SOHP Scholarship Spotlight: Dr. Vanessa Vales-Lewis Featured in New Educational Research Book

By Deans Office | Sep 16, 2026

The SUNY Downstate School of Health Professions (SOHP) is proud to recognize Vanessa V. Vales-Lewis, PhD, MAT, Assistant Dean, whose scholarship is featured in the newly published book Embracing Life and Death: Diverse Perspectives on Living, Dying, and Beyond (Volume 2).

Published by Brill in 2026, the book is edited by education researchers Kenneth Tobin, PhD, and Konstantinos Alexakos, PhD, and is part of Brill’s Bold Visions in Educational Research series.

Dr. Vales-Lewis is the author of Chapter 4, “Matrescence: Obstetric Violence and Self,” which explores maternal wellness, lived experience, and the transition to motherhood through matrescence, feminist phenomenology, and authentic inquiry.

Bringing Maternal Experience into Scholarship

Dr. Vales-Lewis’ chapter builds upon scholarship developed through her doctoral studies in Urban Education at The Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY). Her research examines maternal wellness, self, self-care, and matrescence—the transition to motherhood.

Central to this work is the recognition that motherhood is not simply a biological event, but a significant transition shaped by identity, relationships, healthcare experiences, social conditions, and changing understandings of self.

Her chapter also examines obstetric violence and maternal experiences within healthcare, creating space for critical reflection on voice, agency, dignity, self-care, and the ways healthcare encounters can shape the experience of becoming a mother.

These themes have particular relevance within health professions education, where preparing future practitioners requires attention not only to clinical evidence and technical knowledge, but also to the lived experiences of the individuals, families, and communities they serve.

Scholarship Rooted in Mentorship​

The book also represents a meaningful continuation of scholarly relationships that began during Dr. Vales-Lewis’ doctoral education. 

Book co-editor Konstantinos Alexakos, PhD, served as Chair of Dr. Vales-Lewis’ doctoral dissertation committee and has remained a mentor and source of scholarly support. Dr. Alexakos is Professor and Program Coordinator for Adolescence Science Education at Brooklyn College, CUNY, and holds a joint appointment as Professor in the PhD Program in Urban Education at The Graduate Center, CUNY. His scholarship engages critical and reflexive approaches to education, emotions, wellness and well-being, Authentic Inquiry, and multiple ways of knowing.

Co-editor Kenneth Tobin, PhD, who served as a member of Dr. Vales-Lewis’ dissertation committee and provided mentorship throughout her doctoral scholarship, is Presidential Professor Emeritus in the Urban Education program at The Graduate Center, CUNY. With more than five decades in research, his work has examined teaching and learning, contemplative practices, wellness, and other dimensions of human experience.

Their roles in the book reflect a longstanding commitment to education research, mentorship, and the development of scholarly communities that extend beyond a single institution or academic program.

For Dr. Vales-Lewis, contributing to a book edited by two scholars who helped guide her doctoral development represents an evolution of academic mentorship—from dissertation committee members and mentors to continued collaborators within a shared community of scholarship.

Continuing a Community of Scholarship and Collaboration

The scholarly community represented in the book also includes Beth Ferholt, PhD, Professor at Brooklyn College and another member of Dr. Vales-Lewis’ doctoral dissertation committee who provided mentorship and support during her doctoral journey. Dr. Ferholt is also a contributing author in Embracing Life and Death, Volume 2, further reflecting the enduring scholarly relationships and collaborations that have grown from Dr. Vales-Lewis’ doctoral education.

The book brings this community into conversation with an even broader group of scholars and professionals. Contributors represent universities, healthcare settings, educational institutions, and communities across disciplines and geographic boundaries, creating connections among education, healthcare, wellness, lived experience, caregiving, and human development.

These university affiliations and interdisciplinary collaborations demonstrate how scholarship can move across institutions while building sustained relationships among mentors, colleagues, students, and researchers.

From Education Research to Health Professions Education

Today, Dr. Vales-Lewis brings this scholarly perspective into her work at SUNY Downstate.

With more than 15 years of experience across New York City’s K–12 and higher education institutions, she is a STEM educator whose work at SOHP is committed to student success, faculty development, mentorship, and equity in health education.

Her scholarship provides an important connection between her background in education research and her work within health professions education.

Preparing the next generation of healthcare professionals requires students to understand evidence, research, and clinical practice. It also requires an appreciation for the person behind the patient—their identity, culture, family, experiences, values, and relationship with healthcare systems.

Research examining maternal wellness, matrescence, obstetric violence, self, and self-care provides another lens through which future health professionals can consider these dimensions of care.

Within SOHP, where students across disciplines are preparing to work with individuals, families, and communities throughout the lifespan, this intersection of research, lived experience, education, and healthcare reinforces the value of interdisciplinary scholarship. As Dr. Vales-Lewis teaches currently in SOHP a Research Methods course, she continues to extend those values.

From Local Mentorship to International Scholarship

Publication by Brill extends this work to an international scholarly audience.

Embracing Life and Death, Volume 2 brings together contributors across institutions, professions, disciplines, and countries. The book’s editors describe their work as part of an ongoing international community of collaborators engaged in teaching, learning, research, and inquiry.

The book therefore represents more than an individual scholarly milestone. It illustrates how mentorship and intellectual communities can continue to evolve—from doctoral education at CUNY, to sustained relationships among scholars, to international publication, and ultimately back into the education of future health professionals at SUNY Downstate.

For SOHP, Dr. Vales-Lewis’ chapter highlights the ways scholarship can bridge education and healthcare, research and lived experience, mentorship and collaboration, and individual inquiry with broader conversations about patient-centered care and wellness.

As SOHP celebrates 60 years in healthcare education, this achievement reflects another dimension of the School’s academic community and its commitment to scholarship, mentorship, interdisciplinary learning, and the preparation of health professionals who understand both the science of healthcare and the human experiences that shape it.

Congratulations to Dr. Vanessa Vales-Lewis and the editors and contributors of Embracing Life and Death: Diverse Perspectives on Living, Dying, and Beyond (Volume 2) on the publication of this important scholarly work.

Tags: interprofessional education, 60th anniversary, SOHP 60, academic research, School of Health Professions