Melissa D. Scalia, PhD

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Assistant Professor

Melissa D. Scalia, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at Azusa Pacific University. She received her PhD at the University of California, Los Angeles. Scalia currently teaches students in the traditional undergraduate nursing and nurse practitioner programs. Her research interests include gerontologic oncology quality of life and health concerns, caregiver support and quality of care for under-served populations and communities. In 2014, Scalia received the Greater Los Angeles Oncology Nursing Society Doctoral Scholarship and the Kaiser Deloras Jones Scholarship. Her peer reviewed poster presentation, Sexuality and Femininity in Older Women After a Diagnosis of Early-Stage Breast Cancer, tied for first place in 2020 at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Nursing Research Day. She has served as the president and nominating chair on the Greater Los Angeles Oncology Nursing Society board and on the organizing committee for the Annual Oncology Care Summit.

Education

  • MSN, University of California Los Angeles, 2003
  • BSN, University of Phoenix, 1996

Credentials/Certifications

  • Oncology Nurse Practitioner, University of California, Los Angeles, 2003

Academic Area

  • School of Nursing

Expertise

  • Health Care Provider and Patient Communication
  • Survivorship
  • Sexuality
  • Qualitative Research
  • Oncology

Courses Taught

  • UNRS 312 – Nursing Management of Adults
  • GNRS 513 – Advanced Nursing Practice Role
  • GNRS 543 – Transitions Across the Care Continuum
  • GNRS 593 – Psychosocial Primary Health Care of the Mature and Aging Family