Meet Our Team
Dr. Ijeoma Opara, PhD, LMSW, MPH
Director And Principal Investigator
Cora-Ann Gabriel, MPH
Project Manager
Dr. Sitara Weerakoon, PhD, MPH
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Beatriz “Betty” Duran-Becerra, MPH
Postgraduate Research Associate
PhD Students
Emmanuella Asabor
Research Assistant
MD/PhD Student
Yale University
Daneele Thorpe
Research Assistant
PhD Student
Stony Brook University
Petty Tineo
Research Assistant
PhD Student
Stony Brook University
Research Assistants
Sydney Hussett
Research Assistant
Taylor Choe
Research Assistant
Livia Lazarro, MPH
Research Assistant
Funcia Jean Louis
Research Assistant
Dr. Dharmi Desai
Social Media Specalist
Ebony Laboy
Social Media Specialist
Matthew Nasser (preferred) Eid
Undergraduate Intern
Ann Abraham
Graduate Intern
Community Research Fellows
Dr. Jamila T. Davis
CEO, VIP Academy
Cristina Pagan, LCSW
Director, Paterson Youth Services Bureau
Lab Affiliates
Dr. David T. Lardier
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry University of New Mexico
Dr. Juan Rios
Assistant Professor of Social Work Seton Hall University
Alumni lab members
- Christine Pham, MPH
- Courtnae Alves
- Deanna Parisi, MPH
- Kristina Cross
- Carolanne Clark
- Tynisha D. George, MPH, MSW
- Ashley Lizarraga, MSW
- Maame Araba Assan, MPH, CHES
- Kimberly Pierre, MPH, CHES