Jessica R Kassay-McAllister, DNP, AG-ACNP
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Bio & Overview
Jessica Kassay-McAllister, RN, MSN, is a board-certified adult-gerontology acute care nurse practitioner who cares for adult cancer patients at UVA Comprehensive Cancer Center. She has a special interest in cellular therapy, stem cell transplant and T-cell research, including the recent use of CAR T-cell therapy, which reprograms the body’s own T-cells to fight cancers.
Born in Smithtown, New York, Kassay-McAllister moved to Virginia as a teen. She received her undergraduate degree from Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg and completed a Master of Science in Nursing at UVA.
Kassay-McAllister is the vice president of Mason’s Toy Box, a local nonprofit she and her sister founded in honor of her nephew, which offsets the burden of those affected by childhood illness and delivers toys to children who are hospitalized during the holidays. Married with four children and two grandchildren, she enjoys spending time with family outdoors, being active and reading on the beach in her free time.
- Gender
- Female
- Languages
- English
- Age Groups Seen
- Adults (21-65)
Older Adults (65+)
- Certification
- American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) (Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner)
- Additional Specialties
- Hematology Oncology
Highlights
Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Jessica Kassay-McAllister
My name's Jessica Kassay-McAllister. I'm the effector cell nurse practitioner for cellular therapy stem cell transplant here at UVA in the hematology-oncology division. My specialty is allogenetic stem cell transplant, CAR T therapy, and clinical research for the BATS, which is a bi-specific armed activated T-cell therapy. My grandmother's dying process is what launched me into my nursing career. I then enrolled into the nursing program. I then landed on the cardiovascular acute intermediate unit here on 4 Central. During that time, I was a cancer patient myself, survived. During that process, I decided I needed somebody to help navigate through the system because I was having a very challenging time, being a healthcare provider, navigating our system. What better way than to become a nurse practitioner and kind of bring all the pieces together for our patient population. During my last semester of school here at UVA, the nurse practitioner program, my husband was diagnosed with metastatic testicular cancer and he was receiving care at the Emily Couric infusion center. And during that process, one of the nurse practitioners encouraged me to apply for the for the stem cell position. I applied and here I am today, just loving what I do. I'm passionate about bringing health and wellbeing to our patient population, helping them through the process, allowing them to continue to see hope in a very dark period of time. And I feel honored to be able to be part of that care for them. Why should somebody come to UVA? I can tell you as a patient, a family member to a patient, and a provider, that we're able to encompass the family and the complete picture, provide compassion, innovative treatment, and just a supportive environment.
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