College of Education and Human Development

Family Social Science

Current Graduate Students

Aalaa Alshareef

Aalaa Alshareef
Pronouns: she, her
PhD, Couple and Family Therapy | alsha085@umn.edu

Research interests:

Families and health | Intrapersonal and intrapsychic dynamics of families who are dealing with chronic health conditions

Kaleb Burningham
Pronouns: they, them, he, him
PhD, Couple and Family Therapy | burni015@umn.edu

Research interests:

Queer youth and young adults | Mentoring | Nonparental adult support | Parent-child relationships | Religion

Connor Callahan
Pronouns: he, him
PhD, Couple and Family Therapy | calla236@umn.edu

Research interests:

Sexual and gender identity development in sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth | Developing systemic interventions to support the health and well-being of SGM youth and their families

Athena Chan
Pronouns: she, her
PhD, Family Science | chan1850@umn.edu

Research interests:

intergenerational relationships | Family dynamics | Family resilience

Ana Mireya Diaz
Pronouns: she, her
PhD, Family Science | diaz0362@umn.edu

Research interests:

Supports for youth in foster care/out-of-home care | Experiences and supports for parents with mental health diagnoses/conditions | Kinship caregivers

Zamzam Dini
Pronouns: she, her
PhD, Couple and Family Therapy | dini0008@umn.edu

Research interests:

Working with immigrant and refugee populations in relation to trauma | The mental health of immigrant/refugee populations who have experienced war, migration, and familial separation | Interfaith couples with a Muslim partner and identifying unique factors that impact Muslim couples

Nusroon Fatiha
Pronouns: she, her
MA, Prevention Science | fatih001@umn.edu

Research interests:

Parent child relationships | Family health | Behavioral health | Disease prevention | Health intervention

Janette Driscoll
Pronouns: she, her
PhD, Couple and Family Therapy | drisc262@umn.edu

Research interests:

Families with teens (therapy) | Teens with trauma (School/home connection)

Pamela Dysart
Pronouns: she, her
PhD, Family Science | dysar013@umn.edu

Research interests:

Transnational resettlement | Intergenerational gaps for adolescents | Grief, loss, bereavement practices across cultures

Shauna Fenske
Pronouns: she, her
PhD, Couple and Family Therapy | fensk049@umn.edu

Research interests:

Relational Health | Couples | Decision-making | Spirituality

Aditi Gupta
Pronouns: she, her
MA | gupta592@umn.edu

Research interests:

Military Families | Prevention and intervention studies

Erin Guyette
Pronouns: she, her
PhD, Couple and Family Therapy | guyet007@umn.edu

Research interests:

Families in transition such as divorce or separation | Improving a family’s separation process and involving more mental health professionals in the family court system

Alex Hanson
Pronouns: she, her
MA/PhD, Family Science | lessa030@umn.edu

Research interests:

Prevention of and parental influences on the development of adolescent and adult antisocial behaviors

Kay He
Pronouns: she, her
PhD, Family Science | he000330@umn.edu

Research interests:

Children's mental health | Parent-Child interaction | Supports, Emotions

Malina Her
Pronouns: she, her
PhD, Family Science | her00122@umn.edu

Research interests:

Cultural socialization and ethnic identity | Parenting

Umme Kawser
Pronouns: she, her
PhD, Couple and Family Therapy | kawse001@umn.edu

Research interests:

Relational decision-making and trauma | Developing and evaluating trauma informed program for couples | EMDR techniques into systemic interventions to support families and couples enduring trauma due to divorce

Lila Khan
Pronouns: she, her
MA/PhD, Family Science | khan0696@umn.edu

Research interests:

Diversity in families | disability in families | socioeconomic disparities in families

Samantha LeBouef
Pronouns: she, her
PhD, Family Science | lebou006@umn.edu

Research interests:

Family relationships and technology | Emerging adults | First-generation college students

Lillie Lee
Pronouns: she, her, hers
MA | leex9102@umn.edu

Research interests:

| Mental health | Clinical work

Nancy Lo
PhD, Family Science | loxxx078@umn.edu

Research interests:

Acculturation | Cultural identity development | Multiracial/generational immigrant families

Doneila McIntosh
Pronouns: she, her
PhD, Couple and Family Therapy | jacks413@umn.edu

Research interests:

African American Families/Communities | Thanatology (Ambiguous Loss, Disenfranchised Grief) | Health Disparities | Spirituality

Quin Morrow
Pronouns: they, them, theirs
PhD, Family Science | morro214@umn.edu

Research interests:

LGBT health and resiliency

Kadija Mussa
| mussa007@umn.edu

Research interests:

Somayeh Naderi

Somayeh Naderi
Pronouns: she, her
PhD, Family Science | nader018@umn.edu

Research interests:

Measuring and assessing the health and well-being of sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth and their families

Cante Nakanishi

Cante Nakanishi
Pronouns: she, her
PhD, Couple and Family Therapy | naka0144@umn.edu

Research interests:

Intercultural couples | Historical trauma

Eunyoung Park
Pronouns: she, her
PhD, Family Science | park2784@umn.edu

Research interests:

Parenting | Family relationships and technology

Miguel Quinones
Pronouns: he, him
PhD, Family Science | quino038@umn.edu

Research interests:

Latino family well-being | How Latino families’ socioeconomic situations affect their financial practices

Gabriela Ramos
Pronouns: she, her
MA | ramos393@umn.edu

Research interests:

Gender/Race | Culture | Social movements/racism/Neocolonialism

Roun Said
Pronouns: she, her
PhD, Family Science | rsaid@umn.edu

Research interests:

Intergenerational trauma | Parenting | Refugee/immigrant families

Pubudu Senaratne
Pronouns: she, her
MA/PhD, Family Science | senar018@umn.edu

Research interests:

Inter-generational trauma among immigrant families affected by torture

Jessica Simpson
Pronouns: she, her
PhD, Couple and Family Therapy | simps537@umn.edu

Research interests:

American Indian families impacted by trauma (e.g. separation, foster care, adoption) | Factors that contribute to the alleviation of trauma symptoms following family separation | Stress theories and risk and protective factors that help explain why some American Indian families report fewer trauma symptoms

Soyoul Song
Pronouns: she, her
PhD, Couple and Family Therapy | songx282@umn.edu

Research interests:

Acculturation | Multicultural context in families | immigrant families and mental health | Diversity in immigrant families

Olivia Tomfohrde
Pronouns: she, her
PhD, Family Science | tomfo016@umn.edu

Research interests:

Trauma in children | Children in the foster care system | Interventions for trauma in children

Kathy Vasquez
Pronouns: she, her, hers
PhD, Family Science | vasqu257@umn.edu

Research interests:

Experiences and trajectories of marginalized student populations | Resiliency and persistence in underserved college student groups

Guanyu Wang
Pronouns: she, her, hers
PhD, Couple and Family Therapy | wan00523@umn.edu

Research interests:

Cultural and contextual impact on family dynamics and parenting | Children's emotional and social development | Father-child relationships | Women's mental health | Mindfulness and acceptance-based intervention

Reo Wang
Pronouns: she, her
PhD, Family Science | wan00313@umn.edu

Research interests:

Adolescent moral development | How young people make moral judgments about both prototypical and ambivalent homophobic behaviors and languages

Judy Williams
Pronouns: she, her
PhD, Family Science | will3456@umn.edu

Research interests:

Policy/Family Sevices | Child Welfare | Child/Parent: Safety/risk outcomes for child

Ting Xu
Pronouns: she, her
PhD, Family Science | xu000940@umn.edu

Research interests:

Technology and Family Relationship | Statistics | Children's development

Hanna Yu
Pronouns: she, her
MA/PhD, Family Science | you00042@umn.edu

Research interests:

Finance and family relationship | Finance and couple relationship | Finance and young/older adult development

Cahya Yunizar
Pronouns: she, her
PhD, Family Science | yuniz001@umn.edu

Research interests:

Cross-culture research on family dynamics and values | Community-based interventions to promote family well-being in a multicultural context

Haoran Zhou
Pronouns: he, his
PhD, Couple and Family Therapy | zhou1832@umn.edu

Research interests:

Trauma intervention and Prevention | Adolescent resilience together with their family | Children development within adverse environmental context