Heart Failure Advanced Care Center Team
At ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ’s Heart Failure Advanced Care Center, our nurse practitioners, registered nurses, and social workers collaborate with our doctors to provide you with expert care and support.
Our Nurse Practitioners
Jennifer Pavone, MS, RN, AGACNP-BC
Ms. Pavone is director of transplant operations for the ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ Transplant Institute. After earning a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Delaware in 2010, she began her nursing career at ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ in the surgical and cardiovascular intensive care unit. She joined the LVAD Program team in 2014 as the clinical resource nurse. In 2015, she earned a master’s degree in adult–gerontology acute care from NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing.
Sarah Riggio, MSN, RN, AGPCNP-BC
Ms. Riggio is manager of the Heart Failure Advanced Care Center, LVAD Program, and heart transplant program. She earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing in 2011. She began her career at ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ as a student nurse extern on the cardiothoracic step-down unit and worked there for seven years. She earned her master’s degree in adult–gerontology primary care from Hunter College in 2017. She began working with the Heart Failure Advanced Care Center, LVAD Program, and heart transplant team in 2018. Ms. Riggio is board-certified in cardiac vascular nursing and as an adult–gerontology primary care nurse practitioner.
Amy Emmarco, MSN, RN, AGPCNP-BC
A registered nurse and board-certified adult–gerontology primary care nurse practitioner, Ms. Emmarco has been with ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ since 2008. In 2016, she joined the LVAD Program as a mechanical circulatory support clinical resource nurse. In this role, she educates our team and our patients about durable, long-term circulatory support devices. Before joining the LVAD Program team, Ms. Emmarco worked as a staff nurse on the cardiothoracic surgical step-down unit. She received her bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University and her master’s degree from William Paterson University. Ms. Emmarco is certified in cardiac vascular nursing.
Maureen Geary, MSN, RN, ANP-BC
Ms. Geary has been a board-certified adult nurse practitioner since 2004. She joined the Heart Failure Advanced Care Center team in 2014, having previously worked at a general cardiology practice in Buffalo, New York. Ms. Geary received her bachelor’s degree from Kent State University and her master’s degree in critical care nursing from Case Western Reserve University. She completed her advanced certificate studies in the adult nurse practitioner program at the University at Buffalo, part of the State University of New York. Ms. Geary is a certified heart failure nurse and a member of the Nurse Practitioner Association New York State, Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, and the American College of Cardiology. She instructs nurse practitioner students and mentors new nurse practitioners.
Sandra Landivar, MSN, RN, AGACNP-BC
Ms. Landivar joined the Heart Failure Advanced Care Center, LVAD Program, and heart transplant team in 2021. She earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from NYU in 2015, and has worked in transplant and intensive care for her entire career. She earned a master’s degree in adult–gerontology acute care from NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing in May 2020.
Alaine Mulcahy, AGACNP-BC
Ms. Mulcahy joined the Heart Failure Advanced Care Center, LVAD Program, and heart transplant team in 2019. Her nursing career began in 2015 in the spine and orthopedic telemetry unit at ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ Orthopedic Hospital. She received her adult–gerontology acute care nurse practitioner degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
Mauli Patel, MSN, RN, AGACNP-BC
Ms. Patel joined the Heart Failure Advanced Care Center as a board-certified adult–gerontology acute care nurse practitioner in 2017. She earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing. She began her nursing career as a medicine and cardiology nurse in Los Angeles and worked as a registered nurse in a cardiac intensive care unit in Manhattan. Ms. Patel earned her master’s degree in nursing from NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing in 2017. She also serves as an adjunct faculty member at NYU, instructing new nursing students.
Rebecca Reich, MSN, RN, AGACNP-BC
Ms. Reich joined the Heart Failure Advanced Care Center, LVAD Program, and heart transplant team in 2018. She earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Binghamton University in 2012, and has worked in cardiology medicine and cardiothoracic surgery. She earned a master’s degree in adult–gerontology acute care from NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing.
Meifung Schuman, MSN, RN, AGACNP-BC
Ms. Schuman joined the Heart Failure Advanced Care Center, LVAD Program, and heart transplant team in 2020 after recognizing her passion for caring for heart failure patients. She earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Pennsylvania in 2015 and started her nursing career in Pennyslvania before moving to New York. She earned a master’s degree in adult–gerontology acute care from the University of Pennslyvania in 2019.
Shanah Strumeier, MSN, RN, AGPCNP
Ms. Strumeier joined the Heart Failure Advanced Care Center, LVAD Program, and heart transplant team in 2018. She earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the College of Mount Saint Vincent and master’s degree in nursing from NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing. She received a bachelor’s degree in speech and hearing sciences–audiology and psychology from Indiana University. She began her nursing career at ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ in the cardiovascular special care unit. Ms. Strumeier is board-certified as an adult–gerontology primary care nurse practitioner.
Our Registered Nurses
Alyssa Amerosa, BSN, RN
Ms. Amerosa is a registered nurse in the Heart Failure and CardioMEMS program. She earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Wilkes University in 2014. Before coming to ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ, she worked for five years as a charge nurse in a coronary care and cardiovascular intensive care unit. Ms. Amerosa joined the Heart Failure Advanced Care Center in 2019.
Josephine Quinlan, MS, RN-BC
Mrs. Quinlan is a registered nurse and board-certified in cardiac vascular nursing. She received her bachelor’s degree from The College of New Rochelle and her master’s degree in nursing education from NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing. She has been with ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ since 2009 and started her career in the cardiothoracic surgical unit. In 2018, Mrs. Quinlan took on the role of nurse navigator on ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ’s decompensated heart failure team. In this role, she provides education to patients who have been diagnosed with heart failure and coordinates patient care after hospital discharge with other members of the decompensated heart failure team, which includes the nurse practitioner, social worker, and pharmacist.
MaryGladys San Agustin, BSN, RN, CCRN
Ms. San Agustin is the clinical coordinator of the heart transplant program. She educates patients and their families on the pretransplant evaluation process and post-transplant care. Before coming to ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ, she worked as an emergency department staff nurse and in the cardiothoracic recovery room. Ms. San Agustin earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of the City of Manila and is a certified member of American Association of Critical Care Nurses.
Our Social Workers
Stefanie Philipson, MSW
Ms. Philipson joined the LVAD Program and Heart Failure Advanced Care Center team in 2013. She studied at the State University of New York at Albany and received her master’s degree in social work from Columbia University. Ms. Philipson started her career at NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst. She joined ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ in 2001, starting in transplant surgery.
Dale Schneitzer, MSW, LCSW
Ms. Schneitzer received her master’s degree in social work from NYU. She is a senior clinician and has worked in surgery, surgical oncology, heart failure, transplant, and hematology and oncology. She joined the Heart Failure Advanced Care Center and ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ Transplant Institute in 2017. Ms. Schneitzer has received advanced training in psychotherapy and maintains a mental health practice in New York City.
Rebecca Hausman, LCSW
Ms. Hausman joined the heart failure team as a licensed clinical social worker in 2018. She has since become integrated into the heart transplant team and LVAD Program. She also serves as the social worker for the Heart Failure Advanced Care Center outpatient office. After earning her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and master’s degree in social work from NYU, she started her career at ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ in 2014. She worked on internal medicine and general surgery before her current role.