Culture, Community, and Global
Mental Health Research Lab
Palo Alto University
Student Researchers
Culture, Community, and Global Mental Health Research Lab boasts a talented group of graduate research assistants with diverse backgrounds and interests. Click on a name below to learn more about a specific member, or scroll down the page to meet the whole group!
Lab Manager 2023-2024: Irene Miriam Thomas
Vicky Bouche, PhD
Post-doctoral fellow
Email: Vbouche@paloaltou.edu
Research Interests: immigrant adolescent development, acculturation, global mental health and international psychology, capacity building, intergenerational trauma, suicidality, pediatric psychology, program development, quality assurance, and quality improvement
Education:
Area of emphasis: Diversity and community mental health
PhD: Palo Alto University
MS: Palo Alto University
PsyM: Developmental Psychology, Sorbonne University
BA: Psychology and French Studies, Scripps College
Clinical experiences: school-based, pediatric hospital, emergency crisis clinics, community clinics, assessments
Projects:
Pathways to Success Project Manager: Trajectories of Risk and Resiliency among newcomer Immigrant Adolescents; Integration of traditional birth attendants into the Kenyan mental health care system; school-based support groups for immigrant children.
Irene Miriam Thomas, MSc
Lab Manager 22-23, 23-24
Area of Emphasis: Pediatric Behavioral Healthcare
Research interests: Global mental health, mental health needs and access in humanitarian settings, needs assessments, children and adolescents, newcomer immigrant populations, community-based participatory research.
Education:
BSBA: Finance, American University of Sharjah, UAE
MSc: Psychological Studies, University of Glasgow, Scotland
Projects:
Attachment in newcomer immigrant adolescents
Needs assessments in global humanitarian settings
Creation and dissemination of minimum mental health services in humanitarian settings with the WHO
Soccer Without Borders project: Resilience in Nicaraguan girls in an after-school sports program
Research Interests: The relationship between acculturation, dispositional mindfulness and coping styles among Latinx immigrant youth
Education:
Area of emphasis: Diversity and Community Mental Health
M.S.: Clinical Psychology, Notre Dame de Namur University
BA: Psychology, San Francisco State University
Projects:
Trajectories of Risk and Resiliency among newcomer Immigrant Adolescents, Pathways to Success at Oakland and San Francisco International High School.
Research Interests: Global Mental Health, Middle Eastern populations, Immigration, Acculturation, Cross-cultural psychology
Education:
Area of Emphasis: Diversity and Community Mental Health
BA: Oberlin College, Oberlin OH
Projects:
IRB manager, Middle Eastern and North African Refugee Survivors of Torture, Pathways to Success Project at Oakland International High School
Research Interests: Post-traumatic Growth specifically in immigrant and refugee populations, PTSD interventions with homeless and Veteran populations, conducting community-based research in populations that are underserved, and trans-generational trauma.
Education:
Area of Emphasis: Trauma and Community Mental Health
BS: Arizona State University, Tempe
Projects:
Pathways to Success At Oakland and San Francisco International High School, Culturally Adapted Yoga for Newcomer Youth
Research interests: parent-child interactions focusing on child development and parent education and increasing access to mental health services for at-risk populations.
Education:
B.S. in Education from the University of Miami
double majored in Human and Social Development and Psychology with a minor in Exercise Physiology.
Emma Liu
Lab Manager 20-21
Email: kliu3@paloaltou.edu
Research Interests: Risk and protective factors of internalizing disorders among immigrants.
Education:
BA: University of California, Davis
Projects:
Risk and Resilience Among Newcomer Immigrant Adolescents, Pathways to Success at Oakland and San Francisco International High School.
Kathleen Hawkins
Lab Manager 21-22
Email: khawkins@paloaltou.edu
Research Interests: at-risk youth populations.
Projects: Co-authored a manuscript (in press) about family separation and reunification in Central American immigrant youth populations, assisted with qualitative coding on a dissertation about the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and maternal mindfulness, co-authored an abstract using data from that dissertation, and has participated in UCSF's Fuerte program as a group facilitator.
Megan Dwyier
mdwyier@paloaltou.edu
Research Interests: The effects of trauma in forensic and police populations, intimate partner violence, posttraumatic growth, and mindfulness.
Education:
Area of emphasis: Forensic Psychology and Mindfulness & Meditation Psychology
BS: Psychology, The University of Virginia’s College at Wise
BA: History, The University of Virginia’s College at Wise
Practicum Training: The Inner Resources Center, LifeMoves, and the Community Living Center at Palo Alto VA, Menlo Park
Projects:
Using technology-assisted therapy to promote adversarial growth in a geriatric, polytrauma veteran population
Research Interests: Ethnic Minority Mental Health,
inequities in Health Care, Community Mental Health, Cultural Psychology, Intersectionality
Education:
BS: Biobehavioral Health, Pennsylvania State University
Projects:
Evaluation of a Culturally Tailored Pilot Program to Increase Mental Health Literacy and to Decrease Mental Health Stigma for Korean American Seniors
Momachi Martinson
Email: mmartinson@paloaltou.edu
Education:
BA: New York University
MS: Palo Alto University
Research interests: designing community-informed interventions that are both sustainable and community-driven, especially as they relate to trauma within marginalized communities
Education:
Areas of emphasis: Trauma; Diversity and Community Mental Health
B.A. in Human Development from Cornell University with minors in Global Health and Inequality Studies
Research Interests: Global Mental Health, Community Mental Health, Posttraumatic growth, Mindfulness, Intersectionality.
Education:
BA: Psychology, Sociology, The University of South Carolina
MA, EdM. Counseling Psychology, Teachers College, Columbia University
Research Interests: Community mental health, Trauma, Latinx youth and family populations, Culturally adapted interventions, Intersectionality
Education:
MA: Clinical Psychology, Teachers College, Columbia University
BS: Psychology, Communication minor, Santa Clara University
Research Interests: Primary care, treatment adherence, weight management, nutrition, trauma and critical care, resiliency, and PTSD.
Education:
MS: Health Psychology, University of Michigan–Dearborn
BA/BSE: Education and English, University of Dayton
Projects:
Soccer Without Borders (SWB): Disseminating findings from an after-school sports program for newcomer immigrant youth located at a public high school in Oakland, CA.
Gentry Vest
gvest@paloaltou.edu
Research Interests: parent-child bond/relationship, child development, adverse childhood experiences, maternal mental health, and trauma research
Education:
MA: Psychology, Azusa Pacific University
MA: Marriage and Family Therapy, Pepperdine University.
BA: Psychology and Criminal Justice, University of Nevada
Research Interests:
Children and adolescent mental health, Literacy dissemination in untraditional settings, Parenting program interventions, Family engagement within educational institutions, Intergenerational relations in immigrant families.
Education:
MS: Palo Alto University
MFA in Computer Animation: School of Visual Arts
Projects:
Soccer Without Borders (SWB): Attachment and mentorship impacts on newcomer immigrant youth through an after-school sports program