M.A. (In progress)
San Diego State University
B.A. Psychology
California State University Northridge
AA-T
East Los Angeles Community College
Kelly is a second year M.A. student from South Central, Los Angeles in the SDSU Psychology Masters of Arts program. As an undergraduate, at East Los Angeles Community College onto California State University Northridge, Kelly trained as a research assistant through the Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) Promoting Opportunities for Diversity in Education and Research (PODER) which is a large undergraduate biomedical research training program funded by the National Institutes of Health. In addition to being a BUILD scholar for three years, Kelly attended several summer research programs where she learned statistical coding in R and lead independent studies.
Research foci:
Mental Health in minoritized communities, long term outcomes of childhood
adversity, Black and Latinx community mental health, Cultural impacts on mental health,
Interventions to promote mental health, school mental health, mental health seeking behavior, and
children/adolescent overall well-being
Services:
As a first-generation college student, Kelly is passionate about diversity, inclusion, equity, and justice. In efforts to make an impact and improve experiences for underrepresented students, Kelly has been a mentor for the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology (SCCAP; Division 53) mentorship program providing support, resources , and encouragement to mentees in whatever they may need.
Research Interest:
Kelly’s research interest involve childhood adversities impact on social, cognitive, and emotional development in youth to young adults. Kelly hopes to obtain a Clinical Psychology degree to study unique barriers to youth mental well-being in order to prevent and intervene through evidence-based practices for families with children at risk for maltreatment. Kelly’s specific population of interest are low-SES communities of underserved youth to young adults in urban environments.
Hobbies:
Outside of research, Kelly can be found at the beach (swimming), singing (everywhere), exploring (all drivable places and things), and hanging out with friends!