Keynan Hobbs
University of Pennsylvania

Keynan Hobbs is a BSN to PhD student at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, and a recent inductee into Sigma Theta Tau International. His PhD studies will begin after completion of the Psychiatric/Mental Health Advanced Practice program. After achieving a Master of Fine Art degree in sculpture, he enjoyed a career in studio art with teaching experience in art and design at San Diego State University, San Diego City College, and Fairfield University.

Keynan served with the 101st Airborne in the 1991 Gulf War. In 2002 he decided to pursue his desire to ease the burdens of fellow veterans by enrolling in nursing school to prepare for service in the VA as a mental health clinician. His commitment to addressing veterans' issues includes annual volunteer service with Stand Down. Keynan's research interests include qualitative and participatory research methods for exploring Posttraumatic Stress Disorder with combat veterans.

Previously, she managed an outpatient family practice at St. Francis Medical Center in Trenton, NJ which served primarily underinsured patients. During her graduate education at the University of Delaware, and upon completion of her degree, she established a school-based family health center, The LEAP Academy, a Rutgers University charter school located in Camden, NJ.

Sara Rivera-Riemer
University at Buffalo

Sara Rivera-Riemer was born and raised in Buffalo, New York. She attended the State University of New York at Buffalo (UB) where she received a BS in nursing in June of 2003. While pursuing her MS in child health at UB, she worked as a pediatric registered nurse at the Women and Children's Hospital of Buffalo. She completed the pediatric nurse practitioner program in June of this year and shortly thereafter secured employment with the University at Buffalo Neurosurgery, Inc. at the Women and Children's Hospital of Buffalo as a pediatric neurosurgery nurse practitioner.

During her graduate studies, Sara developed a passion for teaching while working as a teaching assistant in the undergraduate nursing program. She made the decision to pursue her doctoral degree and build on her current education and clinical skills in order to ensure that she will become an effective and successful university level faculty member. Sara currently resides in a suburb outside of Buffalo with her husband Dan.

Allison R. Webel
University of California, San Francisco

As a second-year doctoral student at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Nursing, Allison R. Webel is already an active member of the UCSF community. She is a graduate of The Ohio State University with both a BSN and a BA in sociology. She served as the vice president of the National Student Nurses Association (NSNA) and worked as a legislative intern with the Ohio House of Representatives and with AACN.

Allison spent the summer of 2004 in Swaziland, Africa working with women living with HIV/AIDS. That experience inspired Allison's current work at UCSF. She serves as the co-chair of the UCSF International Nursing Group and is a Global Health Scholar in the UCSF Global Health Sciences program. Her research will explore how peer education can help women living with HIV/AIDS better manage their symptoms. In addition to her global health work, Allison is a clinical nursing instructor at San Francisco State University School of Nursing.