Heather J. Risser, PhD | heather.risser@northwestern.edu
Dr. Risser’s research focuses on violence prevention, child welfare, parenting, and access to parenting and mental health promotion services for underserved children and families. Additionally, Dr. Risser leads her team in providing training, evaluation, and technical assistance to DCFS. Dr. Risser is particularly interested in combining frameworks within psychology, psychiatry, and neuroscience to identify and address modifiable risk factors to prevent child physical abuse.
Rachel Velez Kermath | rachel.kermath@northwestern.edu
Rachel is a Project Manager for Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. She is lifelong Chicagoan who received her B.A in Psychology from DePaul University and her M.A. in Social Work from Loyola University Chicago. For 20 years, Rachel served in several varied roles for Illinois’ child welfare system before joining our team in 2022. Her areas of interest include working to improve the lives of vulnerable children and families, supporting children identified as diverse learners, the importance of cultural competency in research, and disseminating research aimed to improve the lives of underserved youth, their families and their communities.
Katherine Schumacher, BA | katherine.schumacher@northwestern.edu
Kate is a research coordinator for Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. She graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2022 with a B.A. in Neuroscience and Behavior. Her research interests lie within the intersection of physical and mental health, evaluating how trauma, adverse childhood events, and other social determinants of health affect the body, brain, and development of mothers and children.
Ellie Clark, BA | ellie.clark@northwestern.edu
Ellie is a Research Coordinator at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine. She received a B.A. in Psychology from The University of New Mexico. Ellie’s research interests include early life trauma and adverse childhood experiences’ role in family dynamics and youth outcomes, focusing on parent-child relationships and the impact these relationships have on a child’s socioemotional and behavioral development.
Miguel Herrera, MEd, LPC | miguel.herrera@northwestern.edu
Miguel Herrera is a research coordinator with Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences working under Dr. Heather Risser and Dr. Ashley Knapp. Miguel has degrees in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from DePaul University and in Psychology and Latinx Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Miguel’s research interests are focused on supporting the development, implementation, and dissemination of evidence-based and community-engaged mental health interventions for minority youth.
Clara Law, MA – Research Coordinator | clara.law@northwestern.edu
Clara is a research coordinator for Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. She graduated from Northwestern’s Clinical Psychology M.A Program in 2020. Her research interests are in understanding social and cultural factors related to anxiety and depressive disorders and how these factors can inform treatment development and dissemination.
Ashley Knapp, PhD – Research Assistant Professor | ashley.knapp@northwestern.edu
Ashley Knapp is a Research Assistant Professor within the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. Her research interests involve leveraging emerging technologies to study the vulnerability of anxiety and related psychopathology in adolescents and to develop and evaluate effective prevention programs designed to reduce the incidence of anxiety and related disorders.
Ida Roberta Salusky, MPH, PhD – Research Associate | ida.salusky@northwestern.edu
Dr. Salusky’s research focuses on equity within higher education and healthcare settings. This work includes longitudinal research on support systems for first-generation college students and minoritized students in STEM fields to understand how they thrive within institutions historically designed to exclude them. Dr. Salusky is active in coalition work to develop an integrated mental healthcare network for immigrants and refugees in the city of Chicago.