Currently, Ify (“ee-fee”) is a first-year PhD student in the SDSU/UC San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology. Ify graduated from Oberlin College in 2019 with a BA in Psychology and a BA in Environmental Studies. As an undergraduate, Ify conducted interdisciplinary environmental-psychological research, focusing on 1) increasing pro-environmental behavior in adults through community-centered initiatives and motivational messaging in Oberlin, OH and 2) addressing environmental racism and maintaining oral history legacy through community-based participatory research in Africatown, Mobile, AL. In her post-baccalaureate years, Ify worked in Emergency Medicine at Rhode Island Hospital on nearly one dozen active studies on pediatric and adult trauma and substance use, including a hybrid implementation-effectiveness study testing a behavioral peer recovery intervention for patients at risk for opioid-related death. She also served as a bachelor’s level clinician in a community- and school-based behavioral health team at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Following this, Ify worked for three years as a senior clinical research coordinator in the Juvenile (in)Justice Behavioral Health lab at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), contributing to projects focused on the design and testing of youth-centered digital health interventions.
Research foci: externalizing behaviors, trauma, racial-ethnic minority youth, Black youth, community partnership, cultural adaptations
Research interests
Ify’s research centers on increasing access to behavioral health care for racial-ethnic minoritized youth with externalizing behaviors with a focus on community-partnership, mixed-methods research, and cultural adaptation/enhancement. Ify is interested in understanding the relationship between sociocultural protective factors (e.g., racial and ethnic identity) and psychological well-being, and how to best leverage cultural protective factors in the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based practices/interventions, particularly for youth with trauma in the Black Diaspora.
Representative Publications
Frantz, C. M., Ezimora, I., Petersen, J. E., Edminster, A., Shammin, M. R., Chi, Y. (2024). Measuring the Social Dimensions of Sustainability at the Community Level: A Cautionary Tale. Sustainability, 16(10):4197. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16104197
Tolou-Shams, M., Ramaiya, M., Salas, J. L., Ezimora, I., Shumway, M., Berrick, J. D., Aguilera, A., Borsari, B., Dauria, E., Friedling, N., Holmes, C., Grandi, A. (2023). Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial of a Family-Based Mental Health Navigator Intervention for Youth in the Child Welfare System. JMIR Research Protocols, 12:e49999. https://doi.org/10.2196/49999
Tolou-Shams, M., Holloway, E. D., Ordorica, C., Yonek, J., Folk, J. B., Dauria, E. F., Lehn, K., Ezimora, I., & Wiley, H. M. F. (2022). Leveraging Technology to Increase Behavioral Health Services Access for Youth in the Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare Systems: a Cross-systems Collaboration Model. The journal of behavioral health services & research, 49(4), 422–435. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11414-022-09808-1
Clinical Work
A key aspect of clinical psychology doctoral training involves learning how to deliver evidence-based therapy and administer and interpret evidence-based psychological assessments. Prior to starting the doctoral program, Ify worked as a residential counselor/activities instructor and program coordinator for multiple summers at the Wediko Summer Camp, a multimodal therapeutic milieu serving 8-19 year old youth with diagnoses including trauma, autism, mood disorders (depression, bipolar, DMDD), ADHD, RAD, and anxiety. Ify also served full time as a mental health associate for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Western Psychiatric Clinic, managing a caseload of 10 K-5th grade clients, providing weekly crisis intervention, service coordination, and clinical interventions to clients and families in school and home settings. Ify will start practicum in the JDP Psychology Clinic summer 2025.
Services
Outside of her graduate studies, Ify serves as a mentor for the Berkeley Community Scholars Bachelor’s Degree High Hopes Program, mentoring a third-year undergraduate student. In the past, Ify also served as Vice President of the Friends of the Oberlin College Libraries Council from 2021 to 2023 (and a voting member prior from 2019-2021) and as a Trustee on the Oberlin College Board of Trustees from 2019-2021.
Daniel Gardner Award for Student Excellence in Community-Based Learning (2019)
Recognition for leadership in community engagement in the Greater Lorain County region and nationally
Bonner Scholar Program (2015-2019)
Scholarship program for students engaged in intensive and meaningful service and advancing social justice with local community organizations
Community Engaged Research Fellowship (2016)
Awarded to support full time community-partnered summer research work
Hobbies
Outside of graduate school, Ify enjoys baking (especially with matcha) and being the best cat mom to the sweetest cat on earth.