Dr. DeGrazia earned a BSN from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, a MS focused on neonatal critical care from Northeastern University and a PhD in nursing from the University of Massachusetts, Worcester. She has extensive clinical experience caring for critically ill neonates and expertise in research and quality improvement methodologies.

Dr. DeGrazia’s research focuses on child passenger safety, including healthcare providers and parents lack of clear information about newborn infants’ car seat-related breathing problems and the proper use of car seats. Her clinical experience and dialogue with experts nationwide identified the vital need for education that delineated the differences between car seat-related breathing problems and car seat fit. She has stimulated a substantial knowledge shift regarding all aspects of infant car seat safety through her research, publications and presentations.

Recently, she expanded her program of research to include the growing concern of deformational plagiocephaly (misshapen heads). Dr. DeGrazia has led two clinical trials of a novel orthotic device designed to prevent or treat deformational plagiocephaly. Most notably, her research indicates that deformational plagiocephaly is a preventable condition for many hospitalized infants. In addition to her own program of research, Dr. DeGrazia guides nurses, physicians and other healthcare providers in the conduct of research as the Director of Nursing Research for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Boston Children’s Hospital. In 2025 she joined the Sandra L. Fenwick Institute where she continues in her role as a research mentor.

Dr. DeGrazia is the recipient of internal and external research grants and has published extensively in leading scientific peer reviewed journals. She was awarded two US patents for her innovations in transporting durable medical equipment and plagiocephaly prevention. Her leadership accomplishments at Boston Children’s Hospital include co-Chair of the Nurse Executive Committee for Research and Inquiry, Chair of the Nursing Research Council, OPEN Pediatrics nursing content lead, Director of the Evidence Based Practice Mentorship Program, faculty for the Nursing Science Fellowship, and the Nurse Education and Support Team lead. Her academic appointment is Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, and she served as part time faculty at Northeastern University in their graduate school of nursing for more than 20 years. Dr. DeGrazia was an invited member on the 2007 and 2011 National Safety Council Task Forces on Child Passenger Safety Discharge Policy Planning and has been instrumental in the development of national car seat safety standards for all infants. She has received several honors and awards including induction into the Sigma Theta Tau, International Honor Society of Nursing Theta Kappa Chapter (1996); Excellence in Nursing Award, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (1996); Distinguished Alumni Award Northeastern University School of Nursing (2010); and Boston Children’s Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Excellence in Service and Training Award (2010). In 2014, Dr. DeGrazia was inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing.