The CoLab Team
Lars Almquist, MA
Graduate Research Assistant
Lars is a 4th-year PhD student in the UW School of Public Health, Department of Health Services. His research interests lie at the intersection of community violence and public health, with an emphasis on engaging firearm violence as a determinant of individual and population health. Additional interests include the utilization of public health interventions to strengthen community resilience, reduce retaliatory violence, enhance criminal justice reforms, and support refugee recovery from trauma. Lars holds an M.A. In Peace and Justice Studies from the University of San Diego, as well as a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego.
Lina Rise Benson, MsW
Research Affiliate
Lina Rise is a graduate of the University of Washington's Masters of Social Work program. Ms. Benson has been a research assistant and lab manager at the University of San Francisco in the Psychology Department, a research assistant at the University of Washington in the Department of Social Psychology, a research assistant in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington, a research assistant for Michigan State University in the Department of Psychology, a research assistant for Partners For Our Children, and a research assistant at Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center. Ms. Benson’s research interest focuses on marginalized populations, resiliency, mistrust in the health care system, disenfranchised grief, and adoptee mental health. Ms. Benson’s work as a hospital Social Worker and researcher has focused on high risk, and minority populations.
Asia Bishop, MSW
Graduate Research Affiliate
Asia is a doctoral candidate in the School of Social Work at the University of Washington. Her research focuses broadly on marginalized youth and the inequities they experience. Her current research examines health inequities, including how marginalized identities and environmental and systemic factors inform health decision-making and the type and accessibility of services available to youth. She takes an integrated, intersectional approach with the aim of ensuring systems and service approaches are relevant and responsive to youth’s lived experiences. Asia has 10 years of experience collaborating on multidisciplinary teams to develop and evaluate research-based tools and programs to improve youth systems and outcomes, including the juvenile legal system. Her dissertation is a multi-method study examining sexual, physical, and mental health experiences among gang-involved youth, with a focus on the social identity and ecological factors that shape health risks.
Joey Chuang, MPH
Graduate Research Affiliate
Joey is a doctoral student in Prevention Science program at Washington State University. His research interests is in interpersonal violence and substance abuse, with a focus on firearm violence and the opioid epidemic. He had previously worked on a research project with King County’s Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and Public Health – Seattle & King County, investigating the constellation of factors such as education attainment, public health service utilization, prior firearm injury, and criminal justice involvement on the initiation of firearm violence. His other research interests includes evaluating the existing violence prevention programs at reducing recidivism, and how the collaboration of education, public health, criminal justice, and law enforcement can reduce community violence. Joey holds an MPH from UW School of Public Health, as well as BS in Biochemistry and Biology.
Kathryn (Kate) Cunningham, PsyD
PostDoctoral Fellow
Kathryn (Kate) Cunningham, Psy.D. is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist. She completed a forensic postdoctoral fellowship at the Child Study and Treatment Center (CSTC) and a predoctoral internship at Travis County Juvenile Probation Department. Kate’s previous research examined comorbid depressive symptomology and maltreatment histories among youth with conduct disorder, symptom profiles and predictors of competence among juveniles who have sexually offended, and the state of current research on juvenile competence evaluation. Kate continues to provide therapy and assist with competence evaluations at CSTC. She also provides therapy and conducts psychological assessments at Echo Glen Children’s Center.
Taquesha Dean, BA
Research Assistant
Taquesha graduated from DePauw University in 2017 with a BA in Psychology and is currently pursuing a dual-Master’s degree in Social Work and Public Health at the University of Washington. Prior to joining the Co-Lab, Taquesha worked as a Research Assistant for the College of Built Environments at the University of Washington evaluating the King County’s COVID-19 response for individuals experiencing homelessness. She also worked as a Research Coordinator for two years at the Depression Clinical and Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital studying alternative treatments for Depression. Taquesha hopes to create a national organization dedicated to dissemination and implementation of evidence-informed mental health interventions that have been validated in Black communities.
Noah Gubner, PhD
Associate Director
Noah Gubner, PhD is a Research Scientist III in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington, School of Medicine. His current research focuses on building organizational capacity through system and policy interventions to improve access to high quality mental health services for children and young adults. Noah holds a PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience from Oregon Health & Science University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco in the Drug Abuse Treatment and Services Training Program. Noah’s prior research examined tobacco use and utilization of tobacco cessation services among individuals in substance use disorder treatment.
Jerald Herting, PhD
Professor
Dr. Jerald R. Herting is a Professor in the University of Washington’s Department of Sociology. He has over 20 years of experience in NIH, CDC and other supported research primarily in adolescent health and mental health promotion and drug use prevention program development and research. Dr. Herting has long standing interest in research methodology and the application of social science methods to evaluation of prevention programs and implementation science. His research includes work with schools and government agencies to facilitate use of administrative data, the implementation of programs, and evaluation of outcomes. Dr. Herting is currently the Director for the Center for Social Science Computation and Research (CSSCR) and is an affiliate member of the Center for Statistics in the Social Sciences and the Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology at the University of Washington.
Vishal Kumar
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Vishal Kumar is a senior undergraduate student at the University of Washington. He is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology and plans to obtain a Ph.D. in Clinical Child Psychology. His prior work with tutoring homeless/underserved elementary students has motivated him to work in a mental health institution after he receives his doctorate.
Sally Ngo, MPH
Program Operations Specialist
Sally received her MPH at UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health in Community Health Sciences with a specialization in Maternal and Child Health. She also completed her BS in Biobehavioral Health from Pennsylvania State University. She has various skills including Program and Curriculum Development, Multimedia Creation and Management, and Community Engagement. Sally also served in the National Health Corps, a branch of Americorps, where she assisted patients to receive their medication for free or low cost. Her interests lie in design, implementation, and evaluation of programs and policies specifically geared towards children and communities.
Georganna Sedlar, PhD
Assistant Professor
Georganna Sedlar is an Assistant Professor and a licensed clinical psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine. She is also an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Psychology. Dr. Sedlar is committed to helping children and adolescents overcome mental health struggles and adversity. Her professional activities reflect this commitment, which include teaching and training the future workforce of mental health professionals, as well as clinical consultation, and policy projects to promote successful implementation and sustainment of EBPs for children throughout Washington State. She holds an active role in the MA program in Applied Child and Adolescent Psychology at the University of Washington, in which she serves as a practicum coordinator and course instructor. Dr. Sedlar is also a consulting psychologist for the Foster Care Assessment Program.
Kristin Vick, MPA
Research Coordinator
Kristin has spent over a decade in various research and policy roles pushing for reforms in behavioral health systems and policy. Her work focuses on marginalized and/or vulnerable populations such as youth, those with substance use and/or mental health issues, those with housing instability, those living in poverty, and those involved in the criminal justice system. Before coming to the CoLab, Kristin had previously worked at the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute (ADAI) at the University of Washington, New York City’s MFY Legal Services in their low income sober home policy division, the Graduate School of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University, and the Social Perception Lab at Rutgers University. Kristin holds an M.P.A. from John Jay College of Criminal Justice with a specialization in Criminal Justice Policy and Administration where she served as a Policy Fellow at the Prisoner Reentry Institute (PRI) as well a B.A. in Psychology and Criminal Justice from Rutgers University.
Sarah Cusworth Walker, PhD
Director
Sarah Cusworth Walker, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine where she founded the CoLab for Community and Behavioral Health Policy and directs the Evidence-Based Practice Institute, a legislatively-established center focused on promoting effective children's mental health treatment. Dr. Walker’s lab studies methods of integrating knowledge and expertise from science and practice communities to improve population behavioral health. She received a Health Equity award with her colleague, Kevin Williams, in 2019 from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and a Champion for Change award in 2014 from the MacArthur Foundation.
Andy Wen, MpH
Graduate Research Affiliate
Andy Wen recently received his MPH from the University of Washington and is an MD candidate at the UW School of Medicine. Previously, while obtaining his B.S. in Physiology at UW, he served as a research assistant working with mouse models of Huntington's disease. Having completed three years of medical school, Andy hopes to gain skills to address structural determinants of health before applying to psychiatry residency programs. His interest in health justice, incarcerated populations, and alternatives to incarceration led him to working with the CoLab.
Won-Fong Lau Johnson, PhD
Licensed Psychologist
Dr. Lau Johnson is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Nationally Certified School Psychologist. She is currently at University of Washington in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, where she is involved with research, policy development, and training efforts. Her current research project focuses on adapting the use of evidence-based trauma treatment for implementation in a juvenile justice setting. As she strongly believes in the importance of using culturally relevant treatment with diverse populations, a focus of her current project examines the impact of racism on traumatic stress. Dr. Lau Johnson is also involved in the Evidence-Based Practice Institute where she works collaboratively on projects that focus on expanding the use of EBP’s for children and families in Washington state. Additionally, she provides training workshops on cultural humility to various organizations across the state and teaches graduate-level coursework at U.W. on EBP’s for children and families on effective parenting, trauma, and anxiety. Dr. Lau Johnson has clinical experience working in schools, community mental health, and hospital settings. Both providing direct service and serving as an advocate for equitable behavioral healthcare are of great importance to her. As someone who identifies as a woman of color with a disability, she is passionate about creating more inclusivity and working with historically underrepresented populations.
PAST STUDENT AFFILIATES
Kate O’Neill, MSc - Graduate Student Affiliate
Matthew Hsieh - Undergraduate intern
Sam Findlay - Undergraduate intern
Damaris Duduman - Undergraduate intern
fergus mo - Undergraduate interN
Emi Gilbert - Undergraduate intern (and research assistant)