Velda Gonzalez

Velda J. González-Mercado, Ph.D, MSN, RN, is an assistant professor at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing. Her research focuses on symptom science and symptom management, particularly in relation to addressing the needs of the GI/GU cancer population. Her research uses innovative patient-centered phenotyping and “omic” approaches (such as microbiomics, metabolomics, and genomics) to understand the bio-behavioral underpinnings of cancer-related symptoms experienced by GI/GU cancer patients. Her research also examines ethnic differences in cancer-related symptoms, with the goal of developing symptom management interventions to improve treatment outcomes of Latinx and other minority patients receiving cancer therapies.

In her post-doctoral fellowship, González-Mercado received funding for her research from the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) (F32NR016618; Dr. Wendy Henderson, PhD, MSN, CRNP, FAAN, consultant) and the American Nurses Foundation, to gather initial evidence of the relationship among chemo-radiation, dysbiosis, and fatigue in the rectal cancer population. Her dissertation,  “Gene Expression and Fatigue in Puerto Rican Men Receiving Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer,” was supported and conducted intramurally at the NINR, Division of Intramural Research, under the mentorship of Leorey Saligan, PhD, RN, CRNP, FAAN.

Prior to joining NYU, González-Mercado was a postdoctoral scholar at the University of South Florida College of Nursing. She also worked as a nursing instructor at the University of Puerto Rico-Medical Sciences Campus School of Nursing; a research coordinator at the University of Puerto Rico Cancer Center; and a heart transplant coordinator at the Cardiovascular Center of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean.

González-Mercado completed a PhD at the University of Kansas School of Nursing; an MS in nursing at the University of Florida College of Nursing; and a BS in nursing at the University of Puerto Rico Nursing School of the Medical Sciences Campus.