Research Team 2017-2021
(from left to right) Aysha Raja, Sabreen Azhar, Dr. Sherry Wang, Liliana Ramos, Susan K. Fan, Fabiana Coleman. Not pictured: Sohrab Sami & Serena Anand
Who are the HERD Team members? (Listed in alphabetical order; updated 2021)
❖ Sabreen Azhar
I'm in my second year for Masters in Counseling Psychology (MFT) track. I joined the HERD team as I believe every story and every voice is important and unique and needs to be heard. People go through tremendous amount of struggles on their own, and to give them a voice is empowering and fruitful. It not only strengthens them, but also is a learning and empowering for those who learn from them for generations to come. As a Muslim American, I have experienced, and seen the struggles of the community, and so work on exploring the experiences of Muslim Americans, and how it impacts their mental health. This project, in turn helps engage what clinicians can hope to learn and be trained with in providing the best healing to Muslim American clients. I hope to continue working in the field of Mental Health and earn my license as a MFT to give voice and be a source of relief, support, and healing for people of all cultures and ethnicities.
❖ Susan K. Fan
I currently in my 3rd year as a part-time student in the Counseling Psychology program. I am 1.5 generation Asian American raised in an Immigrant family and I know firsthand how my parents’ struggled and how their resilience helped them overcome the challenges of enculturation. I was inspired by the way that Dr. Wang gave a voice for the Asian American immigrant families through her research work. As a member of the HERD team; I will have the opportunity to add to that voice. I am currently working on the project regarding Asian American immigrant parents’ enculturation experience. After I graduate, I plan to start my own private practice and work with individuals and couples from different walks of life. It is my hope that I can be instrumental to decrease the stigmas of counseling in general but especially in the Asian American communities so that more people will be willing to get help as preventive care rather than wait until it is absolutely necessary to see a therapist.
❖ Aysha Raja
I am a second-year student in the Masters in Counseling program at SCU. I am a member of the HERD research team because I am interested in giving a voice to the oft-overlooked and underrepresented members of our community. Being a member of the HERD research team is a wonderful opportunity and a great forum that allows me to follow my interests as well as grow and learn as a researcher. Currently, I am collaborating with Dr. Wang and Sabreen on the Muslim American Health study, where the goal is to get a better understanding of the needs and services of this particular group, as well as how, as future mental health clinicians, we may better serve them. My goal is to one day apply for a Ph.D. program in Clinical Psychology and continue to work for the community.
❖ Liliana Ramos
After 3 1/2 years in the program, I am graduating in June with a masters degree in counseling psychology with a health emphasis. I joined the HERD team because I believe that everyone should be treated equally, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, socio-economic status (SES), or immigration status. It is this belief that attracted me to the HERD project, which explores the access to medical resources that African-American men, who are infected with HIV and have sex with other men. Working on this project gives me the satisfaction that I am working towards my ultimate goal of helping individuals from different races, gender, sexual orientation, religion, SES,and immigration status within the military veteran community. In order to better help the community, I hope to earn a doctorate degree in counseling psychology.
❖ Sohrab Sami (Not Pictured)
I am a first year student in the counseling psychology program at SCU. I have travelled and experienced different cultures for the past years. Doing that, I have become interested in studying the role that cultural factors play in psychological growth and well-being which is why I joined the HERD research team. Collaborating with Fabiana Coleman, we are studying factors affecting the success of African Americans in Silicon Valley. My long-term career goal is to earn a PhD in Clinical Psychology and study cultural factors that influence psychological testing.
❖ Serena Anand (Not Pictured)
I am a 2nd year student in Santa Clara University’s Masters of Counseling Psychology program, and am on the MFT track. I joined this program, and the HERD team because I believe that knowledge of, and access to, mental health services can be life changing, but is not yet prevalent in our society. As a second generation Indian American female, I am interested in exploring the relationship between Asian American families and mental health, and hope to dedicate my career to providing education about mental health, and therapeutic services.
Research projects from the HERD team (*indicates HERD students)
Wang, S. C., *Santos, B. M. (in press). “Go back to China with your (expletive) virus”: A revelatory case study of anti-Asian racism during COVID-19. Asian American Journal of Psychology: Special Issue on COVID19.
Wang, S. C., Raja, A. H.*, & Azhar, S.* (in press). "A lot of us have a very difficult time reconciling what being Muslim is": A phenomenological study on the meaning of being Muslim American. doi: 10.1037/cdp0000297. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology.
Wang, S. C., Plano Clark, V., & *Fan, S. K. (in press). “How do we raise Chinese kids here?” A qualitative study on the cultural translation of immigrant Chinese parents in a Midwestern context." Springer Series on Navigating Systems: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Immigrant Family Ecologies.
Wang, S. C., *Lui, J. H. L., *Vega, G., *Waldrop, M., & *Garris, J. (2018). The moderating effect of alcohol use on protective and risky sex behaviors among college students in the Southeast U.S. Journal of American College Health, published online first. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2018.1431916
Examples of Current Projects
❖ Attitudes and Beliefs of Health Facility Staff and Patients (community-based study)
This study was designed to examine the HIV-related stigmas of health facility staff that are associated with the disparities of ethnic/racial heath care. This study will also examine the experiences of patients who receive health care from this facility. The focus of this study is personal attitudes and beliefs of both health facility staff and patients. Particularly for health facility staff, this study will examine the attitudes and beliefs of working with patients who are HIV positive, as well as men who have sex with other men. This study will explore the attitudes and beliefs of patients about the health care services they have been provided. Because there is such a high prevalence rate, the population of interest is African American men who have sex with men. This research is intended to improve the HIV health care services for providers and patients.
❖ Health-related Attitudes and Behaviors (college student sample)
This study has been designed to examine the risk factors and resilience factors associated with HIV risk amongst a college student population. There is particular interest in the female, African American population, as well as interest in this population attending a Predominantly White Institution (PWI). Risk factors examined in this study include risky sexual behaviors, knowledge about HIV, alcohol and drug use, and condom-use efficacy. Resilience factors examined in this study include sense of social support and spirituality. Cultural differences, such as gender and social class, will also be addressed. This research is designed to help guide the social and cultural components of HIV prevention services amongst at-risk populations.
❖ Muslim American Mental Health and Well-being (community sample)
This qualitative study is a community study conducted in the local community to better understand the experience of being Muslim American in the current sociopolitical zetigeist. The project emerged following the 2016 U.S. presidential election, at a time when mosques in southern and northern California experienced threats, and the Muslim American community nationwide has had to face intensified forms of Islamophobia, xenophobia, and racism, among other forms of discrimination. This study therefore focuses less on the perspectives of perpetrators of trauma; and instead, directs attention to the needs, experiences, and voices of Muslim Americans to understand their perspectives. The implications provide directions for clinicians, teachers, administrators, and the larger society to recognize the intersectionality of what it is like to be Muslim American this day and age in the U.S.
Wang, S. C., *Santos, B. M. (in press). “Go back to China with your (expletive) virus”: A revelatory case study of anti-Asian racism during COVID-19. Asian American Journal of Psychology: Special Issue on COVID19.
Wang, S. C., Raja, A. H.*, & Azhar, S.* (in press). "A lot of us have a very difficult time reconciling what being Muslim is": A phenomenological study on the meaning of being Muslim American. doi: 10.1037/cdp0000297. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology.
Wang, S. C., Plano Clark, V., & *Fan, S. K. (in press). “How do we raise Chinese kids here?” A qualitative study on the cultural translation of immigrant Chinese parents in a Midwestern context." Springer Series on Navigating Systems: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Immigrant Family Ecologies.
Wang, S. C., *Lui, J. H. L., *Vega, G., *Waldrop, M., & *Garris, J. (2018). The moderating effect of alcohol use on protective and risky sex behaviors among college students in the Southeast U.S. Journal of American College Health, published online first. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2018.1431916
Examples of Current Projects
❖ Attitudes and Beliefs of Health Facility Staff and Patients (community-based study)
This study was designed to examine the HIV-related stigmas of health facility staff that are associated with the disparities of ethnic/racial heath care. This study will also examine the experiences of patients who receive health care from this facility. The focus of this study is personal attitudes and beliefs of both health facility staff and patients. Particularly for health facility staff, this study will examine the attitudes and beliefs of working with patients who are HIV positive, as well as men who have sex with other men. This study will explore the attitudes and beliefs of patients about the health care services they have been provided. Because there is such a high prevalence rate, the population of interest is African American men who have sex with men. This research is intended to improve the HIV health care services for providers and patients.
❖ Health-related Attitudes and Behaviors (college student sample)
This study has been designed to examine the risk factors and resilience factors associated with HIV risk amongst a college student population. There is particular interest in the female, African American population, as well as interest in this population attending a Predominantly White Institution (PWI). Risk factors examined in this study include risky sexual behaviors, knowledge about HIV, alcohol and drug use, and condom-use efficacy. Resilience factors examined in this study include sense of social support and spirituality. Cultural differences, such as gender and social class, will also be addressed. This research is designed to help guide the social and cultural components of HIV prevention services amongst at-risk populations.
❖ Muslim American Mental Health and Well-being (community sample)
This qualitative study is a community study conducted in the local community to better understand the experience of being Muslim American in the current sociopolitical zetigeist. The project emerged following the 2016 U.S. presidential election, at a time when mosques in southern and northern California experienced threats, and the Muslim American community nationwide has had to face intensified forms of Islamophobia, xenophobia, and racism, among other forms of discrimination. This study therefore focuses less on the perspectives of perpetrators of trauma; and instead, directs attention to the needs, experiences, and voices of Muslim Americans to understand their perspectives. The implications provide directions for clinicians, teachers, administrators, and the larger society to recognize the intersectionality of what it is like to be Muslim American this day and age in the U.S.