The USC School of Social Work is pleased to share the background and key research interests of some of our PhD students. Click on a name to view that student ’s CV.
Anika Barman-Adhikari, MSW, MPhil, MA
Professional and research interests: health and mental health disparities research, HIV/AIDS prevention and intervention, international social work
Melissa Edmondson, MS, LMSW
Professional and research interests: schizophrenia, cross-ethnic treatment
outcomes, African Americans diagnosed with schizophrenia, recovery-oriented
mental health treatment
Jose Nuñez Estrada Jr., MSW, MS
Professional and research interests: risk and protective factors for gang-involved youth within school communities, school violence, school-based interventions, street gang culture, resiliency, youth empowerment
Dahlia Fuentes, MSW, MPH
Professional and research interests: mental health services, organizational cultural competency, implementation of evidence-based practices, networks and collaborations in service delivery, community-based participatory research, racial/ethnic disparities, cross-cultural research, adults and older adults
May Guo, MPhil
Professional and research interests: intergenerational relationships, psychological well-being of elderly adults, aging in
modernization and globalization, immigration and older adults, cross-cultural research
Gretchen Heidemann, MSW
Professional and research interests: women and girls, human rights, policy
advocacy/analysis, empowerment, community organizing, women in prison and
prisoner re-entry, international development, the vulnerable girl-child
Hsin-Yi Hsiao, MSc, MBA
Professional and research interests: employee work and life balance, workplace diversity and inclusion, corporate social responsibility, social enterprise, intercultural communication competence, cross-cultural studies
Dennis T. Kao, MSW
Professional and research interests: immigration, health/health care disparities, Asian & Pacific Islander American communities, older adults, policy analysis, secondary data analysis, geographic information systems and spatial analysis
Min Ah Kim, MSW
Professional and research interests: community-based services for people with physical/ psychiatric disabilities, community inclusion, culturally appropriate assessment and service delivery
Caroline Sheng Foong Lim, MS
Professional and research interests: psychosocial risk factors for schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, psychosocial factors associated with positive outcomes specifically among individuals with first-episode psychosis, community services for individuals with chronic schizophrenia
Weiyu Mao, MPhil
Professional and research interests: gerontology, social support theory, China’s health care system
Frances Nedjat-Haiem, MSW
Professional and research interests: cultural perceptions of cancer and terminal illness among Latinos, ethnicity and end of life choices, palliative care, advance directives
Rohini Pahwa, MA, MSW
Professional and research interests: intervention development for people with severe and persistent mental illness, stigma in mental health services, health vulnerabilities in people with severe mental illness
Ann Reyes Robbins, JD
Professional and research interests: child maltreatment, delinquency, children with special health care needs, critical race theory, Latina and Latino critical theory
