About the Team

Principal Investigator

Principal Investigator

Karina Gattamorta, PhD, EdS, is a Research Associate Professor at the School of Nursing and Health Studies (SONHS) at the University of Miami. Her doctoral training was as an educational researcher with a concentration on measurement and program evaluation. Her technical expertise is in measures development and validation as well as quantitative methods and statistical analyses. She applies these skills at the SONHS where she is an affiliated faculty in CLaRO, a health disparities research center.

Principal Investigator

Dr. Russ Toomey’s (he/they) scholarship seeks to promote thriving among sexual and gender minority youth, particularly among Latinx youth in the U.S. Southwest.

Co-Investigator

Kirsten A. Gonzalez, Ph.D. [she/her/hers] is an Associate Professor of Counseling Psychology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) and the director of the Research on Social Intersections at Tennessee (ReSIsT) Lab. She also serves as a core faculty member of the Women, Gender, and Sexuality studies (WGS) interdisciplinary program, and the Latin American and Caribbean studies (LACS) interdisciplinary program at UTK.

Co-Investigator

Dr. Norma Perez-Brena is an Associate Professor of Family Studies and Human Development in the Norton School of Ecology at the University of Arizona. She holds a B.A. in Psychology and M.A. in Developmental Psychology from San Francisco State University, and a Ph.D in Family and Human Development from Arizona State University. She is a first-generation immigrant from Mexico. She is passionate about mentoring students and working alongside communities to better support youth adjustment.

Graduate Research Assistant

Alyssa N. Garcia (she/her) is a PhD student in the Human Development and Family Sciences doctoral program at the University of Arizona. Her research focuses on gender-based violence in youth, examining violent attitudes and behavioral endorsement from a developmental perspective. Guided by an intersectional framework, her work aims to understand the role of sociohistorical racism, systemic inequities, and the experiences of marginalized communities in shaping self- and other-directed harm.

Graduate Research Assistant

Kriti Jain (any pronouns) joined the ReSIsT lab in 2023. Originally from India, Kriti earned a BA in Psychology from Ashoka University, followed by an MA in Clinical Psychology with a specialization in Spirituality and Research Methods from Teachers College, Columbia University. Their research focuses on the positive psychology of LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities, utilizing both quantitative and qualitative methodologies to explore and support positive identity development among racial, gender, and sexual minority individuals.

Graduate Research Assistant

Akeitha Walton, MS (she/her) is a 4th year doctoral Counseling Psychology student in the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Miami. Akeitha is interested in exploring the experience of black cancer patients. Specifically, she wants to examine the needs, quality of life, access to and understanding of psychotherapy. 

Graduate Research Assistant

Yareli Sosa Antunez (she/her) is a doctoral student in Counseling Psychology at the University of Florida. Her research focuses on stigma, substance use, and health disparities among marginalized communities, particularly Latinx and LGBTQ+ populations.

Graduate Research Assistant

Carolina Noriega (she/her/ella) is a first year PhD student in the Human Development and Family Science doctoral program at the University of Arizona. Her interests in research focus on Hispanic/Latinx populations, specifically adolescents and young adults (AYAs), and how intersecting social experiences (e.g., religion, culture, family) interact to influence their risk for or resilience against anxiety, stress, and depression.