Lab for Scalable Mental Health
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Lab Members

Lab Coordinators
Senior Research Analyst
Postdoctoral Fellows
Graduate Students
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Affiliated Scholars
Research Assistants
Lab Alumni

Lab Coordinators

 
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​Arielle Smith, B.A.

Arielle (she/her/hers) graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a B.A. in Psychological & Brain Sciences in 2022, with a concentration in Experimental Psychopathology. Arielle’s research interests include depression, self-injury, suicidality, and eating disorders in youth, as well as the use of digital mental health interventions to increase treatment access. She intends to pursue a Ph.D. in clinical psychology.​

E-mail: ​arielle.smith@stonybrook.edu

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​Ian Sotomayor, B.A.

Ian (he/they) is a Lab Coordinator in the Lab for Scalable Mental Health. He graduated from the University of Southern California in 2021 with a B.A. in Psychology, with honors, a B.A. in Philosophy, and a minor in Religion. They are interested in supporting communities vulnerable to heightened stress and adversity. Ian intends on pursuing a PhD in clinical psychology to develop research in brief interventions and offer clinical services to disempowered communities.

Email: ian.sotomayor@stonybrook.edu


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​Laura Jans, M.A.

Laura (she/her/hers) graduated from Stony Brook University with a B.A. in psychology, with minors in chemistry and biology, and with an M.A. in Psychology in 2022.  Broadly, she is interested in the causes of and effective treatments for youth mental health problems. Additional interests include accessibility of mental health resources, risk factors for youth mental health problems, and the roles of family and parenting in a child’s well-being. In the future, she would like to pursue a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and hopes to work with children and adolescents.

E-mail: laura.jans@stonybrook.edu

Senior Research Analyst

 
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​Yama Chang, M.A.

​Yama (she/her/hers) is a Senior Research/Data Analyst at the Lab for Scalable Mental Health. She graduated from Teachers College, Columbia University with an M.A. in Clinical Psychology in 2020. Overall, she's fascinated with anything data related. She plans to apply data-driven approaches to developing accessible, scalable interventions to ameliorate disparities in mental health care, particularly among sexual and gender minorities.
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E-mail: ya-wen.chang@stonybrook.edu
Links: Website | Github

Postdoctoral Fellows

 
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Arka Ghosh, Ph.D.

Arka Ghosh (he/him/his) is a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Jessica Schleider at Stony Brook University. Arka is a recent graduate from the Biological Sciences and Bioengineering department of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. During his PhD, he developed a digital mental health intervention, TreadWill. He is primarily interested in developing digital mental health interventions and hopes to make evidence-based digital interventions available for free in low-income countries. 

E-mail: arka.ghosh@stonybrook.edu



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Atina Manvelian, Ph.D.

Atina Manvelian (she/her) is a Postdoctoral Fellow working with Dr. Jessica Schleider & Dr. Joanne Davila at Stony Brook University; she is also a Postdoctoral Affiliate at Stanford University for Dr. James Gross’ lab. Sponsored by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, Atina earned her PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Arizona. As a relationship researcher, Atina investigates how our social contexts give rise to attachment orientations or emotion regulation capacities that impact our mental health outcomes across the lifespan. As a clinical scientist, she is invested in developing scalable relationship interventions that target transdiagnostic mechanisms of change for disadvantaged youth. Through this work, she hopes to increase healthy relationship functioning and promote more positive views of self/other to improve the trajectory of people’s lives.

E-mail: atina.manvelian@stonybrook.edu
Links: Website

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Erica Szkody, Ph.D.

Erica Szkody (she/they) is a recent Clinical Psychology graduate from Mississippi State University and an incoming Postdoctoral Fellow working with Dr. Jessica Schleider at Stony Brook University. Erica’s research focuses on understanding the contextual factors that influence social support behaviors.  In the future, she plans to apply her research to develop culturally sensitive interventions that leverage healthy relationships to improve health outcomes.

E-mail: ​erica.szkody@stonybrook.edu



Ph.D Students

 
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Mallory Dobias, M.A.

Mallory (she/her/hers) is a fourth-year Social/Health Psychology Ph.D. student at Stony Brook University. Her research focuses on improving access to evidence-based, affirming mental health supports for youth experiencing self-injurious thoughts and behaviors. She aims to (1) identify youth who are less likely to access traditional mental health treatments, (2) develop accessible, youth-centered mental health interventions, and (3) integrate these interventions within accessible digital and community-based settings.

E-mail: mallory.dobias@stonybrook.edu
Links: Website 

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Jenna Sung, M.A.

Jenna (she/her/hers) is a fourth-year Clinical Psychology Ph.D. student at Stony Brook University. Jenna graduated from Emory University with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Educational Studies. Her primary research goal is to increase access to mental health treatment by testing and disseminating accessible, scalable interventions that can address multiple level barriers to care. Jenna also aims to maximize the impact of this research by engaging with policy level work. 


E-mail: jenna.sung@stonybrook.edu
Links: CV

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Jenny Shen, M.A.

Jenny (they/them/theirs) is a fourth-year Clinical Psychology Ph.D. student at Stony Brook University. They graduated from the University of Toronto with a B.S. in Psychology and received an M.A. in Clinical Psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University. Jenny's research interests include (1) elucidating the impact of minority stress on mental health disparities among gender and sexual minorities, racial and ethnic minorities, and their intersections; (2) ameliorating the effects of such minority stressors through accessible, transdiagnostic interventions; and (3) identifying potential implications for policy. Jenny is also a student in Dr. Nick Eaton's lab and is co-mentored by Drs. Schleider and Eaton.

E-mail: jenny.shen@stonybrook.edu
Links: CV

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Isaac Ahuvia, M.A.

Isaac (he/him/his) is a third-year Clinical Psychology Ph.D. student at Stony Brook University. Isaac graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.A. in Sociology in 2016, and has worked at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine and the University of Chicago Poverty Lab. He is interested in individuals' beliefs about mental health and illness, as well as the social construction of mental illness more broadly. His research examines the relationship between individuals' beliefs about mental health and their mental health outcomes.

E-mail: isaac.ahuvia@stonybrook.edu
Links: Website

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Riley McDanal, M.A.

Riley (she/her/hers) is a third-year Clinical Psychology Ph.D. student at Stony Brook University. She graduated from U.C. Berkeley with a B.A. in Psychology, where she studied idiographic network models of psychopathology under the mentorship of Dr. Aaron Fisher. Riley is interested in potential data-driven changes in the classification and treatment of mental health problems. She aims to leverage the integration of HiTOP and Network Analytic methods to inform transdiagnostic intervention efforts, particularly for LGBTQ+ youth and young adults. Riley is also a student in Dr. Nick Eaton's lab and is co-mentored by Dr. Schleider and Dr. Eaton.

E-mail: riley.mcdanal@stonybrook.edu
Links: Website 

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Katie Cohen, M.A.

Katie (she/her/hers) is a second-year Clinical Psychology Ph.D. student at Stony Brook University. She received a B.S. in Psychology from the University of South Carolina in 2019 and an M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Northwestern University in 2020. Katie is interested in the integration of non-traditional mental health interventions (single session interventions, mental health apps, peer support, etc.) into traditional settings frequented by youth and young adults (schools, primary care, etc.). She is committed to leveraging user-centered design and community-based participatory research methods in her work to ensure that interventions are designed to meet participants’ needs and minimize the research-to-practice gap.

E-mail: katherine.cohen@stonybrook.edu
Links: Website

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Chantelle Roulston, B.A.

Chantelle (she/her/hers) is a first-year Clinical Psychology Ph.D. student at Stony Brook University. She graduated from Stony Brook University in 2020 with her B.A. in Psychology and Sociology. She is passionate about supporting underserved communities through her research, particularly youth of Color, LGBTQ+ youth, and youth living at the intersection of both identities. Specifically, Chantelle aims to use her work to help increase mental health support accessibility and to  build and disseminate brief interventions with and for members of these communities. ​

E-mail: ​chantelle.roulston@stonybrook.edu

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​Dr. Schleider will not​ review applications for a new clinical psychology Ph.D. student for the 2023-2024 academic year. More information about Stony Brook University's clinical psychology doctoral program is available here, and more information about applying to join the Lab for Scalable Mental Health as a Ph.D. student is available here.

M.A. Students

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​Yuanyuan Yang

Yuanyuan (she/her/hers) graduated from Stony Brook University with a double major in Psychology BS and Applied Mathematics & Statistics. She is interested in studying the risk and protective factors in youth psychopathology. Furthermore, she is interested in evaluating the efficacy of mental health treatments and developing more accessible, effective, personalized, and cultural adaptive mental health interventions for underserved youth.

Affiliated Scholars

 
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Briana Last, Ph.D.

Briana (she/they) is an IDEA Fellow at Stony Brook University. Briana is currently a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, where she has been generously supported by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Mental Health. She employs quantitative and qualitative methods to research the social determinants of mental health disorders and mental health service provision. Briana's academic mission is to ensure that everyone who needs mental health support can easily access and receive the highest quality services.

E-mail: briana.last@stonybrook.edu
Links: Website

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​Akash Shroff, B.S.

Akash (he/him/his) is an Affiliated Researcher and former Lab Coordinator with the Lab for Scalable Mental Health. He graduated from Stony Brook University in 2020 with a B.S. in Business Management and a minor in Chemistry. His years of work with children and adolescents at a socio-spiritual organization has led him to be interested in the behaviors and attitudes of young people. He is currently a medical student and aspires to a career in pediatrics and psychology research.

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Sara Friedman, M.P.H.

Sara (she/her/hers) is a medical student at the Renaissance School of Medicine and an Affiliated Scholar at the Lab for Scalable Mental Health. She graduated from Harvard University in 2019 with her BA in Cognitive Neuroscience and Evolutionary Psychology and a secondary focus in Global Health and Health Policy. She then earned her MPH in Social Epidemiology from New York University in 2020. Her research interests include quality improvement interventions in the treatment of chronic disease, reducing the impact of the social determinants of health, and improving access to and the delivery of mental health treatment.

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Maria Loades, DClinPsy, Ph.D.

Maria (she/her/hers) is a Clinical Psychologist and Reader (Associate Professor) for the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology programme at the University of Bath, UK. Maria has extensive clinical experience in child and adolescent mental health services in the National Health Service, England, and has a post-graduate diploma in cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) for children, young people and families. Maria has a strong interest improving access to early help for adolescent depression symptoms. This work includes improving mental health awareness, understanding and tackling barriers to problem recognition and help-seeking, and developing and evaluating online, single-session interventions which can be provided at scale. Her ambition is to expand on current provision, and to better meet the needs of those who are under-served by mental health provision, both in the UK and in low and middle income country contexts, like South Africa.

Research Assistants

 
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Sophia Syed

Sophia (she/her/hers) is a sophomore student at Stony Brook University pursuing a Bachelors of Arts in psychology. She has long been interested in studying psychology and mental health, and her experiences as a South Asian American have helped her develop a deeper understanding of the stigma surrounding this issue. After her undergraduate studies, Sophia hopes to earn a doctoral degree in industrial/organization psychology. 

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Mia Murata
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Mia (she/her/hers) is an international student from Jakarta, Indonesia. She is currently a freshman at Stony Brook University pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and is thinking of doing a concentration in Chemistry. Mia is also the secretary of the Psychology Student Alliance (PSA) club on campus that aims to make psychology resources available and accessible to all students. Due to her mother’s occupation as a clinical counselor, Mia’s early exposure to mental health sparked her interest in Clinical Psychology. Passionate about the field, she aspires to learn more about how mental health affects the younger generation and the ways to address it.


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​Colette Lopez

Colette (she/her/hers) is a graduate of Stony Brook University with a major in Psychology. She was a registration support assistant for the Undergraduate Colleges Advising Office, as well as a teaching assistant for an upper-division Psychology course. Through these experiences, in addition to volunteering in the Surgical Oncology department at Stony Brook University Hospital, Colette has fostered her interests in mental health advocacy. In the future, she hopes to pursue an MD program and continue research in the field of psychology.

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​​Aqsa Mirza


​Aqsa (she/her/hers) graduated from Stony Brook University in 2021 with her B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Medicine, Health, & Society. As a first generation South Asian-American, she has experienced how harmful the negligence of mental health is for children and how it may affect them growing up, and strives to actively work on spreading awareness as well as what role families can take to support their youth for better outcomes. Aqsa is interested in the intervention and prevention of child maltreatment and mental illness, and hopes to pursue graduate school for Clinical Psychology with a specialization in Adolescents so that she may work with children in the future.  


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Ashley Mensch 
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Ashley (she/her/hers) is a graduate of Stony Brook University with a degree in Psychology. She is enthusiastic about research and hopes to make a difference by contributing to the Lab for Scalable Mental Health. Mental health is imperative to Ashley and she is impassioned by the strides that are made to further mental health awareness and lessen the stigma associated with mental illness. Ashley hopes to continue research throughout her career. 

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Jessica Singh

​Jessica (she/her/hers) is a junior at Stony Brook University majoring in Psychology on the pre-med track. She is also a part of the Honors College. She has always been passionate about mental health, especially in regards to young adults. She hopes to work towards greater advocacy and reducing societal stigma surrounding mental health. Jessica's personal experiences, as well as volunteering at Stony Brook University Hospital, helped shape this passion and encourage her to get involved while solidifying her interest in medicine. With a love for working with children, Jessica is interested in and hopes to become a pediatrician in the future.


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Ivy Lu
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Ivy (she/her/hers) is a sophomore at Stony Brook University double majoring in Chemical and Molecular Engineering and Psychology BS on the pre-med track. Her lack of interaction with mental illnesses, or the lack of acknowledgement about its presence, in her childhood and around family has directed her interest towards the different kinds of factors that contribute towards the development of such disorders as well as how much influence they each hold. She hopes to become a licensed physician who is able to use her past experiences to best help those who hold or are subject to stigmas about mental disorders and other traditionally negative topics.




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Daanyal Syed

​Daanyal (he/him/his) is a junior at Stony Brook University majoring in Health Science and is on the pre-medicine track. His experience as a Peer Leader to young high school students helped him refine his passion for mental wellbeing, as well as fostering his interests in the field of psychology. He aims to gain acceptance into medical school, in order to achieve his goal of becoming a psychiatrist and continuing his career in mental health.





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Jason Steiner

​Jason (he/him/his) graduated from Stony Brook University in 2021 with a B.S. in Biology with a Neuroscience concentration, and a minor in Anthropology. He was a volunteer EMT on the Stony Brook campus as well as a Medical Scribe for Stony Brook physicians. These experiences drove his passion towards helping those struggling with their mental health. He saw firsthand, in both a pre and post hospital setting how inadequate mental health interventions have affected a wide variety of patients. Jason hopes to go to medical school to pursue a career in medicine and continue research in psychology.





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Skylar Sichel

Skylar (she/her/hers) is a junior at Stony Brook University majoring in Psychology on a pre-med track. She has a keen interest in medicine, specifically dermatology. She currently has clinical experience as an ophthalmic technician at a practice located in East-Setauket. She became interested in learning about mental health, specifically with children, because of her past experience as a student teacher at her karate school. She is also in the Sigma Beta Honor Society with a passion for volunteering. Mental health is especially important to her, which is why she aspires to become a physician that understands the mind as well as the body. ​​





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Jessica Liao

Jessica (she/her/hers) graduated from Stony Brook University with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Music. She is currently tutoring English to college students from Taiwan. Her experience as a student music therapist has enabled her to develop a strong passion and interest to conduct clinical sessions, especially by supporting them with efficient interventions. In the future, Jessica aspires to become a clinical psychologist in hopes of providing accessible mental health care.​​





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Sean Gho 
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Sean (he/him/his) is a freshman (class of 2026) majoring in Biology on the premed track. His research interests are in neurodegenerative diseases and psychological diseases. He wishes to pursue a career in medicine and reach a position where he is able, in practice and in knowledge, to perform care. Community service and missions are activities that he enjoys partaking in. 





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Elaine Xiao

Elaine (she/her/hers) is a senior at Stony Brook University majoring in Biology and a minor in accounting on the pre-medical track. She is a Senator at the Stony Brook Undergraduate Student Government. From the experience of working in a pediatrician office, Elaine has witnessed the gradual increase and severity of mental illnesses among patients at their annual well visits, and the different attitudes and attempts made by the families to help their children. The experience has inspired Elaine to learn  more about the interventions or treatments that can be accessible and ultimately help those who are suffering from the different mental illnesses. In the future, she would like to attend medical school and become a pediatrician with great knowledge in helping to make interventions more accessible to families and patients.

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​HsuehYu (Claire) Sheng

Claire (she/her/hers) is currently a psychology major student at Stony Brook. She has a high interest in the field of clinical psychology, especially topics related to mental health issues.

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​Gabriella Bonelli

Gabriella (she/her/hers) is a junior at Stony Brook University double majoring in Psychology and Sociology. She is currently a Resident Assistant on campus for upper division students. She is passionate about mental health and intervention. She hopes to go on to graduate school and earn a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology in order to achieve her goal of becoming a therapist specializing in anxiety and depression in adolescents.


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​Savannah Boncic

Savannah (she/her/hers) is a sophomore at Stony Brook University who is majoring in Psychology (B.S.) with concentrations in Biology and Chemistry. She has worked with children in several areas and wants to be a child and adolescent psychologist in the future. She is disheartened and inspired by the lack of mental health assistance in today’s world, especially for youth, and strives to help those who don’t have access to therapy.




​Lab Alumni

 


Former Master's Students:

Sakura Ito (2021-2022)
Laura Jans (2021-2022)​
Aijia Yao (2020-2021)
Amanda Bianco (2019-2020)
Renee Gilbert (2019-2020)
Briana Rosenberg​ (2019-2020)
Jacquelyn Marriott (2018-2019)
Charlotte Palmer (2018-2019)
Shreya Sheth (2019)

Former RAs:

Ashley Larose
​Bailey Campbell
Kailyn Fan
Michael Sugarman
​Aleta Thomas
Lauren Edwards
​Carolyn Lorenzi
​Astrid Cousins
Anastasia Philippopoulos
​Angeles Paucar
​Elden Flores
​Lucy Gordon
Jody Huie
Anna Guo
Isha Trivedi
Yuqian Zheng
John Difonzo
Nicole Lutsky
Valerie Thomas
Wagdy Eissa
Syed Ahsan
Manreet Ranu
Victoria Sarita
Cris Zhang
​Fiona Lam
Kelly Kwong
​Shreya Addepalli
Elena V
acanti
Valentina Silva
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Former Lab Coordinators:

Julia Fassler
​Akash Shroff
​Sharon Chen
Chantelle Roulston (current PhD student)

Former Postdoctoral Fellow and Director of Data Science:

Michael Mullarkey

LAB for scalable mental health
pi: Jessica Schleider, Ph.D.
Dept. of Psychology, Stony Brook University

​Logo design & illustrative content by Kendall Farris
  • Research
    • Lab Mission & Overview
    • Publications
    • Current Projects
    • Completed Projects
  • People
    • Lab Director
    • Lab Members
    • Lab Mascots
    • In Memoriam
  • Participate!
    • All Ongoing Studies
  • Project YES
    • Participate in Project YES!
    • Advice Center
  • Project EMPOWER
  • Resources + Training
    • Join the Lab >
      • Prospective PhD Students
      • Prospective Master's Students
      • Prospective Research Assistants
      • Prospective Post-Docs
    • Open Materials
  • News
  • Books