Doctoral Student Committee Members

The DSC was created by students to support their peers through the doctorate process. The members of this committee come from various programs, with different research expertise, and at different points in the program. There are three subcommittees on the DSC, and they are the Communications Subcommittee, Conference Subcommittee, and Mentoring Subcommittee. The chairs of each subcommittee are listed below.

For the 202-23 school year, the SSWR DSC welcomed 20 new committee members joining one of our three sub-committees: Communications, Mentoring, and Conference. These new members represent 15 different doctoral programs across the United States and Canada. We’re thrilled to welcome students from a variety of program timepoints as well, getting new insight from first and second year students while also gaining the wisdom of the doctoral candidates joining the DSC! Below, each sub-committee is described briefly and the list of new committee chairs and members are noted. Check out full biographies for our new members on our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/SSWRDSC/

The service year of the DSC goes from April to March of each year. If you are interested in applying to be on the committee, applications open in February after the SSWR Annual Conference. Please reach out to one of us to inquire about this process or to learn more about what the DSC does! We would love to hear from you!

Doctoral Student Committee Chair

Communications Subcommittee

The Communications Sub-Committee facilitates networking and experience sharing among doctoral students through our bi-monthly newsletter co-produced by the entire sub-committee, the SSWR Doctoral Student Members Facebook, and the SSWR Doctoral Student Website (http://www.sswrdoc.com/). This year we hope to expand our networking into the Twitter space and update the SSWR Doctoral Student Website with more resources to support service, teaching, research, and equity efforts. If you have any questions, feel free to contact the Chairs, Hannah Boyke or Alauna Reckley

Alauna Reckley, MSW

Communications Committee Co-Chair

Pronouns: She/Her

The University of Alabama

Research Interests: Intellectual Disabilities with a current focus on individuals with Down Syndrome

Hannah Boyke,

MSW

Communications Committee Co-Chair

Pronouns: They/Them

Michigan State University

Research Interests: crimmigration and the intersection of the immigration enforcement and criminal legal system and immigrants’ rights in immigration court

Julisa Tindall, LISW-CP

Pronouns: She/Her

University of South Carolina

Research Interests: maternal health care disparities and mental health concerns among Black women, racial and health equity, and racial prejudice and discrimination

Saira Afzal, MSW

**Pronouns:** She/Her
Bryn Mawr College
**Research Interests:** Child and Adolescent Mental Health, access to health care, marginalized youth

Shani Saxon, LMSW

**Pronouns:** She/Her
Wayne State University
**Research Interests:** BIPOC mental health issues; Human behavior; Child & Adolescent mental health

Priyanjali Chakraborty, MA

**Pronouns:** She/Hers
The University of Texas at Arlington
**Research Interests:** Healthcare access among low-income immigrant populations

Leah Munroe, MSW

**Pronouns:** She/Her
Louisiana State University
**Research Interests:** Chronic pain and disability, substance use disorders, and social determinants of health

Katie McCoog, LCSW CATP

**Pronouns:** She/Her
Simmons University
**Research Interests:** Child & Adolescent Mental Health; Family Systems; Trauma Therapy; Behavior Health; Leadership; Psychodynamics; Humanistic Therapy

Shawn McNally, MSW

Pronouns: He/Him

University of South Carolina

Research Interests: School Mental Health (e.g., services, service use, promotion, stigma/messaging)

Mentoring Subcommittee

The Mentoring Sub-Committee aims to support doctoral students to form connections with peers and faculties through programs: Coffee with a Scholar, Conference New Attendee Program, and Writing Retreats. This year we hope to expand our programs beyond mentor-mentee matching to provide support and resources on how to actively seek mentorships with peers, professionals, and faculties. If you have any questions, feel free to contact the co-chairs of the committee: Nadia Neimanas and Jordan Goodwin

Nadia Neimanas, MSW

**Mentoring Committee Co-Chair**
**Pronouns:** She/her/hers
Arizona State University
**Research Interests:** Environmental justice within urban settings and systems of justice and power

Jordan Goodwin, LSW, M. Div

Mentoring Committee Co-Chair

Pronouns: She/her/hers

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Research Interests: Solutions to housing instability & homelessness, the mental health and trauma of marginalized populations, LGBTQIA+ issues, and social determinants of health

Abigail Lash-Ballew, MSW

Pronouns: She/her/hers

University of Toronto

Research Interests: White supremacy and how it operates via racism and xenophobia within child welfare systems; healthcare access across racial disparities; human rights and migration; social justice, anti-racist and anti-oppressive pedagogies; critical practice; program evaluation for international peacebuilding and conflict transformation efforts

Nina Johnson, MSSW

Pronouns: She/her/hers

Indiana University

Research Interests: Understanding the lived experiences, needs, and barriers of BIPOC college and graduate students accessing holistic health wellness resources on their campuses

Shelton Young, MSW, LCSW, LSSW

**Pronouns:** He/Him
University of Illinois, Chicago
**Research Interests:** Anti-deficit HIV prevention in gay, bisexual, and queer African American male youth, culturally reflective sexual health messaging, cultural competence in sexual health education and outreach, mental health among LGBTQ+ youth.

Anthony Gómez, MSW

Pronouns: He/him/él

University of California, Berkeley

Research Interests: Child and family well-being within contexts of adversity; child welfare; transition-age youth; child development; parenting

Guoping Jin, MSW

**Pronouns:** She/Her
University of Pittsburgh
**Research Interests:** Gerontological social work, developmental changes, intergenerational relationship, cognitive functioning, older immigrants

Levone Lee, MSW

**Pronouns:** He/Him
University of New Hampshire
**Research Interests:** Child & Adolescent Positive Development

Charles LaBarre, LMSW

**Pronouns:** He/Him
State University of New York at Buffalo
**Research Interests:** Substance Use Treatment & Recovery, Recovery among Minoritized Groups, Recovery Capital

Conference Subcommittee

The Conference Sub-Committee hosts 3 student-led events: Meet the Scientist, The Doctoral Student Luncheon, and the DSC Social Hour. Our goals are to highlight the incredible research and projects from doctoral students, foster connection, and provide a platform for issues that are important to students. If you have any questions, feel free to contact the Co-Chairs, Alizé Hill or Taylor Reed.

Alizé Hill, MSW

**Conference Committee Co-Chair**
**Pronouns:** She/her/hers
University of Chicago
**Research interests**: educational equity, the schooling experiences of marginalized youth, abolitionist social work, the experiences of multiracial families, and youth activism

Taylor Reed, MSW

**Conference Committee Co-Chair**
**Pronouns:** She/Her
University of California at Los Angeles
**Research Interests:** Criminal Legal System, Collateral Consequences, Racially Equitable Policies, Black Studies

Travis Scheadler, MSW

**Pronouns:** He/Him
Ohio State University
**Research interests**: Sport for Social Justice, Advocacy & Activism, LGBTQ+ Rights

Esmeralda Rubalcava Hernandez, LMSW

Pronouns: She/Her/Ella

The University of Texas at Arlington

Research interests: Race, Immigration, Policing, Anti-racism, Anti-colonialism

Monte-Angel
Richardson, MSW

**Pronouns:** She/They
University of Toronto
**Research interests**: Gun Violence, Community-Based Methods, Trauma

Kyria Brown, MSW, MPH

**Pronouns:** She/Her
Washington University in Saint Louis
**Research interests**: Perinatal Harm Reduction

Amy Pei-Lung Yu, MSW

**Pronouns:** She/Her
The University of Texas at Austin
**Research interests**: Intellectual and developmental disabilities; Autism spectrum disorder; Caregiver support; Professional support; Culturally tailored interventions

Yuanyuan Yang, MPA, MSW

**Pronouns:** She/Her
Washington University in St. Louis
**Research Interests:** Asset building and child & adolescent mental health

Student Engagement Committee

The student engagement committee is tasked with developing programing for doctoral students throughout the year outside of the SSWR conference. The creation of this sub-committee manifested as a result from the desire for doctoral students to engage and connect with each other throughout the year to network, share resources, and trainings as well as the opportunity to allow more students the opportunity to serve on the SSWR DSC. If you have any questions about the Student Engagement Committee, you can contact the committee chair, Durrell Malik Washington Sr.