Laurie Martinez

Biography

Dr. Martinez holds board certifications in Advanced Holistic Nursing (AHN-BC) and Health and Wellness Nurse Coaching (HWNC-BC), with specialized training in mindfulness education. Her scholarship program is grounded in holistic nursing, caring science, and integrative health, focusing on whole-person health, emotional resilience, and positive growth among vulnerable and high-stress populations. Her research examines complementary and integrative mind-body approaches implemented alongside traditional biomedical care and as standalone interventions, exploring how these practices influence biological, psychological, social, spiritual, and environmental dimensions of well-being, with particular attention to self-regulation, meaning-making, and supportive environments. Building on prior experience in data science, she is actively developing an interdisciplinary research agenda that integrates advanced analytics and multimodal data to enhance mechanistic understanding and personalize whole-health interventions.

Education

• PhD, Florida Atlantic Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing (2020) Boca Raton, Florida
• MBA, Johns Hopkins University College of Business (2004) Baltimore, MD
• MSN, Johns Hopkins University College of Nursing (2004) Baltimore, MD
• BSN, University of Saint Joseph (2001) West Hartford, CT

Certifications:

• Board Certified in Advanced Holistic Nursing (AHN-BC)
• Board Certified Health and Wellness Nurse Coach (HWNC-BC)
• HeartMath: The Resilient Heart
• HeartMath: Stress and Well-Being Assessment Provider
• Certified Mindful Educator
• Certified Mindful Educator for Difficult Emotions

Teaching

• NUR3171 Creating Healing Environments
• NUR4165 Nursing Research
• NUR4937 RI: Scholarship for Evidence-Based Nursing Practice
• NGR6168 Foundations of Holistic Nursing I: Advanced Nursing Situations
• NGR6169 Foundations of Holistic Nursing II: Advanced Nursing Situations
• NGR6296L Developing Expertise in Holistic Healing: Advanced Nursing Situations (Requires 145 supervised clinical hours)
• NGR6297L Integrating Expertise in Holistic Practice: Advanced Nursing Situations (Requires 145 supervised clinical hours)
• NGR6812 Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice

Recent Publications

• Martinez, L., Hawthorne, D., Tanner, L. & George, S. (2026). Intergenerational wellness in nursing academia: A life course case study of stress, coping, and belonging. Mental Health in Nursing.
• Clary, K., Selber, K., Martinez, L., Krause-Parello, C. A., & Hibler, D. (2025). Whole warrior, whole health: Holistic approaches to veteran well-being. Journal of Veterans Studies, 11(2).
• Opalinski, A. S., Martinez, L. A., Butcher, H., Bertulfo, T., Stewart, D., & Gengo, R. (2025). A Theory-Guided Literature Review: A Knowledge Synthesis Methodology. Journal of Nursing Education, 64(5), 279-285.
• Martinez, L., Opalinski, A. & Butcher, H. (2024). A unitary caring theory perspective of adolescent and young adult experiences of resilience. Nursing Science Quarterly, 37(4), 353 – 364. 10.1177/08943184241269830 
• Datta, D., Ray, S., Martinez, L., Newman, D., Dalmida, S. G., Hashemi, J., ... & Eckardt, P. (2024). Feature identification using interpretability machine learning predicting risk factors for disease severity of in-patients with COVID-19 in South Florida. Diagnostics, 14(17), 1866.
• Opalinski, A.S., Martinez, L.A., Butcher, H., Bertulfo, T., Stewart, D. & Gengo, R. (2024). A theory-guided literature review: A knowledge synthesis methodology. Journal of Nursing Education (accepted for publication, 5/2024)
• Opalinski, A.S. & Martinez, L.A. (2024). Nursing student resilience in the U.S.: A theory-guided scoping review. Journal of Nursing Education (accepted 5/24).
• Martinez, L., Opalinski, A. & Herbert, L. (2023). The lived experiences of students with food allergies during a usual weekday. Journal of School Health, 94(7). 610-618. http://doi.org/10.1111/josh.13420   
• Datta, D., Dalmida, S. G., Martinez, L., Newman, D., Hashemi, J., Khoshgoftaar, T. M., ... & Eckardt, P. (2023). Using machine learning to identify patient characteristics to predict mortality of in-patients with COVID-19 in south Florida. Frontiers in Digital Health, 5, 1193467. https://doi.org/10.3389/fdgth.2023.1193467
• Shorten, C., Khoshgoftaar, T. M., Hashemi, J., Dalmida, S. G., Newman, D., Datta, D., Martinez, L. ... & Eckard, P. (2022, May). Predicting the Severity of COVID-19 Respiratory Illness with Deep Learning. In The International FLAIRS Conference Proceedings (Vol. 35).
• George, S.D., Payne, P.F., Mugoya, G.C., Kirkpatrick, B., Rhoads, K., Bonner, K., Merritt, J. & Martinez, L.A. (2021). A community-engaged, team-based approach to HIV care and research in the deep south. Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship, (14)1. https://digitalcommons.northgeorgia.edu/jces/vol14/iss1/23/
• Martinez, L.A. & Constantinides, S.M. (2021). Sleep assessment for sleep problems in children. The Nursing Clinics of North America, 56(2), 299-309.
• Opalinski, A. & Martinez, L.A. (2020). Mindfulness and self-regulation in a summer camp setting: An EBP project. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 57, 73-78. doi: 10.1016/j.pedn.2020.10.023  
• Martinez, L.A. & Opalinski, A. (2019). Building the concept of nurturing resilience. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 48, 63-71, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedn.2019.07.006 

Book Chapters

• George, S., Cody, S. L., Mumba, M., & Martinez, L. (2023). Empower, Encourage, and Expand: Mentoring Twenty-First Century Nurse Scientists. In Mentoring in Nursing through Narrative Stories Across the World (pp. 743-752). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Professional Presentations

• Martinez, L. & Krause-Parello, C. (2026, February 18-20). Exploring resilience and well-being among military-connected adolescents with pet dogs. Podium presentation presented at SNRS 40th Annual Conference: Committed to Nursing Science Conference in Austin, Texas.
• Datta, D.*, Ray, S., Martinez, L., Newman, D., George Dalmida, S., Hashemi, C., Sareli, C., & Eckardt, P. (2025, February 13-14). Utilizing a multi-class classifier in predicting the severity and mortality of in-patients with COVID-19 in south Florida. Podium presentation presented at Proceedings of the 6th National Big Data Health Science in Conference in Columbia, SC.
• Martinez, L.*, Marshall, J. & Ferguson, M. (2025, June 27-28). Empowered to Care: Nurturing Resilience and Intentional Wellness in Nursing Academia. Poster Presentation presented at the 2025 Nursing Consortium of Florida Conference: Empowering Nurses at the Bedside & Beyond: Moving towards improved outcomes & satisfaction through greater mental health in St. Peach Beach, FL.
• Butcher, H.K.*, Opalinski, A., Martinez, L., Gengo, R.C., Bertulfo, T., & Stewart, D. (2025, February 19-21). Methodology for Theory-Guided Literature Reviews. A paper presentation at 39th SNRS Annual Conference from Social Determinants to Precision Health Innovations: Nursing Research for Today and Tomorrow in Memphis, TN, February.
• Martinez, L.*, & Ferguson, M. (2025, January 16). Caring-Based Model for Well-Being: Cultivating Belonging in Doctoral Nursing Education. Poster presentation presented at 2025 American Association of Colleges of Nursing Annual Conference: Navigating Complexity in Doctoral Nursing Education: Ingenuity, Impact, Influence. Coronado, CA.
• Martinez, L., Butcher, H., Opalinski, A., Alselami, S., & Longo, J. (2024, June 22).
  Symposium: Applications of the Unitary-Caring Hermeneutic-Phenomenological Research
  Method. Symposium conducted at the 2024 International Association of Human Caring (IAHC)
  Annual Conference, Gathering Anew in Community: Celebrating Innovations in Caring Science.
  Boca Raton, Florida.
• Martinez, L., Ismal, M., George, S., Hawthorne, D. (2024, June 22). Workshop: A Caring-
  Based Model for Comprehensive Wellness: Nurturing Holistic Well-Being in Academia.
  Workshop conducted at the 2024 International Association of Human Caring (IAHC) Annual
  Conference, Gathering Anew in Community: Celebrating Innovations in Caring Science.
  Boca Raton, Florida.
• Martinez, L., Joseph, P., Davis, S., Mbango, C. & Story, L. (2024, February 21). Podium
  Presentation: Research Interest and Implementation Group (RIIG) Engagement. Podium
  presentation presented at SSNRS 38th Annual Conference: Collaborating to Advance Nursing
  Research, Education, Leadership, and Practice. Charlotte, North Carolina.
• Martinez, L., Datta, D., Ray, S., Newman, D., George Dalmida, S., Hashemi, T.M., Sareli, C.,
  & Eckard, P. (2023, February 21). Podium Presentation: Using Random Forest Classifier to
  Identify Important COVID-19 Patient Characteristics Predicting Mechanical Ventilation in South Florida. Podium presentation presented at SSNRS 38th Annual Conference: Collaborating to Advance Nursing Research, Education, Leadership, and Practice. Charlotte, North Carolina.
• Opalinski, A.*, Martinez, L., Butcher, H., Bertulfo, T., Stewart, D., & Gengo, R. (2024, January 18). Poster Presentation: Theory-Guided Literature Review: A Knowledge Synthesis Methodology. Poster presented at the American Association of Colleges of Nursing 2024 Doctoral Education Conference. Naples, FL.
• Datta, D.*, George Dalmida, S., Martinez, L., Newman, D., Hashemi, J., Khoshgoftaar, T. M., Shorten, C., Sareli, C., & Eckardt, P. (2023). Podium Presentation: Using random forest classifier to identify important COVID-19 patient characteristics predicting mortality in South Florida. Proceedings of the 4th National Big Data Health Science Conference. BMC Proceedungs 17 (Suppl 19), 32 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12919-023-00281-y
• Martinez, L.*, George Dalmida, S.*, Datta, D., Ray, S., Newman, D., Hashemi, T.M., Sareli, C., & Eckard, P. (2023). Podium Presentation: Using Random Forest Classifier to Identify Important COVID-19 Patient Characteristics Predicting Mortality in South Florida. Presented at SSNRS 37th Annual Conference: Building Partnerships in Population Health through Research, Education, and Practice, March 1-3, 2023, Orlando, Florida.
• Shorten, C.*, Khoshgoftaar, T. M., Hashemi, J., George Dalmida, S., Newman, D., Datta, D., Martinez, L., Sareli, C., & Eckard, P. (2022). Paper Presentation: Predicting the severity of COVID-19 respiratory illness with deep learning. The International FLAIRS Conference Proceedings, 35. https://doi.org/10.32473/flairs.v35i.130670
• Shorten, C., Cardenas, E., Khoshgoftaar, T.M., Hashemi, J., George Dalmida, S., Newman, D., Datta, D., Martinez, L., Sareli, C, Eckard, P. (2022). Paper Presentation: Exploring Language-Interfaced Fine-Tuning for COVID-19 Patient Survival Classification. The 34th IEEE International Conference on Tools with Artificial Intelligence.
• George, S. & Martinez, L. (2021). Podium Presentation: Sigma's 32nd International Nursing Research Congress: Reimagining Culturally Relevant Research for the 21st Century and Beyond Presentation: “Black Girls' Magic: Neural Substrates of Sexual Risk Behavior of Black Girls".

Grants Awarded

• VitalNurse+: A Caring Pathway to Cultivate Resilience and Comprehensive Wellness in Nursing Students, Role: PI (2024 – present).
• Human Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI), The Role of Pet Dogs: Examining Resilience and Well-being in Military Adolescents, Role: PI (2023 – present).
• American Legion Child Welfare Foundation, Inc., Pet Dogs, Resilience, and Well-being in Military Adolescents, Role: PI (2023 – present).
• Caring Research Initiative, Resilience and Well-being in Military Connected Adolescents, Role: PI (2023 – 2024).
• Center for SMART Health, Development of a Multi-Scale Predictive Model for COVID-19 Patient Outcomes and Long-Term Health Effects, Role: Co-PI, (2022 – 2024).
• Adolescent and Young Adult Stories of Resilience, Role: Co-I (2020 – 2023).
• The Daily Lived Experiences of Adolescents Living with Food Allergies During a Usual Weekday: A Phenomenological Hermeneutic Study, Role: PI, (2019 – 2020).