Aden Bhagwat is a Prevention Science doctoral student advised by Dr. Emily Tanner-Smith. His primary research interest is promoting child and adolescent well-being through prevention and intervention for child maltreatment, substance use disorders, and mental health challenges. Before joining the PhD program, Aden worked as a research analyst at Mathematica Policy Research, focusing on child welfare and education projects. He graduated from the Ohio State University with a BS in psychology and criminology. Aden hopes to pursue a career in academia or with a research organization, concentrating on applied research and policy advocacy for evidence-based youth well-being programs. 

Rachel Byers has a Master of Public Health degree and is a Certified Health Education Specialist. She has experience in management for a residential habilitation service provider, where her interest in disability service provision and research piqued. Previous to beginning the Prevention Science doctoral program, she worked as a researcher and project coordinator at The Institute for Disability Research, Policy & Practice, Utah's University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities. She is passionate about quality disability service provision and improving healthcare access and health outcomes for people with disabilities through accessible and inclusive health promotion. 

Maya Casper is a doctoral student in Prevention Science at the University of Oregon. With her background in public health, she has had the opportunity to participate in health promotion activities at the local, state, and federal levels. Her research interests include interventions for corrections-involved individuals and improving substance use outcomes. She is interested in exploring those topics through mixed methods research emphasizing implementation and translational approaches. Maya hopes to continue to pursue related research opportunities utilizing strength-based and community-informed frameworks.

Emily is a doctoral student in the Prevention Science program, supervised by Dr. Sara Schmitt. She is committed to developing and implementing culturally-responsive, accessible, and evidence-informed innovations to promote family wellbeing and prevent child maltreatment in low-income communities. Emily is especially interested in supporting parents’ self-regulatory skills through mindfulness and self-compassion, empowering them as leaders of social-emotional learning within their families. To achieve this, she plans to leverage community-based participatory research and mixed-methods analysis while contributing to policy advocacy efforts. 

You can reach her at emla@uoregon.edu.

Jiawen is a doctoral student mentored by Dr. Cindy Huang. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Medicine, Health, and Society from Vanderbilt University and an MPH from Yale University. Building on her work in suicide prevention, she contributes to the cultural adaptation and evaluation of the Family Check-Up for Asian American adolescents at risk for suicide. Her research examines how family and cultural contexts shape suicide risk, with the goal of advancing effective, culturally responsive prevention.ization, concentrating on applied research and policy advocacy for evidence-based youth well-being programs. 

Jessica Marshall is a Doctoral Student in Prevention Science. Under the supervision of Dr. Jeff Todahl, Jessica researches intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization among Multiracial individuals. Prior to doctoral work, Jessica worked as an IPV prevention educator. Jessica has her Master's in Adult and Higher Education from Montana State University where she specialized in the study of intimate partner violence among college students. Jessica's work is influenced by Critical Race Theory, Transformative Justice, and the belief that IPV work should be survivor led. Jessica connects her scholarship to the community through volunteer work in prevention education with local nonprofits.

Audrey Sileci is a Prevention Science doctoral student whose research focuses on supporting marginalized children and families globally through evidence-informed, strengths-based programs. With a professional background in Brazil and Mexico supporting children in out-of-home care, Audrey is passionate about partnering with nonprofit organizations that promote children’s rights with community-based approaches. Current research projects include a mixed-methods evaluation of a child protection program in Central America (Miles de Manos), a needs assessment for an Oregon-based nonprofit of post-adoption family support programs (with ORI CES), and work on the Family Check-Up (a brief, strengths-based parenting intervention) for parents with histories of substance misuse.

Mandi Ward received a Bachelor’s degree in Behavioral Neuroscience with a specialization in research at the University of Kansas. Post-undergrad, she moved to Arizona and worked as a clinical psychometrist in the field of neuropsychology then transitioned to working in clinical research trials as a clinical rater/research assistant. Mandi’s research interest surrounds prevention of neurological diseases through health behaviors. She hopes to pursue a career in clinical research trials that focus on neurological diseases and specialize in data science.