Faculty Director

Theresa Betancourt
Theresa Betancourt
Salem Professor in Global Practice, Director RPCA
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Theresa Betancourt

Theresa Betancourt

Salem Professor in Global Practice, Director RPCA

Dr. Betancourt's central research interests include the developmental and psychosocial consequences of concentrated adversity on children, youth and families; resilience and protective processes in child and adolescent mental health and child development; refugee families; and applied cross-cultural mental health research. Read more on the Central SSW faculty page!

Staff

Joshua Bogus
Joshua Bogus
Associate Director for Research

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Joshua Bogus

Joshua Bogus

Associate Director for Research

Andrea Morris
Andrea Morris
Associate Director, Grants Administration

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Andrea Morris

Andrea Morris

Associate Director, Grants Administration

Winifred Nwangwu
Winifred Nwangwu
Sr. Fiscal & Grant Administrator

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Winifred Nwangwu

Winifred Nwangwu

Sr. Fiscal & Grant Administrator

Rachel Stram
Rachel Stram
Administrative Manager

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Rachel Stram

Rachel Stram

Administrative Manager

Jamison O'Sullivan
Jamison O'Sullivan
Administrative Assistant

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Jamison O'Sullivan

Jamison O'Sullivan

Administrative Assistant

Matias Placencio-Castro
Matias Placencio-Castro
Data Analysis Manager

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Matias Placencio-Castro

Matias Placencio-Castro

Data Analysis Manager

Gabriela Phend
Gabriela Phend
Program Manager, Rwanda

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Gabriela Phend

Gabriela Phend

Program Manager, Rwanda

Kashiya Nwanguma
Kashiya Nwanguma
Program Manager, Sierra Leone

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Kashiya Nwanguma

Kashiya Nwanguma

Program Manager, Sierra Leone

Libby Evans
Libby Evans
Capacity Building Manager, Boston

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Libby Evans

Libby Evans

Capacity Building Manager, Boston

Caroline Dilts
Caroline Dilts
Refugee Program Manager, Boston

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Caroline Dilts

Caroline Dilts

Refugee Program Manager, Boston

Farhad Sharifi
Farhad Sharifi
Research Associate, Cultural Advisor

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Farhad Sharifi

Farhad Sharifi

Research Associate, Cultural Advisor

Wijnand Van Den Boom
Wijnand Van Den Boom
Sr. Social Science Data Analyst

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Wijnand Van Den Boom

Wijnand Van Den Boom

Sr. Social Science Data Analyst

Audrey Montgomery
Audrey Montgomery
Research Associate, Refugee Projects

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Audrey Montgomery

Audrey Montgomery

Research Associate, Refugee Projects

Naeemullah Salarzai
Naeemullah Salarzai
Research Assistant, Refugee Projects

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Naeemullah Salarzai

Naeemullah Salarzai

Research Assistant, Refugee Projects

Kathryn Noon
Kathryn Noon
Research Project Manager, Sierra Leone Studies [Boston]

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Kathryn Noon

Kathryn Noon

Research Project Manager, Sierra Leone Studies [Boston]

Somaya Ahmady
Somaya Ahmady
Research Assistant, Refugee Projects

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Somaya Ahmady

Somaya Ahmady

Research Assistant, Refugee Projects

Research Fellows

Candace Black
Candace Black
Research Scientist (US)

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Candace Black

Candace Black

Research Scientist (US)

Candace Black, PhD, is a research Psychologist with an interdisciplinary lens. Dr. Black has spent the last several years establishing her record of expertise at the intersections of child development, early life adversity, and global health. Dr. Black's research program is directed at understanding how children develop cognitive and emotional tools to cope with exposure to adversity, with the ultimate aim of investigating adaptive, advantageous responses to adversity.

Eric Opoku Agyemang
Eric Opoku Agyemang
ACHIEVE Postdoctoral Fellow (Ghana)

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Eric Opoku Agyemang

Eric Opoku Agyemang

ACHIEVE Postdoctoral Fellow (Ghana)

Dr. Agyemang is a postdoctoral fellow through the NIH Fogarty International D43 training grant, ACHIEVE, through Washington University at St. Louis and Boston College. ACHIEVE Training Program focuses on increasing dissemination and implementation (D&I) and data science research capacity in order to address global health disparities affecting children, adolescents, and their adult caregivers. Dr. Agyemang will test the relationship between change in cultural and social norms and child labor trafficking prevention and address the two study questions related to completing the project a) Does mentoring at-risk trafficking youth lead to increased and sustained school attendance? b) Does mentoring at-risk trafficking youth lead to increased school participation and engagement? Dr. Agyemang's study sight is in Accara, Ghana and he is based there for his fellowship.

Abdulai Jawo Bah
Abdulai Jawo Bah
Research Associate (Sierra Leone)

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Abdulai Jawo Bah

Abdulai Jawo Bah

Research Associate (Sierra Leone)

Dr. Bah is a Research Associate / NIMH-Funded Diversity Supplement completing his two-year fellowship related to an intergenerational study of war affected youth in Sierra Leone. Dr. Bah will analyze and manage qualitative data comprising focus groups and key informant interviews collected among fathers in rural Sierra Leone to understand the influence of economic stressors on fathers’ sense of self-efficacy, mental health, and parenting role. He will additionally analyze and manage focus groups with males and females and in-depth interviews with fathers to link parental stressors to parental-child dyadic interactions; and analyze quantitative survey and RSA data from fathers and offspring participating in intergenerational study of war to examine associations between harsh and warm parenting styles and offspring internalizing and externalizing problems by gender.

Student Interns

Renee Menart
Renee Menart
MSW Research Assistant
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Renee Menart

Renee Menart

MSW Research Assistant

Said Arwal
Said Arwal
Cultural Advisor Research Assistant
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Said Arwal

Said Arwal

Cultural Advisor Research Assistant

Shuangshuang Yang
Shuangshuang Yang
PhD Research Assistant
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Shuangshuang Yang

Shuangshuang Yang

PhD Research Assistant

Yana Deeley
Yana Deeley
Graduate Project Manager
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Yana Deeley

Yana Deeley

Graduate Project Manager

Samah Atique
Samah Atique
Graduate Research Assistant
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Samah Atique

Samah Atique

Graduate Research Assistant

Mara Gheorghiu
Mara Gheorghiu
Undergraduate Finance Assistant
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Mara Gheorghiu

Mara Gheorghiu

Undergraduate Finance Assistant

Samantha Strasser
Samantha Strasser
Undergraduate Research Assistant
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Samantha Strasser

Samantha Strasser

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Samuel Forde
Samuel Forde
Undergradute Tech Programmer
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Samuel Forde

Samuel Forde

Undergradute Tech Programmer

Antoinette Pinera
Antoinette Pinera
Undergraduate Research Assistant
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Antoinette Pinera

Antoinette Pinera

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Tiancan Wang
Tiancan Wang
Undergraduate Research Assistant
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Tiancan Wang

Tiancan Wang

Undergraduate Research Assistant