Jouhayna Bajjani-Gebara PhD, MHSC, MSN, BSN

Education

PhD Nursing Science: University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
MHSC in Clinical Research: Duke University, Durham, NC
MSN Psychiatric Nursing: Husson University, Bangor, ME
Post-MSN NP Certificate: Husson University, Bangor, ME
BSN: American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon

Biography

Dr. Jouhayna Bajjani-Gebara is an Associate Professor in the Daniel K. Inouye Graduate School of Nursing and the Psychiatric/Mental Health DNP program.
Dr. Bajjani-Gebara graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing with distinction from the American University of Beirut in 1999. She then earned her Master of Science in Nursing as a Psychiatric-Mental Health clinical nurse specialist (in 2002) and a post-master’s certificate as a psychiatric nurse practitioner (in 2012) from Husson University, Bangor, Maine. She received her PhD in nursing in 2014 from the University of Arizona, Tucson and received a Master of Health Sciences in Clinical Research from Duke University in 2019. Dr. Bajjani-Gebara currently practices as a licensed Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner and Psychotherapist in MD. She is a member of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association and the Neuroscience Education Institute. Dr. Bajjani-Gebara is the recipient of several awards: USUHS GSN's Senior Research Investigator Award (2025), Civilian Faculty Marshall Award (2023), Outstanding Faculty Award (2022), Junior Research Investigator Award (2021)...and the American University of Beirut Penrose award (1999), an award given in recognition of the best combination of the qualities of scholarship, character, leadership, and contribution to the University as a whole.
Dr. Bajjani-Gebara’s scholarly work focuses on resilience, self-transcendence, adjustment disorders, and well-being. She serves as Principal Investigator for the Adjustment Disorders Research Program, a $4M, federally-funded, multi-study program that investigates Adjustment Disorders in the U.S. Military. She has also published and given presentations on culture sensitivity and end-of-life care in different cultures. Dr. Bajjani-Gebara teaches statistics, evidence-based practice, and psychopharmacology courses in the Doctor of Nursing Practice Program at USUHS. She also has conducted multiple workshops for primary care physicians and practicing nurses on the topics of: communications in difficult situations, basic counseling skills, and the provision of psychosocial interventions for war victims.
Dr. Bajjani-Gebara has over 20 years of experience in the mental health field and and her clinical work (psychopharmacology and psychotherapy) focuses on adults with mental illness as well as patients and families suffering from psychological distress and adjustment problems.

Career Highlights: Positions, Projects, Deployements, Awards and Additional Publications

(current) Funding Agency: Military Operational Medicine Research Program , Role: PI, Period: 2023-2026, Amount: $2.9M, Title: Adjustment Disorders in the U.S. Military: Disease Trajectories and ADNM-20-Mil Validation

(Current) Funding Agency: Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs, Role: PI, Period: 2020-2023, Amount: $1.1M, Title: Adjustment Disorders in the US Military: Addressing Gaps in Knowledge and Practice

(Previous) Funding Agency: TriService Nursing Research Program/Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Role: Co-I (PI: Dr. Candy Wilson), Amount: $175K, Title: Adjustment Disorders in US Active Duty Military Women: A Scoping Review for Years 2000-2018

Representative Bibliography

Bajjani-Gebara, J., Hopkins, D., Wasserman, J., Landoll, R., & Keller, M. (2025). Modification of the Adjustment Disorder New Module20 (ADNM-20) for use in military environments (ADNM-20-MIL): A Delphi and pilot study. Int J of Methods in Psychiatr Res, 34(2): e70021. https://doi.org/10.1002/mpr.70021

Clark, M. & Bajjani-Gebara, J. (in press). Revolutionizing remote human subjects’ research recruitment in the US Military during and post COVID-19: Lessons learned from a multiphase mental health psychometrics study. Military Medicine.

Hall, A., Olsen, C., Gomes, J., Bajjani-Gebara, J., Meyer, E., Wilson, R. (2024). Relative Risk of All-Cause Medical Evacuation for Behavioral Health Conditions in U.S. Central Command, Military Medicine usad306, https://doi.org/10.1093/milmed/usad306

Bajjani-Gebara J, Owen R, McLemore P, Landoll R. (2022). Online simulation-based education in graduate education: Initial implementation and content revision description. Psychol Serv. 19 (4), 693-697 doi: 10.1037/ser0000702.

Bajjani-Gebara, J., Wilcox, S., Williams, J., Kosinski, A., Allard, R., Wilson, C., & Landoll, R. (2021). Adjustment Disorders in U.S. Active Duty Military Women: A scoping review for years 2000-2018. Women's Health Issues, 31, S33-S42. doi: https://doi.org/10.106/j.whi.2020.12.003

Schimmels, J., Bajjani-Gebara, J., Owen, R., Lewis, T., & Wallace, E. (2021). The service Theories and Healing Leadership of Florence Nightingale and Hildegard Peplau: their Central Importance for Military Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Education. Journal of Health and Human Experience, 7(1), 40-58.

Bajjani-Gebara J, Hinds P, Insel K, Reed P, Moore K, Badger T. (2018). Well-being, Self-transcendence, and Resilience of Parental Caregivers of Children in Active Cancer Treatment: Where Do We Go From Here? Cancer Nursing, 42(5):E41-52. doi:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30444736

DeLeon, P. H., Paxton, M. M., Spencer, T., & Bajjani-Gebara, J. E. (2018). Research Driven Policy: Is Financial Capacity Related to Dangerousness? Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 45(4), 689-691. doi:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29789981

Pauli, E., Bajjani-Gebara, J. E., O'Quin, C., Raps, S. J., & DeLeon, P. H. (2018). Telehealth – The Future for Advance Practice Mental Health Nursing. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 32(3), 327-328. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnu.2018.03.018

Bajjani-Gebara J, Reed PG. (2016). Nursing theory as a guide into uncharted waters: Research with parents of children undergoing cancer treatment. Applied Nursing Research, 32,14-17.