Center for Mental Health Policy & Services Research

Kathryn DeWitt is an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania studying Psychology with a minor in Spanish. She is a research assistant at the Center for Mental Health Policy and Services Research. Her interests lie in suicidal behavior in diverse populations, mental health policy, and the frontier of harnessing technology for improving mental health services. 

Yunhee Hyun is an undergraduate research assistant working at the Center for Mental Health Policy and Services Research at the Beidas Lab. She is currently helping with FACTS, ASPIRE, and P50 grants. Yunhee is a sophomore majoring in Cognitive Science and Computer and Information Science. 

Hannah Listerud is an undergraduate research assistant at the Center for Mental Health Policy and Services Research working under Dr. Beidas. She is a pre-med sophomore majoring in Health and Societies with a minor in Chemistry and Spanish. Her interests include community health and integrated healthcare.

Shiv Nadkarni is an undergraduate research assistant at the Center for Mental Health Policy and Services Research working under Dr. Rinad Beidas on the P2i and FACTS grants. He is a pre-med student in the College studying Biological Basis of Behavior with a minor in Health Care Management. Shiv's research interests include community mental health and mental health services for children affected by trauma. In his free time, Shiv loves to sing a cappella and cook things he sees on Chef's Table.

Gayatri Nangia is an undergraduate research assistant at the Center for Mental Health Policy and Services Research for the past two years. She has been working under Dr. Rinad Beidas on many of her projects. She is a pre-med junior majoring in Health and Societies with a minor in Chemistry and is actively involved with Penn Science Across Ages on campus.

Rylee Park is an undergraduate research assistant working on Dr. Rinad Beidas’ team, helping with various projects. A sophomore psychology major and gender studies minor in the College, Rylee is interested in studying the psychology of marginalized populations and aspires to become a clinical psychologist. Rylee is from Korea and loves to cook, play chess, and ride her bike into the city. 

Jasmine Paz is an undergraduate research assistant working under Dr. Rinad Beidas P2i, FACTS, and PACTS 2.0. As a junior at the University of Pennsylvania, Jasmine is studying Biological Basis of Behavior and minoring in Fine Arts, with a concentration in sculpture practices. She is on the pre-med track and hopes to become a psychiatrist in the future. Her interests include learning ways to improve mental health on campus, checking out new museums, and going on runs along the river trail or into center city. 

Meghana Reddy is an undergraduate research assistant working at the Center for Mental Health Policy and Services Research under the supervision of Dr. Rinad Beidas. She is currently helping with the P2i and FACTS grants. As a junior at the University of Pennsylvania, Meghana is pre-med and is majoring in Health and Societies.

Dani Adams is a clinical research coordinator working under the supervision of Dr. Rinad Beidas on a variety of projects. She coordinates all aspects of Dr. Beidas’s K23 Grant: Policy to Implementation (P2I) and the Philadelphia Alliance for Children’s Trauma Services (PACTS) project. Previous work in psychology has included work as a research coordinator in Dr. Antonio Polo’s Culture and Evidence Based Practice Lab (CEBP) at DePaul University. Dani’s research interests focus on prevention and intervention programs for ethnic minority and low-income children, adolescents, and families. She is also interested in how to best disseminate and implement evidence-based programs to youth and families in community settings (e.g., public schools and community mental health centers). Dani is a former resident of Chicago, Illinois and graduated from Roosevelt University in 2014 with a degree in Psychology, as well as a minor in Philosophy and a concentration in Children and Family Studies. In the Fall of 2016, Dani will begin her AM/PhD at the University of Chicago, School of Social Service Administration, where she will study how to improve mental health services in community settings.

Shaili Babbar worked under Dr. Rinad Beidas on many of her projects. She has helped with the data collection, storage, and analysis on Dr. Beidas’ K23 Grant: Policy to Implementation (P2I) and Philadelphia Alliance for Child Trauma Services (PACTS) project. As an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania, Shaili is a pre-med junior majoring in Health and Societies with a minor in Chemistry. Due to her work with Dr. Beidas, Shaili also received the University Scholars grant from Penn that funds her own project, exploring the links between therapist turnover and client engagement in community mental health centers. In her free time, she enjoys exploring Philadelphia and its booming food scene. 

Lauren Brumley is a doctoral student in clinical psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. She is an interviewer on the Philadelphia Alliance for Child Trauma Services (PACTS) project and has worked on additional projects at CMHPSR. Prior to starting graduate school, she worked as a clinical research assistant at the Center for Childhood Cancer Research at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Lauren studies pathways of risk and resilience among adolescents exposed to trauma and other forms of adversity disproportionately experienced by youth living in poverty. Lauren is also interested in the adaptation and implementation of evidence-based interventions in community-based settings to improve outcomes for youth and their families.

Caitlin Clements is a doctoral student in the clinical training program of the Psychology Department at the University of Pennsylvania. She works under the mentorship of Robert Schultz, PhD and is studying the genotypic and phenotypic heterogeneity of autistic traits and IQ in families. Caitlin is currently an evaluator for the PACTS study and conducts interviews with children enrolled in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT).

Tunmise Fawole is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania studying Health and Societies and Chemistry. She is also working on getting her Master of Public Health from Penn as a submatriculant in the program, and hopes to also go to medical school afterward. She previously worked under Dr. Beidas on three different projects: Policy to Implementation (P2i), and Philadelphia Alliance for Child Traumatic Services (PACTS), and an additional study into psychosocial EBP initiatives for trauma in conjunction with Johns Hopkins University in Zambia. She enjoys reading, good music, and super hero movies. 

Sarah Morris is a doctoral student in clinical psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, working under the mentorship of Marty Franklin, PhD. She is an interviewer on the Philadelphia Alliance for Children’s Trauma Services (PACTS) project. She is interested in the study of underlying mechanisms of pediatric anxiety and obsessive compulsive spectrum disorders. She is also interested in research investigating the implementation of evidence-based psychotherapy treatment for youth in settings such as schools and community mental health centers. 

Lucia worked as Dr. Beidas’ Research Specialist for the P2I and PACTS grant from December 2012 to June 2014. Previously, she received her Bachelor’s degree and served as coordinator of a CBT clinic at Indiana University Bloomington. Lucia is currently a doctoral student in the child clinical psychology program at the University of Miami. She is a self-confessed “implementation science nut,” with interests ranging from the role of therapist experience and burnout in implementation efforts, organizational factors affecting evidence-based assessment use, and factors associated with consumer knowledge of evidence-based practices. Clinically, Lucia is passionate about treating youth with posttraumatic stress disorder, especially those from low-income and minority backgrounds. She misses her CMHPSR colleagues dearly, as well as the amazing Philadelphia food scene. 

Laura Skriner received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Rutgers University, a master’s degree in Psychology from San Diego State University and her B.A. from Boston University. During her doctoral studies, Laura was involved in research focused on understanding mechanisms of change for youth anxiety disorders. Her dissertation was funded by an NIMH funded Pre-Doctoral NRSA (F31 MH096374) and employed rigorous data analytic procedures to combine data from nine clinical trials of CBT for youth anxiety to examine patterns and predictors of treatment response and non-response.  Laura’s research interests involve understanding the most effective ways to implement evidence-based psychosocial interventions to improve the quality of mental health services for youth in community settings.