Ms. Avila is completing her PhD at the University of San Diego. Ms. Avila has earned two masters which reflect two additional areas of expertise, that is, as a nurse practitioner in Women’s Health and as a nurse administrator in Public Health. At one point in her varied nursing career, Ms. Avila was the nursing director for the LA County Public Health Dept.  She directed the largest public health nursing jurisdiction in the nation supervising over 850 public health nurses and staff.  Ms. Avila’s publications focus on public health nursing.  As a nurse educator Ms. Avila has developed curricula for all levels of nursing education programs, i.e. from undergraduate to graduate levels.. Currently, Ms. Avila’s passion for nursing is directed toward her doctoral studies at the University of San Diego where her interest is public health nursing and its relation to social justice. As a life-long student, she strives to facilitate and support students’ energies toward their educational goals through consistent mentorship. We are excited to have Ms. Avila join us with her varied background.  She will lead our community health specialty area but also contribute to nursing management and women’s health.

Dr. Weathers received her PhD from the University of San Diego in 2007. She then completed a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Connecticut in the Department of Anthropology and the Center for Health, Intervention and Prevention. She is a Family Nurse Practitioner and a Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. As a nurse researcher her scholarship focus is on disparities in HIV/STD, and sexual and reproductive health of marginalized groups. Recently she received funding for her work on HIV among incarcerated high-risk gay, bisexual and transgender persons. This project is being conducted in collaboration with the Men's Central Jail in Los Angeles and the Center for Health Justice, a community based organization. Currently she is seeking NIH funding for her work with HIV/STD. Dr. Weathers describes her research goal as making a significant contribution to relieving health disparities among underserved populations through collaborative, interdisciplinary endeavors that involve community participation. Her academic goals include being a master educator and she is a Certified Nurse Educator. Dr. Weathers has taught in the areas of psychiatric mental health and physical assessment. She has experience with curriculum development, simulation activities and on-line teaching. We are so happy to have Dr. Weathers join us.  She will be a contributor to our psychiatric mental health courses, our nurse practitioner courses and our research core.

Dr. Scemons received her PhD in nursing from Azusa Pacific University. Dr. Scemons comes to us from the service arena, Kaiser Permanente, Panorama City where she has served as both a Family Nurse Practitioner and a Clinical Specialist.  In that system she served as an expert in Wound, Ostomy and Incontinence nursing. Dr. Scemons has been described as a mentor, a leader and natural educator. Dr. Scemons is a self described humorist. Dr. Scemons has an extensive and varied background which also includes psychiatric nursing and High Risk Home Health Nursing.  Recently, Dr. Scemons published a book on Nurse to Nurse Wound Care through McGraw Hill. She is working on a book on incontinence. Dr. Scemons began her experience with CSULA by teaching as a lecturer to undergraduates and to our nurse practitioner students one year ago. We welcome Dr. Scemons as part of our tenure track faculty. She will be one of our Nurse Practitioner faculty and will be the Option Coordinator for the FNP students.