Marisa A. Cortese, Ph.D., FNP, is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Marist College, Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Master of Science degrees from Pace University. Additionally, Marisa holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Research from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Dr. Cortese has over 20 years of experience in clinical research, oncology nursing, quality assurance and cancer care delivery. She has served in leadership roles in both oncology nursing and clinical research. Dr. Cortese has been a co-investigator on over 50 cancer studies and a principal investigator on 8 clinical trials. In 2009 she was awarded the prestigious KL2 PhD in Clinical Research CTSA award through Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Her dissertation research focused on assessing the cultural competency and disease awareness of inpatient and outpatient oncology nurses providing care for patients diagnosed with Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL). Dr. Cortese has also served as a co-investigator on a National Cancer Institute R25E study to train nurses and administrators on how to implement cancer clinical trials in the community setting.