Education

Degree	Institution	Major
BS	Brooklyn College	Organizational Psychology
BSN, RN	University of Connecticut	Nursing, Accelerated Master’s Entry into Nursing
MSc	University of Connecticut	Nursing, Family Nurse Practitioner Track

Post-Graduate Training

Training	Institution	Specialty
Professional Training		Clinical Training and Mentorship by Matthew Tremblay, MD, PhD, of UCSF and Barnabas Health Center
Professional Training		Clinical Training and Mentorship by Jaime Imitola, MD, FAAN
Nurse Practitioner Clinical		Clinical Training and Mentorship by Joseph Guarnaccia, MD, Medical Director of the Multiple Sclerosis Treatment Center in Derby, CT at Griffin Hospital
Nurse Practitioner Clinical		Clinical Training at the Saint Francis/Mount Sinai Mandell Center for Multiple Sclerosis, with Multiple Sclerosis Specialist Mary Bailey, MD

Awards

Name of Award/Honor	Awarding Organization
Florence Nightingale Excellence in Nursing Award	State of Connecticut
Richard Simon Excellence in Clinical Neuroscience Award	UConn Health
Vice Chair APRN Council	UConn Health
National MS Society Healthcare Provider Council	NMSS
Sigma Theta Tau Nursing Honors Society, 2011-2017	Sigma Theta Tau
Federal Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Traineeship Tuition Grant	Federal Government
Federal Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Traineeship Tuition Grant	Federal Government

Specialization in neuro-immunology, including multiple sclerosis (MS), the microbiome’s impact on MS, and health policy at a local and federal level. 

Name & Description	Category	Role	Type	Scope	Start Year	End Year
Connecticut Coalition for Healthy School Environments	Advisory Committee	Co-Chair	External	State	2025
National MS Society, Greater New England Healthcare Provider Council Member	Advisory Committee	Member	External	Local	2018
Connecticut Society of Advanced Practice Registered Nurses	Professional/Scientific Organization	member		Local	2017
American Academy of Nurse Practitioners	Professional/Scientific Organization	member		National	2016
International Organization of Multiple Sclerosis Nurses/Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers	Professional/Scientific Organization	member		International	2013

Research interestes include:

• IgA bound gut bacteria in MS and healthy controls
• Ocrelizumab associated infections
• Airborne infectious disease transmission and mitigation

 

 

 

Journal Articles

Abstracts

Case Reports

Letters

Title or Abstract	Type	Sponsor/Event	Date/Year	Location
80th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York at the Healthy Indoor Air: A Global Call to Action event	Other	The Countries of France and Montenegro	2025	New York, New York
The Use of Disease Modifying Therapies in the Treatment of Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis: A Review and Synthesis of the Evidence	Other	University of Connecticut	2017
Off-Label Prescription Drug Prescribing: The Argument for Senate Bill 418 Authors: Dr. Joseph Guarnaccia MD, Marina Creed APRN, Rasa Guarnaccia BA. This position paper was drafted and used successfully to support Senate Bill 418, which prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage of off-label prescription drugs provided there is a peer-reviewed journal article to support its use. Updated CT Law https://www.cga.ct.gov/2015/fc/2015SB-00418-R000248-FC.htm	Other	Connecticut General Assembly	2015