Doctoral Students

CURRENT DOCTORAL STUDENTS

Alexandra Allen-Barrett

Alexandra Allen-Barrett is a fifth-year doctoral student in Special Education at Boston University, supervised by Dr. Jen Green. She is an educational researcher and scholar specializing in equitable school-based mental health supports for students with disabilities and those from marginalized communities. Her interdisciplinary research employs mixed-methods approaches across two interconnected lines of inquiry: examining how family and student voices can inform the design of culturally responsive mental health supports and investigating how school and district-level systems can support educators in meeting students’ mental health needs. As a former early childhood educator, Alex brings classroom experience to her research and teaching and is committed to fostering interdisciplinary collaboration. She is passionate about centering student and family voice in educational research and practice to advance equity in schools.

Evie Granville

Evie Granville is a doctoral student in educational studies, with a specialization in special education. Her research interests include the formal and informal supports teachers offer students with mental health challenges; how these supports fit into the broader context of Comprehensive School Mental Health Systems; how teacher training, attitudes, and self-efficacy affect the supports they provide; and how supports vary across school contexts. In addition to having first-hand experience navigating youth mental health systems, Evie has also spent time in the classroom, serving as a high school social studies teacher.

Ruchi Khanna

Ruchi Mendiratta Khanna is a fifth-year doctoral student in Special Education at Boston University, a former Massachusetts public school special educator, and a BCBA. Her research focuses on advancing student well-being through culturally responsive practices, inclusive education, and partnerships with families and communities. She is currently studying how multilingual middle school students experience belonging and how their perspectives can inform teacher preparation and school decisions. In the future, she plans to study culturally responsive SEL and ways to support teachers’ and school teams’ implementation of these practices. In collaboration with community partners, she also plans to develop and study ways families can support their children’s social-emotional well-being and create opportunities for student and parent advocacy to shape these interventions.

CURRENT MASTER’S STUDENTS

Denitra Douglas-Robertson

Denitra Douglas-Robertson worked in the lab from 2020 to 2023. She is currently working towards her Ed.M. in Counseling Psychology with a concentration in Child and Adolescent Mental Health at Boston University. She works as an In-Home Therapist Intern at Bay State Community Services and as a Resource Specialist in psychiatric/behavioral health at Mass General Brigham. She hopes to become a licensed psychologist.

FORMER DOCTORAL STUDENTS

Chelsey Bowman

Dr. Chelsey Bowman is a licensed sport psychologist and Certified Mental Performance Consultant® in the Division of Psychology and Behavioral Health at Children’s National Hospital and an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and of Pediatrics at The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, DC. At Children’s National, she works in the Fight for Children Sports Medicine Center and Safe Concussion Outcome Recovery & Education (SCORE) Program. She is a proud alumna of the lab.

Rachel Oblath

Rachel Oblath graduated in 2020 with a PhD in Applied Human Development. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. Rachel’s research focuses on psychiatric emergency services and behavioral health equity. Much of her research is conducted within the Boston Emergency Services Team, a continuum of crisis care and criminal justice diversion programs designed to meet the needs of publicly insured and uninsured individuals. She also oversees quality improvement projects for psychiatry residents at Boston Medical Center, supporting the use of data to inform clinical practice. Her research has been funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the National Institutes of Health, and the Bureau of Justice Affairs.

Gerald Reid

Dr. Gerald “Jerry” Reid is a licensed psychologist in private practice in Boston, MA and Falmouth, MA. He is also part-time faculty in the masters of Counseling program at BU Wheelock teaching and supervising graduate students. Dr. Reid co-hosts the Reid Connect-ED Podcast with his sister, educational therapist, Alexis Reid, M.A., providing an expert and nuanced discussion on mental health, education and executive function, and sport and performance psychology. Dr. Reid consults to a local high school. In addition, he maintains a passion project of writing and producing original music inspired by his profession as a psychologist to foster hope and healing (“Jerapy”).

Cong Zhang

Cong graduated in May 2017 with a PhD in Counseling Psychology. She was a Postdoctoral Fellow specializing in neuropsychological assessment at Massachusetts General Hospital. She currently works as a Staff Psychologist at Boston University Student Health Services. She also owns a private practice that provides psychological services to support the well-being and personal growth of students and professionals.

Rebecca Muller

Rebecca graduated with a EdD from Boston University Wheelock School of Education in 2024. She received her Bachelor degree in 2010 from Colby College and her Masters degree in Special Education from Southeastern Louisiana University in 2014. Rebecca has worked in education since 2013 and currently works as a special education administrator in Salem Public Schools. Rebecca’s research interests included mental health support and identification of students with mental health needs in educational settings.

Katie Parodi

Katharine (Katie) Parodi graduated with a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the BU Wheelock College of Education & Human Development in May 2023. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the BU Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences.

Tanvi Shah

Tanvi is a non-binary, South Asian woman, who has navigated higher education in the United States as an international student and a partnered mother. Tanvi has been in the field of psychology for almost two decades. Most recently, she completed her doctoral program in Counseling Psychology at Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development. Her experience of working as a therapist in two countries shapes her clinical and research interests, which primarily focus on gender-based trauma experienced by Asian womxn. Her clinical and research practice is shaped by the tenets of intersectionality, multicultural awareness, and insight-oriented therapies. She has published several articles that explore these areas of interest. Currently she is continuing to do research at Boston University, while transitioning to work full-time as a psychologist.

IN MEMORIAM

Javier Guzman

On October 16, 2018, our research lab lost a dear colleague and friend. Javier was a talented and thoughtful researcher, and a caring and kind member of our team. He was deeply committed to improving youth wellbeing and mental health.

Javier was a doctoral student in Applied Human Development at the School of Education Boston University. He previously graduated from Universidad de Chile with a master degree in Community Psychology. He also held a bachelor degree in Psychology and professional title of a psychologist from Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile. Before coming to BU, Javier worked for ten years in a public preventive program of school mental health called ‘Skills for Life’ of JUNAEB (Ministry of Education). He was the co-author of more than 10 articles related to program evaluation, school mental health, and child and adolescent subjective well-being. Additionally, he worked as an instructor and researcher at School of Psychology of Universidad del Desarrollo. His research interest focused on school mental health and subjective well-being with Dr. Jennifer G. Green, and since the Fall 2014, he collaborated with the Social Adjustment & Bullying Prevention Lab. Javier was affiliated with the American Educational Research Association (AERA) in Division E (Counseling Psychology and Human development). Javier’s career goal was to become a faculty and researcher in Chile studying mental health factors associated with quality of life at the school level. In his spare time, he enjoyed travel with his family, watching independent movies, and cooking.