Zeba Ahmad
clinical program

Zeba earned an Ed.M. in Human Development and Psychology from Harvard University and an M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University. She has worked with lung cancer caregivers as a study interventionist and facilitates a psychosocial support group for adolescents undergoing surgery for morbid obesity. Her research interests include the mechanisms by which strategies for coping with stress can influence psychological health in people with chronic physical illness. She hopes to integrate findings on regulatory flexibility, psychological pain, and relationship-level processes of support provision to help develop interventions promoting psychosocial functioning after illness or bereavement.
primary advisor: Jennifer Ford

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Stephen Bosco
clinical program

Stephen graduated from Pace University with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology.   As an undergraduate he was a research assistant for the Center for Urban Health and Educational Research group and conducted observational research in mental health facilities exploring the ways in which art installations may enhance an individual’s cognition as well as conducted quantitative studies investigating the effect of masculine perceptions among men who have sex with men (MSM).   After graduation he began working at the Center for HIV Educational Studies & Training (CHEST) as a research assistant, where his work has focused on intimate MSM dyadic relationships and communication patterns around substance abuse and sexual agreements.  He aims to help develop interventions that will increase the quality and effectiveness of communication around HIV prevention and relationship/sexual satisfaction.
primary advisor: Tyrel Starks

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Kara Buda
clinical program

Kara received her B.S. in Psychology from Juniata College in 2012. She went on to receive her M.A. at Teachers College, Columbia University, where she specialized in Research Methods and Underserved Populations. She has worked as a Research Project Coordinator at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where she was responsible for the management of multiple research studies across a variety of cancer types and patient populations. Her research interests include exploring adverse health outcomes associated with chronic stress and complex disease management/ transition to palliative care in both patients and their informal caregivers.
primary advisor: Evelyn Behar

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Joseph Carter
clinical program

Joseph graduated from CUNY Hunter College, with a Masters in Psychology. His research interests focus on the intersections of race and sexual orientation that contribute to psychological and sexual health disparities among sexual minority populations. He has worked at the Center for HIV Educational Studies and Training for three years, as both a research assistant and a project coordinator. He ultimately hopes that his career in research and clinical sciences directly informs behavior intervention and prevention measures that mitigate health inequities among vulnerable populations, and improve the quality of life for sexual minority populations as a whole.
primary advisor: Jon Rendina

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Jorge Cienfuegos Szalay
clinical program

Jorge graduated from the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) with a B.A. in Psychology and an M.P.H. from the UPR Graduate School of Public Health. In 2015, he started working as a research assistant for the Sex+ TEAM, a group dedicated to the study of the social effects of HIV, stigma and sexual risk behavior, mainly with the LGBTQ+ population in Puerto Rico. Jorge’s current research interests include the constructs of masculinity, internalized homophobia, risky sexual behavior, and how these affect the mental and physical health of LGBTQ+ minorities. He aims to keep working with issues related to the health and well being of ethnic and sexual minorities.
interim advisor: Jon Rendina

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Katie Darabos
health psychology program

Katie graduated from Montclair State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology in 2008 and a Master of Science in Experimental Psychology concentrating in Behavioral Neuroscience from Seton Hall University in 2011. She then worked  at the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey researching psychological interventions to improve quality of life in gynecological cancer patients, as well as interventions to change indoor tanning behaviors. Katie’s current research interests span the field of psycho-oncology, and include the effectiveness of interventions to improve quality of life, understanding risk perceptions, and the uptake of genetic testing.
primary advisor: Jennifer Ford

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Trey Dellucci
clinical program

Trey received his B.A. in psychology from Southeastern Louisiana University in 2012 and his M.S. in psychology from DePaul University in 2015. His primary research interests are in the development of romantic and family relationships among sexual and gender minorities (SGM), and the protective influence of these relationships on negative health outcomes and behaviors. At DePaul, he examined predictors of resiliency among at-risk youth with an emphasis on family and romantic relationship factors. Since 2015, Trey has worked as a Research Study Assistant at Northwestern University’s Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Well Being where he examined the role of romantic relationships on sexual health risk-taking among men who have sex with men. He plans to focus on developing couples- and family-based interventions for sexual and gender minorities.
primary advisor: Tyrel Starks

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Beverlin Del Rosario
clinical program

Beverlin received her B.S. in Psychology at Xavier University of Louisiana. As a MARC and Ronald E. McNair scholar, she conducted research investigating attitudes toward and perceptions of skin bleaching. Her research interests include examining how cognitive-emotional strategies reduce or prevent future self-harm and suicide attempts; developing effective assessment tools that identify youth at risk of self-harm and suicide attempts; and identifying cognitive-emotional factors that promote resilience in youths with suicidal ideation and a history of self-harm.  
primary advisor: Regina Miranda

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Kendell Doyle
clinical program

Kendell earned a BA in Psychology from CUNY Hunter in 2016. She has since been working at the Center for HIV Educational Studies and Training (CHEST) as a Project Coordinator. Her current research interests include coping processes among patients diagnosed with a chronic illness and their families. More specifically, she is interested in how maladaptive forms of coping and other health risk behaviors impact disease trajectory and overall health outcomes. In addition, she is interested in how interpersonal relationships impact coping processes and health behavior. Through research, she aims to promote healthy coping strategies for individuals and family members affected by chronic illness to diminish health risk behavior that negatively impacts disease trajectory.
primary advisor: Tyrel Starks

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Boyang Fan
clinical program

Boyang received his BA in Psychology at University of California, Los Angeles in 2013. After graduating from UCLA, he worked as a research coordinator at the Anxiety and Depression Research Center at UCLA examining positive and negative affect in people with anxiety and depression. Boyang’s broad research interests include the mechanisms of emotion dysregulation in people with anxiety and depression. His work examines behavioral and psychophysiological measurements to better capture treatment changes within an emotion regulation therapy framework.
primary advisor: Tracy Dennis

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Emmanuel (Mani) Garcia
clinical program

Mani received a B.A. and M.A. in Psychology from Stony Brook University. He is interested in improving access to physical/mental health assessment and interventions for deaf and deaf-blind individuals - drawing on biopsychosocial theories and methods. His research is focused on (1) clarifying how patterns of both positive and negative self-focused thought can influence physical/mental health; (2) better understanding the role of mindfulness and movement literacy in health and well-being; and (3) using psychophysiological measures to develop better tools for assessing clinical needs and outcomes.
primary advisor: Regina Miranda

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Sugandha Gupta
clinical program

Sugandha Gupta received a B.S. in Psychology and Health Sciences from Stony Brook University. She completed her undergraduate honors thesis on the role of optimistic bias in hypothetical surrogate decision making during end-of-life care. Her research interests involve understanding the interactions between patient and physician within the healthcare environment, and how these interactions may influence recovery, adjustment, and coping habits. She is passionate about helping to develop interventions that increase the effectiveness and quality of health care by balancing physical, psychological, and environmental factors.
primary advisor: Tracey Revenson

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Chris Liong
clinical program

Chris graduated from Wesleyan University with a B.A. in Neuroscience, English, and Psychology. After graduating he served as a research coordinator at Yale University, working on clinical trials aimed at patients with co-occurring chronic pain and opiate dependence. He then worked at Columbia University Medical Center as a coordinator examining risk factors of Parkinson’s disease through biomarkers and genetics. He seeks to explore the intersection of neuroscience and psychology by developing and using biological models to examine clinical questions in psychology.
primary advisor: Mariann Weierich

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Jonathan Lopez Matos
health psychology program

Jonathan completed a B.A. in Psychology at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez and a M.A. in General Psychology at Hunter College. He has worked in various not-for-profit organizations in Puerto Rico and the United States, focusing on HIV prevention in sexual and racial minority populations. He has worked at the GAMMA Project of the UPR-Medical Sciences Campus and at the HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies of the New York Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University. Jonathan also served as a Health Educator at the Latino Pride Center in New York City. Recently, he has focused his work on minority stress, intersectionality and sexual risk-taking among gay and bisexual men and transgender women at CHEST and has also volunteered to work with the LGBTQ Latino and undocumented immigrant communities. His research interests include racial, sexual orientation and gender intersectionality; minority stress and its impact on sexual decision making and general well-being. He is interested in developing interventions that can increase positive mental and sexual health.
interim advisor: Jon Rendina

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Natalia Macrynikola
clinical program

After earning her BA from the University of Georgia in 2007, Natalia spent seven years working in digital health communications. She served as a writer and editor for media outlets such as EverydayHealth.com, and consulted in digital and social media for nonprofit and for-profit organizations. In 2015, she joined Dr. Regina Miranda’s experimental psychopathology lab, where she investigated the buffering effects of social support against different types of self-injurious thoughts and behavior in emerging adulthood. She also worked as a grant coordinator for Hunter College’s Mental Health Awareness and Suicide Prevention Program, helped to conduct research on memory and learning and on fear at NYU and on fear of cancer recurrence after treatment at the University of Ottawa. Natalia’s current research interests include understanding the role of interpersonal processes in self-harm and suicide, and exploring the intersection of media and psychology, particularly how social media affects cognition and emotion.
primary advisor: Regina Miranda

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Irina Mindlis
clinical program

Irina graduated from the University of Palermo in Buenos Aires with a B.Sc. in Psychology in 2013, and received her MPH concentrating in Epidemiology from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in 2015. She then worked in the Internal Medicine Department of Mount Sinai looking at health outcomes of World Trade Center rescue and recovery workers, depression screening in primary care, and interventions to improve self-management behaviors in elderly asthmatics. Irina’s current interests are in integrating mental health into primary care, and how race and ethnicity affects patient-physician communication.
primary advisor: Tracey Revenson

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Raymond Moody
clinical program

Ray graduated from the University of Arizona in 2011 with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and a minor in Family Studies and Human Development. Prior to completing his degree, he worked for a long-term residential drug and alcohol treatment facility in Phoenix, AZ. In 2011, he joined the Frances McClelland Institute for Children, Youth, and Families at the University of Arizona as a Lab Coordinator. His research investigates the health and well-being of LGBTQ individuals. He examines how inclusive LGBTQ policies are passed at the state level, and how such policies such as the California Fair Education Act and Arizona's Ban of Ethnic Studies influence the educational experiences of LGBTQ youth and youth of color. In his research on suicide among sexual minority youth, he examines the impact of LGBTQ-related stress on substance use problems and the influence of LGBTQ community-based organizations on this association. His goal is to understand the barriers to accessibility and defiance against drug/alcohol treatment, such as issues with spirituality due to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. He aims to understand the comorbidities of substance use disorders, such as sexual compulsivity, and how interventions address multiple issues that challenge successful recovery.
interim advisor: Jon Rendina

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Aliza Panjwani
clinical program

Aliza completed a BA with an Honours specialization in Psychology and a certificate of Practical Speaking in Spanish from the University of Western Ontario. After graduating, she sought research experience in health psychology and eventually became Lab Manager to Dr. Tae Hart at the Psychosocial Medicine Lab in Toronto, where she managed numerous multi-site projects examining health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in marginalized cancer populations. Working with chronically ill patients has fostered a genuine passion for examining the link between psychosocial oncology, psychological outcomes, and HRQOL using both quantitative and qualitative methodology. Specifically, she aims to better understand how individuals with a chronic illness, as well as their caregivers, cope with the stresses associated with managing their disease. Her works asks: What makes some resilient to developing psychological distress? What hinders the adjustment process?
primary advisor: Tracey Revenson

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Ashley Polokowski
clinical program

Ashley received a B.S. degree in psychology, with a minor in health nutrition sciences from Brooklyn College. She went on to receive her M.A. in psychology from Long Island University. She is working on grant-funded research investigating an integrative cognitive-behavioral intervention targeting anxiety among youth diagnosed with chronic illness. Ashley's current research examines youth's perception of their chronic illness including analyzing patterns of thinking, evaluating the use of coping skills and assessing the knowledge one has surrounding their illness.
primary advisor: Laura Reigada

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Sean Ryan
clinical program

Sean graduated from McGill University in 2008 with a B.S. in Psychology, and in 2010 he completed his M.S. in Rehabilitation Psychology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He has worked as a Research Assistant and Project Coordinator at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center on several different studies related to colorectal cancer screening as well as patient reported outcomes in drug trials. He is currently studying the impact of testicular cancer on emerging adulthood. Sean is also interested in examining how men cope with reproductive cancers and gender differences in the assessment of depression.
primary advisor: Jennifer Ford

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Barbara Storch
clinical program

Barbara graduated from Tufts University in 2016, double majoring in Cognitive & Brain Sciences and Child Study & Human Development (focus: Child and Family Health). Since then, she has worked as a Research Coordinator in the Pediatric Psychopharmacology & Adult ADHD Clinical and Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, primarily coordinating a laboratory classroom study for children with ADHD. Her research interests include the psychological outcomes and comorbidities of having a chronic illness in childhood, and the current interventions and interactions that can be used to ameliorate these disease trajectories.
primary advisor: Laura Reigada

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Laurel Weaver
clinical program

Laurel graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas with a B.A. in Psychology in 2011 and earned her M.A. in Psychology from New York University in 2013.  As a student, she cultivated a passion for exploring the intersection between physical and mental health by focusing her studies on biopsychology-related coursework and by assisting with HIV-related research activities at NYU’s Center for Health, Identity, Behavior, and Prevention Studies.  After graduating, she moved on to a grant-funded research position evaluating the healthcare behaviors and experiences of people living with HIV/AIDS who also exhibit problem substance use.  Her primary research interests focus on the physical, mental, and sexual health of HIV+ individuals who experience issues with drugs and alcohol. She aims to help develop substance use treatment interventions that promote mental health and antiretroviral medication adherence. 
primary advisor: Jon Rendina

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Thomas Whitfield
clinical program

Thomas has been a research assistant at The Center for HIV Educational Studies and Training at Hunter College since 2012. He has been studying romantic motivations for risk taking sexual behavior and plans to continue studying sexual behavior. His primary interests lie in mental and physical sexual health. He plans to help design interventions that can increase mental and sexual satisfaction among all types of couples and individuals.
interim advisor: Jon Rendina

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Caroline Zimmermann
clinical program

Caroline earned her B.S. in Psychology from Fordham University in 2014. She went on to receive her M.S. in Clinical Psychology from Loyola University Maryland. She has worked as a Research Assistant at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health on community-based intervention studies for patients with hypertension and chronic kidney disease. Her research interests include stress, coping, and resilience in chronic disease self-management. She aims to translate findings and interventions to patients with various medical illnesses. 
primary advisor: Tracey Revenson

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