Our Team
Dr. Melissa Holt
Dr. Melissa K. Holt (she/her) is an Associate Professor in the Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development and a licensed Psychologist. She completed her doctorate at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a clinical internship at the University of Illinois at Chicago in the Department of Psychiatry, and a post-doctoral fellowship at the Danielson Institute. Her research, conducted in collaboration with schools and non-profit agencies, focuses on adolescents’ experiences with identity-based harassment and victimization in school, at home, and in the community. Within this line of research Dr. Holt has evaluated disparities in victimization and its correlates (e.g., mental health), factors that promote resilience among youth, the overlap among violence exposures, and the efficacy of school-based prevention programs. Her recent research has had a particular emphasis on harassment based on identity – specifically, with respect to gender identity, sexual orientation, immigration status, and race/ethnicity.
Dr. Jennifer Green
Dr. Jennifer Greif Green, Ph.D. (she/her) is an Associate Professor in the Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development and a child clinical psychologist. She completed her doctorate at the University of California, Santa Barbara and trained at Yale School of Medicine and in the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School. Her research focuses on supporting student social/emotional wellbeing in schools, and bullying prevention. In particular, Dr. Green studies teacher identification of students with mental health needs, racial/ethnic disparities in mental health service access, and youth bullying involvement. She has developed surveys to assess bullying in schools and has evaluated school-based bullying prevention and mental health promotion programs. She collaborates with a number of local schools and districts to support student social-emotional well-being and reduce bullying.
Katharine Parodi
Katie (she/her) is a PhD candidate in Counseling Psychology and a graduate research assistant in the Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development. Her research is situated within a social-ecological framework and broadly focuses upon child and adolescent mental health and well-being, with two research strands: (1) trends in youth mental health – particularly anxiety – and factors which may be contributing to population-level changes, and (2) contextual-level factors which contribute to the well-being of sexual and gender minority youth. Katie is committed to partnering with schools and community organizations, elevating and empowering youth voice, and sharing research findings. In her free time, she enjoys being outdoors with family, learning more about statistics, and long-distance running.
Dr. Sabra Katz-Wise
Dr. Sabra L. Katz-Wise, PhD (she/her) is an Assistant Professor in Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH), in Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School (HMS), and in Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. She also co-directs the Harvard SOGIE (Sexual Orientation Gender Identity and Expression) Health Equity Research Collaborative. Dr. Katz-Wise’s research investigates sexual orientation and gender identity development, sexual fluidity, health inequities related to sexual orientation and gender identity in adolescents and young adults, and psychosocial functioning in families with transgender youth. She is currently working on an NIH-funded community-based study to develop an intervention to support families with transgender youth. In addition to research, Dr. Katz-Wise is involved with advocacy efforts at BCH to improve the workplace climate and patient care for LGBTQ individuals, including her role as co-chair for the BCH Rainbow Consortium on Sexual and Gender Diversity and member of the BCH Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Council. She also serves on the HMS LGBT Advisory Committee and is a HMS Sexual and Gender Minority Curriculum Development Fellow. Dr. Katz-Wise co-founded the Alliance of Gender Affirming Professionals (AGAP), a group for professionals and trainees in greater Boston who work with transgender youth and families.
Aidan Kraus
Aidan Kraus (they/them) is a Doctorate of Education student at Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development, earning a degree in Counseling with a Specialization in Sport Psychology. Aidan graduated from Smith College and earned a degree in American Studies with a focus in the Psychology of Sport. They are particularly interested in how the mental health of student-athletes is influenced by collegiate athletics which stemmed from their interests in diversity and access among this population of college students. Further, their professional interests extend to creating more inclusive spaces for transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals within athletic competition. Currently, Aidan spends their time working with collegiate student-athletes as a mental performance consultant within the Boston area and is involved in multiple research projects within BU Wheelock College focusing on sport, youth advocacy, and inclusion and diversity. Further, Aidan will be working as a Clinical Counseling Intern at Regis College Counseling Services over the next year.
Tanvi Shah
Tanvi Shah (she/they) is a doctoral student in Counseling Psychology at Boston University’s Wheelock College of Education and Human Development. Tenets of intersectionality, multicultural awareness, insight-oriented therapies, and the ecological model inform her work as a researcher and clinician. Tanvi’s research focuses on mental health and trauma within marginalized communities, with a focus on Asian women and gender-based oppression, while her clinical is grounded in the importance of cultural humility and advocacy in the therapeutic relationship. Tanvi loves making time to knit, paint, read, and talk to people.
Lynsie Ranker
Lynsie Ranker (she/her) is a post-doctoral research associate in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health. She is a social epidemiologist interested in exploring the complex connections between contextual factors (e.g., state policies, social media-based exposures) and substance use among youth. Recent projects include: variations in alcohol use and treatment access among college students, drinking trajectories from adolescence into young adulthood, and a content analysis of poly-substance use discussions on Twitter. She is passionate about substance use harm reduction within marginalized communities, and advocating against the predatory marketing practices of tobacco and alcohol manufacturers.
She received her PhD in epidemiology and her MPH from Boston University School of Public Health. Lynsie is a current A-TRAC career enhancement fellow with the American Heart Association.
In her free time, she enjoys reading science fiction, eating copious amounts of nachos, and going on long walks in her neighborhood while listening to her favorite podcast.
Dr. Ziming Xuan
Dr. Ziming Xuan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health. He is a faculty member of the Primary Care Academic Fellowship Program, and a faculty member of the Transformative Training Program in Addiction Science (TTPAS) at Boston University School of Medicine. He is a faculty member of the Injury Prevention Center, and a member of the Accountable Care Organization (ACO) research and program evaluation team at Boston Medical Center. He is a Frederick Pardee Faculty Research Fellow at Boston University. He is a social epidemiologist who is interested in understanding the influence of social-contextual determinants, especially policy determinants on health, particularly among vulnerable populations (i.e., youth, patients with substance abuse, and women). He is also interested in the methodologies involved in social- behavioral interventions to promote healthy behavioral changes and enhance community well-being. His research interests include health policies related to alcohol, marijuana, other substance use and guns, youth health, alcohol advertising, impaired driving, substance use disorders, mental health and addiction. He received his Doctor of Science Degree (Sc.D.) in public health in 2010 and Master’s Degree (S.M.) in Biostatistics in 2008 from Harvard University. He has led an R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health to study alcohol policies and leading causes of alcohol-related mortality in the United States. He has been awarded as a co-investigator on research grants from the National Institutes of Health, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institute of Justice, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the American Cancer Society. Currently he is serving as an Assistant Field Editor for the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. Dr. Xuan has provided research expertise to various health agencies including the World Health Organization, and Innovations for Poverty Action among others. His research has been featured by Reuters, CNN, US News & World Report, and the Boston Globe among others. Dr. Xuan is currently serving as a member of the Faculty Senate, Doctoral Committee, and Education Committee (evaluation subcommittee). His prior university activities include serving as a member for the Boston University Faculty Council Nominating Committee. At Boston University School of Public Health, he has been teaching SB822: Quantitative Methods for Program Evaluation. He is currently the director of Health Communication and Promotion certificate for the MPH program at the school.