PEOPLE
Dr. Shu-Sha Angie Guan
Associate Professor
Child and Adolescent Development
Dr. Guan earned her BA in Psychology at UC Berkeley and her PhD in Developmental Psychology at UCLA. She is interested in the ways social contexts (e.g., relationships, culture, and technology/digital media) affect mental and physical well-being. As a first-generation college student and child language broker, she is particularly interested in health among ethnic minority and immigrant adolescents and young adults.
Tom Bui
Tom graduated from UCLA in 2015 with a B.S. in Psychobiology. He is currently attending Albany Medical College to earn his M.S. in Physician Assistant Studies. He hopes to serve underserved populations through emergency medicine to give back to the community he grew up in.
Alexandra "Ali" Bergman Brown
Alexandra Bergman Brown is an undergraduate senior at California State University, Northridge majoring in Child and Adolescent Development. She is interested in pursuing a Doctorate in Occupational Therapy, with an emphasis on sensory integration therapy. Her research interest is in understanding therapy efficacy among different ethnic minority groups.
Jennifer Cabrera
Jennifer Cabrera earned her bachelor's degree at California State University, Northridge majoring in Child and Adolescent Development with a minor in Psychology. Her research interests focus on the effect that social media has on the self-esteem of adolescents and college students. She was accepted to the University of California, Irvine (UCI) PhD Program in Education and is excited to be starting the program this summer as a Competitive Edge Summer Research scholar.
Malik Campbell-Mack
Malik is a second year undergraduate student majoring in Biology and minoring in Psychology and Africana Studies at California State University, Northridge (CSUN). He is also a BUILD PODER mentee. His research is interdisciplinary and he is currently exploring how ethnic identity and socioeconomic factors affect the values and social support needs/processes of African Americans, African immigrants, and American Indians. His future research will likely intertwine with social justice and/or Cultural and Black Psychology. His exact career path remains to be seen, but his aim is to bring culture to science and better understand minority populations that have historically been overlooked and/or mistreated.
Anna Cho
Anna Cho is an undergraduate student at CSUN majoring in Child and Adolescent Development. She is also a student in BUILD PODER, which is a research initiative funded by the NIH to promote diversity in STEM fields for underrepresented students. Some of her research interests include working with ethnic minorities, specifically Asian-American youth, who have developmental disabilities and promoting mental, physical, and emotional well-being. She hopes to pursue occupational therapy as a career to further develop her passion for helping those in need.
Jose "Max" Diaz
Max is an undergraduate student at California State University, Northridge majoring in Psychology. He is a former research assistant and is currently an aspiring actor. Check out his latest project here.
Francesca Dimaisip
Francesca Dimaisip is an undergraduate senior at California State University, Northridge majoring in Child and Adolescent Development with the Applied Developmental Science Option. She is currently a peer mentor in Dr. Guan's 380/381L class as well as a PAL (Peer Academic Leader) in the Child Development office. Her other involvement on campus includes being the President of the Catholic Newman Club. She is interested in pursing a Master's degree in Child Life in hopes of becoming a certified Child Life Specialist. Her research interests include, child advocacy, peer relationships, and pedagogy in the medical field.
Karina Vanessa Garmendez
Karina Vanessa Garmendez earned her Associate of Arts Degree at Pierce College and received a Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Child and Adolescent Development at CSUN in the Fall of 2017. She is a recipient of an APA ProDIGs undergraduate scholar travel grant for her presentation on discrimination/microaggressions and altruism at the Western Psychological Association Convention in 2018. She gives thanks to all her mentors and colleagues who took part in her journey. Currently, she works with an organization that provides direct service and family support for children in the autistic spectrum. She plans to take a gap year to travel and experience other cultures outside of California before applying to graduate school.
Stephanie Gatbonton
Stephanie Gatbonton is an undergraduate student at California State University, Northridge majoring in Child and Adolescent Development. She aspires to provide quality care to children and adolescents, promoting the importance of well-being. A few of her research interests include positive interactions between peers and family, parent-child relationships, and self-efficacy. She was accepted into the Pepperdine University MA in Marriage & Family Therapy Program and will be starting Fall 2018.
Monique Griffiths
Monique Griffiths graduated from CSUN with a major in Public Health and a minor in Psychology. Starting Fall 2017, she will be a graduate student in the General Experimental Master's Program in Psychology at CSUN. She wishes to pursue a PhD in Sports Psychology or Clinical Psychology. Her research interested include health psychology, mental Heath and well being, and personality in various populations from young adults, college students, athletes, and adults.
Wan (Vivian) Ho
Hi! My name is Wan (Vivian) Ho and I received my bachelor's degree in Psychology at UCLA as a member of the class of 2016. I am currently working as a behavioral therapist with children with special needs. I aspire to become a clinical psychologist and deliver quality treatment to patients with psychological and developmental disorders, especially those from ethnic minorities. I also hope to promote mental health and and reduce misunderstanding of mental disorders in the general population.
Jessy Nguyen
Gabriela Jimenez
Gabriela Jimenez is a third year Psychology Major at CSUN. She is also a BUILD PODER mentee. Her research interests focus on the social experiences of adolescents and young adults. Specifically, she is interested in how relationships among immigrant youth and personality traits can affect perceptions of support, resilience, and mental health.
Jessy Nguyen
Jessy Nguyen received his bachelor's degree in Psychobiology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Starting Fall 2017, he will be a graduate student in the Master of Public Policy (MPP) Program at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. He is interested in finding solutions to improve health by addressing the loopholes in the current U.S. health system. He is also interested in various public health concerns such as gun violence and mental illness within communities of color.
Kevin Rivas
Kevin Rivas is a senior at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) majoring in Child and Adolescent Development. Before attending CSUN, he attended Glendale Community College and Pasadena City College. He will be starting graduate school at the University of Southern California (USC) Master of Education in Educational Counseling Program Fall of 2018. His interest in working with students in higher education comes from his personal experience and struggles as a community college student.
Andrea Rodarte
Andrea Rodarte is an undergraduate senior at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) majoring in Child and Adolescent Development. Her research interests are the forms in which social media affect adolescent and young adult mental health, as well as child advocacy.
Yuling Tsui
I received my bachelor's degree in Neuroscience from UCLA. Hanging out at the MS.SIM lab, working with Dr. Guan and fellow lab mates, has enriched my growth into sales and marketing at KARL STORZ, an medical company that focuses on endoscopy. Always be ready to learn because everything amounts to that 10K hours needed to master the art of being YOU! I am currently an MBA student at the UCLA School of Management.
Omar Ullah
¡Hola! Ciao! Namaste! Hello! My name is Omar Ullah and currently I'm a rising junior at CSUN studying Public Health. One day, I would like to become a primary care doctor and research scientist, so that I can provide medical care to those who are uninsured and from disadvantaged backgrounds, as well as perform research that explores the policy issues which result in the enormous health disparities witnessed among minority communities. My personal passions include photography, world travel, cooking, gardening and following geopolitical news. Through this fantastic research position under Dr. Guan, I hope to serve humanity well, and inspire and empower the next generation of global leaders to pursue a career in science!
Favorite Quote: "No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite."
–Nelson Mandela
Jillian Shen
Jillian Shen received her bachelor’s degree from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), completed her master’s degree in general psychology at California State University Los Angeles (CSULA), and is now continuing her passion in the field of child development as a doctoral student in the Applied Developmental Psychology program at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC). Jillian’s research focuses on promoting the optimal development for ethnic minority and immigrant youths in the United States. She is particularly interested in how cultural, familial, and individual characteristics work together as potential risk or protective factors to impact individuals’ social, psychological, and academic development.
Her master’s thesis examined the effect of language brokering on Latino college students’ conflict with their parents. She is currently involved in a longitudinal project that involves Chinese and Korean immigrant families with preschool-age children.
LeNisha Williams
LeNisha Williams is an undergraduate senior at California State University, Northridge (CSUN). She is majoring in Child and Adolescent Development (CADV) with a minor in Psychology. Her research interest is aligned with the work that she has done while working as an Academic Mentor with the Educational Opportunity Programs (EOP). Her research looks into identifying common stressors among ethnic minority college students. She joined the UC Riverside Developmental Psychology PhD program in 2021. In the future, she hopes to find a career that will allow her to continue to mentor students emotionally, academically, and socially.