PhD Student Profiles

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

• 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 

PhD Candidate

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

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

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

PhD Candidate

Dissertation Topic: Exploring Program Staff and Youth Survivor Perspectives of Human Trafficking Services (Chair: Patricia Logan-Greene)  

• MSW, University at Buffalo
• MS, University of Delaware
• BA, Drew University

• adolescent dating violence and commercial sexual exploitation
• behavioral and sexual health effects of early trauma and revictimization

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

• trauma
• secondary traumatic stress
• moral injury

PhD Candidate

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

• MSW, University at Buffalo
• BA, Lawrence University

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

• MSW, University at Buffalo
• BS, Canisius College

• 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 

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)

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

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

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)

• MSW, University at Buffalo
• BS, Towson University

• youth participatory action research

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

• 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

• BS, SUNY Brockport
• AS, Monroe Community College

• 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• MSW, University at Buffalo 
• BA, Nazareth University

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

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

• 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

• MSS, Bryn Mawr College
• BA, Temple University

• 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
  

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

• 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

• MSW, Savannah State University
• BA, Bellevue University

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

PhD Candidate

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

• MSW, University at Buffalo
• BA, Houghton College

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

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

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

PhD Candidate

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

• MSW, University at Buffalo
• BA, SUNY Geneseo

• educational justice
• student mental health and well-being

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)

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

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

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

• 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

PhD Candidate

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

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

• nonprofit organizational collaboration/ interrelationship
• program evaluation