Recent Graduates
The Pitt Nursing PhD Program has 20 students who have graduated since 2020. Below are profiles for some of our students.
Myeong-ga Cho, PhD, RN
Myeong-ga Cho, PhD, RN, is a postdoctoral research scientist at the Columbia Aging Center. Her research examines how environmental and behavioral conditions shape biological aging and health across the life course. Her work integrates social epidemiology, epigenetics, and intervention research to investigate socioeconomic disparities in aging-related outcomes.
Dr. Cho earned her PhD in Nursing from the University of Pittsburgh, where her dissertation examined biological and socioeconomic factors associated with cognitive responses to aerobic exercise among postmenopausal women with breast cancer. Her research has focused on epigenetic aging, DNA methylation, genetic variation, and aging-related molecular pathways involving BDNF, APP, and KLOTHO.
At Columbia, she is expanding this work to investigate how social policies and socioeconomic exposures influence biological aging and related outcomes. Her long-term goal is to develop an independent program of research that identifies modifiable social and biological mechanisms of healthy aging and informs interventions and policies designed to reduce aging-related health disparities.
Areas of Study: Cognitive decline, Accelerated aging, Biobehavioral mechanisms, Epigenetic approach
Education:
PhD, University of Pittsburgh, 2026
MSN, Korea University, 2022
BSN, Korea University, 2017
Advisors: Dr. Catherine Bender and Dr. Yvette Conley
Contact: myc23@pitt.edu