PhD News

PhD student Casey Adrian was a lead student researcher on the new GMHC Stories collection at the New York Public Library. As part of a team affiliated with Binghamton University’s Human Sexualities Research Lab, Adrian collected oral histories from former members of the Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC), the world’s first HIV/AIDS service organization. The online archives are housed at gmhcstories.com.

Associate Professor Odessa Gonzalez Benson and PhD student Nicolas Juarez’s research is the subject of a Scienmag article on the 2022 Manila Bay Sustainable Development Master Plan. Gonzalez Benson and Juarez examine how the grassroots communities are being given responsibilities that outstrip the power, resources and knowledge they would need to carry them out.

PhD student Irene Routté has been named a Center for Global Health Equity Fellow. She is working with U-M Professor Michele Heisler and her team at Physicians for Human Rights.

PhD student Nicolas Juarez has been selected as a non-resident Boston University Global Health Politics Fellow. Fellows will participate in events throughout the academic year and receive feedback and mentorship on a research paper on global health politics.

Brittany Ribeiro Brown, Joint Doctoral Program in Social Work and Psychology, has successfully defended her dissertation “It’s Nothing to Lose but My Chains: Intersectional Stigma, Mental Health, and Mental Healthcare Among Black Sexual Minority Emerging Adults.” Her committee consisted of Daphne Watkins, Lucretia Ward (co-chairs), Ashley Lacombe-Duncan and Elizabeth Cole. She has accepted a postdoctoral position in the Medical Social Science Department at Northwestern University.

Jay Kayser, Joint Doctoral Program in Social Work and Psychology, defended his dissertation entitled “Social Isolation, Loneliness, and Cognitive Function: Correlates, Consequences, and Causes in Older Adults.” Kayser has accepted an Assistant Professor of Social Work position at the University of Iowa.

Charles Williams II, Joint Doctoral Program in Social Work and Sociology, defended his dissertation entitled “Healing Balm: Black Women, Black Churches, and Du Boisian Pathways to Health Equity.” Williams has accepted a tenure-track position at the University of Texas at Arlington.

E.B. Gross, Joint Doctoral Program in Social Work and Psychology, defended their dissertation entitled “‘I Have Worked Hard to Be Someone My Child Can Trust’: Perceptions of Parental Support Among Trans and Gender-Expansive Young Adults and their Parents.” Gross has accepted a social work faculty position at Eastern Michigan University.

PhD student Sunghyun Hong’s research on the methods for evaluating social skills in young children was cited in Phys.org. Hong’s findings highlight the need for more culturally responsive approaches to evaluating children’s social skills as the nation’s child population becomes increasingly diverse. 

“As we work to understand children’s development, it’s important that our assessment tools recognize the many ways social competence is expressed across families and communities,” Hong said.

The IMPACT Awards honor outstanding students, faculty, staff and student organizations who are committed to uplifting our community and advancing the School’s mission. The awards are presented annually by the School’s Flourish Office.

Student IMPACT Award: PhD Student Nico Juárez