. After completing her nursing degree at Georgetown in 1975, Eileen was awarded a Robert Wood Johnson scholarship to pursue a master’s at Georgetown. During her leadership MedStar Georgetown University Hospital has achieved Magnet Recognition four times: 2004, 2008, 2013 and 2018. She was formerly the Director of Nurse Recruitment and Retention at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital. She is actively involved in issues surrounding the shortage of nurses nationwide. Eileen is a member of Sigma Theta Tau, AONE, and other community organizations. She lives in Georgetown, DC, and her daughter Kate has also been a nurse at Georgetown University Hospital.

Stacey Husted (NHS’90)

Bronx, NY

Stacey is a nurse with over 30 years experience in pediatric nursing. She started her clinical career in the hospital working at a level 3 NICU unit and eventually made her way to pediatric outpatient care where she was not only a staff nurse in a very busy pediatric practice but managed the five physician practice with two office locations. She has since moved on to School Nursing where she is a lower school nurse for pre-k through 5th grade students at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in the Bronx, NY. Her breadth of work includes clinical care as well as social justice advocacy as she facilitated race based affinity group discussions with students in the classroom.

Danielle McCamey (MS’11, DNP’17)

Baltimore, MD

Dr. McCamey currently serves as the Assistant Dean for Clinical Practice & Relationships & Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and currently practices as an Acute Care NP in Surgical Critical Care. She received her BSN from UVA, and both her MS in Acute Care Advanced Practice and Doctor of Nursing Practice from Georgetown University. Her specialties range from perianesthesia to palliative, and critical care. She has served as Adjunct Faculty for Georgetown University and is a Fellow in the American College of CHEST Physicians. Dr. McCamey founded DNPs of Color, a nonprofit whose mission is “to serve Doctors of Nursing Practice of Color through networking, mentorship and advocacy to increase diversity in doctoral studies, clinical practice and leadership.” Dr. McCamey continues to be a member of many organizations, such as the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and American College of CHEST Physicians.

Andrea Morseburg (NHS’77)

Altadena, CA

Andrea currently serves as the Senior Consultant for the Western Region of Langley Innovations, a full-service strategic fundraising consulting firm based in Maryland. She graduated from Georgetown University with a Bachelor’s in Nursing in 1977 to pursue a career as a pediatric infectious disease specialty nurse at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center caring for patients with HIV/AIDS. She continued her career as administrator of one of the largest orthopedic practices in Pasadena, Risser Orthopedic Group. She then began a career in fundraising, including work as Chief Development Officer at Mattel Children’s Hospital-UCLA, Director of Principal & Planned Giving at Good Samaritan Hospital, Assistant Vice President-Western Region at National Jewish Health, and Major Gifts Officer at Claremont McKenna and Pomona Colleges working closely with both Presidents with campaigns ranging from $250 million-4 billion. She has extensive experience in leadership transitions, strategy and coaching as well as campaign feasibility studies.

Kathy Mucci (NHS’85)

Washington, DC

Kathy is the Assistant Vice President of Perioperative Services at Medstar Georgetown University Hospital. Mucci received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Georgetown University in 1985. She then went on to start her clinical career in the Cardiac OR at University of Maryland Medical Center. Mucci began a leadership career at Medstar Union Memorial Hospital when they opened their cardiac surgery program. She spent 18 years in Perioperative Leadership at MUMH and obtained a Master in Business Administration from the University of Baltimore. Mucci moved into executive leadership roles for Perioperative Services at both Mercy Medical Center and Sinai Hospital of Baltimore. Recently Mucci has returned to Medstar Health. In her current role, she chairs the system Perioperative Leadership Committee and is a member of the Executive Leadership team at MGUH. Mucci has a Nurse Executive- Advanced certification through ANCC.

Annmarie Muñana (NHS’86, MS’15)

Chicago, IL

Annemarie has served in many capacities at her current employer, Chamberlain University. She began as the manager of the Simulation Center facility, became a Dean of Faculty and eventually transitioned to her current position, Director, Accreditation and Professional Regulation. After graduating from Georgetown with a Bachelor’s in Nursing in 1986, she began her practice at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and finished there with a 15-year tenure as a leader and research clinician in HIV/AIDS. Annmarie concurrently earned her law degree from Loyola University Chicago School of Law. Previous career experiences include 6 years as director of research compliance at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and served as a nurse consultant at Old Irving Park Community Clinic, a free primary care clinic for the indigent. During this time, she returned to Georgetown and earned her Master of Nursing in nursing education. In 2021 she earned a Doctor of Nursing Practice in executive leadership at University of San Francisco. Recently, Annmarie was appointed to the American Nurses’ Association Center for Ethics and Human Rights Advisory Board.

Liz McGeady O’Brien (NHS’83)

Greenwich, CT

Liz served on the NHS Board 2008-2021. She has also been an AAP interviewer. After graduating from Georgetown in 1983, she earned her master’s degree in public administration from New York University in 1986. She initially specialized in neonatal intensive care, then continued her practice as a per diem nurse at Greenwich Hospital. She is married to Christopher O’Brien, who also served on the NHS Board in the past. Christopher is the President and Founder of O’Brien Capital Advisors, Inc., a financial services company. He also serves as the Founder and Partner of Endurance Partners, LLC., a long-term private equity firm. Chris also serves as the Chair of the Bucknell University Board of Trustees and was invested as a Knight of The Sovereign Military Order of Malta in 2017. Liz’s sister, Leona Yin, is also an NHS alumna from the class of 1985. Liz and Chris have two boys, Connor and Rory.

Frances “Francie” Penny Capuano (NHS’89)

Old Saybrook, CT

Dr. Penny is the Director of the Doctorate in Education in Nursing Education program and an Associate Professor at Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU). She has been at SCSU since 2016. She also continues to hold the position of adjunct professor at Georgetown University, which she began in 2020. After her graduation from Georgetown with a Bachelor’s in nursing in 1989, Dr. Penny received her Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University in 1994. She completed her PhD at University of Connecticut where she was honored as a Jonas Nurse Leader Scholar and served there as an adjunct professor through 2016. In 2014, Dr. Penny was inducted into Sigma Theta Tau. Her clinical experience has focused on pediatrics, pediatric ICU, homecare, public health, maternal child health and lactation as an IBCLC. In addition to her clinical experience she has worked in health care consulting in Washington, DC as well as management in healthcare non-profits. Her research interests include lactation and breastfeeding as well as health disparities.

Maria Roche (NHS’90, MSN’90)

Boston, MA

Maria is Vice President for Clinical Development at Blueprint Medicines, a biotech corporation based in Massachusetts. She graduated from GU NHS in 1990 with a dual degree – a BSN and an MSN. Maria’s career has had a large focus on oncology research, clinical drug development for pharma organizations, and biotechnology research. Maria started off her career working as a pediatric NP before transitioning to Gyn-Onc research and as an oncology NP, and eventually began her career with pharmaceutical companies.

Perfecto Sanchez

New York, NY

Perfecto is the co-founder of Equity Quotient, the first AI-powered data and analytics platform focused on helping companies measure and manage their stakeholder portfolios to drive new growth, proactively manage risk, and automate compliance reporting. He is a decorated Iraq War Veteran, previously earning the Bronze Star and Army Commendation Medal for Valor before becoming an award-winning marketer and being inducted into the Advertising Hall of Achievement in 2023. He also serves on the Board of Tech Target (TTGT) and Lifeway Foods (LWAY), both publicly traded companies, as well as the Bob Woodruff Foundation, and The Community Builders Fund NYC. He received his B.S. in Math and Science from West Point in 2005.

Daria Berizzi Shumaker (NHS’78, P’12)

Cary, NC

Daria is Lead, Clinical Education Services at SiTEL of MedStar Health. After completing her BSN at Georgetown, she received her MSN from the Catholic University of America. She and her husband, Dennis, have hosted alumni events at their home. Their daughter, Catherine (NHS’12), is a pediatric nurse practitioner in North Carolina.

Michelle Stephens (NHS’06)

San Francisco, CA

Dr. Michelle Stephens, PhD, CPNP, RN, is cofounder and chief nursing officer of Oath Care. Her experiences as a pediatric clinician, early childhood stress scientist, and mom deeply inform how she leads and builds in healthcare technology. Michelle earned her nursing degree from Georgetown University and began her career at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) in their pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). She then took the opportunity to be a travel nurse at the University of Maryland Medical Center’s PICU. She continued working there per diem while completing her master’s degree as a pediatric nurse practitioner (PNP) at The Johns Hopkins University. She then worked at Pediatric Associates of Alexandria and taught pediatrics at Georgetown University. Aside from her continuing clinical work, as a Robert Wood Johnson Future of Nursing Scholar at UCSF, she investigated how stress affects a young child’s autonomic nervous system (ANS). She cut her postdoc short and left academia altogether to fully pursue building a tech startup to reimagine the way we deliver maternal and child health care.