About Us
Kristin A. Long, PhD (Director)
Dr. Long was born and raised in Easton, PA. She graduated from Princeton University in 2003 with a degree in Psychology and a certificate in Neuroscience. She worked in the Marketing Department at Lutron Electronics for several years before returning to graduate school. Dr. Long earned her doctoral degree in Clinical and Bio-Health Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh and completed her clinical internship and postdoctoral fellowship training at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University in Providence, RI. She joined the faculty at Boston University in July, 2014. Dr. Long’s research employs qualitative, quantitative, and community-based methods to examine developmental, cultural, and family influences on health. She has carried out her research primarily in the context of childhood cancer, asthma, autism, intellectual disability, and adolescent sexual risk. More recently, her research has expanded to consider family and cultural influences on development over the transition to adulthood. Dr. Long is a licensed clinical psychologist in Massachusetts and Rhode Island and has experience developing and delivering psychotherapy interventions for individuals, families, and groups across outpatient, inpatient, medical, school, and forensic settings. In her current position at Boston University, Dr. Long is involved in undergraduate and graduate training within the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, and she is the Director of the Child and Family Health Lab.
http://www.bu.edu/psych/faculty/kalong/
Graduate Students
Jenna Sandler Eilenberg
I am a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program at Boston University. I received a B.S. degree in Psychology from the University of Florida and a Master’s in Public Health from Boston University. After graduation, I worked in Pediatrics at Boston Medical Center, where I coordinated outcome assessment for a series of studies evaluating a depression prevention intervention for low-income, urban mothers. I then transitioned to the BU School of Public Health, where I worked as a project manager on a clinical trial aiming to improve early identification and service linkage for young children at risk for autism spectrum disorder. During graduate school, I am interested in researching the role of cultural and family factors in the transition from adolescence to adulthood for youth with autism.
Nicole Cardona
I am clinical doctoral student in the Transdiagnostic Treatment Lab. My interests are in emotions, minority stress, trauma, borderline personality disorder, and mental health in marginalized communities. My work with Dr. Long and the Child & Family Health Lab relate to stress and coping in family members of children with medical or developmental diagnoses (i.e., cancer diagnoses; false positive autism diagnoses). I received my B.A. in Psychology and Health: Science, Society, and Policy from Brandeis University in 2015, and have previously worked at Franciscan Children’s Hospital, the Boston Child Study Center, and within McLean Hospital’s adolescent DBT continuum.
Ariel Blakey
I am a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program at Boston University. I received a B.A. in Psychology from Spelman College, where I primarily conducted qualitative research on familial well-being through narratives in college-aged students. While pursuing my undergraduate degree, I also conducted research at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), identifying factors involved in parental decision-making and Children’s National Hospital, investigating factors impacting caregivers’ stress. While in graduate school, I am specifically interested in researching how social determinants of health and social support affect disease-management and overall quality of life amongst pediatric patients with a chronic illness, especially Sickle Cell Disease.
Kathryn Davis
I am a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program at Boston University. I received a B.A. in Gender and Sexuality Studies from Brown University and an M.A. in Psychology from Brandeis, where I studied developmental antecedents of problematic sexual behaviors among juveniles who had sexually offended. I then joined the Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), where I worked as a Research Coordinator on studies aimed at identifying new biological markers of childhood adversity exposure. In the Child and Family Health Lab, my research focuses on better incorporating siblings of children with cancer into family-centered psychosocial care. I am particularly interested in strategies to improve the design and implementation of family-focused psychosocial assessment and support in pediatric cancer care.
Jay Wilson
I am a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program at B.U. I received my B.A. at Princeton University and a Masters at B.U. in psychology. Prior to my Masters, I taught at a school for children with autism for 2 years, using trauma-informed applied behavior analysis and worked as a case manager for a student. I am interested in stigma, especially amongst our theoretical constructs (e.g. theory of mind), and how these stigmas work to structure our environment in ways that disable individuals with autism and reduce their quality of life. I am particularly interested in studying barriers to services for individuals with autism as they transition into adulthood.
Mathena Abramson
I am a doctoral student in the Family Development and Treatment Lab under the direction of Dr. Martha Tompson. I received my B.A. in Psychology from Smith College in 2019 with a minor in statistical and data sciences and completed post-baccalaureate work as a clinical research coordinator in the Women’s Hormones and Aging Research Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital under the direction of Dr. Hadine Joffe. My research interests center on family and community influences on psychological outcomes in marginalized communities. My work with Dr. Long and the Child & Family Health Lab include a project aimed at investigating LGBTQ+ young adults’ experiences of minority stress and emotion regulation, as well as a separate project which examines the barriers to assessing and addressing social determinants of health within primary care settings.
Mikaela de Lemos
I am a first-year doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program at Boston University. I received my B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Hispanic Studies from Oberlin College, where I conducted research on the relationship between race and attitudes on climate change following the COVID-19 lockdown. After graduating, I joined Dr. Grayson Holmbeck’s Chicago Healthy Adolescent Transition Study (CHATS) Lab and Dr. Cate DeCarlo Santiago’s Children Adapting to Stress and Adversity (CASA) Lab at Loyola University Chicago, which fostered my interests in pediatric psychology and trauma-informed treatment. I then taught English and implemented a school-based read-aloud program at an elementary school in Tenerife, Spain, after being awarded a U.S. Fulbright Grant. My primary research interests and goals are to understand and support typically-developing children who have a sibling with a chronic illness or disability, particularly those from Latino/x/e backgrounds.
Staff
Alix Paredes Molina (Lab Manager, He/Him)
I am the lab manager of the Child and Family Health Lab! I received my BA in Psychology from Boston University, where I was first introduced to this lab, engaged in research regarding service quality inequities for Latino families of children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD). Presently, I contribute to our research of the barriers and context surrounding social determinant of health screening in primary care settings.
Undergraduate Research Assistants
Samuel Lai
I am a fourth-year undergraduate psychology major at Boston University. My involvement in this lab has been centered on studying support systems for siblings of youth with cancer, which has shaped my interest in psychosocial care, family systems, and the effects of stressors, such as chronic illnesses. Based on this interest, I am currently working on a project focused on family decision-making on sibling involvement in a child’s cancer treatment. In the future, I plan to pursue graduate education and stay involved in research to support family care. Beyond academics, I enjoy participating in intramural sports and various cultural clubs.
Illari Cazorla-Garcia
I am a third-year undergraduate Psychology major at Boston University. Currently, my work at the Child and Family Health Lab involves contributing to a project that aims to identify and comprehend barriers and disparities within social determinants of health screenings through an anti-racist perspective. A major career aspiration of mine is to actively contribute to destigmatizing conversations about mental health in disproportionately affected groups. After graduation, I plan to continue my studies with graduate education to further develop my research interests.
Joshua Dela Cruz
I am a third-year undergraduate student at Northeastern University majoring in Psychology and currently doing my cooperative education experience (co-op) at the Boston University Child and Family Health Lab. At Northeastern, I am involved in a co-ed service fraternity, intramural sports, and work as a Student Success Guide. Previously, I worked as an assistant teacher in a clinical school for adolescents with social, learning, and/or behavioral disabilities. This experience has been a major driving factor for my passion to support adolescent mental health care. At the Child and Family Health Lab, I hope to learn more about stress-intervention techniques for adolescents. After undergraduate school, I plan to continue my education into graduate school.
Yudi Wang
I am a rising junior studying Psychology and Education at Boston University. I have some experiences working with children and research in developmental psychology. While I’m still exploring different research topics, I’m interested in pursuing more research and working with children after graduation. I’m excited to join the Child and Family Health Lab to explore more about research in clinical psychology, to learn about the qualitative research methods and research with people from different backgrounds.
Stephanie Visoso
I’m a third year undergraduate student majoring in Philosophy & Psychology with a minor in Applied Human Development at Boston University. I am particularly interested in learning about the interactions between marginalized/ underrepresented communities and the various ways in which the healthcare system perpetuates inequality by overlooking their various health needs. During my time in the Child & Family Health Lab, I hope to form a better understanding of how differing levels of placed importance on social ecological factors can impact a community’s emotional wellbeing when dealing with the wide array of aspects that accompany chronic illness or disability.
Kalliopi Alexis
I am a third-year undergraduate student majoring in Psychology with a minor in Human Physiology at Boston University. My interests lie in understanding how healthcare providers can better support underrepresented patients by equipping them with the necessary resources and training. I aim to gain deeper insights into how various healthcare practices can enhance the quality of treatment and overall well being of patients. After graduating, I plan to attend medical school to pursue a career in Psychiatry.
Lab Alumni
Post-Docs
Christina Amaro, PhD
Elizabeth K. Schmidt, PhD
Suma Suswaram, PhD
Doctoral Students
Phoebe Brosnan, PhD
Dana Bruck-Segal, PhD
Lydia Chevalier, PhD
Monica Gordillo, PhD
Allie Keller, PhD
Hyun “Monica” Kim, PhD
Emily Pariseau, PhD
Graduate Students
Quintana Carter
Andrea Chu
Wenyan Fang
Charlotte Hood
Phyllis Lun
Aksheya Sridhar
Lab Managers
Marcella Mazzenga, LCSW
Anjali Oberoi, MD, MPH
Undergraduate Students
Grace Alessi
Sarah Bowman (Co-op)
Samantha Brayton
Taylor Cowser
Pau Cuadrado
Diego Davila
Amelia Dudley
Cory Griffin
Shumin Guan
Trisha Katz
Deniz Kizildag
Michelle Leon
Hannah Levin
Carissa Mastrangelo (Co-op)
Ava Maurillo
Rachel Meyer
Andrea Morante
Dara Oliveira
Alejandra Perez-Ramirez
Jeannie Phan
Marina Ritchie
Pamela Ruiz
Samantha Sims
Olivia Sokol
Dylan Tam
Rachel Watson
Huanrui Wei
Maya Zegel
Freya Zhu
Volunteers
Esmeralda “Ezzy” Adolf