Kobeissi named PARTNERS Research Scholar

Mitzy Kobeissi’s journey to becoming a telehealth expert might have looked very different if it weren’t for the PARTNERS organization. A full scholarship enabled her to continue in the Doctor of Nursing Practice program at Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth Houston.

“I would not be where I am today without that investment,” said Kobeissi, DNP, APRN, FNP-C, associate professor at Cizik School of Nursing. “If I had to wait and come back for the DNP, it would have been five years later.”

Now an associate professor at her alma mater, Kobeissi has been named the PARTNERS Research Scholar for 2026-29, effective Sept. 1.

PARTNERS (Providing Advancement Resources to Nursing Education, Research, and Students), is devoted to raising funds to support nursing scholarships and faculty research at Cizik School of Nursing. Kobeissi is grateful to have benefited from both.

Shortly after earning her DNP in 2015, Kobeissi founded her own telehealth practice, through which she delivered virtual services to patients well before the pandemic made virtual care mainstream. She joined the Cizik School of Nursing faculty in 2018, where she integrated telehealth competencies into the graduate program and supported the implementation of remote care delivery at UT Health Services, the school’s nurse-led primary care and occupational health clinic. She has published more than two dozen papers on telehealth and technology topics and currently serves on the American Heart Association’s Telehealth Expert Panel as well as the Telehealth Committee of the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties.

With her new PARTNERS endowment, Kobeissi will continue work on developing a new support initiative for nursing students.

“Nursing schools are losing too many students before graduation,” she said. “Every student we lose is one that healthcare doesn’t get–one that our patients don’t get.” Kobeissi hopes to help close that gap.

“I am thrilled to be the new PARTNERS Scholar, and I am incredibly grateful to the PARTNERS organization as well as Dean Diane Santa Maria and Associate Dean for Research Ansley Stanfill for their mentorship and support,” Kobeissi said.

A new PARTNERS Research Scholar is chosen every three years. Previous PARTNERS Research Scholars are:

• Mary Ellen Ross, DrPH, RN, GCNS-BC, 2011-2014
• Diane Santa Maria, DrPH, MSN, RN, ACRN, PHNA-BC, FSAHM, FAAN, 2014-2017
• Elda G. Ramirez, PhD, RN, FNP-BC, ENP-BC, FAAN, FAANP, FAEN, 2017-2020
• Seema S. Aggarwal, PhD, RN, AGNP-C, 2020-2023
• Doncy J. Eapen, PhD, MSN, RN, FNP-BC, 2023-2026