Alejandra Garcia Isaza, PhD, is a Provost’s Early Career Postdoctoral Fellow and an affiliate of the Texas Center for Equity Promotion (TexCEP) at the University of Texas at Austin. She earned her MS and PhD in Prevention Science from the University of Oregon. She completed her undergraduate studies in Psychology in Medellín, Colombia. 

Dr. Garcia Isaza’s research aims to equitably improve educational outcomes for Latino populations in the U.S. and Latin America by understanding and resolving disparities in public education systems. In addition, she studies the protective role of parenting as well as the role of families’ and educators’ cultures in improving home-school collaboration.

alejandra.garciaisaza@austin.utexas.edu

During her postdoctoral fellowship within the Leve Lab, Amanda Griffin investigated heritable influences on parent–child interactions, peer relationships, and school readiness to translate evidence from genetically informed designs to inform prevention programs.

agriff1@uoregon.edu

Cady is a 2020 graduate of the UO Counseling Psychology program and was advised by Dr. Leve. As a graduate student she held roles as an interviewer for EGADS, a skills coach for SHARP, and as a supervisor for NIDA undergraduate interns. With a background in experiential programs for underserved adolescents and their families, her research interests align with bridging the gap between the scientific community and community stakeholders. With the support of the Leve Lab, Cady was able to collaborate in a randomized control trial evaluating a widely disseminated intervention for adolescents in schools. This project was the basis for her master’s dissertation and thesis. Cady became a licensed psychologist in 2022 and currently enjoys working directly with adolescents and adults in her psychotherapy practice.

Daschel (a.k.a. Dash) is a second-year Counseling Psychology PhD student at the University of Oregon. Broadly, Dash is interested in studying the relationships between substance use and mental health with emotion regulation processes, with particular interest in identifying the mechanisms for substance use and mental health differences in these processes During her time as a Prevention Science Masters Student within the Leve Lab, Dash investigated the relationship between ACEs, adolescent mental health symptoms, and young adult trauma symptoms and mental health service utilization.

dfranz@uoregon.edu

 

Maira received a PhD in the Counseling Psychology program at the University of Oregon and was advised by Dr. Leslie Leve. Maira’s research interests include adolescent through young adult age identity development, and adolescent and young adult risk and protective factors in academic achievement. 

mairab@uoregon.edu

 

Mariam received her BA in Family and Human Services from the University of Oregon in 2015. During her time as a UO undergraduate student she participated in a summer research internship program within the Leve Lab that was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). During this internship, Mariam learned about and became familiar with the different aspects that are involved in a research study, such as IRB approval, recruitment, assessment, data management, and coding. After receiving her bachelor's degree, Mariam went on to pursue a Master of Social Work at Portland State University.

mariamadmasu15@gmail.com

 

Randall examined the correlation between high levels of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) to the mental health issues the Colville Confederated Tribes are facing.

rgottfriedson@gmail.com

 

Sophia received a masters in Prevention Science at the University of Oregon and was advised by Dr. Leslie Leve during her time as a UO graduate student. Sophia’s research interests include identifying risk and protective factors in youth and families involved with the foster care system as well as individuals that identify as Latinx.

smerelas@uoregon.edu