PhD Student Profiles

PhD students group 2017.

Meet our PhD students and candidates.

Meet our PhD students and candidates:

Lillian Agyemang

Lillian Agyemang.

Education

  • MSW, University at Buffalo
  • MHA, Utica College
  • BS, Virginia Commonwealth University

Research Areas

  • racial/ethnic oral health disparities experienced by older Black adults in access to and utilization of oral health services
  • ethnogeriatrics: the intersection of health, race/ethnicity, and aging
  • examining the structural barriers that cause disparities in oral health outcomes of Black older adults residing in dental/health professional shortage area
  • policies that impact aging services available in communities with predominantly Black residents 

Megan Bailey

connor walters.

PhD Candidate

Dissertation Topic: Exploring refugee youths' experiences and the role of psychosocial support activities (Chair: Wooksoo Kim)  

Education

  • MSW, University at Buffalo
  • MA, Union University
  • BA, Union University

Research Areas

  • refugee and immigrant communities
  • barriers to integration and community inclusion
  • program evaluation

Sara Campbell

Sara Campbell.

Education

  • MSW, University at Buffalo
  • MDiv, Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School
  • BS, Prescott College 

Research Areas

  • trauma
  • secondary traumatic stress
  • moral injury

Nicole Capozziello

Nicole Capozziello.

PhD Candidate

Dissertation Topic: Exploring East Side Residents' Visions of Nature and Vacant Land: A Community-Based Case Study (Chair: Elizabeth Bowen)  

Education

  • MSW, University at Buffalo
  • BA, Lawrence University

Research Areas

  • criminal justice policy change
  • nature-based interventions, including gardening and cooking
  • community-based participatory research

Jennifer Elliott

Jay Kim.

Education

  • MSW, University at Buffalo
  • BS, Canisius College

Research Areas

  • intimate partner violence in the Black community
  • discrepancies in services for victims of intimate partner violence by providers and institutions 
  • interventions that promote healthy relationships 

Hannah Ginn

Hannah Ginn.

PhD Candidate

Dissertation topic: Questioning capacity: The impact of "capacity to consent" policies and practices on the sexual rights of women labeled with intellectual disability (Chair: Laina Y. Bay-Cheng)

Education

  • MSW, University of Wyoming
  • BA, University of Washington

Research Areas

  • women labeled with intellectual disability
  • sexual ableism in policies and services practices
  • feminist and disability theories and methods

Seventy F. Hall

Seventy F. Hall.

PhD Candidate

Dissertation topic: Identifying the five faces of adultism: A grounded theory study of youths’ perceptions of age-based oppression across systems (Chair: Laina Y. Bay-Cheng)

Education

  • MSW, University at Buffalo
  • BS, Towson University

Research Areas

  • youth participatory action research

Min Hu

Min Hu.

Education

  • MSW, Washington University in St. Louis
  • MSW, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
  • LLB, Independent City College, Dongguan University of Technology

Research Areas

  • financial capability and asset building of low- and moderate-income households 
  • resilience and its building for dealing with challenges caused by economic difficulties
  • service design and delivery and program evaluation

Vanity Jones

Vanity Jones.

Education

  • BS, SUNY Brockport
  • AS, Monroe Community College

Research Areas

  • influence on intimate relationships in the Black community
  • interventions to break down barriers preventing healthy relationships in the Black community
  • preventing unhealthy relationships/identifying what a healthy relationship looks like for adolescents

Ogechi Kalu

Ogech Kalu.

Education

  • MSW, CRM University (India)
  • BA, Kogi State University (Nigeria)

Research Areas

  • child, adolescent and young adult mental health
  • intimate partner violence among African communities
  • trauma-informed interventions
  • connection between sexuality and religious morality

Jay Kim

Jay Kim.

Education

  • AM (MSW), University of Chicago
  • BA, Seoul National University

Research Areas

  • undocumented immigrants (Asians) and health access
  • immigrant health and mental health
  • community organizing and social movements

Charles LaBarre

Charles LaBarre.

Education

  • MSW, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania
  • BA, Binghamton University

Research Areas

  • alcohol use disorder intervention development
  • substance use disorder recovery trajectories and disparities
  • American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare (AASWSW) grand challenge developments

Meschelle Linjean

Meschelle Linjean.

Education

  • MSW, University at Buffalo
  • MA, New Mexico State University
  • BA, University of California, Santa Barbara

Research Areas

  • historical and generational trauma healing in Indigenous communities
  • relationality and belonging in family and community wellbeing
  • culture-centered and land-/place-based healing approaches

Sarah Martin

Meschelle Linjean.

Education

  • MSW, University at Buffalo 
  • BA, Nazareth University

Research Areas

  • transgender and gender expansive youth experiences of identity when confronted with systems of authority
  • abolition and transformative justice
  • youth participatory action research

Jessica Mencia

jessica mencia.

Education

  • MSW, University at Buffalo
  • BA, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Research Areas

  • abortion access in the United States South
  • access to sexual rights and healthcare in young women and girls
  • sexual risk-taking of young women with marginalized identities

Mary Milnamow

Mary Millnamow.

Education

  • MSS, Bryn Mawr College
  • BA, Temple University

Research Areas

  • family caregivers for older adults with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias
  • family caregivers' employment stability; system-level change and policy implications
  • secondary data analysis, mixed methods, implementation science

Honour Odigie

Honour Odigie.

Education

  • MSW, University at Buffalo
  • BA, SUNY Old Westbury

Research Areas

  • precarious labor experiences of trafficked migrant women
  • discrepancies between the stated goals of trafficking prevention schemes, policies, interventions, and trafficked migrant women's account of their experiences 
  • critical analysis of anti-trafficking discourse, policies and interventions

Rebecca Rasnake

Rebecca Rasnake.

Education

  • MSW, Savannah State University
  • BA, Bellevue University

Research Areas

  • adverse childhood experiences
  • trauma-informed care
  • health disparities of indigenous populations

Sarah Richards-Desai

Sarah Richards-Desai.

PhD Candidate

Dissertation topic: An exploration of refugee women's economic wellbeing, social capital, and employment in a resettlement city (Chair: Yunju Nam)

Education

  • MSW, University at Buffalo
  • BA, Houghton College

Research Areas

  • refugee women's social capital and economic participation
  • applications of transnational feminist perspectives on resettlement policy

EunSook Seong

Rebecca Rasnake.

Education

  • MSW, University at Albany
  • MSW, Seoul Women's University

Research Areas

  • mental health, child maltreatment, trauma and parenting
  • the intergenerational transmission of risk
  • Korean immigrant communities

Candra Skrzypek

Candra Skrzypek.

PhD Candidate

Dissertation topic: Teacher Referrals to Care for Girls with Co-occurring Anxiety and Depression: Examining Multilevel Predictors (Chair: Annahita Ball)

Education

  • MSW, University at Buffalo
  • BA, SUNY Geneseo

Research Areas

  • educational justice
  • student mental health and well-being

Beth Tripi

beth tripi.

PhD Candidate

Dissertation topic: Understanding and Enhancing Collaboration Across Outpatient Children’s Mental Health Care Service Delivery Models in a County-Level System of Care (Chair: Annette Semanchin Jones)

Education

  • MSW, University at Buffalo
  • BSW, Buffalo State College

Research Areas

  • child, adolescent and young adult mental health
  • mental health service delivery systems

Samantha Williams

Samantha Williams.

Education

  • MSW, University at Buffalo
  • BA, Buffalo State College

Research Areas

  • university-community partnerships to address social issues in campus adjacent, underdeveloped Black and Brown neighborhoods
  • schools of social work incorporating service learning in their curriculum to promote civic and community engagement in Black and Brown neighborhoods
  • quality of housing as a determinant of health in underdeveloped neighborhoods

Qi Zhou

qi zhou.

PhD Candidate

Dissertation topic: Title to be determined (Chair: Annette Semanchin Jones)

Education

  • MSW, Peking University
  • BA, Nanjing University of Finance and Economics

Research Areas

  • nonprofit organizational collaboration/ interrelationship
  • program evaluation