https://www.projectavant.org/home daily 1.0 2025-10-30 https://www.projectavant.org/team daily 0.75 2026-01-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f6258b8b494f26c05d4b4fc/28ef7ea8-9648-48bb-b927-537d5462fb21/Holt.jpg Team - Dr. Melissa Holt Tobias Keene, D.D.S. Hailing from Richmond, Virginia, Dr. Tobias Keene brings a bit of unabashed Southern hospitality to all his patients. He moved to Washington, D.C. over thirty years ago as a freshman at Ivy College. Right after graduation, he attended World University’s School of Dentistry. Before opening Keene Dental in 1994, he worked for free clinics and some of the finest practices in the District. He is part of the 123 Dental Association and stays up-to-date on the latest dental discoveries. When not striving to keep his patients happy and healthy, he’s enjoys hiking with his family in Rock Creek Park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f6258b8b494f26c05d4b4fc/f45e88ab-17b1-49fc-b46f-930881bb960b/1+Jennifer+Green.png Team - 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f6258b8b494f26c05d4b4fc/084f82f0-4dc7-4c16-afa7-9b25495cecc6/KParodi.jpg Team - Katharine Parodi Tobias Keene, D.D.S. Hailing from Richmond, Virginia, Dr. Tobias Keene brings a bit of unabashed Southern hospitality to all his patients. He moved to Washington, D.C. over thirty years ago as a freshman at Ivy College. Right after graduation, he attended World University’s School of Dentistry. Before opening Keene Dental in 1994, he worked for free clinics and some of the finest practices in the District. He is part of the 123 Dental Association and stays up-to-date on the latest dental discoveries. When not striving to keep his patients happy and healthy, he’s enjoys hiking with his family in Rock Creek Park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f6258b8b494f26c05d4b4fc/d786a18a-01a3-45d2-a6ec-5f2b3015586a/Katz-Wise%2BProf%2BPhoto_Apr%2B2020_crop.jpg Team - 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f6258b8b494f26c05d4b4fc/63ca5abd-d0a8-4859-88d5-d3bde5963849/EK+Headshot.jpg Team - Aidan Kraus Tobias Keene, D.D.S. Hailing from Richmond, Virginia, Dr. Tobias Keene brings a bit of unabashed Southern hospitality to all his patients. He moved to Washington, D.C. over thirty years ago as a freshman at Ivy College. Right after graduation, he attended World University’s School of Dentistry. Before opening Keene Dental in 1994, he worked for free clinics and some of the finest practices in the District. He is part of the 123 Dental Association and stays up-to-date on the latest dental discoveries. When not striving to keep his patients happy and healthy, he’s enjoys hiking with his family in Rock Creek Park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f6258b8b494f26c05d4b4fc/e96f8f2d-e6aa-460f-b283-83eef3425404/FUSCO+Headshot_2024.jpg Team - 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 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f6258b8b494f26c05d4b4fc/d4184968-b714-4c6f-9db8-64cd5402e7a8/IMG_4776.png Team - Alyssa Ciniglio Tobias Keene, D.D.S. Hailing from Richmond, Virginia, Dr. Tobias Keene brings a bit of unabashed Southern hospitality to all his patients. He moved to Washington, D.C. over thirty years ago as a freshman at Ivy College. Right after graduation, he attended World University’s School of Dentistry. Before opening Keene Dental in 1994, he worked for free clinics and some of the finest practices in the District. He is part of the 123 Dental Association and stays up-to-date on the latest dental discoveries. When not striving to keep his patients happy and healthy, he’s enjoys hiking with his family in Rock Creek Park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f6258b8b494f26c05d4b4fc/597547a4-9001-466f-bc70-84f66385c8db/Andra+BU+Headshot+2025.jpg Team - 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f6258b8b494f26c05d4b4fc/54fb5da2-280b-4255-a8df-b58d646363fc/Ranker_headshot.jpg Team - Make it stand out 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f6258b8b494f26c05d4b4fc/552ea780-9925-418e-bd83-d0dcc1179218/Screenshot+2025-11-02+at+5.28.30%E2%80%AFPM.png Team - Make it stand out Ely Hochfelder Ely Hochfelder (they/them) is a junior studying International Relations at the Boston University Pardee School of Global Studies. They concentrate on the cultural anthropology and regional politics of Latin America and have double-minors in Spanish and Portuguese. Ely is particularly interested in the development of queer and trans communities in Latin America and how these communities incorporate self-expression and bodily autonomy as a means of resistance. As a queer and trans person from rural Massachusetts, Ely's experience has inspired them to connect with global LGBTQ+ communities to understand how queer and trans people across the world have more in common than not. During Summer 2025, Ely traveled to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where they conducted an original independent ethnographic project sponsored by the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program at Boston University. Their ongoing project seeks to understand how the Brazilian military dictatorship shaped how transfeminine Brazilians engage with self-expression online and in-person as an antifriction device in conservative societies. As a research assistant, Ely hopes to provide a unique perspective on trans and non-binary mental health and apply what they learn from the Project AVANT team to their personal research. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f6258b8b494f26c05d4b4fc/2e9f9239-b8a2-49ac-8c80-afaee2a39f93/7.+Ziming-Xuan.jpg Team - Make it stand out 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f6258b8b494f26c05d4b4fc/250900b0-9252-467f-9665-2c19dcac29c3/Ivan+Hsiao Team - Make it stand out Ivan Hsiao, MPH Ivan Hsiao, MPH (they/he/she) is the Founder and CEO of Trans Health HQ, a digital care navigation platform that supports over 18,000 trans and gender-expansive community members and healthcare teams to access curated, affirming information and resources across the care journey, from first search to follow-up. Their work sits at the intersection of transgender health, public health research, and healthcare innovation, with a focus on building scalable infrastructure that reduces friction in specialty care access and closes equity gaps. At the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Ivan teaches the graduate seminar on transgender health with Dr. Sabra Katz-Wise and is affiliated with the Harvard SOGIE Health Equity Research Collaborative and GenderWise Lab at the Boston Children's Hospital. Their research interests include the mental health of transgender youth and critically examining how sex and gender are operationalized in clinical algorithms and care systems. Previously, Ivan worked in healthcare and life sciences management consulting designing access pathways for rare disease and oncology patients, and has held roles spanning venture-backed entrepreneurship and organizational DEI strategy. Ivan holds a BA from Columbia University and an MPH from Harvard University. https://www.projectavant.org/contact-us daily 0.75 2025-11-03 https://www.projectavant.org/our-mission daily 0.75 2025-11-04 https://www.projectavant.org/resources daily 0.75 2026-02-08 https://www.projectavant.org/surveyfindings daily 0.75 2026-02-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f6258b8b494f26c05d4b4fc/1670598403300-HJNHR5BTMYYK7FTTK2GK/AVANT_Infographic_pngversion.jpg Survey Findings https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f6258b8b494f26c05d4b4fc/7498ca51-35a2-4f5b-9178-e702c30e7387/JSP+2022+-+Infographic.jpg Survey Findings https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f6258b8b494f26c05d4b4fc/8addfcea-2302-4383-93c2-6c5971a38e7b/Screenshot+2025-11-03+at+11.46.26%E2%80%AFAM.png Survey Findings https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f6258b8b494f26c05d4b4fc/4e3385d9-8153-4ef4-9b34-812fba3949d6/Infographic+-+Qualitative+study+%281%29_page-0001.jpg Survey Findings