Emerging Scholars Fellowship

Mandy Brooks

Paul Quinn College, Undergraduate Student

Mandy Brooks is a senior at Paul Quinn College in Dallas, Texas, majoring in Psychology. After graduation, she plans to get her master’s in Art Therapy and open a practice that will also be a studio space for local artists. She is grateful for the future opportunity to do two things she loves: create art and help others. Her “Art for All” project will educate and show how art can be inclusive, accessible, and therapeutic. It is the belief that mental health is a vital aspect of living a healthy life, and in Black communities, the self-expression of art is within us.

Project Title: “Art for All”

Tiffanie Cheng

Princeton University, Undergraduate Student

Tiffanie Cheng is a senior at Princeton University studying Psychology and East Asian Studies. She is a first generation Chinese immigrant and she hopes to become a representative in helping destigmatize and bridging the gap between mental health and the Asian community. Tiffanie’s project investigates the landscape of mental health among Asian students at Princeton and advocates for programming and policy changes to enhance accessibility and utilization of mental health resources for Asian students on campus.

Project Title: “Breaking Barriers: Debunking Mental Health Stigma with API Students in Elite Academia”

MayaSunshine Custodio

Samuel Merritt University, Graduate Student

MayaSunshine Custodio is a graduate student obtaining her Masters of Science in Nursing. In her undergraduate career, she majored in Health Sciences and Gerontology where she discovered her passion for the holistic approach to health. It was during her internship at the Cardiovascular Wellness Center where she recognized the relationship between mental, physical, and emotional health. As a programming assistant with the Full Circle Project at California State University, Maya was working under the department of ethnic studies to serve the Asian Pacific Islander Desi American students and provide them with opportunities of networking, academic support, and community engagement.

With her fellowship with Active Minds, Maya’s project explores the mental health of healthcare students, specifically the APIDA community. “Fill your own cup” emphasizes the importance of replenishing yourself so that you can take care of others. Her goal is to incorporate various dimensions of medicine to promote wellness for upcoming healthcare providers.

Project Title: “Fill Your Own Cup”

Rincon Jagarlamudi

Vanderbilt University, Undergraduate Student

Rincon Jagarlamudi is a third-year undergraduate student at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. He is majoring in Biochemistry with minors in Medicine, Health, & Society and Data Science. Rincon is dedicated to combining his background in advocating for neurodiverse individuals with his interests in mental health and well-being. His project will introduce the therapeutic benefits of artistic expression to students in Vanderbilt’s inclusive higher education program for neurodiverse individuals.

Project Title: “Express Yourself: Nurturing Neurodiverse Minds Through Creative Expression”

Jodi Johnson

Hartwick College, Undergraduate Student

Jodi C. Johnson is a first-generation undergraduate student completing his final year at Hartwick College in Oneonta, NY pursuing a degree in Psychology and Biology. Jodi is interested in focusing on mental health from a holistic approach and intentionally engaging with men of color in his community. His project. “Brother, You’re Not Alone” will explore what barriers and obstacles Black, African, and Caribbean-American men face when disclosing or seeking treatment for their mental health conditions or symptoms. Jodi plans to expose and address the mental health stigmas surrounding men of color to diminish them and create a united community where men of color are able to define themselves.

Project Title: “Brother, You’re Not Alone”

Jade Killikelly

Hartwick College, Undergraduate Student

Jade A. Killikelly is in her final year at Hartwick College, in Oneonta, NY pursuing a degree in Public Health with a premedical focus. Her project will focus on the mental health of student athletes, specifically student athletes of color in a predominantly white institution and how to support this group as they perform both on court/field and in the classroom. As captain of the women’s tennis team, president of the Black Student Union, and a Peer Health Educator, Jade is able to combine her passions for sports and fitness, health and wellness, and mental health.

Project Title: “The Grind Within the Grind: The Additional Challenges of being an Athlete of Color in a Predominantly White College”

Kristiana Knapp

Clark Atlanta University, Graduate Student

Kristiana Knapp (she/they) is a first-year graduate student pursuing a Master’s in Social Work at Clark Atlanta University. They earned their B.S. in Psychology from Howard University. Her project “Futures For Fosters” will explore the needs of foster youths transitioning out of the child welfare system and how to reduce their high likelihood of poor life outcomes such as mental health challenges. Kristiana hopes to design a program that utilizes holistic and multidisciplinary approaches to empower, validate, and support marginalized youths embarking on adulthood.

Project Title: “Future for Fosters”

Kaevyn Maple

Saint Louis University, Doctoral Student

Kaevyn is a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program at Saint Louis University. She has also completed a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Global studies at Texas Tech University and a Master of Science in clinical psychology at the University of Texas at Tyler where she developed her enthusiasm for psychological research and clinical practice. Her research interest focuses on the lived experiences of Black individuals and communities. She is most passionate about understanding and quantifying the daily life and struggles of Black people through the lens of systemic oppression, historical contexts, and generational or cultural trauma. Kaevyn aims to understand the long-term effects of slavery and civil rights on the Black community to inform the development of culturally sensitive evidenced based practices and clinical assessments, in addition to providing statistical significance for policy change. Her ultimate goal is to become licensed as a clinical psychologist specializing in generational trauma, community mental health, and the impact of discrimination and systemic racism on minority mental health.

Project Title: “Witnessing Blackness: Correlations of Mental Health and Black Violence in the Media”

Asli McCullers

University of Maryland, College Park, PhD Student

Asli McCullers is a 1st year PhD student in Behavioral and Community Health at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is an aspiring health equity researcher and leader, and is passionate about interrupting the pathway to health inequity through the lens of adolescents and young adults of historically marginalized backgrounds. Asli possesses a dynamic array of research experiences, including mental health, reproductive health, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and digital health, with academic works published in world class journals. As a fellow, Asli will expand Project HeartHEAL (Health Equity and Love), which seeks to understand, amplify and address the health-related experiences of young adults of diverse backgrounds that have experienced challenging romantic breakups. Through this work, Asli is looking forward to coining love as a social determinant of health.

Project Title: “Project HeartHEAL (Health, Equity, and Love)”

Denisse Aguilar Michel

Goshen College, Undergraduate Student

Denisse Aguilar is a first-generation immigrant and undergraduate student at Goshen College double majoring in Psychology and Sociology with a concentration in women’s studies. Denisse is currently a research assistant at The William J. Shaw Center for Children and Families Notre Dame, IN. Her current project aims to summarize existing evidence on mental health issues among BIPOC college students during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, for the purpose of creating mental health education materials. She uses an intersectionality framework to develop a nuanced understanding of BIPOC experiences relating to the coronavirus pandemic.

Project Title: “Mental health of College Students: Lasting Impact of Covid-19”

Maryfer Ortiz

Portland State University, Undergraduate Student

Maryfer Ortiz is a third-year student at Portland State University pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a minor in Neuroscience. Her project will focus on discovering new ways to improve access and establish better relationships with the subjects surrounding mental health within immigrant communities, with a focus in latinx communities.

Project Title: “Bridging the Gap Between Immigrant Communities and Mental Health Support”

Manu Perinchery

University of Texas at Austin, Undergraduate Student

Manu Perinchery is currently a sophomore at UT Austin, where he is pursuing a double major in Neuroscience and Teaching. His academic journey involves diving deep into the intricate world of clinical neuroendocrinology as a research assistant while also serving the Austin community as an EMT. Alongside the courses he’s taking, Manu also works as a Teaching Assistant for genetics courses.

Manu’s passion lies at the intersection of mental health and medicine, a field that captivates me and fuels my commitment to making a positive impact in healthcare. Beyond the academic realm, he finds balance through various hobbies, including archery, listening to music, and hiking through nature. Manu is dedicated to expanding his knowledge, fostering a deeper understanding of the human mind, and contributing meaningfully to both the academic and healthcare communities. As he continues to navigate his journey at UT Austin, he is excited about the possibilities and challenges that lie ahead.

Project Title: “Guardians of Hope: The Impact of Familial Social Support on Suicidal Ideation Among Asian College Students”

Edward Sun

University of Pennsylvania, Undergraduate Student

Edward is in an exciting new chapter in his academic journey, as he embarks on his freshman year at the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton School. He has been accepted into the Roy and Diana Vagelos Program in Life Sciences & Management, a program that combines the power of bioscience and business education. Among a group of approximately 24 students selected each year, Edward will concentrate on Biology and Finance.

With a lifelong commitment to service, Edward has created several mental health initiatives. As the past President of the Fort Wayne Mayor’s Youth Engagement Council, Edward represented over 17,500 high school students. Last year, he spearheaded a mental health symposium in his local city. In total, he fundraised over $12,000 and had over 200 students from 20 high schools attend the symposium. Currently, he serves as the Secretary of the Indiana Legislative Youth Advisory Council where he is a strong advocate for youth mental health. Furthermore, he is part of the Mental Health America’s Youth Policy Accelerator. Finally, he is the sole youth advisor for Zephyr Impact, a nonprofit that grants money to mental health organizations around the country.

Project Title: “Penn, I screwed up”

Tamara Wood

Shaw University, Undergraduate Student

Tamara Wood is a fourth-year undergraduate student at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina. Tamara’s passion for bringing awareness to the School-to-Prison Pipeline phenomenon stems from her own experiences growing up in The Bronx and attending New York City public schools. Tamara’s project will explore how racial disparities in mental health diagnoses among Black children contribute to the School-to-Prison Pipeline. With her research, she aims to understand how these disparities contribute to the overrepresentation of Black children in the criminal justice system. Tamara’s project will offer new ideas to help bridge the gap between school authorities, health professionals, Black parents, and their Black children. Her ultimate goal is to reshape policy in public school systems to better support Black youth across America.

Project Title: “Undiagnosed to Under Arrest: Examining How Racial Disparities in Mental Health Diagnoses Among Black Children Contribute to the School-to-Prison Pipeline”