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Joseph Kiswii, DNP, MPH, MBChB, FNP-BC – (VAQS 2026-2028)
Joseph Kiswii, DNP, is a foreign-trained physician and doctorally prepared family nurse practitioner with more than 15 years of experience in clinical care, healthcare leadership, and quality improvement. He has worked with patients with kidney disease for over a decade in multiple capacities, including acute and outpatient dialysis, clinical management, care coordination, and national-level quality improvement initiatives focused on patients with end-stage kidney disease. His research interests center on improving kidney disease outcomes and slowing chronic kidney disease progression through evidence-based medical therapies, patient education, health literacy, behavioral and lifestyle interventions, care coordination, and health-system quality improvement strategies. Through the VA Quality Scholars Fellowship, he hopes to advance patient-centered, equitable, and sustainable approaches to kidney care.
Ruby Lopez-Flores, MD – (VAQS 2026-2028)
Ruby Lopez-Flores, MD is a general surgery resident at Duke University Medical Center. She is originally from Las Vegas, Nevada and completed an accelerated degree BS-MD program at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine. Her research interests involve improving outcomes and access to care for patients with thoracic oncologic pathologies. Her primary career goal is to become a surgeon scientist with a clinical practice in cardiothoracic surgery.
Rebekah Harris, PhD, DPT – (VAQS 2026-2028)
Rebekah (Becky) Harris is a physical therapist and epidemiologist with the VA Quality Scholars program. She earned both her Doctorate in Physical Therapy from the School of Rehabilitation Sciences and her PhD in Epidemiology from the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh. Her clinical expertise is in geriatrics and her research interests focus on improving function and mobility in aging adults as well as prevention and management of chronic conditions through healthy lifestyle behaviors.
Michela Fabricius, MD – (VAQS 2025-2027)
Michela Fabricius, MD is a general surgery resident at Duke University Medical Center. Originally from the greater Los Angeles area, she earned her MD at the University of Missouri before starting surgical residency in North Carolina at Duke. She is an emerging surgeon scientist dedicated to mitigating societal injustices through effective and rigorous scientific methods. Her research interest involves understanding & improving liver cancer diagnosis, screening, treatment and outcomes for veterans through mixed methods approaches. Upon completion of this two year fellowship, she will complete the remaining three clinical years of her surgical residency prior to fellowship. Her primary career goal is to become a surgeon scientist with a clinical practice in hepato-pancreato-biliary surgery and a research practice dedicated to addressing oncologic health disparities.
Katie Brooks, PhD, DNP – (VAQS 2025-2027)
Katherine (Katie) Brooks is a nurse scientist and post-doctoral fellow with the VA Quality Scholars program. She earned her Adult-Gero Primary Care NP degree from Vanderbilt University and both her DNP and PhD from Duke University School of Nursing. Her clinical expertise is in geriatrics and her research interests focus on improving the care delivery and care outcomes of older adults with a focus on pressure injury risk identification and prevention.
Katlin Harker, DPT VAQS 2024-2026
Katlin Harker, DPT is a pelvic health physical therapist. She completed her Doctor of Physical Therapy at Duke University and prior to the VAQS fellowship enjoyed practicing in central NC with particular interest in the treatment of pelvic pain conditions.
Dr. Harker’s research goals are to better understand the impacts of rurality, socioeconomic status, and health literacy on health care utilization and patient perceptions of shared decision-making within the VAHCS.
Health Services Research Fellows (sponsored by the Office of Academic Affairs):
Lisa Carnago, PhD – (HSR, 2026-2028)
Dr. Carnago is a nurse scientist, family nurse practitioner, and postdoctoral fellow in the VA Health Systems Research Fellowship. She earned her PhD from Duke University School of Nursing and has practiced in rheumatology at Duke University for the past decade, where she also serves as Vice Chief of Advanced Practice for the Division of Rheumatology and Immunology. Her clinical expertise includes complex autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, including uveitis, with particular interests in multidisciplinary care models, advanced practice provider integration, clinical registries, and workforce development.
Dr. Carnago's research focuses on improving pain care for individuals with acute and chronic pain and supporting evidence-based opioid prescribing practices through qualitative and mixed methods research, implementation science, and quality improvement approaches. Her current work examines opioid-related transitions across clinical settings and seeks to develop interventions that improve safe, effective, and patient-centered pain management while reducing stigma and barriers to care. She also has research interests in workforce innovation, team-based care models, measure development, and patient-reported outcomes in rheumatic and inflammatory diseases.
Natalie Fullenkamp, PhD, MA – (OAA 2024-2026) (she/her)
Dr. Fullenkamp is a medical sociologist with a PhD in Sociology and an MA in Communication. Her research has considered organizational factors that influence pain standards and measurement; methodological considerations for novel data sources — including popular means of disseminating patient experience data; and perceptions of vaccine hesitancy. She is interested in helping improve patient-provider communication and pain management, particularly among older Veterans.
National Clinician Scholars Program Fellows:
Shewit Jaynes, PhD, MSPH, RN - (2025-2027)
Shewit Jaynes is a nurse scientist in the National Clinician Scholars Program (NCSP) with a clinical background in medical-surgical and postpartum nursing. She earned her Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH) in Health Policy and Management from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and completed her PhD at Duke University School of Nursing. Her dissertation research, supported by an F31 predoctoral fellowship from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), investigated the relationships between gendered racism, resilience, and high-risk pregnancy among Black women, using national longitudinal data.
Dr. Jaynes leverages her lived experience as a Black woman, mother, clinical experience caring for postpartum individuals, and interdisciplinary training in nursing, public health, and policy to inform her passion and unique perspective on addressing maternal health inequities. Dr. Jaynes is dedicated to (1) critically examining social determinants of health and structural inequality and (2) leveraging a community-engaged approach to design interventions and inform policy solutions to address racialized maternal health inequities.
