The Lavender Lab
Summer 2025 Research Team
Lab Director
Ethan Mereish, Ph.D. (he, him, his)
Dr. Ethan Mereish is an Associate Professor and the Director of the Lavender Lab in the Department of Psychology at the University of Maryland, College Park. He is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at American University and Brown University. He completed his doctoral training at Boston College, a clinical psychology residency at Harvard Medical School, and a postdoctoral research fellowship at Brown University. His NIH-funded research program focuses on understanding the effects of social, psychological, and cultural determinants of health for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals and racial/ethnic minorities, as well as factors that promote their resilience. His current work examines the impact of intersectional stress and oppression on substance use and mental health of LGBTQ youth of color.
Graduate Research Assistants
Jess Abramson (she/her)
Jess Abramson is a Clinical Psychology PhD student at the University of Maryland. She graduated from Wellesley College in 2019 with a BA in Psychology and Data Science. After undergrad, Jess worked as a data analyst at Massachusetts General Hospital, studying social determinants of health and health equity in patients who had experienced strokes. Her current research examines the effects of stigma and discrimination on LGBTQ+ adolescents and adolescents of color. She is especially interested in using big data and creative sources of data to understand the experiences of young people with marginalized identities.
Tara Sullivan (they/she)
Tara Sullivan is a Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Student at the University of Maryland. They graduated from Stanford University in 2022, having earned their bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a specialization in Health and Development. Tara is interested in researching how intersectional minority stress and trauma can influence the development of psychopathology for QTBIPOC populations. They hope to dedicate their career towards using community-based research methods and radical healing frameworks to reduce treatment inequities in psychological health for QTBIPOC communities.
Carson Brooks (he/him)
Carson Brooks is a Clinical Psychology M.A. student at Towson University. He earned his B.S. in Psychological Sciences with minors in Counseling Psychology and Social Work from Ball State University in December 2023. Carson's research interests focus on minority stress theory and its impact on health equity outcomes in diverse, intersectional communities, particularly QTBIPOC populations. His current master’s thesis explores the relationships between sexual identity concealment and intimate partner violence in queer individuals, with attachment as a moderating variable. Carson hopes to pursue a Ph.D. following his master’s degree and aspires to become a tenured professor, where he can teach psychology courses, lead a research lab focused on QTBIPOC health equity, and provide culturally affirming therapy to a small clinical caseload.
Monica Bagnoli (her/she)
Monica Bagnoli is a Clinical Psychology MPS student at the University of Maryland. She graduated with a B.S. in psychological sciences with a minor in linguistics from William & Mary in the Spring of 2024. There, she focused primarily on researching language acquisition among children in various developmental stages, while interdisciplinary coursework fueled her interest in supporting marginalized groups impacted by systems of oppression. With an interest in community mental health, the impact of sociocultural identity on stress, anxiety, and depression, and social determinants of health, she hopes to pursue research on interventions for adolescents of intersectional identities, encourage self-acceptance, and uplift them through therapy. After program completion, she hopes to earn a Ph.D. in clinical psychology.
Langston M. Manuel-Scott (he/they)
Langston Graduated from Syracuse University with a BS in Psychology and a minor in queer studies. As an incoming MPS student at the University of Maryland, he is working to achieve his research goals of finding innovative treatments for Queer, trans, and BIPOC individuals. His research experience has previously involved leading a study on using Virtual Reality as an alternative digital modality for therapy and counseling. Currently, his research interests include QTBIPOC Mental Health, Counseling Psychology, and Virtual Reality. He is also interested in the Psychology of mental health access and public policy.
Undergraduate Research Assistants
Torie Tran (she/her)
Torie Tran is a senior at the University of Maryland, College Park, majoring in Psychology. She is interested in the impacts of societal factors on childhood development, specifically within racial/gender minority communities. She is also interested in the relations between social policies and cultural beliefs impacting our understandings of gender and health.
Taylor Gonzales (she/they)
Taylor Gonzales is a senior at the University of Maryland. She is majoring in psychology and minoring in human development, with an interest in studying adolescents. They are interested in QTBIPOC populations and how the intersectionality of race and sexuality influences the personal health, communal health, and interpersonal relationships of these communities. Additionally, they are interested in learning more about interventions that could serve as protective factors for QTBIPOC populations.
Dev Patel (he/him) - Information Technology Research Assistant
Dev Patel is a junior at the University of Maryland, College Park majoring in Computer Science. He is passionate about creating software that has real world applications and impacts people's lives.
Gayatri Swaminathan (she/her)
Gayatri Swaminathan is a junior psychology major at UMD, with a minor in French. As part of the FIRE program, she has previously researched scaling mental health interventions in conflict regions. She intends to pursue graduate studies in Clinical Psychology and work on creating accessible care that aligns with cultural competence and social justice, specifically focusing on Asian LGBTQ+ adolescents.
Rachel Chen (she/her)
Rachel Chen is a senior at the University of Maryland, double majoring in neuroscience and dance. She is interested in developmental and societal factors that impact mental health, specifically in marginalized communities. Additionally, she is interested in the relationship between mental health and physical health and the brain-body connection.
Judy Crandall (she/her)
Judy Crandall is a junior at UMD. She is majoring in psychology and minoring in Chinese. She is interested in how cisheteropatriarchy, capitalism, and systemic racism interact and, ultimately, impact the mental health of QTBIPOC populations. She would specifically like to explore this with regards to disordered eating.
Grace O’Neill (she/her)
Grace is a junior at the University of Maryland majoring in Public Health Science. She is interested in researching health literacy for QTBIPOC teens and ways to bridge the gap between intersectional youth and health systems, especially in rural areas. She is particularly interested in the ways that internalized stigma and identity concealment impact both the delivery and reception of health information materials.
Lavender Lab Research Team Alumni
Defne Demirer
Spring 2024 - Summer 2024
Damiana Colley
Summer 2024
Nel Odike
Fall 2023
Jenna Cutri, M.P.S.
Spring 2023-Summer 2023
Steven Smathers, M.A.
Fall 2021 - Summer 2023
Ramiyah Beckles
Summer 2024
Helina Asfaw
Summer 2023 - Spring 2024
Yajna Jowaheer, M.A.
Fall 2021 - Fall 2023
Ross
Summer 2023 - Fall 2023
Diamonde McCollum
Summer 2022 - Summer 2023
Elijah Webb
Spring 2023 - Summer 2023
Eric Shi
Spring 2023 - Spring 2024
Virginia (Louise) Templeton Plever
Spring 2022 – Summer 2022
Carolyn Chen
Fall 2020 – Spring 2022
Kai Wasson
Fall 2020 – Spring 2022
Mariya Malik
Spring 2022
Zoe Smith
Spring 2022
Hannah Vanlandingham, M.P.S.
Fall 2022-Summer 2025
Arushee Bhoja
Summer 2023-Spring 2025
David J. Hawthorne, M.S.
Fall 2017-Summer 2019; Spring 2023-Spring 2025
Hyemin Lee, Ph.D.
Fall 2023-Summer 2025
Diana Cox
Fall 2018-Sping 2025
Leo Osei
Summer 2024-Sping 2025
Nehi Pathak
Summer 2023-Spring 2024
Matias Mancia
Spring 2024-Fall 2025
Irene Navaleza
Summer 2024-Fall 2024
Melanie Saumer
Fall 2024
Cayleah Anders
Summer 2024-Fall 2024
Chidinma Okeke
Summer 2024
Lucas Guberman
Spring 2023 - Summer 2024
Ash Arumugam, M.P.S.
Fall 2022 - Spring 2024
Allison Li
Fall 2023 - Spring 2024
Anthony-Ray Koutta
Spring 2024
Cassia Efthymiou
Fall 2021
Moataz Salim
Fall 2020 – Summer 2021
Farshad Bazargani
Fall 2018 – Summer 2021
Shannon Touhey
Fall 2018 – Summer 2021
Sofia Flynn
Fall 2018 – Summer 2021
Lindsay Sarfo
Fall 2020 – Spring 2021
Julia Harris
Fall 2018 – Spring 2020
Quinn Anderson
Summer 2018 – Spring 2020
Roma Kaczmarkiewics
Fall 2019 – Spring 2020
Marnina Hornstein
Summer 2019 – Spring 2020
Uma Neelakantan
Summer 2019
Adam Majeski
Fall 2018 – Spring 2019
Eli Hernandez
Fall 2018 – Spring 2019
Blaine Johnson
Spring 2018
Harrison Ferachi
Spring 2018
Britton Perry
Summer/Fall 2017
Liliana Ascencio
Fall 2017