Meet Our Team
Ijeoma Opara
Our Director
Ijeoma Opara, PhD, MSW, MPH., studies strengths-based approaches to sexual health and youth substance use prevention for youth of color, strengths-based strategies for Black girls, and community-based participatory research.
Core Team
Dr. Sitara Weerakoon
Associate Director of Research
Read Sitara’s Bio
Beatriz “Betty” Duran-Becerra, MPH
Project Director
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Kimberly Pierre, MPH, CHES
Associate Director of Community Outreach
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Dr. Sandy Cayo
Associate Director of Clinical Initiatives
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Cristina Pagen, LCSW
Associate Director Community Mental Health Initiatives
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Kennedy Anderson
Lab Administrative Assistant
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Emmanuella Asabor, MPhil
Research Assistant, MD/PhD Student, Yale University
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Dr. Jaleah Rutledge
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
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Catherine Mwai, MPH
Post Graduate Associate
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Nimisha Srikanth
Graduate Research Assistant
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Shreya Jadhav
Graduate Research Assistant
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Olivia Francois
Graduate Research Assistant
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Funcia Jean-Louis
Social Media Specialist
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Alyssa Makena
Undergraduate Research Assistant
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Hailey Valles
Graduate Research Assistant
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Jasmin Brooks Stephens, MA
Graduate Research Assistant
Mental Health Consultant
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Raquel Rose
Incoming Post-Doctoral Research Fellow
Read Raquel’s Bio
Alumni lab members
- Cora Gabriel, MPH
- Sydney Hussett-Richardson, MPH
- Taylor Choe, MPH
- Ann Abraham, MPH, MSW
- Christine Pham, MPH
- Courtnae Alves
- Deanna Parisi, MPH
- Kristina Cross, MSW
- Carolanne Clark, MSW
- Chavonn Duncan, MSW
- Tynisha D. George, MPH, MSW
- Ashley Lizarraga, MSW
- Maame Araba Assan, MPH, CHES
- Petty Tineo, PhD
- Livia Lazarro, MPH
- Dharmi Desai, MPH, MBBS
- Ebony Laboy, MPH
- Morgan Brinker, Yale School of Medicine
Alumni Youth Advisory Board Members
- Ayden Ramos-Schneider, PPP Youth Advisory Board 2020-2022
- Marley Dias, DGP Youth Advisory Board 2021-2022
- Shekinah Glory Peter Mba, DGP Youth Advisory Board 2021-2022
- Natalya Charlemagne, DGP Youth Advisory Board 2021-2022
- Kassidy Nola Scott, DGP Youth Advisory Board 2021-2023