Current & Former Doctoral Students

Current
Doctoral Students
Juan Sebastian Castillo- Perez
Applied Social & Cultural Psychology
Doctoral Candidate
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Juan entered the doctoral program in Fall 2021. Using mixed methodologies, his research seeks to identify the ways in which Latino masculinity norms inform mental health well-being and healthy relationship formation processes across diverse emerging adult Latine populations. Focusing in both U.S. and Latin American cultural contexts, Juan's work is striving to accurately capture diversitis of Latino masculinity- beyond machismo- through examinations of such factors as nationality, acculturation, ethnicity, race, and other cultural frameworks. He has also been working on systematic reviews as Centers for Disease Control research intern.
KimberLy "Kimmy" Marin-Verhelst
Applied Social & Cultural Psychology
Doctoral Student
- Read more about Kimmy
Kimmy joins our program in Fall 2025 after earning her B.A. in Political Science and International Relations from Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar (Colombia). Her research interests lie at the intersection of cultural stressors, structural inequalities, youth development, and network systems, with a particular interest in how cultural norms, gender ideologies, and systemic inequities shape health outcomes and interpersonal violence. A CASE Dean's Distinguished Doctoral Fellow, Kimmy is focused on enhancing her current expertise in qualitative research, community-based approaches, and network analysis.
Hector Peguero
Applied Social & Cultural Psychology
Doctoral Candidate
- Read more about Hector
A CASE Dean's Distinguished Doctoral Fellow, Hector entered the doctoral program in Fall 2022. His research examines the intersections of health stigma and identity development among sexual and gender minorities (SGM) across global contexts. A former Fulbright Fellow, Hector has conducted research examining well being among Hijra communities in Mysore, India. He is building on this research by identifying shared points of intervention for addressing stigma among Latine SGM individuals in South Florida and Hirjras in India. Hector is currently funded by a NIH Global Health Pre Dissertation Fellowship to examine these phenomena.
Jeffrey Pierre
Applied Social & Cultural Psychology
Doctoral Student
- Read more about Jeffrey
Jeffrey entered the doctoral program in Fall 2022. His research examines cross cultural perceptions of parental disciplinary practices, with a focus on the role of acculturation, national identity, and familial processes. Jeffrey is particularly interested in exploring the ways contextual stressors experienced by diverse Black population contribute to discipline meaning construction. A Sant La Fellow, his ultimate goal is to identify culturally appropriate approaches centering Haitian cultural values and socio historical experiences in U.S. contexts. He has received an APA Division 9: SPSSI Award to fund this research.
Latrisha Robinson
Applied Social & Cultural Psychology
Doctoral Student
- Read more about Latrisha
A CASE Dean's Distinguished Doctoral Fellow, Latrisha entered in the program in Fall 2024 after earning a Master of Science in Clinical Psychology. Her research focuses on reproductive health and the experiences of minority women with infertility. Latrisha is particularly interested in addressing health disparities and exploring the socio-cultural factors influencing access to care. Her goal is to influence policy and practice by advancing healthcare equity and fostering transformative change in underserved communities. She plans to pursue a career in academia and advocacy, fostering representation and transformative change in underserved communities.
Krystal Sutherland
Applied Social & Cultural Psychology
Doctoral Student
- Read more about Krystal
Krystal entered the doctoral program in Fall 2024. Her interests aligns with her role as the Director of Education and Employment Services at the FIU Embrace Center for Advancing Inclusive Communities. Krystal's research focuses on sexual health knowlede among persons with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD). Through this work she examines college students perceptions of dating individuals with various disabilities,. Her current study explores both emerging adults with IDD and their parents' peceptions of their dating and sexual health life experiences on college campuses.

Former
Doctoral Students
Developmental Psychology
DR. Alexa Barton
- Read more about Dr Barton
Dr. Alexa Barton is a Research Scientist with WestEd, a national education research agency that focuses on improving learning, healthy development and equity in schools and communities. Her dissertation examined the ways in which attitudes towards modes of immigration affect sterotyping beliefs and mental health outcomes. Gathering data from universities in Florida, Texas and California, Dr. Barton identified the importance of considering region, and ethnicity/ race when examining perceptions of immigration. An APA Society for the Study of Social Issues Grant funded Dr. Barton's research.
Developmental Psychology
Dr. Elsa Bravo
- Read more about Dr. Bravo
Dr. Elsa Bravo is a Research Associate in the FIU Office of Retention and Graduation Success, where she oversees mixed methods research projects related to the office's focus. Dr. Bravo's dissertation, funded by the Delores Auzenne Fellowship focused on the influence of cultural values and familial support on Hispanic STEM majors' degree persistence. This mixed methods project included both qualitative and quantitative methods. Additionally, she completed a Psychology Department SEED funded study examining Hispanic women's perceptions of doctoral program experiences.
Developmental Psychology
dr. EDUARDO DE LA VEGA-TABOADA
- Read more about Dr. De La Vega Taboada
A Tinker Foundation Field Research Grant Fellow, FIU Doctoral Evidence Acquisition Fellowship, and FIU Doctoral Evidence Acquisition Fellowship recipient, Eduardo's research examines the role of soccer/ futbol organizations' adult leaders in the creation of safe spaces. A mixed emthodologist, his innovative work uses developmental systems, network analysis and qualitative approaches. He also provides support for Futbol Con Corazon and Amor Por Baru's community capacity building . Eduardo is now an NIH Post Doctoral fellow with Stanford University's Our Voice Citizen Science Global Network & Initiative.
Developmental Psychology
dr. Claire HelpingStine
- Read more about Dr. Helpingstine
Dr. Claire Helpingstine's research examines the ways in which gender, race and contextual experiences perceptions inform individuals' perceptions of human trafficking across diverse communities. Claire is also interested in identifying the familial and social network processes that shape the experiences and decision making processes of trafficked victims both in the United States and India. She has received a NIH Global Health Pre Dissertation Fellowship to examine these phenomena. She was also awarded an FIU UGS Dissertation Year Fellowship to fund her final year of research.
Developmental Psychology
dr. Shannon kennedy
- Read more about Dr. Kennedy
Dr. Shannon Kennedy is currently an Associate Professor of Psychology at Miami Dade College, where she is also on faculty in the Holocaust Education Program. Her research interests focus on identity development, intimate partner violence, and romantic relationships. Dr. Kennedy's dissertation examined the influence of familial conflict strategies on Hispanic college women’s verbal IPV victimization; it was one of the first dissertations to examine IPV specifically within this population. Further, Dr. Kennedy explored within group differences, paying close attention to the influence of gender role beliefs and Hispanic cultural familial values.
Developmental Psychology
dr. alan meca
- Read more about Dr. Meca
Dr. Alan Meca is currently an Associate Professor of Psychology at University of Texas at San Antonio . Prior to this, he completed a National Institutes for Health (NIH) funded Post Doctorate position at the University Miami. He began his faculty career as an Assistant Professor position at Old Dominion University, where he helped develop the Applied Health Psycholoogy Program. Dr. Meca's program of research focuses on Hispanic identity development and acculturation in emerging adulthood, as well as their respective impacts on psychosocial functioning and health risk behaviors. He has published numerous research papers and received national funding to support his work.
Clinical Psychology
dr. Jacqueline "Jackie" Moses
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Dr. Jackie Moses was co- mentored by Dr. Stacy Frazier. Her research interests center on the leveraging of naturally- occurring, culturally- relevant resources and protective factors as a means of facilitating positive youth development. She received the FIU Graduate School's Willie E. Williams Award for this work. Dr. Moses is currently a Post Doctoral Researcher at the University of Chicago's Institute for Juvenile Research. She began this position after completing her clinical internship training at the University of San Francisco Health Service Psychology where she engaged in community- based research and policy training focused on Black and Latinx communities.
Developmental Psychology
Dr. Laura Oramas
- Read more about Dr. Oramas
Dr. Laura Oramas is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Georgia Gwinette College; she was formerly on faculty at Indian River College in Central Florida. Her research focuses on the intergenerational transmission of conflict resolution tactics (such as verbal and physical aggression). Dr. Oramas's dissertation was among the first to examine Hispanic parental and young adult daughters' psychological aggression conflict strategies. She published the results in two papers, including "The influence of parental conflict resolution strategies on Hispanic college women’s experiences with verbal aggression."
Developmental Psychology
dr. Ana Lucia Rodriguez
- Read more about Dr. Rodriguez
Dr. Ana Rodriguez is a Reseach Scientist in the Yale University Institute for Network Science Human Nature Lab. Her disseration, funded by the NIH Fogarty GHES Pre Dissertation Fellowship, utilized network analysis and qualitative methods to identify the multi- layered relationships between beliefs, interpersonal actions and violence outcomes among rural Colombian adolescents. Additionally, she completed a network analysis study examining Black doctoral students' perceptions of graduate school which was funded by the Complex Systems Society's Emerging Researcher Scientific Award. FIU recognized Dr. Rodriguez as a Real Triumphs Graduate.
Developmental Psychology
Dr. hod tamir
- Read more about Dr. Tamir
Dr. Tamir earned his Masters in Mental Health Counseling in 2012 and doctorate in developmental psychology in 2015. He was awarded a National Institutes for Health (NIH) Fogarty Center funded post-doctoral fellowship to study HIV postive South Indian women's social networks. Dr. Tamir then received a Global HIV Implementation Science Research Post Doctoral Fellowship at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health where he focused on implementation science approache to improve health services by turning research findings and evidence-based practices into routine clinical care. Dr. Tamir now has a private clinical practice in New York City.
Developmental Psychology
Dr. ADAM ZIMMERMAN
- Read more about Dr. Zimmerman
Dr. Zimmerman is the Associate Director for Analysis and Information Mangement in the Office of Planning and Institutional Research at Florida International University. Completed in Fall 2017, Dr. Zimmerman's dissertation research examined anonymity, social modeling, and aggression in online environments. He found that individuals are influenced by others' online comments, particularly those posting aggressive content. He has published work examining anonimity influences and online environments in several American Psychological Association journals, including Group Dynamics and Psychology of Popular Media Culture.