Velda Gonzalez

Velda J. González-Mercado, Ph.D, MSN, 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 the patient-reported outcomes experience among her fellow islander Puerto Rican population with chronic conditions focused on symptom expression, functional status, and overall well-being with the goal of developing interventions to improve treatment outcomes for both patients and caregivers.

Prof. González-Mercado recently completed an NIH National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) K23 (K23NR020039) that resulted in the initial evidence that the differential expression of mTOR pathway and activity-related genes are associated with fatigue intensity which led to her current focus on the significance of the interplay of social determinants of health risk factors and biological factors in understanding cancer-related symptoms among diverse urban cancer populations. Her post-doctorate was supported by an NINR F32 (F32NR016618; Dr. Wendy Henderson, PhD, MSN, CRNP, FAAN, consultant) and the American Nurses Foundation, to gather 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 by the Oncology Nursing Society 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.