Dr. Tahirah Abdullah
Dr. Tahirah Abdullah received her B.A. in Psychology and Africana Studies from the University of Miami in 2006, and obtained her M.S. (2008) and Ph.D. (2013) in Clinical Psychology from the University of Kentucky. Dr. Abdullah is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Boston, where she mentors students, conducts research, provides clinical supervision, and teaches undergraduate introductory psychology and race, culture and relationships classes, as well as doctoral-level clinical intervention strategies and social justice in clinical psychology courses.
Dr. Abdullah is also the Dissertation Research and Scholarly Inquiry seminar leader at the Center for Multicultural Training in Psychology at Boston Medical Center/Boston University School of Medicine. In addition, she is co-founder of BARE Mental Health & Wellness, through which she provides workshops to promote mental health and wellness within Black communities, while also providing consultation on implementing anti-racist practices for systemic change in mental health centers and other businesses and institutions.
Collaborators
DR. Jessica LoPresti
Dr. LoPresti (she/her) is an Associate Professor at Suffolk University, licensed psychologist, and co-founder of BARE Mental Health and Wellness. She has focused her career on promoting the resilience, health, and well-being of people and communities of color and has published extensively on the multi-level impact of racism on mental health as well as barriers to quality and effective mental healthcare for underserved and underrepresented communities.
DR. Karen Suyemoto
Dr. Suyemoto is a Professor of Psychology and Asian American Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
DR. Nedra Lee
Dr. Lee (she/her) is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She is an archaeologist whose research examines the intersection of race, class, sex, and gender in the lives of African Americans during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
DR. Evan Auguste
Dr. Auguste (he/him) is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and director of the A.S.I.L.I. Collective, a research group whose work focuses broadly on addressing the mental health consequences of structural anti-Blackness through the lens of Black liberation psychology.
Black mental Health Advocacy & Research team Alumni
Samantha Duterville, M.A.
Shannon Hughley, Ph.D.
Keira (O’Donovan) Martinez, Ph.D.
Darrick Scott, Ph.D.
Noor Tahirkheli, Ph.D.
Jose Aguiar
Hayat Ahmed
Sancheska Brown
Devin Chandler
Nathan Chun
Keisy Gonzalez-Gomez
Claudia Goncalves
Ify Jikeme
Raz Kamal
Fernelle Leandre
Jeannette Mejia
Esthanette Reid
Rachel Rosa
Tiffany Sanca
Heidi Thomas
La Tina Watson
Current team Members
Kaela Yamini
Kaela (she/her) is a sixth-year Clinical Psychology doctoral student at the University of Massachusetts Boston, currently on internship at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. She is originally from Lawrenceville, GA, and graduated magna cum laude from the University of Georgia in 2020. Kaela's dissertation is focused on Black joy among Black adolescents.
Alyssa Christopher
Alyssa (they/them) is a fifth-year Clinical Psychology doctoral student at the University of Massachusetts Boston. They are originally from Lowell, MA and graduated from Centre College (Danville, KY) in 2017. Alyssa is interested in studying the impact of carceral systems on the psychological well-being of Black queer young adults and the presence of these structures within the mental health system. They are also interested in abolitionist and trauma-informed care, peer support, and other community-based approaches to healing.
Krystel Francis
Krystel (she/her) is a third-year Clinical Psychology doctoral student at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
Jordan Cherry
Jordan (she/her) is a third-year Clinical Psychology doctoral student at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
Nicholas McCaskill
Nicholas (they/he) is a first-year Clinical Psychology doctoral student at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
Alliyah Cuevas
Alliyah (she/her) is an undergraduate psychology major at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She graduated from Northern Essex Community College with an Associate’s degree in Liberal Arts: Psychology in 2022. Alliyah is completing her senior honors thesis examining the relations between internalized racism, race-based rejection sensitivity, and psychological distress, and the moderating role of social support.
kayla cadet
Kayla (she/her) is an undergraduate psychology major at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
Jairee Torres
Jairee (they/them) is an undergraduate psychology major at the University of Massachusetts Boston.