Nicolina Fusco
Nicolina (Niki) Fusco (she/her) is a doctoral student at Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development, earning a degree in Counseling Psychology with a specialization in Child & Adolescent Development. Prior to her PhD, Niki graduated from CUNY Hunter College and earned a degree in Psychology with a minor in music and a concentration in clinical work and research. Niki then spent time working as a research assistant at The Consultation Center at Yale University where her work focused on community based research and interventions in New Haven, CT, working on projects such as to support substance use prevention in youth and police reform efforts within the community. Niki currently is a National Science Graduate Research Fellow at Boston University where her research aims to uplift the voices of LGBTQIA+ youth. Her research uses nationally representative sampled data that focuses on sexual and gender minority youth’s experiences of bias-based harassment, their interest, engagement, and barriers to STEM related fields, and most recently, their experiences with friendship and identity development. Her clinical work includes supporting individuals across the lifespan with a focus on identity development in youth. Further, her professional interests extend to creating more inclusive mental health treatment for queer, transgender, and gender-nonconforming adolescents.
Andra Preda
Andra Preda (she/her) is a doctoral student in the Counseling Psychology program at the Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development. Prior to her PhD, Andra attended Tufts University, earning a degree in Clinical Psychology with a minor in Child Studies and Human Development. She then worked at the Center for Anxiety and Traumatic Stress Disorders at Massachusetts General Hospital, focusing on the mechanisms underlying the efficacy of evidence-based treatments for anxiety, PTSD, and prolonged grief disorder. She has long held an interest in researching how to make mental healthcare more effective and accessible to marginalized populations, especially the LGBTQ+ community. Her prior research projects span various subjects: mechanisms of change in prolonged exposure therapy and prolonged grief disorder therapy, psychological pain in sexual minority young adults, physiological impacts of racial discrimination, and mindfulness-based interventions for PTSD. She hopes to leverage protective factors, such as social support, to develop more affirming and effective care for LGBTQ+ adolescents.