Research

 The majority of my published academic research can be found on ResearchGate  and/or Google Scholar

Researcher profile at Boston Children’s Hospital

Focus of Current Research

My program of research and clinical innovation is based within the Boston Children’s Hospital Trauma and Community Resilience Center (BCH TCRC). The TCRC is dedicated to understanding and promoting the healthy adjustment of youth and families who have experienced trauma and adversity. In partnership with communities and service systems, we build prevention and intervention programs, conduct research, and develop resources to assist refugee and immigrant families and service providers. At the BCH TCRC, we believe that social justice, equity, and human rights are at the core of a healthy society, and actively work to promote these values through our collaborative models of care for children and adolescents. We currently focus on three core areas (1) Refugee Trauma and Resilience, (2) Multidisciplinary Models of Violence Prevention, and (3) Trauma-Informed and Culturally-Responsive Training.

Within the TCRC, my work has focused on:

(1) Building and testing psychological tools, programs, and interventions to support youth, families, and communities build healthy and resilient lives. The majority of this work has focused specifically on supporting youth and families of refugee and immigrant backgrounds.

(2) Fostering effective dissemination and implementation of behavioral health interventions and programs. Much of this work has focused specifically on a suite of interventions called ‘Trauma Systems Therapy for Refugees (TST-R)’

Refugee and immigrant mental health research, innovation, dissemination, and implementation is a team sport! I’m incredibly fortunate to collaborate with a large group of clinicians, cultural brokers, administrators, community leaders, researchers, and stakeholders at multiple institutions around the USA and around the world.

Grant Funding and Support

In 2023 the biggest percentage of my grant-funded time comes through my work as an investigator and consultant on a National Child Traumatic Stress Network (CAT II) center grant focused on the training, dissemination, and implementation of Trauma Systems Therapy for Refugees and behavioral health best practices for refugee, immigrant, and forcibly displaced youth. Through this work I am a TST-R systems consultant to multiple programs in the United States.

“Through what academic journals do people connect with your work?” 

Research and clinical innovation that I have authored or co-authored has been published in a diverse range of academic journals and books including: Journal of Family Psychology; the Behavior Therapist; Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology; Journal of Child and Family Studies; Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging; Studies in Conflict & Terrorism; American Journal of Orthopsychiatry; Transcultural Psychiatry; and the Massachusetts General Hospital Textbook on Diversity and Cultural Sensitivity in Mental Health, among others.

Research and clinical innovation that I have authored or co-authored has also been cited by authors publishing in a diverse range of academic journals including many of the top publications in psychology/mental health including: Psychological Bulletin; Development and Psychopathology; the New England Journal of Medicine; American Psychologist; Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology; Journal of Affective Disorders; Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry; Behavior Therapy; Clinical Psychological Science; International Journal of Cognitive Therapy; Developmental Psychobiology, among others.