Co-Directors
Julie Graber, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Department of Psychology, University of Florida
Dr. Julie Graber (She/Her/Hers) is a Professor in the Department of Psychology and currently serves as the Chair of the department. She received her M.S. and Ph.D. (1991) from Penn State University. Before arriving at UF, she served as the Director of Graduate Training at the National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) at Teachers College, Columbia University for 9 years, and as the Associate Director of NCCF for 7 years. NCCF combines research, policy, and practice initiatives in order to address the needs of children and families. Much of her research has focused on changes in adjustment and health related behaviors during the transition into middle school. She has been particularly interested in how young adolescents navigate the social challenges that go along with puberty and has examined the role of stress, family, and peer relationships in adjustment (for example, depression and aggression).
Sarah Lynne, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, University of Florida
Sarah D. Lynne (She/Her/Hers) is an associate professor in the Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences at the University of Florida. She earned her PhD from the University of Florida, Department of Psychology in 2008 with a focus on adolescent social development and developmental psychopathology. She then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Using advanced quantitative statistical methods, Dr. Lynne conducts lifespan research on pathways to substance use and related mental, physical, and behavioral health problems complimenting original data collection with evaluations of large archival longitudinal datasets. She takes an ecological perspective, focusing on the interplay between individual characteristics, interpersonal relationships, and context across childhood and adolescence, with primary expertise in the biopsychosocial changes of adolescence. She has worked on the development, implementation, and evaluation of preventive interventions.
Team Members
Christopher McCarty, Ph.D., Associate Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Director, Bureau of Economic and Business Research, University of Florida
Dr. Christopher McCarty (He/Him/His) is director of the University of Florida’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research and Associate Dean in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Dr. McCarty received an undergraduate degree in anthropology from West Virginia University in 1980 and a doctorate in anthropology from the University of Florida in 1992. Dr. McCarty’s current research interests are in the area of social networks. He has worked on the adaptation of traditional network methods to large-scale telephone and field surveys and the estimation of hard-to-count populations, such as the homeless and those who are HIV positive.
Ernesto Escoto, Ph.D., Director, Licensed Psychologist, Clinical Associate Professor, Counseling and Wellness Center, University of Florida
Dr. Ernesto Escoto (He/Him/His) currently serves as the Counseling and Wellness Center director at the University of Florida. Dr. Escoto earned a PhD in Counseling Psychology from New Mexico State University and completed a doctoral internship in psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. He holds an MA in Education and a BA in Psychology from California State University, Fresno. He also studied Public Administration at the John Glenn College of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University. His areas of clinical and professional interest include anxiety, depression, trauma, acculturation and identity development, spirituality, multicultural counseling and counseling center administration and consultation.
Gregory Webster, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Florida
Gregory D. Webster (He/Him/His) is a professor of psychology at the University of Florida. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in psychology from Colorado College and the College of William & Mary, respectively, as well as a doctorate in social psychology from the University of Colorado Boulder. Prior to starting at the University of Florida, Greg was a postdoctoral trainee in quantitative methods for behavioral research at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. Greg’s research interests include romantic and sexual relationships, personality assessment and judgment, and applying novel data collection and analytic techniques to traditional psychological questions.
Mildred Maldonado-Molina, Ph.D., M.S., Professor and Chair, Department of Health Education & Behavior, University of Florida
Mildred M. Maldonado-Molina, Ph.D. (She/Her/Hers) joined the Department of Health Education in Behavior in July 2019 as Professor and Chair. Dr. Maldonado-Molina’s research program centers around reducing health disparities in child and adolescent health, in alcohol use and alcohol-related consequences in particular, with a focus on vulnerable populations. Her work is characterized by the application of innovative statistical methods in prevention-oriented studies of youth, with an area of expertise in cultural processes associated with substance use in Latinx youth. Dr. Maldonado-Molina work focuses on the application of innovative statistical techniques to study the effects of context and structural interventions on behavioral and mortality outcomes. A recent research project, Adelante Boricua, awarded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, is entitled “Post Maria Puerto Rican Families Relocated to Florida: A Multisite Study of Alcohol Misuse and Mental Health Problems”. The objective of this project is two-fold: (1) examine migration and cultural stressors, alcohol misuse, and mental health problems in Puerto Rican families who migrated after Hurricane Maria; and (2) examine prospective relationships to test cultural stress theory across distinct resettlement contexts.
Michelle Abraczinskas, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, University of Florida
Dr. Michelle Abraczinskas (She/Her/Hers) is an Assistant Professor of Youth Development and Prevention Science in the Department of Family, Youth, and Community Sciences at the University of Florida. She earned her Ph.D. in Clinical-Community Psychology with a Quantitative Concentration from the University of South Carolina in 2018. As a clinical-community psychologist, Dr. Abraczinskas uses applied developmental and ecological-systems frameworks to engage in community-partnered research to prevent health disparities of diverse children and families living in poverty. Her research has three aims: 1) increasing the engagement of under-served youth and families in settings that promote health, 2) understanding processes necessary to create equitable, health promoting systems in which youth and families thrive, and 3) determining the readiness of systems to uptake and sustain evidence-based programming. Across these aims, she uses participatory methods to involve community members as equal partners in research.
Roberto Abreu, Ph.D., NCC, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Florida
Dr. Roberto Abreu (He/Him/His/Él) is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Florida. Prior to joining the UF Department of Psychology, Dr. Abreu was a tenure-track Assistant Professor at Tennessee State University, Counseling Psychology program. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Abreu’s research explores ways in which marginalized communities resist systemic oppression and promote bienestar colectivo (collective well-being), with a particular focus on Latinx communities, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals, and the intersection of Latinx and LGBTQ individuals and communities. Specifically, his research seeks to answer the following three questions: (1) how does systemic oppression (e.g., restrictions to resources, sociopolitical events, laws and policies) impacts the well-being of marginalized communities; (2) how do Latinx communities use cultural values and beliefs to accept, affirm, and celebrate their LGBTQ individuals; (3) how do culturally-affirming interventions promote bienestar colectivo among Latinx and LGBTQ individuals and communities? At its core, Dr. Abreu’s work is guided by counseling psychology values such as social justice, person-environment interactions, growth, resilience, and resistance. A significant portion of his research uses advanced qualitative methodologies to explore the experiences of marginalized communities for which existing measures do not accurately capture their experiences.
Anne Zhou, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Florida
Dr. Anne Zhou (She/Her/Hers) is currently an assistant professor in the Counseling Psychology Program with the University of Florida’s Department of Psychology. Additionally, she also works with the Counseling and Wellness Center as a Psychology Resident. Dr. Zhou completed her Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. Her research interest is primarily in health disparities, with a focus on how different determinants impact mental health outcomes. She is particularly interested in better understanding people’s behaviors related to mental health treatment seeking, specifically why individuals in need of treatment do not seek out services. One of the focuses of her research has been to better understand how social determinants, such as mental health stigma and literacy, relate to mental health treatment seeking behaviors. Another focus has been on better understanding the interrelationships between different determinants and how they impact mental health service use. In terms of long-term research plans, Dr. Zhou plans to eventually translate her research into intervention-based programs aimed at improving health disparities, particularly for minority and disadvantaged groups. In summary, her current and future aims include: 1) exploring the impact of personal barriers on health behaviors, 2) development of culturally responsive and evidence-based interventions, 3) identifying health disparities and the factors contributing to them, and 4) use of rigorous research methodology to develop needed measures and overcome research challenges. Check out her lab here.
Gloria Grady, M.P.H., Project Coordinator, Department of Psychology, University of Florida
Gloria Grady, MPH (She/Her/Hers), is a public health specialist with experience in program management, grant writing, strategic planning, and workforce development. Gloria comes to the role of Project Coordinator from the Louisiana Department of Health, where she developed tools and trainings to ensure equitable public health programming for maternal and child health initiatives. She received her MPH from Tulane University and her BA from the University of Florida. She is very excited to be back on campus and contributing to the health and well-being of the UF community!
Wafaa Ateyah, Doctoral Student, Counseling Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Florida
Wafaa Ateyah (She/Her/هي) is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology at the University of Florida. She received her B.S. in Psychology and B.A. in Women’s Studies with a minor in Health Disparities in Society. After graduating with her bachelor’s, Wafaa worked as a research associate and health disparities and health promotion research internship coordinator. Her current research interests revolve around health disparities among underserved/minority populations, student mental health needs and accessibility, mental health stigma and mental health literacy, refugee mental health, and mental health policy and practice. In her spare time, Wafaa enjoys teaching at her local masjid, leading youth groups and events for young Muslim women in her community, and lifting at the gym.
Gabriel Lockett, M.S., Doctoral Student, Counseling Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Florida
Gabriel M. Lockett (He/Him/His) earned his bachelor’s degree in Biology and his master’s degree in Counseling Psychology. He is currently a second-year Ph.D. student at the University of Florida in the Counseling Psychology program. His clinical and research interests are centered on the psychological wellness of QT Black, Indigenous, People of Color. His passion in life is to help others, and he believes that his purpose is to make the spaces we exist in better than when we met them. Gabriel enjoys photography, making music with his friends, laughing a lot, and anything about outer space.
Liva LaMontagne, Doctoral Student, Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, University of Florida
Liva LaMontagne is currently a third year Ph.D. student in Youth Development and Family Sciences at the University of Florida. Her interests are related to the role of mindfulness in promoting emotional well-being and preventing stress-related health issues across the lifespan. Currently, she is studying how college students engage with mindfulness training apps to reduce stress and increase well-being. In the near future, she plans to explore how app-delivered mindfulness training affects positive emotions, body awareness, and heart rate variability among young adults. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her husband and son (10), going to the beach, and watching superhero movies.