About

Dr. Billy Rosa is an Assistant Attending Behavioral Scientist, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Cancer Center, New York. He received his BSN magna cum laude from NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing (2009); was valedictorian of his MSN class, Hunter College (2014); and completed his PhD and Master of Bioethics as an RWJF Future of Nursing Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania (2020). Dr. Rosa completed MSK’s Hospice & Palliative Medicine Interdisciplinary Clinical Fellowship and was Chief Fellow of MSK’s NIH/NCI T32 Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Psycho-Oncology & Palliative Care.

Dr. Rosa is a Cambia Health Foundation Sojourns Scholar, launching a program of research focused on closing palliative care and pain relief divides locally and globally. Specifically, his streams of research focus on interventions to promote inclusive palliative care communication for LGBTQ+ identified patients and their chosen families; understanding cancer pain disparities among racially minoritized groups; and quantifying global palliative care disparities and need, particularly for those with serious health-related suffering living in low- and middle-income countries. His research has been funded by the American Cancer Society and RWJF, among others.

Dr. Rosa spent one year with the Human Resources for Health Program in Rwanda, East Africa (2015-2016), contributing to the curriculum content for the first Masters-prepared nursing cohort in the country and completed MSK’s interprofessional hospice and palliative medicine clinical fellowship (2017). He is the editor of four books and has contributed more than 150 academic publications. He served as lead researcher for the World Innovation Summit for Health’s Nurses for Health Equity: Guidelines for Tackling the Social Determinants of Health policy report, collaborating with international interprofessional experts to provide more than 70 clinician, national, and global level evidence-based guidelines. The World Health Organization, among other organizations, have written statements of commitment to advance the reports findings.

Dr. Rosa is Course Director of MSK’s U.S. World Hospice & Palliative Care Day Conference and The Global Palliative Care & Pain Relief Research Hub Webinar Series - an international endeavor to advance the recommendations of The Lancet Commission on Global Access to Palliative Care & Pain Relief. He is a Scientific Advisory Group Member of The Lancet Commission on Cancer and Health Systems. He serves as Associate Editor of Palliative & Supportive Care and on the editorial boards for the Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing, Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, and American Journal of Nursing, and as a board/committee member for multiple global health and palliative care organizations. 

Dr. Rosa has been recognized with numerous distinctions, including the international Spirit of Renewal Award (2017) and the international Research Dissertation Award (2021), both from Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing; the national Public Health Service Award for Distinguished Practice in Nursing from the American Nurses Association (2020); and the national Advanced Certified Hospice and Palliative Nurse of the Year Award from the Hospice & Palliative Credentialing Center (2021). He was most recently named to the Crain’s New York Business Notable in Health Care 2021 list and received the International Association for Hospice & Palliative Care’s 2022 Individual Recognition Award (high-income county category). Dr. Rosa is an International Council of Nurses Global Nursing Leadership Institute Scholar and an American Psychosocial Oncology Society Health Equity Scholar. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, and the New York Academy of Medicine. 

Contact: billy@billyrosa.com