The Team

Ashwini Chandrakanth | University of Portland | Class of 2025

Ashwini is an undergraduate at the University of Portland studying psychology, with minors in Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies and Ethnic Studies. After graduating in the Spring of 2025, she plans to ultimately pursue a Counseling Psychology PhD. Her research interests are rooted in the mental health crisis amongst Asian-Americans in the United States. Having seen the mental health battle that individuals face due to their familial trauma, sexuality misconceptions, upbringing, and societal pressures, she is determined to close the gap on mental health resourcing for this diaspora. In her free time, Ashwini enjoys exploring Portland and trying new restaurants!

Ashwini will contribute as a research assistant during the 2024-2025 AY.

Malia Kaiser | University of Portland | Class of 2024

Malia is an undergraduate student at the University of Portland studying psychology and fine arts. After graduating in December 2024, she plans on pursuing a master’s in clinical or counseling psychology and hopes to tie in a fine arts perspective when looking at mental health therapies. Eventually, Malia plans to apply to doctorate programs, and hopefully, this research experience will further inform what this path will look like in terms of research perspectives and populations. 

Malia will contribute as a research assistant during Summer 2024 and Fall 2024.

Lisa Heng | University of Louisville | Class of 2024

Lisa graduated in May 2024 from the University of Louisville as a Public Health major with a minor in Psychology. She believes that an interdisciplinary approach drawing from both fields is needed to inform effective interventions aimed at reducing mental health disparities among marginalized, underrepresented populations. Lisa seeks to research how the social determinants of health affect psychopathology development and treatment outcomes, with the goal of improving the accessibility and delivery of psychological interventions for all. She plans to pursue a Clinical or Health Psychology PhD. In her free time, she enjoys embracing life by painting, traveling, and identifying interesting plants on her hikes!

Lisa contributed as a research assistant during the 2023-2024 AY and Summer 2024. She continues to collaborate with Dr. Berger while working as a Research Specialist for the Emory Healthcare Veterans Program.

Mara Xiong | Cornell University | Class of 2024

Mara graduated in May 2024 from Cornell University. She majored in Psychology and is broadly interested in how different sociocultural contexts impact mental health. She hopes to eventually pursue a PhD in Clinical or Counseling Psychology. In addition to working with Dr. Berger, Mara also conducts research with the Stanford Mental Health for Asians Research & Treatment Clinic and was selected for the 2023 Undergraduate Developmental Science Summer Internship at the Yale Child Study Center. In her free time, she enjoys reading (especially Greek mythology) and writing. 

Mara contributed as a research assistant during the 2023-2024 AY and Summer 2024. She continues to collaborate with Dr. Berger while working as a Clinical Research Coordinator at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Grace Adam | University of Portland | Class of 2022

Grace graduated in May 2022 as an Economics major and Social Justice minor from the University of Portland. She previously conducted policy research at a local Portland nonprofit, the Coalition of Communities of Color. She looks forward to continuing to learn about how to form equitable economic and political systems that uplift and support all populations. As a mixed African-American woman in a white male dominant field, Grace is dedicated to empowering the voices of other black women in Economics. In her free time, Grace likes to do photography and watch New Girl in her bed.

Grace contributed as a research assistant during the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 AY.

Colin Bui | University of Portland | Class of 2024

Colin (he/him/his) graduated in May 2024 as a Psychology and Sociology double major from the University of Portland. His research interests pertain to how race and ethnicity are integral to how one perceives themselves and others. Additionally, he examined how Veterans can be susceptible to higher rates of suicidality as well as factors affecting suicidality among Veteran populations. Being multiracial, his interests also focus on how biracial individuals articulate the intersection of being more than one race. In his free time, Colin enjoys soccer, reading Japanese manga, and scrolling the humane society pages looking for a new cat!

Colin contributed as a research assistant during the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 AY.

Jennifer Fitz Cortez | University of Portland | Class of 2022

Jennifer (Jenni) graduated in May 2022 with a double major in Spanish and Psychology from the University of Portland. She is fascinated in researching culture in relation to mental health disorders, specifically within the Latinx population. Jenni is also very curious on learning more about developmental psychology and its impact by culture.  In her spare time, she likes to go on runs and kickbox with her friends. She also loves traveling!

Jenni contributed as a research assistant during Summer 2021 and the 2021-2022 AY.

Grace Fortson | University of Portland | Class of 2022

Grace graduated in May 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and a minor in Gender and Women’s Studies from the University of Portland. Her work has centered on the intersection of migration and gender through the Center for Migration, Gender, and Justice (CMGJ), a non-profit nongovernmental organization working globally in this area. Working with CMGJ, she has led social media campaigns, co-organized international advocacy conferences and workshops, and published research in the International Journal for Sociology and Social Policy. Her passion for human rights has led her to do research and advocacy with marginalized communities.

Grace contributed as a research assistant during Summer 2021 and the 2021-2022 AY.

Jordan Hammock | University of Portland | Class of 2021

Jordan was a pre-med psychology major at University of Portland. She graduated in May 2021 and has aspirations to become an Emergency Medicine physician. Jordan is interested in the intersectionality between the patient-provider relationship and how this correlates with diversity and inclusion. As an African American female, it is important to her that all patients are treated equitably and holistically and she believes that social psychology research may hold the key to furthering diversity efforts in healthcare.

Jordan contributed as a research assistant during the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 AY.

Noelle Mace | University of Portland | Class of 2023

Noelle graduated in May 2023 with bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and Sociology from the University of Portland. She is extremely passionate about mental health and hopes to pursue a career as a therapist, with a focus on mental illness and trauma. She also hopes to be able to use her career to fight for easier access to mental health treatment for everyone, especially lower-income families. In her free time, Noelle loves reading, writing, watching a good horror movie, and cooking and baking for friends and family!

Noelle contributed as a research assistant during Summer 2022 and the 2022-2023 AY.

Abigail McCarthy | University of Portland | Class of 2022

Abigail (Abby) graduated in May 2022 with her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Portland. She is passionate about many things in the field of psychology and aspires to pursue research among different areas of study. One interest of hers is examining how the accessibility and efficacy of mental health care can be improved to better address the needs of different populations or identities. Abby believes that approaching mental health care research and practice from a phenomenological perspective—where individuals and their lived experiences are primary considerations—could be a steppingstone in addressing larger issues such as systemic inequalities. She has many interests outside of the field of psychology as well, including dancing, cooking, thrifting, and hanging out with friends!

Abby contributed as a research assistant during Summer 2021 and the 2021-2022 AY.

Kendall Minteer | University of Portland | Class of 2023

Kendall graduated in May 2023 with her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a minor in Integrative Health and Wellness Studies from the University of Portland. Her goal is to help others by becoming a therapist for those with eating disorders. In her free time, Kendall loves baking desserts, reading a good fiction book, and exercising! 

Kendall contributed as a research assistant during the 2021-2022 AY.

Olivia Nomura | University of Portland | Class of 2022

Olivia graduated in May 2022 with a Psychology major and Neuroscience minor from the University of Portland. Her primary research interest is investigating how current diagnostic criteria and treatment methods for psychological disorders may need to be changed to accommodate individuals from diverse identities and backgrounds. Olivia is also interested in researching the factors that affect multiracial individuals’ group belonging, coping skills, and mental health.  Following the completion of her undergraduate degree, Olivia aspires to pursue a PhD in Clinical Child Psychology after taking a couple of gap years as a research assistant. In her free time, Olivia enjoys baking bread, cooking new recipes for her friends, and going on hikes!

Olivia contributed as a research assistant during Summer 2021 and the 2021-2022 AY.

Alyssa Reed | University of Portland | Class of 2021

Alyssa graduated from the University of Portland in Fall 2021 with a psychology and philosophy double major. She aspires to be a research psychologist. Alyssa is interested in human behavior and why people act the way they do. It’s important to her that people are who they are and that they should not be rejected just by being who they are. In her free time you can find her reading, drawing, or doing some other type of arts and craft. Alyssa loves kids and is part of A Moment of Magic where she aspires to bring a little magic into the days of kids suffering from childhood cancer.

Alyssa contributed as a research assistant during the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 AY.

Maria (Trini) Sepulveda | University of Portland | Class of 2023

Trini graduated in May 2023 with degrees in English and Psychology and a Writing minor from the University of Portland. She loves storytelling, writing, and exploring new things. She plans on pursuing a doctorate in cultural neuropsychology and child development. She is interested on how culture and language affect different aspects of life and hopes to work on things that will make the life of multicultural and multilingual children better. Some of her research interests are multiculturalism, multilingualism, child development, cross-modal perception, language development, familial effects, and neuropsychology. 

Trini contributed as a research assistant during Summer 2022 and the 2022-2023 AY.

Akhhill Durainath | UC Davis | Class of 202X

[bio is forthcoming!]

Akhhill contributed as a research assistant during Spring 2024.

Selina Li | UC Davis | Class of 2023

Selina is an undergraduate at UC Davis studying design and psychology. After graduating in 2023, she hopes to pursue a career at the intersection of design and social impact. Selina joined the team as a research assistant during the 2020-2021 AY due to her interest in Asian American cultural issues and mental health. Though her primary interests are not in psychological research, she hopes the skills and knowledge she has gained as an RA will be useful in the future. 

Diya Nambiar | UC Davis | Class of 2024

Diya is a third-year undergraduate student at the University of California, Davis majoring in Psychology with a Biological Emphasis. She is interested in finding methods to help people cope with mental illness and studying the implications of cultural and social factors. After completing her undergraduate education, Diya aims to pursue a medical degree and become a psychiatrist to help individuals understand and validate the importance of mental health. Through research, she hopes to gain hands-on experience, better understand how our surrounding environment can impact our mental health, and explore various fields of psychology. In her free time, Diya enjoys singing, volunteering, being active, dancing, going on adventures, cooking, and socializing!

Diya contributed as a research assistant during Spring 2021, Summer 2021 and the 2021-2022 AY.

Ravneet Rajasansi | UC Davis | Class of 2023

[bio is forthcoming!]

Ravneet contributed as a research assistant during the 2023-2024 AY.

Astha Soni | UC Davis | Class of 2024

Astha (she/her) is a 4th year Psychology and Human Development double major at UC Davis. She is interested in cultural competence in healthcare and research and exploring the factors that can hinder/prevent minority communities from receiving the care they deserve. Astha is an aspiring Physician and hopes to pursue her M.D. in Psychiatry and/or Pediatrics. She also serves as the director of the UCD Mental Health Initiative and is passionate about mental health advocacy, particularly for BIPOC communities. In her free time, Astha enjoys dancing and going on fun adventures with her friends! 

Astha contributed as a research assistant during the 2023-2024 AY.

Xinlei Yan | UC Davis | Class of 202X

[bio is forthcoming!]

Xinlei contributed as a research assistant during the 2023-2024 AY.

Shih Hsuan (Annie) Yang | UC Davis | Class of 2022

Annie is from Taipei, Taiwan and graduated from the University of California Davis in Spring 2022 with majors in Psychology and Managerial Economics, and a minor in Sociology.  Her research interests are the relationship between mental health and childhood experiences, as well as the mental health of under-represented populations in the U.S.  She is also interested in the juvenile/criminal justice system of the U.S., preventive programs, and alternatives of punishment.  In her free time, Annie enjoys coffee, music, water activities, learning new things, and basking in the sun. 

Annie contributed as a research assistant during Spring 2021, Summer 2021, and the 2021-2022 AY.