Meet our PhD students and candidates

• MSW, Ohio University
• BSc, University of Lagos, Nigeria

• risk and protective factors that affect the developmental trajectories of children and adolescents in child welfare and juvenile justice systems

PhD Candidate

Dissertation Topic: Oral Health Inequities in Later Life Among Older Black Adults in Buffalo, New York (Chair: Christopher St. Vil)  

• 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 

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

• alcohol and other substance use
• recovery capital
• co-occurring mental health disorders

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

• trauma
• secondary traumatic stress
• moral injury

• MSW, Binghamton University
  
• BA, Binghamton University

• contraceptive access and decision-making
• pain management and patient experiences in women's healthcare

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)  

• MSW, University at Buffalo
• BS, Canisius College

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

• MSW, Grand Valley State University

• BASW, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

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

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

• 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

PhD Candidate

Dissertation Topic: Family financial assistance and government assistance among emerging adults in the U.S.: Effects on economic outcomes (Chair: Yunju Nam)  

• 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

PhD Candidate

Dissertation Topic: Exploring the Cognitive Processes of Identifying, Appraising and Responding to Perceived Conflict in Romantic Relationships Among Black Women With a History of Intimate Partner Violence (Chair: Noelle M. St. Vil)

• MSW, University at Buffalo
• BS, SUNY Brockport

• interpersonal relationships
• conflict appraisal and cognitive processes
• Black diaspora
• intimate partner violence and IPV recovery

PhD Candidate

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

• MSW, CRM University
• BA, Kogi State University

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

PhD Candidate

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

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

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

PhD Candidate

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

• MSW, PennWest Edinboro Universit
• BA, Binghamton University

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

• MSW, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
• MA, Korea University
• BA, Korea University

• refugee and immigrant communities
• socioeconomic integration
• structural oppression
• acculturation

• MSW, University at Buffalo
• BA, University at Buffalo

• experiences of medical trauma among individuals with endometriosis
• complex trauma and re-traumatization in the context of healthcare systems
• implementation science 

PhD Candidate

Dissertation Topic: Exploring How Adults Working in Schools Position Themselves to Support Transgender and Gender Expansive Young People (Chair: Annahita Ball)

• MSW, University at Buffalo 
• BA, Nazareth University

• impact of sociopolitical climate on marginalized communities
• mechanisms of support for young people in schools
• accessibility of support structures for sexual and gender minority young people
• community-based participatory action research

PhD Candidate

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

• 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

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)  

• MSS, Bryn Mawr College
• BA, Temple University

• 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
  

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

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

• BA, Clark University
• MSW, University at Buffalo

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

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)  

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

• 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                           

• BS, Imo State University
• MSW, University of Georgia 

• structural determinants of health-seeking behavior in immigrants
• violence against women and children and innovative prevention strategies
• community-based participatory research

PhD Candidate

Dissertation Topic: Structural Violence and Suicide in Central Appalachia: A Mixed-Methods Study (Chair: Robert Keefe)  

• MSW, Savannah State University
• BA, Bellevue University

• 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

PhD Candidate

Dissertation Topic: Understanding the pathways through which experiences of childhood maltreatment influence parenting among immigrant parents raising minor children (Chair: JoAnn S. Lee)  

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

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

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

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

PhD Candidate

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

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

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

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

• 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