HEY! Lab Team
Co-Directors of the Lab
Allegra R. Gordon, ScD, MPH (she/her)
Assistant Professor, Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health
Instructor, Division of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School
Core Faculty, Harvard SOGIE Health Equity Collaborative, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Affiliated Faculty, The Fenway Institute, Fenway Health
allegrag@bu.edu
Allegra Gordon is a social epidemiologist who uses quantitative and qualitative research methods to understand the mental and physical health impacts of discrimination as well as the effects of gender norms and stereotypes on the health of young people across sexual orientations and gender identities. She earned her doctorate in Social & Behavioral Sciences with a concentration in Women, Gender, and Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She holds an MPH in Sociomedical Sciences with a concentration in Sexuality and Health from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and a BA in Education and Environmental Studies from Swarthmore College. Current projects examine: the relationship between gender expression and health behaviors among U.S. adolescents; the effects of online environments (particularly social media environments) on substance use and disordered eating behaviors among transgender and gender-diverse young adults; barriers to and facilitators of access to HIV prevention services and sexual health and wellbeing among transgender and gender-diverse young adults; and the harmful effects of weight stigma on the health of sexual and gender minority populations.
Kimberly M. Nelson, PhD, MPH (she/her)
Associate Professor, Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health
Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Boston University Medical School
Core Faculty, Harvard SOGIE Health Equity Collaborative, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
knel@bu.edu
Kimberly M. Nelson earned her MPH in epidemiology from the University of Washington (UW) and a PhD in clinical psychology also from UW. She also completed a fellowship at the Fordham University Research Ethics Training Institute. Having both a public health and psychology background, Dr. Nelson’s research focuses on understanding and intervening on psychological and structural determinants of health inequities with a particular focus on sexual health inequities among marginalized adolescents and adults. Additionally, her work focuses on the ethical and legal issues involved in sexual health research and interventions with adolescents and ways to use technology effectively and ethically for data collection and health promotion interventions.
Core Faculty
Sarah Ketchen Lipson, PhD, EdM (she/her)
Associate Professor, Department of Health Law Policy and Management, Boston University School of Public Health
sklipson@bu.edu
Sarah Ketchen Lipson is an associate professor in the Department of Health Law Policy and Management. Her research, originally inspired by her years working in residence life, focuses on understanding and addressing mental health and inequalities therein within higher education. She is Principal Investigator of the Healthy Minds Network; this includes the Network’s national Healthy Minds Study, an annual mental health survey conducted at hundreds of colleges and universities each year. Sarah’s research has been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and William T. Grant Foundation, among others. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Boston Globe, Huffington Post, on NPR, and in numerous other national and international media outlets. Sarah completed a joint PhD at University of Michigan in the Schools of Public Health and Education. She received her bachelor’s degree from Tufts University, her master’s from Harvard University, and was a Fulbright scholar. Sarah teaches a range of graduate and undergraduate courses at the Boston University School of Public Health.
Gabe Murchison, PhD, MPH (he/she/they)
Assistant Professor, Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health
grmurch@bu.edu
Gabe Murchison is a social epidemiologist addressing the impact of marginalization on the health and wellbeing of LGBTQ people, particularly adolescents and young adults. Their work focuses on interpersonal relationship experiences (e.g., dating violence, identity-related support) as risk and protective factors for substance use, depression, and anxiety. In this research, she draws on principles of intersectionality, epidemiologic approaches to causal inference, and a strengths-based/positive youth development perspective. Dr. Murchison is Principal Investigator of the Whole Selves Project, a NIAAA-funded, community-engaged research project exploring the intersection of marginalization, romantic relationship experiences, substance use, and mental health in young adults who are transgender and/or nonbinary. He completed his BA (Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies) and MPH (Social & Behavioral Sciences) at Yale University, followed by a PhD (Population Health Sciences) at Harvard University and a postdoctoral fellowship with the Yale AIDS Prevention Training Program.
Lynsie Ranker, PhD, MPH (she/her)
Assistant Professor, Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health
lranker@bu.edu
Lynsie Ranker is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences. She is a social epidemiologist interested in exploring the complex connections between contextual factors (e.g., state policies, social media-based exposures) and substance use among youth. Recent projects include variations in alcohol use and treatment access among college students, drinking trajectories from adolescence into young adulthood, and a content analysis of poly-substance use discussions on Twitter. She received her PhD in epidemiology and her MPH from Boston University School of Public Health.
Staff
Frankie Greene (they/them)
Graduate Research Assistant
Frankie is an MPH candidate at Boston University School of Public Health, where they study sexual and reproductive health of LGBTQ+ populations. They have a B.A. from Hampshire College and research experience in public health, cognitive psychology, and linguistics. They are also a Nationally Registered EMT and previously managed a COVID-19 emergency response team. In their free time, Frankie enjoys cooking, watercolor painting, and studying modern and historical witchcraft.
Sam Haiken, MPH (she/her)
Research Fellow
Sam has been researching adolescent sexual health and wellbeing with the HEY! Lab since 2022. Prior to joining the HEY! Lab, she received her MPH from Boston University School of Public Health, where she researched attitudes toward PrEP among transgender young adults with Dr. Allegra Gordon. Sam has also worked as an advocate for bicycle and pedestrian safety in New Haven, CT. In her free time, Sam enjoys knitting, reading comics, and getting lost in the Arboretum.
Adison Hicks, MPP (they/them)
Research Fellow
Adison is a researcher passionate about qualitative research methods informing policy design. Prior to joining the HEY! Lab, they worked at the Morrison Insititute for Public Policy conducting research on experiences of housing insecurity across rural and urban Arizona. They received their Master’s of Public Policy from Arizona State University in 2024. Adison has been working on projects with Dr. Sarah K. Lipson since 2023, to understand the experiences of transgender and nonbinary college students for informing better college campus policy. They also hold a bachelor’s degree in Public Service and Public Policy from Arizona State University and are an AmeriCorps National Civilian Corps alum. In their free time they enjoy hiking, camping, and drawing ideas for tattoos they hope to get someday.
Sangeeta Subedi, MS (they/she)
Research Fellow
Sangeeta is a researcher who is excited about bringing an intersectional, qualitative lens to reproductive justice work. Prior to joining the HEY! Lab, Sangeeta researched access to and experiences of gender-affirming care as a clinical research specialist at the Center for Gender Surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital. They received their MS in Medical Anthropology and Cross-Cultural Practice from Boston University in 2022, where they conducted research on how queer and trans people of color (QTPOC) conceptualize family and navigate family-building processes. She also holds a BA in Psychology and Educational Studies from Swarthmore College. In their free time, Sangeeta enjoys spending time outdoors, taking on unnecessarily fancy baking projects, and making snarky faces at her cat.
Grayson Vives (he/him)
Research Assistant
Grayson Vives is a Yale undergraduate, Class of 2025, pursuing a double major in Psychology and Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies (WGSS). Initially a member of Yale’s Varsity Softball team, Grayson has since transitioned to the role of Team Manager following medical retirement. With aspirations to attend medical school, Grayson hopes to pursue a career in psychiatry and therapy. His goal is to establish a holistic medical practice, emphasizing the importance of comprehensive mental health care. Grayson recently completed his Psychology senior thesis on familial risk for depression, and he is currently engaged in research for his WGSS senior thesis which focuses on trans representation in film. His WGSS project underscores his greater interest in how critical thinking about gender and sexuality can serve as a pathway to fostering empathy and building meaningful connections. In his free time, he enjoys weightlifting, being outside, thrifting, drinking kombucha, and reading graphic novels.
Current Trainees
Gordon Team
Frankie Greene
Maternal & Child Health Fellow
Master of Public Health Candidate, Boston University School of Public Health
Rebecca Rohac
Practicum Student
Master of Public Health Candidate, Boston University School of Public Health
Felipe Ruiz, MPH
Doctor of Public Health Candidate, Boston University School of Public Health
Nelson Team
Aaliyah Gray, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Florida International University
Claudine Lavarin, MPH
Doctoral Candidate in Health Services and Policy Research, Boston University School of Public Health
Felipe Ruiz, MPH
Doctor of Public Health Candidate, Boston University School of Public Health
Past Trainees
2024
River Armstrong – Practicum Student, Boston University School of Public Health (2023-2024)
Christian Badillo – Research Assistant, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health (2023-2024)
Katherine Coyle – Practicum Student, Boston University School of Public Health (2023-2024)
Hannah Knapp-Broas – Maternal & Child Health Fellow and Research Assistant, Boston University School of Public Health (2022-2024)
Emilio Loret de Mola – Research Assistant, Boston University School of Public Health (2022-2024)
Shannon Lozier – Maternal & Child Health Fellow and Practicum Student, Boston University School of Public Health (2023-2024)
2023
Alexandra Gago – Practicum Student, Boston University School of Public Health (2023)
Alana Martinusen – Practicum Student, Boston University School of Public Health (2022-2023)
Matisse Monty – Practicum Student, Boston University School of Public Health (2022-2023)
Christian Paredes – Research Assistant and Practicum Student, Boston University School of Public Health (2020-2023)
Maya Zaslaw – Practicum Student, Boston University School of Public Health (2023)
2022
Allyson Cogan – Maternal & Child Health Research Fellow and Practicum Student, Boston University School of Public Health (2020-2022)
Akshay Nathan – Practicum Student, Boston University School of Public Health (2021-2022)
Arianna Rahimian – Maternal & Child Health Research Fellow, Boston University School of Public Health (2021-2022)
Journey Simmons – Research Assistant, Boston University School of Public Health (2021-2022)
2021
Kaitlin Haupt – Maternal & Child Health Research Fellow, Boston University School of Public Health (2020-2021)
Claire Stout – Research Assistant, Boston University School of Public Health (2020-2021)