Student Research Assistants |

Meet the research team!

Marsha Akoto, M.A.(She/Her/Hers)

My name is Marsha Akoto (she/her) and I am a 2nd year doctoral student. My research interests are ethnic mental health disparities, the intersectionality of social justice issues on the mental health of immigrants, refugees, and BIPOC communities. My clinical interests are understanding cultural factors and social factors that contribute to the development of mental health and disseminating culturally appropriate psychological services in Black, Latinx, and other communities of color. My primary areas of clinical interest include: trauma, cultural identity issues, mood disorders, racial trauma, cultural adjustment, inter/intrapersonal issues. My passion for researching immigration and liberation stems from my background as a Ghanaian-American raised by two immigrant parents. Witnessing the barriers my parents had to overcome, and the challenges in my community, motivated me to be an advocate for immigrant populations. I believe in helping individuals find their voice, power, and unique strengths to prevail in this world. Aside from my professional and academic life, I enjoy brunching with friends, hanging out with my family, reading, traveling, cooking, listening to a sermon and indulging in The Bachelor!

Sabrina Carroll, M.Ed. (She/Her/Hers)

My name is Sabrina, and I am a third-year doctoral student in the Counseling Psychology program. My research interests involve utilizing community-based participatory and mix methods structures to understand self-efficacy and sense of belonging in young adults. Clinically, I gravitate toward working with adolescents in navigating major adjustments as they relate to interpersonal relationships and identity formation. I joined the ALIVE lab because of its emphasis on community-based participatory research, as well as to learn more about liberation psychology and how research can be a form of change in anti-racist and anti-xenophobic endeavors. Outside of school, I enjoy live music, bike riding, trivia nights, and spending time with friends and family.

Raquel Sosa (She/her/ella)

Hola todxs! My name is Raquel Sosa and my pronouns are she/her/ella. I am the child of Mexican immigrant parents and identify as Chicana. I plan to graduate in 2025-26 from the Counseling Psychology doctoral program. I am interested in research about bicultural issues such as Latinx acculturation and mental health and academic outcomes. Specifically focusing on the impact of external and sociopolitical factors. I have a strong clinical interest to work with Latinx adolescents and adults in the community, and currently enjoy working with college students of color. In my work as a doctoral trainee I have been working to implement liberation psychology tools to conceptualize clients and help students capitalize on their strengths. For self care I really like to go hiking and explore hidden gems in PA, weight lift, hang out with family and friends, and of course listen to Bad Bunny and other great Latinx artists. My research interests are heavily tied to my personal values and life experiences, thus, as a first generation college student, I am passionate about using our research para la raza to lift their voices and experiences and to use it as a tool of resistance to enact change in their lives.

Beatriz Suro (she/her/hers)

Racial/ethnic identity: Puerto Rican
Year is your graduate program: 5th
Research interests: impact of immigration laws on HIV testing, intimate partner violence (IPV), addictive behaviors, multicultural competence and social justice advocacy on behalf of immigrant clients
Clinical interests: veterans with substance abuse disorders, trauma and PTSD, women’s health within the VA system (MST & trauma with women veterans/spouses of veterans)
Anything personal you’d like to share (ex: hobbies): I am very passionate about sports, especially cycling and running. I like craft beers, traveling & being in nature.
What brings you to research on immigration and liberation?I lived in El Paso, Texas for four years and living in a border town really opened my eyes to different issues immigrants faced and continue to face. Living in El Paso and doing research on immigrants while tougher immigration laws were being implemented inspired me to continue doing this line of research. I became so interested & passionate in research on immigration that I made it my dissertation topic! 🙂

Nathalie Lynn-Luna (She/Her/Hers)

Racial/ethnic identity: Puertorriqueña

Fourth Year Doctoral Student, Counseling Psychology.

My research interests include experiences of underrepresented students in higher education, the impact of discrimination on wellbeing and sense of belonging, and cumulative trauma and posttraumatic growth in Latinx/e college students.

My Clinical interests include working with BIPOC individuals and families in a community-based setting.

In my free time I enjoy spending time with my loved ones and my pug Pablo! I am originally from New York and I’m currently enjoying exploring sites and restaurants in my new city Philly!

As a Latina and first generation college student, I always believed in advocating for greater access/support for historically underrepresented students in higher education. During my time with the lab, I have been able to further grow as a researcher and learn how to use research as a tool to advocate for policy and institutional change. Specifically, the Liberation lab allowed me to learn about culturally responsive programming and other ways to support immigrants, Latinx/e, and other BIPOC college students. Overall, learning about liberation in the field of psychology leads me to be a better culturally and trauma-informed clinician.

Sayed Kalimullah Abed, M.Ed (he/him/his)

My name is Sayed Kalimullah Abed, and I am a fourth-year doctoral student in the Department of Special Education at Lehigh University. I have a bachelor’s degree in psychology and education of children with visual impairments from Kabul Education University, and I have a master’s in Special Education from Lehigh University. I have worked as an assistant professor at Kabul Education University for ten years, where I trained teachers for students with visual impairment in Afghanistan. I am a certified trainer of Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), Orientation, and Mobility for students with visual impairments from German Jordanian University. My current doctoral research interest is studying the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences ACEs on Afghan refugees in the United States.

Keyonta “Key” Hall

I am a (Returning Graduate Student) in the CHS M.Ed. program. I am a NJ native and resident of Great Meadows, NJ and partial resident of Bethlehem, PA. Currently, I am a Muhlenberg Advance Graduate Clinician Trainee (Intern) providing counseling services to college students with concerns of (i.e., academics, interpersonal relationships, mental health, and more). I have a passion for research. In (2017), I served as a data enterer for the Attachment Lab under the advisement of Dr. Woodhouse; completed a research group project titled “Career and Community Resources for Low-Income Residents of Bethlehem, PA” (2019) under the instruction of Dr. Cadenas Cultured-Centered Career Intervention; and authored a college outreach project titled “Mental Health in Deaf and Hard of Hearing College Students” (2021) alongside my practicum/intern colleagues (Jessica Morrell and Jia Cao).My clinical interest are BIPOC and Immigrant students high school and higher education educational experience and institutional climate, ACES (Adverse Childhood Experiences) in BIPOC and Latin X communities, BIPOC and Immigrant college student experiences and mental, and Social Justice and Advocacy “Pre and Post Pandemic” in college institutions for students of BIPOC and Immigrant students. Upon graduating from Lehigh University, it is my hope to attend a doctoral program and/or Post-Master’s fellowship of my choice to become a college clinician to work with BIPOC students; this is a huge goal of mine because there’s a lack of representation for BIPOC who are attending higher education institutions and struggling to navigate their own mental health due to the inability to access resources and representation. Things I like to do #I like to jam to Erykah Badu and HER. It’s a must. #2 shopping, #3 donate to inner city communities, and #4 home cook meals w/ the family.

Maria Gregoire

My name is Maria Gregoire and I am a sophomore at Lehigh University. I was born and raised on the pacific island of Saipan with a Chinese, French, and Italian ethnic background. I am currently double majoring in Psychology and HMS with a minor in Cognitive Science. My interests revolve around counseling psychology as I also plan to pursue a Ph.D in this field as well. I have worked in various social cognition labs on Lehigh campus thus far and plan to continue aiding various professors and graduate students with their research. I am currently working on two programs for Guam’s youth which include a drug abuse cessation program as well as one that delves into suicide prevention. Coming from an island with limited resources, being able to implement needed programs within the community remains an integral and fulfilling task.

Former student researchers

Sara Beachy (She/Her)

- Racial/ethnic identity – White European-American

Year of graduate program – 5th year
Research interests – Gun violence, racism, trauma
Clinical interests – hospital-based services, community mental health
Anything personal you’d like to share (ex: hobbies) – I like to forage!
What brings you to research on immigration and liberation? – I am a White American who grew up in South America during the 1990s as a missionary kid. As a got older, I began to understand how their occupation was an example of postmodern colonialization and cultural genocide which subsequently led to war and displacement. Thus, I am interested in engaging with White folks, especially rural religious White folks, on racism and xenophobia.

Katherine Melo Li , M.S., Ed.S. (She/Her/Ella)

Racial/ethnic identity: Biracial Latina
Year is your graduate program: Finishing my 5th year
Research interests: Latinx mental health, evidenced based practices, opioid use disorder treatments, critical phenomenology, qualitative data
Clinical interests: Bilingual therapy provision (i.e., Spanish), immigrant trauma, suicide prevention, adolescent and young adult treatment, identity development.
I was recently accepted as a pre-doctoral intern at the University of Texas at Austin Counseling and Mental Health Center for Fall 2021. Regarding my hobbies, I am an avid reader of fiction and romantic comedies. Once the COVID-19 vaccine numbers increase, you can find me most live concerts or stand up comedy shows.
What brings you to research on immigration and liberation? As a 1.5 generation immigrant, I have a lot of personal experience with what it is like to be an immigrant. Growing up, I was not aware that my experiences were not universal, but after becoming aware of the difficulties my parents had in trying to navigate systems that are set up to hinder and deter rather than support, it became clear to me that more needed to be done. Liberation psychology gives voice to the particular work that I am interested in continuing to engage in throughout my career.

Lian Liu (She/her/hers)

My name is Lian Liu (pronouns she/her/hers) and I identify as a Chinese American cisgender woman. I am a 4th year doctoral candidate, anticipated graduation date of Spring 2022 whose research interests include: trauma-informed practices; promoting resiliency and support for minoritized youth, particularly those who have experienced trauma; and how to incorporate liberation psychology and multicultural and culturally responsive practices into organizational practice. In my clinical work, my focus is on working with children and adolescents and their families, particularly for youth and families who have experienced trauma. On a professional level, I joined the lab because I am interested in how liberation psychology can be used in interventions and systems-level programming for minoritized groups to make our work more culturally appropriate and responsive. I’m also interested in how we can better represent the experiences of minoritized groups, including immigrant populations. On a personal level, as an immigrant myself, I have an interest and passion in using research as a tool for liberation for immigrant and minoritized groups. In my free time, I enjoy playing music, painting and drawing, playing with my dog, and watching television.

Mercedez M. Fuentes (She/Her/Hers)

I am a biracial Latina from West Texas! I graduated from Lehigh’s Masters in Counseling & Human Services program (2021). My research interests include identity formation, social advocacy through critical consciousness, and narrative therapy interventions. I adopt a narrative approach in my clinical work and find purpose in working with clients who face family conflicts and other interpersonal relationships. I feel that my largest role as a clinician is to provide clients with a supportive space to break down what they need to build back up. Personally, I enjoy reading manga and novels, watching anime(s), and psychological thrillers and have recently tried picking up roller skating. I decided to research immigration and liberation to both fill gaps in my knowledge and to actively give back in a way that best fits me. Research is such a powerful tool, impacting many people’s lives. I am grateful to have worked on projects with the ALIVE lab that not only impacts the psychology community but also government policy.