Current PhD Students

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 biographical sketch.
 

Anamika Barman-Adhikari, MSW, MPhil, MA [1]
Professional and research interests: health and mental health disparities research, HIV/AIDS prevention and intervention, international social work

Armando Barragan, MSW [2]
Professional and research interests: Latino mental health, severe mental illnesses, recruitment and retention, help seeking toward mental health treatment, ethnic minority health disparities, culturally adapted interventions, seclusion and mechanical restraints

Kimberly Brimhall, CSW, MSW [3]
Professional and research interests: investigating relationships among workforce diversity, leadership, inclusion, organizational climate and organizational culture

Andrea Brinkmann, MSW [4]
Professional and research interests: childhood obesity prevention, chronic disease prevention and control, behavioral health, interactive media, urban education, school-based interventions

Julie Couture, MSW, LMSW [5]
Professional and research interests: military population, specifically, grief and loss, access to care, and homelessness of OIF/OEF/OND veterans

Lisa Davis, MSW, LCSW [6]
Professional and research interests: mental health, severe mental illness with focus on recovery, intervention development and program evaluation, mindfulness-based interventions

Melissa Edmondson, MS, LMSW [7]
Professional and research interests: schizophrenia, recovery outcomes for ethnic minorities with schizophrenia, African Americans with schizophrenia

Karissa Fenwick, MSW, LCSW [8]
Professional and research interests: severe mental illness, implementation of evidence-based practices in community mental health service settings, intervention and program evaluation, integration of health and mental health services for individuals with schizophrenia

Megan Finno, MSW [9]
Professional and research interests: immigration, Latino family and child well-being, cultural competence in child welfare policy and practice, child welfare organizational implementation of innovation

Dahlia Fuentes, MSW, MPH [10]
Professional and research interests: mental health services, racial/ethnic disparities, networks and collaborations in service delivery, organizational cultural competency, community-based participatory research, adults and older adults

Anthony Fulginiti, MSW [11]
Professional and research interests: mechanisms and culturally distinct pathways in suicidality, suicide and social networks, suicide prevention program and intervention development, interventions connecting health-mental health care environments, severe mental illness in the oncology population and context

Jeremy Gibbs, MSW [12]
Professional and research interests: LGBT issues, identity development, child welfare, transitional adults, religious and spiritual communities, mental health, international social work, crisis intervention

Krystal Hays, MSW, LCSW [13]
Professional and research interests: promotion of mental health services particularly among Black Americans, including evidence based interventions and capacity building within the Black Church as a catalyst for mental health promotion programs within the community

Amy He, LCSW, MSW [14]
Professional and research interests: child welfare; parental  substance use with child welfare involved families; cross-systems collaboration between child welfare and mental health, public health, and judicial systems; translational and implementation science; utilization of evidence-based practices and policies; human services organizations- practice and policy development; organizational theory on transformational, transactional, and shared-leadership

Gretchen Heidemann, MSW [15]
Professional and research interests: women and girls, human rights, policy advocacy/analysis, empowerment, community organizing, women in prison and prisoner re-entry

Paula Helu Fernandez, MS [16]
Professional and research interests: Latinos diagnosed with serious mental illnesses by addressing different concerns in culture specific treatment of serious mental illnesses, such as disclosure, use of psychotropic medication, acculturation, sexuality and quality of life, and family involvement in treatment

Mercedes Hernandez, MSW, LCSW [17]
Professional and research interests: Latino mental health disparities, culturally competent evidence-based practice, intervention development for Latinos and other ethnic minority groups diagnosed with severe mental illness, community mental health, translational science research

Hsin-Yi Hsiao, MSc, MBA [18]
Professional and research interests: employee work and life balance, workplace diversity and inclusion, corporate social responsibility, aging population with dementia, intercultural communication competence, cross-cultural studies

Hsun-Ta Hsu, MSW [19]
Addressing health disparities among homeless populations, homeless persons’ health decisions and risk taking behaviors, intervention development and implementation with a specific focus on addressing chronic homelessness, mental health, substance misuse, and HIV/STD risk behaviors.

Adam James, MSW [20]
Professional and research interests: mental health, child welfare, poverty, adolescents, family dynamics, social work ethics, social work identity

Ah Rae Mi Kim, MSW [21]
Professional and research interests: cultural diversity, child welfare, leadership, organizational change, organizational effectiveness, management practices in human services, longitudinal data analysis

Min Ah Kim, MSW, PhD (Post-Doctoral Fellow) [22]
Professional and research interests: community-based services for people with physical/psychiatric disabilities, community inclusion, culturally appropriate assessment and service delivery

Liat Kriegel, MSW [23]
Professional and research interests: intersection of behavioral health and criminal justice systems, prisoners, prisoner re-entry, police officer response to calls involving emotional disturbance, mental health interventions in the criminal justice system, peer support for persons with mental illnesses and histories of incarceration, civic engagement, effects of solitary confinement on prisoners, intersection of institutional racism and prisons

Yura Lee, MSW [24]
Health and mental health of family caregivers for patients with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, health disparities and depression of older adults, grand parenting and intergenerational support, and cross-cultural research

Brooklyn Levine, MSW [25]
Professional and research interests: mental health, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), female veterans, expressive art therapy interventions, evidence-based practice development and implementation, qualitative research methods

Caroline Sheng Foong Lim, MS [26]
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

Erica Lizano, MSW, MPA [27]
Professional and research interests: organizational management and administration in social service agencies, diversity management, impact of management and organizational structure on the effectiveness of service provision and client outcomes, use of management strategies to promote employee well-being and workplace performance, human service sector workforce issues

Jaymie Lorthridge, MSW [28]
Professional and research interests: prevention of child maltreatment, policy to practice continuum, mixed methods and place-based evaluation, innovations in human service organizations, implementation science and cultural competency

Weiyu Mao, MPhil [29]
Professional and research interests: aging and health, social support, gerontological social work, family care giving, family and intergenerational relationships, cross-cultural research

Hyunsung Oh, MSW [30]
Professional and research interests: Reintegration of Veterans with Invisible Wound, Problem-Solving Therapy, Mind-Body Interaction, Coping and Stress Among Population with Chronic Illness and/or Traumatic Event, Physiological Effects by Stress (Allostasis), Mobile Health Technology

Rohini Pahwa, MA, MSW [31]
Professional and research interests: cross-ethnic and cross-national research in severe mental illness, community integration and role of factors such as stigma, social support and social networks in community integration, health vulnerabilities in people with severe mental illness

Robin Petering, MSW [32]
Adolescent intimate partner violence, youth homelessness, gangs and female gang membership, the intersection of intimate partner violence and community violence, policy advocacy and analysis, geographic information system (GIS) mapping

Cara Ellis Pohle, MSW, PhD (Post-Doctoral Fellow) [33]
Professional and research interests: children's mental health, mental health risk and protective factors, access to and utilization of mental health services, child abuse and neglect, ethnic minority children and youth, child welfare, racial/ethnic identity

Diana Ray-Letourneau, MSW [34]
Professional and research interests: outcomes research with torture survivors and other immigrant groups, impacts of social disorganization on vulnerable communities, homelessness, racial/ethnic disparities, mixed-methods approaches, policy related to immigration and social justice

Min-Kyoung Rhee, MSW [35]
Professional and research interests: older worker issues in the context of global workforce diversity, employment disparities of vulnerable population, quality of work, immigration, workforce diversity management in workplaces, impact of work on psychological well-being, cross-cultural studies

Elizabeth Siantz, MSW [36]
Professional and research interests: racial and ethnic health disparities among adults living with serious mental illness, recovery-oriented mental health services, culturally competent intervention development, qualitative methods

James Simon, LCSW, MSW [37]
Professional and research interests: child protective services, child welfare recidivism, alternative response, differential response, child abuse re-referral and recurrence, post-investigation services, international social work

Lana Smith, MSW [38]
Mental health, physical heath, and overall well-being for at risk-children, youth, and families at fragile times. Specific topical areas include, child welfare system, implementation of evidence-based practices and interventions, medical-needs children, and caregiver stress.

Ah Young Song, MSW [39]
Professional and research interests: social network and social capital for vulnerable women and child, behavioral health and eating habit of adult and youth homeless population, delinquency of adolescents and youth on street, domestic violence, translational science and evidence based practice.

Mee Young Um, MA, MSW [40]
Professional and research interests: psychosocial well-being of immigrant and refugee communities, culture
and mental illness, stigma in mental health services, resiliency, policy analysis, cross-cultural research, mixed
method approach

Amanda Yoshioka-Maxwell, MSW [41]
Professional and research interests: child welfare, foster care systems, outcomes for transitional age youth, emancipation, predictors of homelessness for transitional age youth, independent living programs, and transitional housing programs

Rong Xiao, MD [42]
Professional and research interests: roles of neurocognition, social cognition, psychophysiology in the rehabilitation of severe mental illness

Ling Xu, MSW [43]
Professional and research interests: informal networks and social relationships, intergenerational support, health and mental health for older adults, grandparenting, Chinese American older adults, Chinese older adults