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On the Job Market & Current Ph.D. Students

On the Job Market

Graduates of the Rutgers School of Social Work Ph.D. program have strong records of research, publications, and conference presentations. They are a productive and talented group who are pursuing employment as tenure-track faculty, postdoctoral scholars, and research faculty or affiliates. View and download the Rutgers School of Social Work Ph.D. candidate book to learn about their work.

Alisha Cupid

Alisha Cupid

Areas of Expertise: The intersectionality of international women’s poverty and gender disparities, women’s empowerment theory guided research, gendered poverty reduction policy, mixed methods research

Lorraine Y. Howard

Lorraine Y. Howard

Areas of Expertise: Racial and community trauma, intersection of addictions and neuroscience, adolescent and young adult development, culturally competent social work practice, translational research

Lauren Manley

Lauren Manley

Areas of Expertise: The impacts of sexual violence on stress, health, and coping, the impacts of identity transitions on stress, health, and coping, workplace mistreatment, maternal morbidity

Lena Moraa Obara headshot

Lena Moraa Obara

Areas of Expertise: Interpersonal violence and survivor-centered interventions, structural and environmental factors influencing health and violence risk, forced displacement, resilience, and adaptation in refugee populations, climate change adaptation and violence prevention

Addam Reynolds

Addam Reynolds

Areas of Expertise: Social inequalities and older adult health, Black-White disparities in older adult health, facilitating sexual and gender minority well-being in later life

Yuhan Wei

Yuhan Wei

Areas of Expertise: Educational attainment disparities among racial/ethnic adolescents, protective factors for minority adolescents’ behavioral health, measurement creation and validation for minority groups

Melanie Yu

Melanie Yu

Areas of Expertise: Refugee and immigration policy, reciprocity, social support, and mutual aid, refugee peer services, qualitative research methods

Current Ph.D. Students

Lillian Alexander Headshot

Lillian Alexander

PhD Candidate

Areas Of Expertise: Empathy, mental health, empathy avoidance in helping professionals, empathic distress, serious mental illness and recovery

Uri Amir-Koren

PhD Student

Areas of Expertise: Social connectedness, human development, gerontology, intergroup contact, aging-in-place, psychotherapy

Enoch Amponsah

Enoch Boafo Amponsah

PhD Candidate

Areas of Expertise: Child sexual exploitation and abuse, kinship care, parenting, violence against women, culture and community

Charles Chear

Charles Chear

PhD Candidate

Areas of Expertise: Housing search process, poverty, economic inequality, stress, socio-technical systems

Shannon Cheung

Shannon Cheung

PhD Candidate

Areas of Expertise: Gamification and gamblification, mental and behavioral health risk among marginalized populations, technology-mediated abuse, harassment, and violence

Sarah Cooper

Sarah Cooper

PhD Candidate

Areas of Expertise: Substance use, harm reduction, overdose, criminal justice

 Ryan DiMeglio

Ryan DiMeglio

PhD Student; Assistant Professor of Teaching & Co-Director of the Addiction Counselor Training Certification Program (ACT)

Kaliyah Gardner

PhD Student

Areas of Expertise: Sex work, reproductive justice, stigma, care networks, participatory research

Jordon Goodwin headshot

Jordan Marie Goodwin

PhD Candidate

Areas of Expertise: Housing and homelessness, community-based participatory action research, LGBTQ+ issues, faith-based organizations, trauma and trauma-informed care, social networks of youth and young adults

Maria A. Guevara-Carpio

Areas of Expertise: Victimization among Latine/x women, child maltreatment and neglect

Malya Hirshkowitz

Malya Hirshkowitz

PhD Student

Areas of Expertise: Sport-based positive development, adolescent sexual and reproductive health, and adolescent and adult mental health

Amal Killawi headshot

Amal Killawi

Areas of Expertise: Health disparities and marginalized communities; Help-seeking; Culture/religion and health; Culturally-sensitive health services; Community-based research; Qualitative research

Andrew Kim headshot

Andrew H. Kim

PhD Candidate

Areas of Expertise: Behavioral health, addiction and recovery, artificial intelligence/machine learning, geospatial, clinical intervention research, data justice

Riley King

PhD Candidate

Areas of Expertise: Aging and the life course; Social determinants of health; Inequality; Digital

Peixu Liu

Peixu Liu

PhD Candidate

Areas of Expertise: Older adults; Poverty alleviation; Healthcare insurance; Charitable giving; Quantitative research 

Sam Luxmikanthan

Samantha Luxmikanthan

PhD Student

Areas of Expertise: Health disparities among LGBTQ+ and BIPOC populations, carceral systems and state violence, structural determinants of health, community-based research

Rebecca Martin headshot

Rebecca Martin

PhD Candidate

Areas of Expertise: Othering, belonging, and bridging, particularly when centering disability as an intersectional identity; Cross-discipline problem solving; the Evolution of research methodologies to reflect changing identities; and Coalition-building

Lucy Nonas-Barnes headshot

Lucy Nonas-Barnes

PhD Candidate

Areas of Expertise: Implementation science, social-emotional learning, educational effectiveness, policy implementation

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Natalie E. Pope

Senior Program Coordinator & PhD Candidate

Areas of Expertise: Community-level interventions, age-friendly communities, community practice, implementation science, qualitative methods, social network analysis

Ibrahim Rivera

Ibrahim Rivera

PhD Student

Areas of Expertise: Affects of parental incarceration on BBIPOC youth, opioid use disorder, and collateral consequences of mass incarceration

Shalyse Sangster

Shalyse Sangster

PhD Candidate

Taylor M. Scott

Areas of Expertise: Substance use, aging, social support, LGBTQIA+ populations

Nora Sullivan

Nora Sullivan

PhD Candidate

Areas of Expertise: Faith-based social services, homelessness, Housing First, end-of-life care, harm reduction, community organizing, mixed methods, critical research

Nivedhitha Thiruvenkadam headshot 2023

Nivedhitha Thiruvenkadam

PhD Candidate

Areas of Expertise: Global child welfare; Child wellbeing and development; Child maltreatment; Diversity and inclusion in the academy; Prevention and implementation research; Mixed methods research; Decolonizing methodology; Community based action research

Sara M. Thomas

Areas of Expertise: Technology-facilitated sexual violence (TFSV), image-based sexual abuse

Loren Toto

Loren Toto

PhD Student

Areas of Expertise: Child welfare policy and practice, child and family well-being, community and social support, poverty, income and wealth inequality

Jessica Willard

Jessica Willard

PhD Student

Areas of Expertise: Gender-based violence prevention, technology and social work, masculinities, sexual and reproductive health, intervention development and evaluation, bystander intervention

Stella Zhu

Stella Zhu

PhD Candidate

Areas of Expertise: Reproductive rights, adolescent development, child welfare, decision-making processes

Michael Zuch

Areas of Expertise: Immigrant and refugee well-being, child welfare systems, structural violence, traumatic stress, health equity