Learn more about our research team at Maryland.

MORGAN ANVARi

Clinical Psychology PhD Student

Jessica Anane, MPH

Graduate Research Assistant

Jessica Bonumwezi, phD

Postdoctoral Fellow

Abigail Hines

Research Coordinator

Maretta Sonn

Research Coordinator

jessica magidson, phD

Lab Director

valerie bradley, MPS

Clinical Psychology PhD Student

KRISTEN REGENAUER, MS

Clinical Psychology PhD Student

Jessica anthony

Interventionist

Gabrielle bozman

Interventionist

Caroline Sacko, msn

Graduate Research Assistant

Imani Brown, MPH

Clinical Psychology PhD Student

Rithika baskar

Research Coordinator

DWAYNE DEAN

Peer Supervisor

Millicent Kihiuria

Research Coordinator

Noah Triplett, PhD

Assistant Research Professor

Learn more about our team in Cape Town and KwaZulu-Natal.

Learn more about our other research team members.

GMAP collaborates closely with CESAR, the University of Maryland’s Center for Substance Use, Addiction & Health Research.

Learn more about our lab alumni and past research team members.

Morgan Anvari, BA
Clinical Psychology PhD Student

Morgan Anvari is a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program. Morgan received her BA in Psychology from the University of Maryland, College Park, where she received the University’s 2020 Undergraduate Researcher of the Year Award for her work in GMAP and the Maryland Psychotherapy Clinic and Research Lab. She continued her work in GMAP for two years following her undergraduate studies, working primarily on domestic intervention pilots testing the initial efficacy, feasibility and acceptability of peer-led behavioral interventions to support substance use treatment engagement. Morgan’s current research interests include continuing to adapt behavioral interventions for peer delivery in resource-limited settings, and examining mechanisms of patient outcome change unique to the peer-patient relationship.

Education:

University of Maryland, College Park
BA Psychology, College Park Scholars Public Leadership Certificate

Valerie Bradley, MPS
Clinical Psychology PhD Student

Valerie Bradley is a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program at UMD. After receiving her master's degree in the University of Maryland Clinical Psychological Science program in 2019, she worked as the Project Director of the NIH HEAL Initiative "HEAL Together" study which aims to evaluate how a peer-delivered behavioral intervention can support retention in care for underserved individuals with OUD. She also worked as a research assistant with Dr. Jennifer Belus on the CIHR-funded "START Together" which aimed to develop and evaluate a couple-based intervention targeting antiretroviral therapy (ART) medication adherence for HIV-infected women and their male partners living in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Valerie’s research interests include increasing access to evidence-based care, substance use treatment outcomes, public health policy, and global mental health. Valerie previously lived in the United Arab Emirates where she worked for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce affiliate in Dubai and interned at the Human Relations Institute and Clinics.

Education:

University of Maryland, College Park
MPS Clinical Psychology

University of Mary Washington
BA International Relations, Minor in Economics

Kristen Regenauer, MS
Clinical Psychology PhD Student

Kristen Regenauer is a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at the University of Maryland (UMD). Her research interests focus on adapting behavioral interventions to increase engagement in care for people living with stigmatized health conditions (for instance, substance use and HIV) in low-resource settings. Currently, Kristen is working on projects related to substance use, intersecting stigmas, stigma-reduction efforts, HIV medication adherence, and task sharing to people with lived substance use experience. Most of her research is based in the Western Cape Province, South Africa, although she also does some work in Baltimore, MD. Before starting at UMD, Kristen worked as a clinical research coordinator in the Behavioral Medicine Program at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)/ Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA. She first started working with Dr. Magidson on the K23-version of Project Khanya (K23DA041901; PI: Magidson) at MGH. Kristen continued to work on Project Khanya upon Dr. Magidson’s move from MGH to UMD, and now is excited to be involved in the R01 version of the project (R01DA056102; PI: Magidson).

Education:

University of Maryland, College Park

MS Clinical Psychology

Middlebury College
BA Psychology, Minor in Philosophy 

Alexandra Rose, PhD

Alexandra Rose received her PhD from the University of Maryland Clinical Psychology program in 2024. Her research interests include: behavioral interventions for depression and substance use, the treatment of comorbid physical and mental illness, and implementation science. She previously worked as the Mental Health Officer on the Clinical team at Partners in Health, where she provided project management and technical support to the development, implementation, and evaluation of mental health services across PIH sites. She has been involved in research on the trafficking experiences and mental health outcomes of people trafficked to the UK for domestic work and has worked on the community programs teams of a health systems strengthening organization in southern Malawi and a social services agency in New York City. 

Education:

University of Maryland
PhD Clinical Psychology

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
King's College London Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience
MSc with Distinction, Global Mental Health

Yale University
BA History of Art

Jessica Anane, MPH
Behavioral and Community Health PhD Student

Jessica Anane is a doctoral student and teaching assistant in the Behavioral and Community Health Department at the University of Maryland School of Public Health. Her research interests are in mental health and addictions with a specific interest in increasing access to treatment services for individuals in under-resourced communities. She has years of experience in community health and substance use research and was formerly a Program Coordinator for a research project in the Division of Addiction Research and Treatment at The University of Maryland School of Medicine. In this position, she coordinated a program that uses a mobile treatment unit that is located in the Eastern Shore and provides medication-assisted treatment to patients with opioid use disorder, and the patients are connected to providers at the School of Medicine via tele-communication devices. She has also been involved in other community initiatives and interventions that work to increase access to health services for marginalized groups.

Education:

George Washington University: MPH, Community-Oriented Primary Care

University of Maryland, Baltimore County: BA, Health Administration and Public Policy

Jessica Bonumwezi, PhD
Post-Doctoral Fellow

Dr. Jessica Bonumwezi’s research and clinical interests are centered around fostering resilience in minority, at-risk, and underserved populations affected by trauma both in the US and globally. Her work has involved different trauma-affected communities such as Muslim American young adults, Black youth, genocide survivors in Rwanda, first responders, and healthcare workers. Her recent projects have been focused on discrimination-related trauma, intergenerational trauma transmission, and understanding mechanisms that underlie risk and resilience. The ultimate goal of her work is to make sustainable, community-driven, culturally tailored, evidence-based interventions more accessible to these communities.

Education:

Montclair State University – MA and PhD in Clinical Psychology

Hendrix College – BA in Psychology and Biology

Abigail Hines, BMS

Research Coordinator

Abigail Hines graduated from the University of Maryland with an MS and BS in Community Health and a BA in French Language and Literature. She is the senior research assistant for an R21 grant which looks at the intersection of masculinity, HIV treatment, and disclosure in South Africa and assists with the START Together and HEAL Together projects in the lab. As an undergraduate, she worked on a research project under the mentorship of Dr. Kirsten Stoebenau in which she analyzed Demographic and Healthy Survey (DHS) data to explore the prevalence of transactional sex in 10 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and what social, behavioral, and cultural factors may contribute to these rates. She hopes to pursue research opportunities in women’s sexual health on the global scale in the future.

Education:

University of Maryland, College Park
MS Community Health

University of Maryland, College Park
BS Community Health, BA French Language and Literature

Lea Simms, MPH
Program Manager

Lea Simms is the Project Director of Khanya, an NIH funded project which aims to understand the effectiveness and implementation success of a stepped care, peer-delivered behavioral intervention for individuals with HIV and substance use in Cape Town, South Africa. She also collaborates with other lab members on the larger portfolio of research studies in South Africa and the Maryland area and supports overall lab program management.

Previously, Lea worked at The American Society of Addiction Medicine and the National Council for Mental Wellbeing delivering mental health and addiction education and capacity building to health care providers. She has been involved in projects focused on educating providers about pain and opioids to curb the opioid epidemic in the US, expanding provider’s skills in treating tobacco, and integrating primary and behavioral health services in rural tribal health organizations. Lea also served in the Peace Corps in Botswana where she worked in a health clinic expanding HIV and gender-based violence prevention activities.

Education:

George Washington University
MPH Global Health- Design, Monitoring and Evaluation

Dickinson College
BA Psychology, Health Studies Certificate

Noah Triplett, PhD
Assistant Research Professor

Dr. Noah Triplett’s research aims to improve health equity by studying how different socioecological factors (e.g., community- or policy-level factors) interact to shape mental health outcomes while developing and evaluating strategies to increase the quality of and access to mental health services. With training in Child Clinical Psychology, Noah’s work has largely examined youth mental health across resource-limited settings. He integrates expertise in global public health, implementation science, and participatory research methods to work alongside partners to develop and evaluate sustainable solutions to improve mental health equity.

Noah is a first-generation college graduate who grew up in rural North Carolina. He is committed to using his education to improve health equity by conducting research and advocacy that centers the needs of typically overlooked communities.

Education:

University of Washington – MS in Psychology and PhD in Clinical Psychology

Duke University – BA in Psychology and Global Health

Nonceba Ciya
Interventionist

Nonceba Ciya is working as an interventionist on Project Khanya, a hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial for ART adherence and substance use in HIV care in South Africa. Previously, Nonceba worked as an interventionist at the Psychiatry and Mental Health Department at the University of Cape Town on a trauma study focused on developing a coping intervention to improve traumatic stress and HIV care engagement among South African women with sexual trauma histories. She has also worked on various research projects with Stellenbosch University's Psychology Department as a data collector and research assistant. She is passionate about working on projects that seek to help individuals infected with HIV better mentally and emotionally cope with their diagnosis. Through these programs she hopes to help individuals develop life skills that can be adapted to their community setting and that can transfer to their peers to encourage better ART adherence. 

Education:

National Diploma in Food Service Management

Yvonne Mdakane, MA
Interventionist

Yvonne Mdakane is a qualified Social Worker and Research Psychologist. She currently works at the Centre for Community Based Research-HSRC sweetwaters as a Research assistant and study coordinator. She has over 3 years experience of working in the research environment. She has been involved in several couple-based HIV-related studies focused on promoting ART adherence among couples as an interventionist and as a clinical qualitative interviewer. She is currently involved in 3 research projects which include START-Together, Igugulethu, and SMART-ART.

Education:

University of KwaZulu-Natal
Master of Social Sciences in Research Psychology
Bachelor of Social Sciences Honours Psychology
Bachelor of Social Work

Bonga Mkhize
Research Assistant

Bonga is a research assistant at the Centre for Community Based Research- HSRC Sweetwaters. He is a dedicated, compassionate individual with over two years of experience in research settings. He has worked on over four research projects as a data collector and has been involved in the direct recruitment of research participants. He has a passion for community development and research and has been recognized by team members and supervisors for team orientation, critical-thinking skills, and a desire for continuous learning.

Education:

Matric
Secretarial Banking and Finance Certificate

Sibabalwe Ndamase, BA
Research Assistant

Sibabalwe recently joined the Project Khanya team as a research assistant in South Africa. She previously worked as an interventionist at the Medical Research Council, in collaboration with Research Triangle Institute (RTI) International, with Dr. Myers and Dr. Wechsler on a pilot pre-treatment study aimed at linking young women with substance and sexual abuse treatment services. Additionally, Sibabalwe worked with Dr. Carney on a pilot study aimed at delivering evidence-based, manualized, behavioral interventions to a small group of young women and one-on-one intervention sessions with teenagers and their parents. She has also worked as a senior research assistant on Project Mind with Dr. Myers, as well as a research assistant on a pilot study on text-messaging and community-based antiretroviral therapy to improve antiretroviral adherence among pregnant women living with HIV in South Africa at Stellenbosch University with Professor Nachega and Dr. Skinners.

Education: 

University of Fort Hare
BS Social Sciences

University of the Western Cape
BA Honors Psychology

Thembelihle Pita, Mcom
Research Assistant

Thembelihle Pita is a Research Assistant at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), Centre for Community Based Research (CCBR) in South Africa, Greater Edendale area. She has been involved in numerous studies at the HSRC doing quantitative data collection, qualitative data collection, and processing. She’s currently involved in quantitative data collection on the START Together Project which focuses on the development of a couple-based medication adherence intervention for HIV-positive women and their male partners in Sweetwaters, South Africa. She’s also involved in qualitative data collection and processing in an R01 SMART ART Study. Its main objective is to maximize, through community-based ART initiation and maintenance, the proportion of ART-eligible persons living with HIV who achieve viral suppression at 18 months. She hopes to pursue her PhD in Public Health.

Education:

University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN)
Master of Commerce
BCOM Honours in Management
Bachelor of Social Sciences

Emily Satinsky, MSc
Faculty Research Assistant

Emily Satinsky was the faculty research assistant and lab manager at GMAP from January 2018 to July 2019. She worked on Project Khanya in South Africa, Project Peer Act!vate in Baltimore, and the systematic review on peer-delivered interventions for substance use in low- and middle-income countries. Before joining the lab, Emily worked at the Mental Health Foundation in London conducting research and developing peer-focused prevention programming for populations at risk of mental ill-health. Emily is passionate about improving access to mental health care locally and globally. She has conducted past research on psychosocial support services for children and adolescents and for refugees and asylum seekers. Currently, Emily works in Mbarara, Uganda as the Project Coordinator for a 5-year longitudinal cohort study through Massachusetts General Hospital and the Mbarara University of Science and Technology.

Education:

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
King's College London Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience
MSc Global Mental Health

Cornell University
BS Biology and Society, Minor in Anthropology

Valerie Braddick, BA

Valerie Braddick was a clinical research coordinator on Project Khanya, a hybrid-effectiveness implementation trial for ART adherence and substance use in HIV care in South Africa. Valerie worked with Dr. Jessica Magidson at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, and continued her work with GMAP during Dr. Magidson's first semester at UMD (through June 2018). Valerie recently began a full-time research coordinator position in the OCD & Related Disorders Program at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA. She is applying to medical school for matriculation in Fall 2019. 

Education:

Middlebury College
BA Neuroscience, Minor in Global Health

Courtney Colgan, MA

Courtney Colgan was a clinical research coordinator with the lab. She worked with Dr. Jessica Magidson at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School on the integration of behavioral interventions into global HIV care. Courtney continued to work at GMAP during Dr. Magidson's first semester at UMD (through June 2018). In addition to her interest in global mental health, Courtney’s research interests include the social determinants of mental health, psychological trauma, and the development of culturally-sensitive mental health interventions. Courtney will be starting a Counseling Psychology PhD program at Boston College this fall. 

Education: 

Boston College
MA Mental Health Counseling

Boston College
BA History

Kayla Griffin
Summer Research Fellow

Kayla was a summer research fellow through the BSOS Summer Research Institute Scholar program. Kayla is a senior at Morgan State University. Her research interests include the effects of childhood trauma and social functioning in adolescents. She is currently an ASCEND scholar (A Student-Centered, Entrepreneurship Development), where she is developing her own research project. Her experience with GMAP helped prepare her for graduate school applications and provided her with new research skills.

Education:

Morgan State University (expected 2019)
BS Psychology

Samantha Cohen, BS
Undergraduate Research Assistant

Samantha Cohen was an undergraduate research assistant at GMAP from June 2018 to May 2019. She worked on Project Khanya in South Africa and Peer Act!vate in Baltimore. Samantha has also worked as a Patient Care Volunteer at Children’s Hospital in Washington, D.C., and has had plenty of experience working in clinical or educational settings abroad, including in Pula, Croatia, Costa Rica, and Zambia. Samantha also worked for the University of Maryland Office of Accessibility and Disability Services as a note taker. She is passionate about and interested in global mental health initiatives, as well as making sure that underserved communities have access to quality mental health and physical health resources.

Education:

University of Maryland, College Park
BS Psychology

Sophia Crooks
Summer Research Intern

Sophia was a Summer Scholar through the University of Maryland School of Nursing. Sophia started her first year of nursing school in the fall of 2019. She worked on Project Peer Act!vate summer 2019 as a research intern, where she coordinated on-site day to day operations. Sophia is excited to see the impact this study has on the Baltimore community and use what she learns to positively impact her future patients.

Education:

University of Maryland School of Nursing (expected 2021)
BS Psychology

Frances Loeb, BA
Faculty Research Assistant

Frances Loeb was the faculty research assistant and lab manager at GMAP. Her interest in implementing mental health treatments grew out of her undergraduate research experience focused on anxiety disorders and her research fellowship at the National Institute of Mental Health studying childhood-onset schizophrenia. Frances developed a passion for global mental health and got first-hand experience implementing education and health programs as a Peace Corps volunteer in Vanuatu. She has previously worked at Martha’s Place, a Baltimore transitional housing program for women recovering from addition and was thrilled to be contributing to substance use treatments in Baltimore again with the Peer Act!vate study, while continuing global mental health work on Project Khanya in South Africa.

Education:

Johns Hopkins University
BA Psychology

Xavier Phelps
Undergraduate Research Assistant

Xavier Phelps was an undergraduate research assistant at GMAP and was primarily involved in Project Peer Act!vate in Baltimore. Xavier has previous experience working in social entrepreneurship in Ecuador, where he consulted for small businesses and non-profits in underserved rural areas of the country. Xavier is very excited to gain research experience in the field of mental health and substance use treatment.

Education:

University of Maryland, College Park
BA Psychology, Minor in General Business

Alyssa Precil
Undergraduate Research Assistant

Alyssa was an undergraduate research assistant with GMAP working primarily on projects in Baltimore. She has previous research experience working with young children to understand the development of moral values, such as unfair resource allocation. She volunteers at Shady Grove Hospital and has future plans to work in the medical field as a researcher and practitioner.

Education:

University of Maryland, College Park
BS Psychology

Talya Gordon
Undergraduate Research Assistant

Talya Gordon was an undergraduate research assistant with GMAP. She worked on Project Khanya in South Africa primarily but also assists with other local studies in Baltimore. Talya also worked in Dr. Kristen Hamilton’s lab which focuses on the neurobiological and psychological mechanisms underlying impulsivity. Talya’s passion for understanding how marginalized communities experience both physical and mental health has led her to become a crisis counselor, an alternative break leader, and an NIH summer intern for the Vaccine Research Center focusing on HIV vaccinations. Since Talya’s family comes from South Africa, she feels personally connected to GMAP’s mission and is excited to be part of this incredible team.  

Education:

University of Maryland, College Park
BS Psychology and BS in Biobehavioral Health, Minor in History

Alli Buller
Undergraduate Research Assistant

Alli Buller was an undergraduate research assistant at GMAP. She worked on Project Khanya and a computer program for a new study with Dr. Magidson and Dr. Felton. Alli studied computer science and psychology and is enjoyed the opportunity to combine her technical skills with her passion for psychology.

Education:

University of Maryland, College Park
BS Psychology and BS Computer Science

Alison Li
Undergraduate Research Assistant

Alison Li was an undergraduate research assistant at GMAP, where she primarily worked on Project START Together and literature reviews. Alison is passionate about volunteering in her community. She currently volunteers as a Patient Care Volunteer at Children’s National Hospital and as a Blood Donor Ambassador for the American Red Cross.

Education:

University of Maryland, College Park (expected 2021)
BS Public Health Science

Miwa Johnstone
Undergraduate Research Assistant

Miwa Johnstone was a summer research assistant at GMAP where she primarily worked with a systematic review and qualitative coding. She is currently a rising-sophomore at Middlebury College. She is passionate about making mental health care more accessible and addressing mental health stigmatization.

Education:

Middlebury College (expected 2023)

Sybil Majokweni, MPH
Senior Research Assistant

Hlombekazi Sybil Majokweni is a Junior Research Fellow in the HIV Mental Health Research Unit at the University of Cape Town. She currently works on Project Someleze, a coping intervention for HIV+ women with sexual trauma, in collaboration with Columbia University and Project Khanya, a stepped care, peer-delivered intervention to improve ART adherence and SUD in primary care with the Maryland University Global Mental Health and Addiction Program. She holds a masters degree in Public Health specializing in Health Economics which is driven by her interest in public health policy and the cost of health care in low- and middle-income countries.

Her main research interest is the economic feasibility of up-scaling evidence-based interventions in developing countries. Sybil has worked on a parenting randomized control trial with Oxford University and a pre-treatment study on substance using women in South Africa with the South African Medical Research Council.

Education:

University of Cape Town

MPH in Health Economics

University of Fort Hare
BSoc Sc Hons in Sociology and Political Studies

Christine Wan
Undergraduate Research Assistant

Christine Wan is an undergraduate research assistant at GMAP. Previously, Christine conducted research in a Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics lab as an undergraduate research assistant and at Uniformed Services of Health Sciences as a summer intern. She volunteers clinically in local hospitals and clinics, and is engaged on-campus as a Tzu Chi Foundation volunteer and Alternative Breaks experience leader. Christine is passionate about and interested in learning more about mental health, particularly in underserved communities. She is very excited to be a part of this lab and looking forward to gaining new research skills!

Education:

University of Maryland, College Park (expected 2021)
BS Physiology and Neurobiology

Lakendra Schwendig, VASII
Undergraduate Research Assistant

Lakendra was an undergraduate research assistant at GMAP. She is a double major and aims to obtain her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology with a specialization in Neuropsychology. Lakendra has worked across the Mid Atlantic on projects aimed at addressing substance use disorder, trauma, and social determinants of health from a community approach. She is passionate about providing individuals with the tools they need to improve their quality of life and educating care providers in corporate and healthcare settings on best practices to better serve community needs.

Education:

University of Maryland University College (expected 2020)
BS Psychology and Criminal Justice

Abdul-Aziz Baig

NIDA Summer Intern

My name is AbdulAziz Baig. I am currently an undergraduate student at the University of Maryland pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Psychology entering my senior year with plans to pursue a masters and Phd post graduation. I am passionate in pursuing a career in clinical psychology with an emphasis on treating minor and severe mental health disorders among adults. I hope to one day bring mental health services to my hometown, open up my own practice, and teach at the University of Maryland so that I may not only help individuals achieve a healthier and happier life, but also build the next generation of psychologists for the future.

Education:

University of Maryland, College Park (Expected 2022)

B.A., Psychology

Elizabeth Hutman, BS
Graduate Research Assistant

Elizabeth Hutman previously interned as an undergraduate research assistant at GMAP. Elizabeth's primary responsibilities for Project START Together included data management and qualitative coding, and for Project Khanya, she worked on interview transcription and employing a substance use assessment tool. Elizabeth is pursuing a master's in health administration (MHA) at the School of Public Health. Now, Elizabeth is completing her graduate internship with the lab. Elizabeth is primarily working on her academic writing by compiling grant references, literature reviews, and through a systematic review. Her passion for community health and interest in psychology drew her to GMAP.

Education

University of Maryland, College Park

BS Community Health

Sara Abdelwahab
Undergraduate Research Assistant

Sara Abdelwahab is an undergraduate research assistant at GMAP. She has conducted research in the FIRE Deep Brain Neurotech lab, and the Laboratory for Thinking, Reasoning, Creativity and Educational Neuroscience. She is currently working as an RA at the UMD counseling center research unit. She volunteers as a medical assistant at a local community clinic and is involved on campus with clubs such as Net Impact STEM, and Miles for Smiles. Sara is very passionate about research on mental health and its effect on students’ daily lives, as well as spreading awareness of the importance of students’ mental well-being (especially during finals season). She is very excited to be a part of the GMAP lab and is looking forward to gaining a new set of skills, and meeting new people!

Education:

University of Maryland, College Park
(expected 2022)

BS Physiology and Neurobiology. BS Psychology, Minor in French

Yosef Bronsteyn
Research Assistant

Yosef Bronsteyn is a research assistant at GMAP, where he works on Project START Together and Project Khanya. Yosef enjoys discovering the nuance and creativity present in Psychology and is especially passionate about improving people’s Psychological wellbeing through implementation research. Outside of school, Yosef has previously volunteered at Yachad camps as a summer-camp counselor for children and adolescents with developmental delays, and at Free Minds Book Club for individuals who are incarcerated. Yosef is very grateful for this opportunity and is looking forward to deepening his knowledge and research-skills, while simultaneously being involved in helping the resource-limited communities GMAP serves.

Education:

University of Maryland, College Park
BA Psychology

Tolu Abidogun, MBBS

Research Coordinator

Tolu is a research coordinator at GMAP and graduate student in UMD’s MPH in Public Health Practice and Policy program. She provides research support to the HEAL Together and FORE Foundation Detroit Peer Recovery Coach projects, including assessments, qualitative coding, and transcription. She will also be working on a project funded by the Association for Psychological Science, which aims to highlight the voices of underrepresented scholars and people with lived mental health experience by creating a YouTube channel of interviews with speakers for use in psychological science courses.

She previously worked as a pathways intern with the Biostatistics Program at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), where she provided support to the Office of Clinical Research Support and a PCOR Trust Fund Multiple Chronic Condition e-care plan project.

Tolu is interested in mental health research, specifically focused on substance use disorders, and hopes to pursue a PhD in this field. Her research interests include understanding and preventing addictive behaviors in young adults, reducing the social stigma around substance use disorders, and public health policy around access to substance use disorder treatment.

Education:

University of Maryland, College Park
MPH Public Health Policy and Practice (expected Dec 2021)

University of Lagos, Nigeria
Bachelors of Medicine and Surgery

Meera Ragunathan

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Meera Ragunathan is an Undergraduate Research Assistant at GMAP. She is double majoring in Psychology and Criminal Justice and ultimately hopes to become a therapist. She is passionate about mental health resource accessibility and stigma, and is grateful for the opportunity to be working in the lab. In the last year, she has researched and written about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health resource accessibility, and has conducted interviews with mental health professionals to discuss the extent of these effects. She hopes to further develop her research skills through GMAP.

Education:

University of Maryland, College Park (Expected 2022)

B.A., Psychology & Criminal Justice and Criminology

CJ Seitz-Brown, PhD
Assistant Clinical Professor

Dr. CJ Seitz-Brown is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Maryland, College Park. Prior to coming to Maryland, he served as a postdoctoral psychology fellow at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System in Seattle.

His research focuses on developing and evaluating interventions to address substance use, mental health concerns, and co-occurring chronic health problems in the United States as well as internationally. CJ supervises graduate students’ clinical work in the UMD Psychology Clinic and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses.

Education:

University of Maryland, College Park
PhD Clinical Psychology

University of Maryland, College Park
MS Clinical Psychology

Swarthmore College
BA Psychology & Linguistics

Contact: cjsb@umd.edu

Jenn Belus, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr. Jenn Belus is a postdoctoral fellow with interests in developing and disseminating culturally-sensitive interventions for mental health and HIV in low- and middle-income countries. Her clinical and research background focuses on intimate relationships and working with couples to treat psychopathology and general relationship distress. She is passionate about including intimate partners and other loved ones in treatment, where appropriate. She has previously conducted mixed methods research to improve couple-based programs targeting HIV prevention and alcohol reduction for South African couples. 

Education:

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
PhD Clinical Psychology

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
MA Clinical Psychology

Ryerson University
BA Psychology

Contact: jennifer.belus@gmail.com

Yvonne Ochieng

Masters Student / Research Assistant

Yvonne Ochieng is a Masters of Clinical Psychological Sciences student University of Maryland. Her research interests include: adaptation and evaluation of evidenced based behavioral interventions addressing depression, anxiety, trauma, substance use disorders. She is currently working on the mutual capacity building project that is focused on integrating our work in methadone treatment in Baltimore and HIV care in South Africa, sharing lessons learned across sites.

She previously worked as the Program manager for citiesRISE in Kenya, where she designed, implemented and managed programs for young people in under resourced and underserved communities and colleges. She has been involved in research on how young people in low and middle income countries engage with mental health science (depression and anxiety) and Global Mental Health Databank research to inform prevention and treatment of mental health conditions for young people

Education:

University of Maryland, College Park

Masters in Clinical Psychological Science (Expected 2022)

University of Nairobi, Kenya

BA, Psychology and Sociology

Melissa Coaxum
Undergraduate RA

Melissa Coaxum is a graduate student at the University of Maryland seeking a Behavioral and Community Health MPH degree. Her research interests include reducing mental health stigma among marginalized groups and promoting mental health awareness. Melissa hopes to transition her public health background into the psychology field to further her interest and research in mental health. She is excited to work at GMAP under Dr. Jessica Bonumwzi, focusing on trauma and racial trauma in South Africa.

Education:

University of Maryland, College Park

Behavioral and Community Health MPH (Expected 2023)

University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC)

BA Health Administration and Public Policy