Assistant and Program Directors

Cindy Beckett, PhD, RNC-OB, LCCE, LSS-BB, CHRC, is assistant professor of clinical practice at The Ohio State University College of Nursing, assistant director of the Academic Core and program director of the EBP Certificate, a transdisciplinary value-based certificate in evidence-based practice. Beckett has been a nurse for over 40 years. During that time, she has worked in many roles from staff nurse, charge nurse, manager, director, educator, faculty and researcher. Her research focus has involved rural and under-served communities and populations using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies: Description of Neonatal Outcomes in Substance Abusing Women; Navajo Children and Families Living with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)/Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE); Collaborative Communication: Integrating SBAR to Improve Quality/Patient Safety Outcomes; The Effects of Massage Therapy on Pain Management in the Acute Care Setting; Comparison of Apnea Detection by Pulse Oximetry Versus Capnography; Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: A Native American Journey to Prevention; Reduction of Hospital Readmissions for Patients with Previously Identified Malnutrition; Flinn Foundation Grant (Paired studies): 1-Precision Population Health Management: Integrated Paired Proposals for Personalized Transitional Medicine for Native American Populations in Northern Arizona, 2-Precision Population Health Management: Integrated Paired Proposals for Personalized Transitional Medicine for Hispanic and Anglo Populations in Northern Arizona, and Cognitive-Communication Screening and Early Rehabilitation for Adults with mild Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Dr. Beckett has been leading, mentoring and teaching evidence-base practice methodologies for over 16 years in clinical and academic settings.

Linda Connor, PhD, RN, CPN, is assistant professor of clinical practice at The Ohio State University College of Nursing and program director at the Fuld Institute for EBP. She graduated from the University of Massachusetts Boston in May 2017, earning a nursing PhD with a focus in health policy. She has over 40 years of acute care experience in both pediatric and adult critical care, emergency room trauma and perioperative nursing. Prior to moving to Columbus, Ohio, Connor was a nurse at Boston Children's Hospital in the Perioperative Program where she mentored staff nurses in evidenced-based practice (EBP), professional advancement and performed pre-anesthesia chart reviews for day-surgery patients. Connor serves as a facilitator for the Fuld Institute for EBP immersions.   

Connor is a member of the American Nurses Association (ANA), Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI), Midwest Nursing Research Society and the Society of Pediatric Nursing (SPN). Her previous areas of research include pediatric sedation, quality care and family-centered care. For the past 18 years, she has educated staff nurses and student nurses about the EBP process. More recently, Connor and a colleague developed an instrument for measuring nurses’ knowledge, values and implementation of EBP. The results of this work have been published in the Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 2016, and Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing, 2017. This instrument was included in her dissertation for further psychometric testing in association with health policies. Her current goal is to expand her research in the areas of EBP and policy.

Penelope F. Gorsuch, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FACHE, USAF Col (ret), is assistant professor of clinical practice, The Ohio State University College of Nursing, and assistant director of the Clinical Core, Fuld Institute for EBP. Gorsuch is a retired colonel from the United States Air Force (USAF) with over 28 years of service in numerous clinical and leadership positions. She has also served as the associate director of Patient Care Services/nurse executive for the Dayton Veteran’s Administration (VA) Medical Center in Ohio. The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) has recognized Gorsuch as a content expert in evidence-based practice (EBP) and she has earned the designation of Evidence-based Practice Certificate Holder from the Accreditation Board for Specialty Nursing Certification. From 2014-2017, she was adjunct faculty for Wright State University College of Nursing and served on their Academic and Strategic Planning Board. In 2018, Gorsuch achieved Fellow status by attaining her FACHE credential through the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Molly McNett, PhD, RN, CNRN, FNCS, FAAN, is professor of clinical nursing at The Ohio State University College of Nursing and assistant director of the Implementation Science Core, Fuld Institute for EBP. McNett’s research centers on care of critically ill patients after neurological injury. In her work, she has led funded, multi-site, national trials and routinely participates in international trials with diverse research teams. She is widely published in peer-reviewed journals, has authored several evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and presents nationally on research and evidence-based care for patients after devastating neurological injuries. 

Dónal P. O’Mathúna, PhD, MA, BSc (Pharm), is associate professor at The Ohio State University College of Nursing; associate professor at the School of Nursing & Human Sciences at Dublin City University, Ireland; and Cochrane Affiliate program director at the Fuld Institute for EBP. His degrees are in pharmacy and ethics, with research interests focused on both evidence-based practice (EBP) and healthcare ethics. His EBP activities have focused on systematic reviews with the Cochrane Collaboration and he was director of Cochrane Ireland from 2014 to 2017. O’Mathúna has conducted systematic review training in Ireland, the UK and the USA, and is co-author on a number of systematic reviews in the Cochrane Library. His ethics research has focused on disasters and humanitarian crises, most recently as co-editor of Disasters: Core Concepts and Ethical Issues (Springer, 2018). O’Mathúna is the principal investigator on funded research projects examining research ethics in the context of disasters and humanitarian crises. He has contributed to ethics initiatives and guidelines with the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the UN agency for disaster risk reduction (UNISDR). As the director of a new virtual Center for Disaster & Humanitarian Ethics, he is developing practical tools and support strategies to facilitate ethical reflection within evidence-generation activities in humanitarian and disaster settings. He has spoken and published widely, including peer-reviewed articles in The Lancet, Bioethics, BMC Medical Ethics, Journal of Evidence-Based Medicine, and Worldviews on Evidence-based Nursing.

Inga Zadvinskis, PhD, RN, is assistant director of the Community Core at the Fuld Institute for EBP. Zadvinskis earned her PhD in Nursing Science from The Ohio State University after receiving her MSN, Nurse Practitioner with a focus on adult health, primary care from Wayne State University and BSN from Michigan State. Her nursing career began with serving patients in the surgical step-down and surgical ICU settings. Zadvinskis has worked as a nurse practitioner in primary care and pre-admission testing. In her clinical educator role, she promoted evidence-based practice and the Magnet™ accreditation process. Zadvinskis has mentored teams of interprofessional staff conducting evidence-based practice projects and nursing research in hospital settings. Her dissertation work explored contributing factors to patient safety and adverse events in the hospital setting. She has numerous publications related to patient safety, safe patient handling and mobility, and health information technology. Zadvinskis is delighted to be part of the Fuld Institute for EBP interprofessional team that promotes evidence-based interventions to improve health and quality outcomes.