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

Diana received her doctorate in family and human development from Arizona State University where she focused on gender-related research. Specifically, her research interests revolve around stereotyping, gender attitudes and differences, masculinity, and sexism, and how interpersonal relationships play a role in these constructs. Her quantitative and methodological training allows her to address these questions using multifaceted approaches in adolescent and adult samples.

djenkin@uoregon.edu

Filip is a first-year MS student in the Prevention Science program at the University of Oregon. His research interests include the types of educational systems and training that increase children’s self regulation, well-being, self esteem, creativity and intelligence; how environment affects children mental health; and how involvement of parents, peers and teachers can lead to resilience and healthy behaviors. His long term goal is to create an educational system that will help children (age 3-14) prevent mental diseases and reach their infinite potential. He lived and study in Romania, Italy, Azebjiadan and Sweden and is looking forward to bring his multicultural experience in the form of interventions and prevention campaigns that promote mental health.

fsersban2@uoregon.edu

Larissa graduated from the University of Oregon in 2018 with a B.A. in Psychology and Spanish and went on to graduate from the Prevention Science masters program. Larissa’s research interests include investigating the interaction between physiological self-regulation, trauma, culture, and parenting behavior.

Lue graduated from the Counseling Psychology doctoral program at the University of Oregon in 2023. She joined the EGDS study team in 2019 and conducted recruitment activities with adults and young adults from adoptive families for participation in EGDS. She also analyzed adult mental health data with other existing EGDS and ECHO datasets. Lue’s research interests include etiological factors of suicide and related mental health outcomes and culturally-informed interventions that support survivors of interpersonal violence.

luew@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

 

Matilde obtained her B.A. in Political Science and Latinx Studies at the University for Oregon in 2024. She is worked for the Prevention Science Institute at the University of Oregon on the RADx-UP Latinx Project from 2021-2024

marias2@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

 

Selam Wako was a graduate student in the Prevention Science Program, working with advisor Dr. Leslie Leve. Selam was awarded the Service Grant from the Holden Center for Leadership and Community Engagement in 2015 to fund a service-learning focused community project. In partnership with Head Start of Lane County, Selam Wako implemented Recess Time from Playworks. Recess Time is a behavior intervention to help children build their social and interpersonal skills by engaging them in structured and unstructured intentional play.

selam.m.wako@wmich.edu

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