PrincipaI Investigator
Dr. Jillian R. Scheer, Director of the Minority Stress & Trauma Lab. Dr. Scheer is a licensed counseling psychologist, the Cobb-Jones Professor of Clinical Psychology, and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Syracuse University. Dr. Scheer received a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Boston College and completed a T32 postdoctoral research fellowship at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS (CIRA) through the Yale School of Public Health. Dr. Scheer’s current research focuses on (a) identifying biopsychosocial determinants of mental and behavioral health outcomes among trauma-exposed sexual and gender minority (SGM) people, (b) examining help-seeking processes and the cascade of violence-related care among SGM survivors, and (c) developing evidence-based interventions to reduce hazardous drinking and mental health comorbidities among trauma-exposed SGM people. For a complete list of Dr. Scheer’s publications, please visit MyNCBI, Google Scholar, or ResearchGate.
Doctoral Students
Kriti Behari (she/her) is a first-year Ph.D. student in clinical psychology at Syracuse University. Kriti received a B.A. in psychology from Skidmore College and an M.A. in psychology from Stony Brook University. Kriti is interested in the role of stigma-related processes in maintaining mental health disparities for sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations. Kriti is also interested in adapting and implementing interventions targeting stigma-related processes for SGM individuals.
Sophia Pirog (she/her) is a clinical psychology Ph.D. student here at Syracuse University. Sophia received her B.S. in Psychology from Saint Mary’s College of California and their M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. She is interested in understanding the impact of minority stress on the substance use and mental health of sexual minority women. Sophia also hopes to research the biopsychosocial mechanisms of relapse unique to this population.
Research Staff
Virinca Jaipuriyar (she/her) is a Research Assistant at the MST Lab. She holds a BA in Psychology from Cornell University with minors in Human Development and Cognitive Science. Her research interests include intervention-focused research from a social, cognitive, or neurobiological/psychobiological perspective. Specifically, Virinca has developed a blooming interest in neurochemical mechanisms underlying behavior, mood, and cognition to enhance our understanding of clinical and non-clinical psychology. She hopes to implement such interventions to help treat psychological symptoms relating to interpersonal stressors, anxiety, depression, and other cognitive maladjustments. Virinca is also interested in relational dynamics and attachment and their effects on development and well-being. She plans on pursuing a graduate degree in Clinical Psychology.
Outside work, Virinca enjoys spending time with her dog, hiking, and doing yoga.
Kiyan Irani (he/him) is a Research Assistant at the MST Lab. Kiyan holds an Honors BS in finance with an undergraduate certificate in business scholars from the University of Utah and an MA in clinical psychology from Columbia University. Prior to transitioning to psychological research, Kiyan worked for five years as a Senior Research Analyst at Goldman Sachs, a global investment bank. His research focuses on identifying risk and protective factors associated with mental and physical health trajectories, specifically aiming to use these findings to develop resilience-centered interventions for traumatized sexual and gender minority individuals.
Outside the lab, Kiyan enjoys various outdoor activities, including hiking, rock and ice climbing, skiing, and soccer. He also enjoys reading, listening to true-crime podcasts, and spontaneous weekend camping trips.
Undergraduate Research Assistants
Jnana Breck-Arndt (she/her) is a senior studying English and Psychology, with a minor in Nutrition, from Vermont and Arizona. Consistent with her work at the MST lab, Breck-Arndt is interested in health psychology and the effects of trauma and stress on the body. She is also interested in exploring childhood and family psychology in a clinical setting.
After graduating from Syracuse University, Breck-Arndt hopes to attend graduate school for clinical psychology, working to further understand the barriers and specific traumas marginalized groups face and how to best address them. Outside of being a research assistant, Breck-Arndt writes and edits for multiple school magazines, exploring topics of individual health, sexuality, and empowerment through a combination of storytelling and research.
Lab Affiliates
Emily Helminen (they/them) is a doctoral candidate in school psychology at Syracuse University and is currently completing a predoctoral internship in behavioral health and clinical psychology at Rochester Institute of Technology. Emily received a B.S. in biomedical engineering from Michigan Technological University and an M.S. in psychology from Syracuse University. Emily’s main research interests include: 1) examining how compassion-based interventions can improve mental and behavioral health among sexual and gender minority populations, and 2) understanding the physiological and cognitive mechanisms by which these interventions are effective. Outside the lab, Emily enjoys spending time with family and friends, weightlifting, and exploring the outdoors with their dogs.
Aubriana Schwarz (she/her) is a December 2021 graduate from Syracuse University who received a Bachelor of Science degree, Magna Cum Laude in psychology with a minor in public communications. She joined the Minority Stress & Trauma (MST) lab as a paid research assistant in January 2022. Her research interests include the etiology and development of youth health risk behavior and the developmental implications for substance use trajectories over time. She intends to extend her research interests to interventions among minority populations. Among her studies, she has worked as an undergraduate research assistant in the Addiction, Development, & Equity Lab in the Syracuse University Clinical Psychology program since 2019. She is also currently pending co-authorship on multiple articles and manuscripts waiting to be submitted for publication in peer-reviewed medical and psychology journals. She spends her time in California as a clinical research assistant with Dr. Ernst von Schwarz and Nathalie Busse on research projects on stem cells and erectile dysfunction. She is currently studying for her MCAT and plans to apply for PhD/MD programs for Fall 2023.
Cory J. Cascalheira, BA, LSAA (he/they) served as the MST lab manager for 2.5 years. He is an NIH MBRS R25 RISE Fellow, a fourth-year doctoral candidate in the Department of Counseling & Educational Psychology at New Mexico State University, and a research affiliate at UCLA and Northwestern University. His research program has two foci: (1) the examination of stress-based, multilevel determinants and mechanisms conferring risk for LGBTQ+ health disparities (e.g., substance misuse); and (2) the use of computational methods (i.e., artificial intelligence) and big data to understand LGBTQ+ health behaviors and outcomes, with the hope that this line of work informs the development and implementation of automated, scalable, and technology-delivered interventions. To see Cory’s publications, visit Google Scholar or ResearchGate. His clinical interests include culturally adapting evidence-based therapy, especially third-wave contextual behavior therapies, for marginalized populations. He has worked in college counseling centers, family medicine clinics, and the Department of Veteran Affairs. Cory loves science fiction, working out, hiking, and spending time with family and friends.
TJ Shaw (he/him) is a first-year Ph.D. student at Virginia Tech under the mentorship of Dr. Meagan J. Brem, and received BAs in Psychology, History and Photojournalism from Syracuse University in 2022. During his undergrad, TJ worked as a research assistant in the Minority Stress & Trauma Lab under Dr. Jillian Scheer, studying stigma-related stress, trauma exposure, hazardous drinking, and PTSD, specifically in sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations. He remains involved in the lab by working on projects such as QCS and DAWN.
TJ’s research interests revolve around understanding the determinants, consequences, and intersection of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), alcohol/substance misuse, and intimate partner violence (IPV). Specifically, his current work aims to document the association between alcohol misuse and bidirectional IPV and use this information to identify points of intervention for bidirectional alcohol-related IPV among various subpopulations (e.g., college students, veterans, and SGM folks). This current work informs his long-term goal of identifying individual mechanisms of change that can be leveraged to reduce alcohol-related IPV among at-risk populations.
Sasha Zabelski (she/her/hers) has her BA in Psychology from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and her MS in Clinical Psychology from the University of Southampton. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Public Health at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte and is a part-time volunteer research assistant with the Minority Stress & Trauma (MST) lab. Sasha previously held a full-time lab manager position at the University of Denver. Her research interests include bringing evidence-based programs and interventions to community mental health services, examining systemic issues within community-based health services, and utilizing community participatory action groups to understand how to create more equitable access to mental health resources for minoritized populations.