Teresa A. Graziano (they/them/theirs)

Teresa Graziano on Sept. 12, 2023. (Sean Flynn/UConn Photo)

About Me

I am a queer, nonbinary, intersex, white, antiracist, working-class abolitionist who is a registered nurse, Ph.D. candidate, budding nurse scientist, and critical thinker. My research interests include reconceptualizing sex and gender in nursing practice/research, exploring the effects of sex and gender on health, critical theory, “vulnerable” (targeted) populations, and social justice in nursing praxis. Philosophically, I posit how nursing power is used, and at times abused, ultimately affecting patient and population care. This work is informed by Critical Theory, antiracist, queer, disability justice, and decolonization frameworks.

Education Ph.D. Candidate, Nursing, University of Connecticut (Expected completion May 2024)

M.S. Nursing, University of Connecticut (2023)

Pain Management Graduate Certificate, University of Connecticut (2023)

Health Professions Education Graduate Certificate, University of Connecticut (2022)

B.S. Nursing, University of Rhode Island (2019)

  • Minor: Thanatology (the study of death, grief, and bereavement)
Research Interests RESEARCH: Broadly, I am interested in the effects of gender identity as a psychosocial variable and sex as a biological variable on noted differences in health and pain. As a nonbinary individual, I am acutely aware that the transgender and gender diverse population is woefully understudied, yet they experience higher prevalence of chronic pain and other health conditions. I seek to rectify this problem to ultimately transform the experiences of transgender and gender diverse people who are seeking pain management in healthcare settings. I am particularly interested in using the Society to Cells framework to understand how social determinants of health and discrimination influences these differences in both physical and psychological conditions.

TEACHING: I practice critical and engaged pedagogy in the classroom to instill my dedication to teaching the future of the nursing profession (students). By practicing critical and engaged pedagogy, my students will enter the profession determined to rectify health disparities and practice social justice through the provision of nursing care. My students are encouraged to imagine a radical future for nursing, and act it out.

Representative Publications Graziano T. A. (2023). Meta-ethnography on Chest Dysphoria and Liberating Solutions for Transmasculine Individuals. Journal of obstetric, gynecologic, and neonatal nursing : JOGNN, S0884-2175(23)00171-5. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jogn.2023.05.111

Fitzgerald, H.*, Graziano, T.*, Ortiz, J.**, Owen, C. K., & Shook, N. (2023). Internalized phobia, community connectedness, and outness: Mental health risk and protective factors as predictors of anxiety and depression in LGBTQ individuals. Under review.

Graziano, T. A., Shook, N. J. “Cumulative Effects of Intersectionality on Depression and Anxiety Among Sexual and Gender Minorities”

Graziano, T. A. “Pain is Gendered: A systematic review with meta-analysis of pain differences across genders.” (Dissertation Study 1)

Graziano, T. A. “A structural equation of gender and sex differences in pain sensitivity from a gender-diverse sample.” (Dissertation Study 2)

Graziano, T. A., Brown, K.** “A Comparison of Pain Reporting by Cisgender, Transgender, and Nonbinary Patients in Relation to Clinician’s Sex.”

Yang, GS., Li, A., Graziano, T. A., Byon, H. D., Shook, N., Starkweather, A., & Cong, X. “Association of Social Determinants of Health and COVID-19-related Behaviors with Cervical Cancer Screening in Hispanic Women Using the NIH All of Us Research Program”

Yang, GS., Hedge,U., Meegan, T., Graziano, T. A., Starkweather, A. R., Redeker, N., Cong, x. Immunotherapy and psychoneurological symptoms among cancer survivors: A systematic review.

*Co-first authors

**Undergraduate mentee