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

Brittany Campanella

Brittany Campanella.

Education

  • BA, Buffalo State University

Research Areas

  • alcohol and stimulant use among college students
  • co-occurring mental health disorders
  • substance use recovery and interventio

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

Emily Chambers

Nicole Capozziello.

Education

  • MSW, Binghamton University
  • BA, Binghamton University

Research Areas

  • reproductive justice, including barriers to healthcare access and factors influencing contraceptive decision-making
  • narcissistic abuse and dark triad personality traits in intimate partner relationships

Jennifer Elliott

Jay Kim.

PhD Candidate

Dissertation Topic: Exploring Service Providers’ Perspectives on Facilitators and Barriers to Cultural Responsiveness in Supporting Black Women Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence (Chair: Noelle M. St. Vil)  

Education

  • MSW, University at Buffalo
  • BS, Canisius College

Research Areas

  • intimate partner violence in the Black community
  • culturally responsive services for Black women survivors of intimate partner violence
  • trauma-Informed Interventions

Sarah Hassan

Sarah Hassan.

Education

• MSW, Grand Valley State University

• BASW, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

Research Areas

  • social determinants of health and health equity
  • immigrant health and mental well-being
  • culturally sensitive interventions

Monir Hossain

Monir Hossain.

Education

  • MA, University of Memphis
  • MSS, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology
  • BSS, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology

Research Areas

  • mental health disparities among Asian American immigrants
  • health-seeking behaviors and access to care in immigrant communities
  • sociocultural factors influencing mental health and well-being

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

  • MSW, University at Buffalo
  • BS, SUNY Brockport

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.

PhD Candidate

Dissertation Topic: Intimate Partner Violence: Children Coping Mechanisms and Evaluation (Chair: Mickey Sperlich)

Education

  • MSW, CRM University
  • BA, Kogi State University

Research Areas

  • family and community violence prevention
  • trauma-informed care, interventions and policies
  • maternal and infant mental health
  • women and child's rights         

Jay Kim

Jay Kim.

PhD Candidate

Dissertation Topic: Undocumented Korean Immigrants: Experiences of 'Stigma/Illegality' and Mental Health (Chair: Dr. Isok Kim)

Education

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

Research Areas

  • immigrant health and mental health
  • health access
  • community organizing and social movements

Charles LaBarre

Charles LaBarre.

PhD Candidate

Dissertation Topic: Assessing the Relationships Among Sexual Minority Stress, Recovery Capital, and Alcohol Recovery Outcomes Among Sexual Minoritized Populations (Chair: Elizabeth Bowen)

Education

  • MSW, PennWest Edinboro Universit
  • BA, Binghamton University

Research Areas

  • substance use recovery
  • recovery capital
  • social determinants of health and health inequities

Meschelle Linjean

Meschelle Linjean.

PhD Candidate

Dissertation Topic: Native Adoptees' Grounded Reconnection: The Implications of Land/Place Relations (Chair: Annette Semanchin Jones)  

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

Sare Martin

Meschelle Linjean.

Education

  • MSW, University at Buffalo 
  • BA, Nazareth University

Research Areas

  • impact of sociopolitical climate on marginalized communities
  • accessibility of support structures for sexual and gender minority young people
  • young people's experiences of joy and resistance

Jessica Mencia

jessica mencia.

PhD Candidate

Dissertation Topic: Examining the omission of sexual risk-taking in young women and girls of marginalized identities (Chair: Patricia Logan-Greene)

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.

PhD Candidate

Dissertation Topic: The Impact of Flexible Work Hours on Experiences of Absenteeism, Presenteeism, and Productivity Loss Among Family Caregivers for Persons Living with Dementia: An Intersectional Approach Using NHATS/NSOC Dyadic Data (Chair: Louanne Bakk)  

Education

  • MSS, Bryn Mawr College
  • BA, Temple University

Research Areas

  • family caregivers for older adults with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias
  • family caregivers' work productivity loss and economic well-being, system-level change and policy implications
  • secondary data analysis, mixed methods, implementation science

Ensie Mirzamostafa

Ensie Mirzamostafa.

Education

  • PhD, University of Mazandaran
  • MSW, University at Buffalo 
  • MA, University of Tehran
  • MS, University of Tehran

Research Areas

  • visual sociology
  • social determinants of mental health
  • children’s lived experience and trauma

Tiffany J. Nhan

Rebecca Rasnake.

Education

  • BA, Clark University

Research Areas

  • historical and racial trauma
  • ethnic-racial identity and critical consciousness development 
  • positive youth development and sociopolitical engagement
  • collective liberation, cross-cultural solidarity and social action

Honour Odigie

Honour Odigie.

PhD Candidate

Dissertation Topic: Interrogating the Histo-Visual-Legal Discourse of Human Trafficking: What Remains Still Hypervisible and Marginal in Public Consciousness (Chair: Elizabeth Bowen)  

Education

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

Research Areas

  • analyzes how "human trafficking" and trafficking victimhood has been historically defined, visualized, and legally operationalized in the global north 
  • examines how west-centric, gendered, racial-colonial and capitalistic epistomologies shape who counts as a victim, which harms become legible, and what remedies are imagined                           

Rebecca Rasnake

Rebecca Rasnake.

Education

  • MSW, Savannah State University
  • BA, Bellevue University

Research Areas

  • structural violence and determinants of health in rural Appalachia and Indigenous populations
  • structural facilitators of suicide disparities and the cumulative impact of intersectional higher-risk identities
  • mixed methods and community-based research

EunSook Seong

Rebecca Rasnake.

Education

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

Research Areas

  • mental health, trauma, parenting, and child’s developmental outcome
  • interrupting the intergenerational transmission of interpersonal trauma and mental health issues
  • immigrant communities, particularly Asians

Farah Tasneem

Shu-Yun Yang.

Education

  • MSW, University of Georgia
  • MSS, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology
  • BSS, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology

Research Areas

  • violence against women among Asian American communities
  • gender-based violence and immigrant experiences
  • social and cultural factors shaping responses to violence

Samantha Williams

Samantha Williams.

PhD Candidate

Dissertation topic: Transformative Learning in Social Work Education: Addressing Health Disparities in the Black Community (Chair: Mickey Sperlich)

Education

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

Research Areas

  • university-community partnerships
  • social work education and experiential learning
  • underdeveloped Black and Brown neighborhoods

Shu-Yun Yang

Shu-Yun Yang.

Education

  • MSW, National Taiwan University 
  • BSW, National Taiwan University 

Research Areas

  • help-seeking behaviors among immigrant and refugee populations
  • acculturation pressures faced by immigrants and refugees in resettlement cities
  • application of inclusive perspectives in resettlement policy