Research Staff

Project Coordinator

Karina Rosales, B.A. is the Research Coordinator for the Digital Health Equity and Access Lab (dHEAL). Karina received her B.A. in Psychology and Social Welfare from UC Berkeley in Summer 2020. During her time as an undergrad, Karina volunteered as a Health Advocate for Alameda Health System at Highland Hospital where she supported patients by connecting them to community resources with the goal of minimizing health disparities. Within the Digital Health and Equity Lab she organizes, manages, and implements a variety of different digital health interventions. Karina is passionate about reducing mental health disparities in underserved communities of color by bridging behavioral health care and primary care.

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Yazleen Reyes, M.S. is the project coordinator of SUPERA and the Technology and Mental Health Lab (TEAM). Yazleen recieved her B.A. in International Studies from UC Irvine in Spring 2018 and her M.S. in Counseling Psychology from California Baptist University in 2022. In the past, Yazleen has worked providing mental health services to underrepresented populations and connecting them to community resources. Yazleen intends to pursue her PhD and work on expanding access to mental health services for disadvantaged populations. When she is not working, Yazleen enjoys spending time with her loved ones (this includes her cats!), working out, reading, and traveling.

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Cassandra Gastelum Lugo, M.S. is the Clinical Research Coordinator for the SUPERA project at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital for the University of California, San Francisco. Cassandra received her B.A. in Psychology and her B.S. in Human Biology from UC Merced in Winter 2018 and her M.S. in Biomedical Sciences from Western University of Health Sciences in 2021. Within the SUPERA project she helps manage, organize and implement digital cognitive behavior therapy for patients from underserved backgrounds with a diagnosis of depression and anxiety. Cassandra hopes to pursue her PhD and continue to research different methods of intervention for depression and anxiety for underserved communities.

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Rosa Hernandez-Ramos, B.A. is the Project Coordinator of LMHRP and the Digital Health Equity and Access Lab (dHEAL). Rosa received her B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Education Studies from UCLA in Spring 2018. During her time as an undergrad, Rosa worked as a Research Assistant for UCLA’s Department of Psychology where she studied the needs of underserved groups including children with anxiety disorders, Latinos, and rural populations. Rosa’s current research interests include analyzing the impact of socio-demographic factors in treatment adherence and the linguistic analysis of depressed populations. She is involved in the management and implementation of  a variety of different digital interventions for patients from underserved backgrounds with a diagnosis of depression and diabetes. Rosa intends to pursue a PhD in the near future and focus on alleviating racial mental health disparities in underserved populations.

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Post-Doctoral Candidates

Marvyn Arévalo Avalos, Ph.D. is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Latinx Center of Excellence in Behavioral Health (LCOEBH) and the UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare. Dr. Arévalo Avalos earned his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology at Arizona State University where his research focused on prevention of mental and behavioral health concerns among Latinx adolescents. Dr. Arévalo Avalos’ current research interest focuses on developing and testing culturally grounded digital health interventions with underserved populations, particularly Latinx. Prior to joining UC Berkeley, Dr. Arévalo Avalos completed his predoctoral internship in psychology at the University of Maryland Counseling Center, his Bachelor of Science in Human Development at UC Davis, and has experience working in a behavioral health nonprofit organization. On a personal note, Marvyn enjoys spending time outdoors, playing board games, cooking, and spending time with his partner, family, and friends. 

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Giovanni Ramos, Ph.D. is a UC Chancellor’s and Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in TEAM Lab. Born and raised in Mexico, he received a BA in Psychology from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and is a licensed clinical psychologist. After immigrating to the US in 2013, he obtained further training in clinical child and adolescent psychology, completing a BA at Florida International University, a PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles, and his Clinical Internship at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center. His research program aims to reduce mental health inequities affecting racially and ethnically minoritized populations, with an emphasis on Latinx groups. To achieve this goal, he focuses on three interconnected areas: 1) identifying risk & resilience factors that influence mental health outcomes, 2) improving the cultural and contextual fit of treatments using data-driven approaches, and 3) employing digital tools to make mental health services widely available in disenfranchised communities. As part of the TEAM Lab, his work is focusing on ensuring digital mental health interventions are culturally robust for diverse and historically marginalized populations.

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CAROLINE FIGUEROA, MD Ph.D. is a Postdoctoral Scholar at the UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare. She obtained her MD degree and Ph.D. degree at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. During her PhD, she spent 1,5 years at the University of Oxford for a research traineeship. Her research has focused on cognitive and neurobiological vulnerability factors for recurrence of depression in patients recovered from Major Depressive Disorder. Dr. Figueroa's current research interest is on digital interventions for depression, with an emphasis on developing cutting-edge innovations that tailor to the needs of underserved populations. She is involved in the analysis, testing, and implementation of digital applications for depression and diabetes in ethnic minority patients with a focus on Latinx patients. Through these innovative projects, she hopes to contribute to improving the impact and efficacy of digital interventions for Latinx communities. 

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