RISE Initiative
Our students
RISE students
Our graduate students from both master’s and PhD programs throughout ASU represent the cutting-edge of resilience research.
Chrystal Vazquez Garcia
MS Psychology
The biopsychological factors that shape behavior, particularly how cognitive and emotional processes influence behavior and contribute to the development of psychopathology.
Courtney Grigsby
PhD Biology
I am interested in computational evolutionary genetics. I will be working on methods for detecting variations and mutations using next-generation sequencing data.
Danielle Hall
PhD Counseling Psychology
My research focuses on understanding factors that influence asexual mental health and wellbeing. I hope this work leads to interventions to increase resilience in the Ace community.
Melissa Hannay
MS Psychology
My research interests focus on neuroscience and child development. Particularly, how development relates to language, cognition, and behavior in children with autism spectrum disorder.
Michael Hansen
MS Psychology
My research interests include veteran mental health, traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, resilience, and the impact of stigma surrounding mental health and help-seeking within highly competitive and high-stress environments, such as U.S. Special Operations.
Emily Hawkinson
MS Psychology
I am currently studying parental well-being and positive psychology. I am interested in positive psychology interventions and their potential effect on people experiencing OCD symptoms.
Tylie Henderson
MS Psychology
Interested in research topics such as self-knowledge, authenticity, the quiet ego, and close relationships.
Sarah Hidalgo
PhD Developmental Psychology
Interested in body image promotion and eating disorder prevention.
Lauren Hocker
PhD Counseling Psychology
My research interests include experiences of stress between romantic partners, dyadic coping, interpersonal violence, and gender and sexual minorities.
Jessica Hopkins
MA Counseling
I am interested in exploring research topics relevant to close relationships, mental health, and wellbeing.
Ellie Jacobs
MS Psychology
I am interested in social connections, specifically the interactions of social media on interpersonal relationships. Currently, I am interested in the relationship between political media and stress levels.
Yingnan (Silvia) Jin
PhD Family and Human Development
Family processes and family dynamics; interpersonal relationships within family context; self-regulation; health and well-being.
Brooke Johnson
PhD Family and Human Development
My research focuses on the design and evaluation of efficient school systems, with particular attention to multiple levels of school functioning (student, classroom, school, and district). I aim to advance whole-child approaches that promote students’ physical, mental, cognitive, and social wellbeing through evidence-based practices and organizational improvement.
Kavya Juwadi
PhD Nursing and Healthcare Innovation
My research interests include alcohol use, intimate partner violence, and psychosocial health. I am currently working on a mixed methods study that examines intimate partner violence in the South Asian community.
Lilli Kish
MS Psychology
I am interested in how childhood trauma shapes the development of emotion regulation across brain, body, and relationships, and why these processes lead to persistent dissociation in some individuals but integrated, resilient functioning in others.
Victoria Klennert
PhD Counseling Psychology
Research generally focuses on the influence of gender on health and behavior, marginalized populations and sexual minorities, social determinants of health, as well as biopsychosocial approaches, quality of life, protective factors and resiliency in times of adversity.
Kai Kline
PhD Counseling Psychology
My research examines individual/relational constructs among gender and sexual minorities. Specifically, how TGNC individuals' experiences of gender dysphoria and internalized transphobia impact their relationships.
Disha Kotecha
PhD Law and Psychology
Interested in developing and evaluating interventions to promote resilience and support family wellbeing in stressful contexts.
Yichun Liu
PhD Family and Human Development
Adolescent socioemotional development and well-being in the family context
Darinel López
PhD Counseling Psychology
How colonialism affects Puerto Ricans, especially in terms of physical and mental health, political perceptions, and identity development. I am also interested in studying consciousness raising amidst systems of oppression.
Teagan Lunn
MS Psychology
My research interests lie in the experiences of individuals with mental illness in the justice system, specifically, how different court and behavioral programs function and shape legal and clinical outcomes.
Elise Mahaffey
PhD Psychology
Children's effort-related decision making, persistence, challenge-seeking, and social learning
Laura Malouf
PhD Family & Human Development
Impact of gender socialization and stigmatization on social relationships, help-seeking, achievement, and health outcomes; health discrepancies among gender, sexual, and ethnic minorities.
Olivia Maras
PhD Psychology
Studying adolescent’s peer, romantic, and familial relationships, dating violence prevention, and adolescent’s use of technology/social media.
RISE undergraduate students
| Diana Espinoza Aguilar | Psychology and sociology |
| Neha Francis | Biological Sciences |
| Hannah Huynh | Psychology |
| Arasely Villalobos Lopez | Psychology |
| Will Manley | English |
| Allison Miller | Psychology and sociology |
| Haley Patel | Medical microbiology and psychology |
| Aniyah Roberson | Psychology |
| Melanie Perez Saenz | Psychology and Sociology (minor) |
| Annielaura Shafer | Psychology |
| September Spotleson | Psychology |
| Christina Stewart | Psychology & Family and Human Development |