The Lavender Lab
Summer 2026 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 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+) and racially/ethnically minoritized youth and young adults, as well as factors and interventions that promote their resilience and resistance.
Research Coordinators
Eunice Kim (she/her)
Eunice Kim (she/her) is a Research Coordinator for the Lavender Lab at the University of Maryland. Prior to joining the team, she was a lab manager for the Gray Child and Family Lab and Biobehavioral Adjustment and Neurodevelopment Lab at the University of Connecticut (UConn). Eunice graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychological Sciences with a minor in Asian American Studies from UConn in 2025. Her research interests center around the impacts of social, cultural, and environmental factors, as well as identity on development and individuals' mental health and overall wellbeing.
Alejandro Todd (he/him/Él)
Alejandro received his B.S. in Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh, along with a Certificate in Children's Literature. His primary research interests are in the identity development of adolescents of color and how identity shapes political engagement, sense of belonging, and mental health. He is particularly interested in understanding the racial identity development of transracially adopted adolescents.
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/they)
Carson Brooks recently graduated with his M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Towson University. He also earned his B.S. in Psychological Science from Ball State University in 2023. Carson is passionate about researching correlates of minority stress theory (e.g., identity concealment, internalized homonegativity, structural oppression) and their effects on health equity outcomes (e.g., intimate partner violence, substance use, HIV), especially among diverse, intersectional communities (e.g., queer & trans, Black, Indigenous, People of Color). Carson will be starting his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology at the University of Houston this fall.
Monica Bagnoli (she/her)
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.
Tulasi Venkat (she/her)
My name is Tulasi Venkat, and I’m a master’s student in Clinical Psychological Science at the University of Maryland, College Park. I’m interested in clinical psychology, mental health disparities in marginalized populations, and how intersectionality shapes mental health outcomes and access to care, especially for BIPOC adolescents and youth. More specifically, I’m interested in internalizing factors such as trauma and anxiety, and in developing culturally informed interventions that support the mental wellness of underrepresented communities.
Undergraduate Research Assistants
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.
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.
Juan Gomez Martin (he/him)
Juan is a sophomore at UMD majoring in Psychology. He is interested in the intersection of clinical and legal psychology and plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. Juan hopes to work within legal psychology settings, where he can apply clinical training to better understand how psychological factors, mental health, and systemic bias shape legal outcomes. He is motivated to use his education and research experience to support his community, particularly minority communities and people of color, by promoting more equitable and culturally informed approaches within both mental health and legal systems.
Charles Ngijoi (he/him)
Charles Ngijoi is a junior studying Public Health Science and Psychology. He is interested in mental health within minority populations. More specifically, he is interested in the effects of addiction and its comorbidities, particularly how addiction plays a role in the cognitive development of adolescents. Additionally, he wants to further understand the social stigmas which minority youth face which prevents them from seeking the necessary support.
Michaela Misina (she/her)
Michaela is a sophomore Psychology student at the University of Maryland, interested in pursuing a Neuroscience minor. She is navigating what she would like to pursue further after UMD. She is interested in studying the impacts of creating safer, more inclusive spaces for lesbian and bi+ women who have been sexually victimized. She is also interested in studying the effects of organizing groups that focus on specific intersecting identities on LGBTQ+ mental health.
Lavender Lab Research Team Alumni
Hannah Vanlandingham, M.P.S.
Fall 2022-Spring 2026
Torie Tran
Fall 2022-Spring 2026
Rachel Chen
Fall 2022-Spring 2026
Gayatri Swaminathan
Summer 2025
Grace O’Neill
Spring 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-Spring 2025
Leo Osei
Summer 2024-Spring 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
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
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 2017-Fall 2017
Liliana Ascencio
Fall 2017