Faculty Highlights
Dr. Aliya Kuerban - Professor of Nursing
Dr. Aliya Kuerban is a Professor of Nursing at Molloy University and a practicing Family Nurse Practitioner with over a decade of clinical experience, specializing in home-based care for underserved populations. With a unique academic background that bridges sociology and nursing, Dr. Kuerban leverages her training in quantitative analysis and public health to address complex health disparities, particularly among Asian immigrant communities. She is a CDC-certified National Diabetes Prevention Program Lifestyle Coach and has designed and led a structured, home-based exercise program for Asian adults aimed at improving metabolic health—an initiative funded by Molloy University’s Faculty Scholarship & Academic Advancement Grant in 2023.
Dr. Kuerban’s research focuses on immigrant health disparities, diabetes management, and access to mental health services among Asians in the United States. She is an expert in the secondary analysis of large national datasets and has published widely on topics such as the healthy migrant effect, cultural and linguistic barriers to care, and the integration of biostatistics into nursing education. Her peer-reviewed work appears in top journals including the Journal of Immigrant and Migrant Health, the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, and the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. Through both scholarship and service, Dr. Kuerban remains deeply committed to advancing health equity and developing culturally tailored interventions to improve outcomes for vulnerable populations.
Dr. Aliya Kuerban PhD, RN, FNP
Dr. Kuerban’s research focuses on immigrant health disparities, diabetes management, and access to mental health services among Asians in the United States.
Meet Kaitlin Brooks! Licensed and Certified Speech Language Pathologist
Kaitlin Brooks, Assistant Professor, is a licensed and certified speech language pathologist with over 15 years of experience working with adults and caregivers of individuals with communication and swallowing disorders. Throughout her clinical and academic career, she has worked collaboratively with healthcare professionals and experienced the positive impact that a team approach can have on the lives of our clients. This experience, combined with her previous scholarly publications, has inspired several current research projects involving interprofessional collaboration. Kaitlin is currently working with first responders both nationally and internationally to educate the public on aphasia, a language disorder that commonly occurs after a stroke. A stroke can also result in impaired swallowing, or dysphagia. She is currently working with a Molloy SONHS team to develop a badge to provide nurses with additional knowledge and skills in the area of dysphagia management. Kaitlin continues to work with multidisciplinary teams of healthcare professionals at both Mercy University and Molloy University.
Kaitlin Brooks
"I am proud of our recently funded grant to develop the Hispanic Mothers of New York Research Training Center (HiMNY-RTC). As a PI on this grant, I am working with a team of researchers (Occupational Therapy and Psychology) to develop a center to train students to conduct research in the area of maternal mental health. This will improve access to mental health services and provide evidence-based solutions for Hispanic mothers in the surrounding communities. I am proud and excited to represent Molloy while working on such an important initiative."