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 2024-25: Jaffni Pagavathsing
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: Mental health needs and access in global humanitarian settings, needs assessments, community-based participatory research, sickle cell disease, medically complex children
Education:
BSBA: Finance, American University of Sharjah, UAE
MSc: Psychological Studies, University of Glasgow, Scotland
Projects:
Needs assessments in global humanitarian settings
Creation and dissemination of minimum mental health services in humanitarian settings with the WHO
ACEs and pain in child and adolescent populations with sickle cell disease
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
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: 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
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