Latino Mental Health Research Trainees: Summer 2012

Vanessa Calderon
Undergraduate Trainee

I am a senior at Yale University completing my undergraduate degree in psychology. I intend to pursue a graduate degree in clinical psychology. I am interested in working with the Latino community, addressing the discrepancies in help seeking behavior and access to mental health care. My research interests include exploring the factors that contribute to the disparity in treatment amongst minority populations and developing effective interventions to address this issue. In particular, I am interested in working with families dealing with depression and substance abuse and providing culturally sensitive therapies. I am incredibly excited about the opportunity to explore these issues through the Latino Mental Health Research Program in Puebla this summer. I look forward to what will undoubtedly be a truly rewarding and invaluable experience.

Jessica Carmona
Undergraduate Trainee

I am an undergraduate student at the University of Texas at Brownsville double majoring in psychology and sociology. For the last year I have been working under the mentorship of Dr. Cody Cox studying aging attributions in Hispanic elders. I developed an interest in research after joining the Minority Biomedical Research Support, Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (MBRS RISE) program. As I started attending to lectures, conferences and became familiar with the literature I noticed that Hispanics are underrepresented in research and I would like to change that. I have an especial interest in the role that culture and society plays on individual health and I am glad that I was given the opportunity to become part of this program. At the end of this year I will be applying to clinical psychology PhD. Programs. I am interested in achieving cultural competence to provide quality service to minorities.

Mifta Chowdhury
Undergraduate Trainee

I am a rising senior at the University of Pennsylvania majoring in psychology with a minor in linguistics and pursuing a certificate in Spanish. I am currently a research assistant at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, working at the Center for Injury Research and Prevention. In the fall I will begin a year-long research seminar in clinical psychology and produce a project based on original research. Some of my specific research interests include the role of familial relationships in development of mood disorders in adolescents and the efficacy of family therapy treatments. I am also interested in the factors that motivate individuals to seek treatment and the ways that these factors can be promoted. Ultimately, I would like to practice as a counseling or school psychologist or to become a clinical social worker. I am very grateful for this incredible opportunity to explore my interests and to develop my research skills.

Marissa Garcia, B.A.
Undergraduate Trainee

I graduated with highest distinction from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.A. in Psychology and Spanish in May 2012. Under the mentorship of Dr. Eric A. Youngstrom, I spent the summer of 2011 conducting my own research in a rural community in Guanajuato, Mexico, in which I was interested in seeing if Mexican culture influenced maternal attitudes towards mood symptoms in children and adolescents.  I spent my senior year working as a research assistant in Dr. Youngstrom’s Mood Emotions Clinical Child Assessment (MECCA) Lab assisting a graduate student with a meta-analysis of bipolar disorder symptomatology. My research interests include Latino mental health disparities and psychometrics.  In particular, I am interested in the factors within Latino culture that contribute to the low rates of bipolar disorder and depression among Latinos.  In addition, I am interested in whether the current diagnostic tools that exist are effective in diagnosing mood disorders among Latinos. I spent this summer conducting research at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). Under the mentorship of Dr. Rolando Diaz-Loving and Dr. Sofía Rivera Aragón, I designed my own research study that measured the reliability and validity of the Familism scale in Mexico City. My goals are to eventually pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and conduct research to provide a better understanding of Latino mental health disparities and propose solutions that would ideally eliminate these differences.

Gilberto Lopez, M.A., MPH
Graduate Trainee

My research interests include analyzing the intersections of migration, health, and power/politics. More specifically, I am interested in how said intersections play a role in the conceptualization, attitudes, and behaviors of health and illness among migrants in sending and receiving communities. My research experience includes: researching perceptions and attitudes of mental health treatment in a binational Mixteco community; research among military veterans with spinal-cord injuries; applied research aimed at improving HIV preventive and testing services among heterosexual-identifying Latino MSM’s; and researching explanatory models of HIV/AIDS among young adults in Mexico City. 

I am currently completing a biostatistics certificate through the University of California, San Diego and have been admitted into the social and behavioral sciences doctoral program at the Harvard School of Public Health (fall 2013 start). My additional academic formation includes: an MPH in social and behavioral sciences from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; an MA in medical anthropology from Southern Methodist University; and BA’s in Anthropology and Chicano Studies, with a minor in Philosophy, from Fresno State University.

William Martinez, M.A.
Graduate Trainee

I am a fourth-year graduate student in the Clinical-Child Psychology Ph.D. program at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. In 2010, I was awarded a fellowship through the American Psychological Association’s Minority Fellowship Program. At DePaul, under under the mentorship of Antonio Polo, Ph.D., I have been examining the impact of cultural and contextual factors on the mental health of Latino youth as well as a cultural adaptation of a school-based group intervention for depression targeting ethnic minority youth. My research interests include the development, implementation, and dissemination of evidence-based treatment programs for youth of underrepresented groups with an emphasis on treatments for pediatric stress, anxiety, and trauma in immigrant Latino youth populations. Currently, I am working on my dissertation where I am employing hierarchical linear modeling techniques to examine how individual family cultural factors and neighborhood contexts interact and impact internalizing and externalizing symptoms in Latino youth. I particularly strive to address advocacy, policy, and social justice issues throughout my research.

Yesenia Mejia
Undergraduate Trainee

I am an undergraduate student majoring in Psychology at the University of California, San Diego.  My research interests include increasing public awareness of mental health topics, reducing mental health disparities, and improving quality of life within Latino communities. I am also interested in researching culture and the role it plays in mental health.  As a research assistant, I worked under the supervision of Dr. Andres Sciolla on his research project which involved creating an effective program for treating Spanish-speaking, gay, Hispanic males diagnosed with HIV, affected by Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.  I also conducted research at the Autism Lab on campus which involved developing better therapies and assessments for children under 3 years of age who show symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder.  Furthermore, as a Wellness Peer Educator at the Counseling and Psychological Services Department I facilitated mental health workshops and promoted outreach on campus which sparked my interest in improving mental health literacy amongst Latinos.  I am passionate about working with underprivileged and minority populations and I am looking forward to working with Dr. Lopez and his research team in Puebla, Mexico on his Psychosis Literacy Project this summer.  

Perla Padilla, B.A.
Undergraduate Trainee

I graduated with two BAs, Psychology and Latin American Studies, from the University of California San Diego in 2012. I am from Honduras and moved to United States in 2005. I am interested in conducting research with Latino populations focusing on education, immigration and Latin America politics. I think my research interests are influenced by my experiences as an immigrant and my yearning for my country and Latin America. I became involved in research when I transferred to UCSD which gave me plenty of opportunities to enrich my undergraduate career conducting my own research. In my junior year, I participated in the McNair program and the Psychology Research Honors program.  My research in Psychology was about motivation and learning. During my time at UCSD, I also expanded my research to include the Honduran politics being part of the Research Honors program in my second major, Latin American Studies. As member of the USC MHIRT 2012 cohort, I will be working in Mexico City in the Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatria Ramon de la Fuente Muniz with Dr. Shoshana Berenzon.  This project will expose me for the first time to ethnographical research. I am grateful for being able this summer to enhance my research and life experience working and exploring a new country, culture and method of conducting research. 

Nayra Rodriguez-Soto, M.A.
Graduate Trainee

I did my undergraduate studies at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras and received a B.A. in Psychology and Anthropology in 2009. I am currently a doctoral student in the Department of Psychology at the same university. During my academic years, I have received research training at the Institute for Psychological Research (IPsi), under the mentorship of Dr. Guillermo Bernal, Dr. Carmen Rivera-Medina, Dr. Eduardo Cumba-Avilés and Dr. Melanie Domenech-Rodríguez. My last project was about an examination of the behaviors related to evidence-based practice among Puerto Rican mental health providers. My research interests are with the development and adaptation of psychological measures into Latino communities that are associated with mood disorders, particularly family related instruments. I am also interested in understanding how family processes and cultural context are related to developmental psychopathologies, and how interventions focused on culturally sensitive parenting are essential to prevent them.

Benjamin Rosado, B.S.
Undergraduate Trainee

I graduated with distinction from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2012 with a double major in Psychology and Global Studies (Latin American Health). Under the guidance of Sue Estroff, Ph.D., I graduate with highest honors for my senior thesis: “Examining Structural Violence in Guatemala through Conceptions of Depressive Symptoms”. I argued that conceptions of depressive symptoms can be used as a lens for examining dimensions of structural violence and social inequalities, and for examining the embodiment of those forces at the level of the lived experience. I have a strong interest in cultural conceptions of mental health/illness (especially from the perspective of the indigenous people of Latin America) and how they influence health-seeking behaviors. Moreover, I am interested in the relationship between social inequalities and manifestations of mental health problems, particularly looking at mental health’s role in the endeavor of social justice. Starting in September 2012 I will begin a one-year internship in Washington DC as a social services caseworker at a local non-profit. I then plan on applying to graduate school for either clinical social worker, psychology, or medical anthropology.

Maria Santos, B.A.
Graduate Trainee

I am a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology Program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee under the mentorship of Dr. Jonathan W. Kanter.  My research focuses on the development of psychotherapy treatment for depression.  Specifically, I am currently working on a randomized controlled trial of Behavioral Activation (BA) for Latinos with Depression.  I have also conducted a pilot trial of BA for Latino men in group format in the community health setting.  My master’s is on the validation of a measure of activation, the Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale (BADS), with a Spanish-speaking population in the US.  The validated tool will enable measurement of changes in BA’s hypothesized mechanism of action throughout the course of treatment.  I am a second-generation Latina from Los Angeles of Guatemalan heritage.    

 Natalia Jaramillo Vasquez, B.A.
Undergraduate Trainee

I graduated with honors from Clark University May 2012 with a B.A. in psychology and concentrations in Latin American Studies and Ethics & Public Policy. This fall I plan to apply to Clinical Psychology graduate programs. During my time at Clark, I received research training in the Mental Health, Culture, and Community Research Program under the mentorship of Dr. Esteban Cardemil.  I have conducted research examining the relationship between masculinity and depression through the context of acculturation in Latino men. My research interests include understanding help-seeking behaviors among Latinos, as well as developing culturally sensitive treatment interventions geared at improving mental health disparities for minority groups. Since finishing the MHIRT program in Puebla, Mexico, I have been working as a project assistant for the Families and Schizophrenia project at USC.