Cindy C. Sangalang

Cindy C. Sangalang, PhD, MSW, is an assistant professor of Social Welfare and Asian American Studies at UCLA. Drawing on theory and knowledge across disciplines, her research examines how race, migration, and culture intersect to shape health outcomes and inequities for migrant and refugee communities, especially for Asian Americans.

A primary concern driving Dr. Sangalang’s research is understanding how Asian migrant communities articulate and are affected by trauma and stress, over time and intergenerationally. Her work also explores how histories of oppression within migrant and other minoritized communities are relevant for identifying and disrupting mechanisms by which structural inequalities influence health. Dr. Sangalang uses quantitative and qualitative methods as well as community-based participatory research approaches to elucidate questions within these core areas of interest.

Currently, she is leading a study in partnership with Filipino American community organizers to study the impact of COVID-19 pandemic-related stress and violence on Filipino American essential workers and their families.

Dr. Sangalang has been a principal investigator on research funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and the State of California. She earned her Ph.D. and Masters in Social Welfare from UCLA and trained as a postdoctoral fellow in health disparities research at Arizona State University. Previously she was on the faculty in Social Work at Arizona State University and at California State University, Los Angeles.

 

Visit Google Scholar for a full list of her publications.

 

Selected Publications:

 

Sangalang, C. C., Vang, C., Kim, B. J., & Harachi, T. W. (2022). Effects of trauma and post-migration stress on refugee women’s health: A life course perspective. Social Work, 67(3).

 

Mitchell, F. M., Sangalang, C. C., Lechuga-Peña, S., Lopez, K. & Becerra, D. (2020). Health   inequities in historical context: A critical race theory analysis of diabetes among African Americans and American Indians. Race & Social Problems, 12(4), 289-299.

 

Sangalang, C. C., Becerra, D., Mitchell, F. M., Lechuga-Pena, S., Lopez, K., & Kim, I. (2019). Trauma, post-migration stress, and mental health: A comparative analysis of Asian and Latino refugees and immigrants in the United States. Journal of Immigrant & Minority Health, 21(5), 909-919.

 

Sangalang, C. C., Jager, J., & Harachi, T. W. (2017). Effects of maternal traumatic stress on family functioning and child mental health: An examination of Southeast Asian refugee families in the U.S. Social Science & Medicine, 184, 178-186.

 

Sangalang, C. C. & Vang, C. (2017) Intergenerational trauma in refugee families: A systematic review. Journal of Immigrant & Minority Health, 19(3), 745-754.

 

Sangalang, C. C. & Gee, G. C. (2015). Racial discrimination and depression among Cambodian American adolescents: The role of gender. Journal of Community Psychology, 43(4), 447-465.

 

Sangalang, C. C., Ngouy, S., & Lau, A. S. (2015). Using community-based participatory research to identify health and service needs of Cambodian American adolescents. Families & Community Health, 38(1), 55-65.

 

Sangalang, C. C. & Gee, G. C. (2012). Depression and anxiety among Asian Americans: The effects of social support and strain. Social Work, 57(1), 49-60.

Ron Avi Astor

Ron Avi Astor holds the Marjorie Crump Chair Professorship in Social Welfare at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs with a joint appointment in the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. His work examines the role of the physical, social-organizational and cultural contexts in schools related to different kinds of bullying and school violence (e.g., sexual harassment, cyber bullying, discrimination hate acts, school fights, emotional abuse, weapon use, teacher/child violence). This work documents the ecological influences of the family, community, school and culture on different forms of bullying and school violence. This work has been used worldwide. Astor’s studies have included tens of thousands of schools and millions of students, teachers, parents and administrators. Over the past 20 years, findings from these studies have been published in more than 200 scholarly manuscripts.

Along with his colleague Rami Benbenishty, Astor developed a school mapping and monitoring procedure that is used “at scale” regionally and with local students and teachers to generate “grassroots” solutions to safety problems. The findings of these studies have been widely cited in the international media, in the United States, and Israel.

Astor’s work has won numerous international research awards from the Society for Social Work Research, the American Psychological Association, the American Educational Research Association, the Military Child Educational Coalition and other research organizations. He has an honorary doctorate from Hebrew Union College. Astor is a fellow of APA, AERA, and an elected member of the National Academy of Education and American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare.

His work has been funded by the Department of Defense Educational Activity, National Institutes of Mental Health, H.F. Guggenheim Foundation, National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation, William T. Grant Foundation, Israeli Ministry of Education, a Fulbright Senior Scholar Fellowship, University of Michigan, USC and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and other foundations.

James Lubben

James Lubben is Professor Emeritus at UCLA where he taught for 20 years and was Associate Dean and Department Chair. He is also Professor Emeritus at Boston College where he was the Louise McMahon Ahearn Endowed Professor in Social Work for 15 years. During his 35 years in the academy, Dr. Lubben mentored over 200 doctoral students and junior faculty. He served on over 50 doctoral dissertation committees and secured dissertation research funding for over 150 doctoral students. He has published over 125 peer reviewed articles and chapters and edited 7 books. He has been a principal investigator or collaborator on over $35 million (direct costs) of research and training grants.

The primary aim of his research examines social isolation as a behavioral health risk among older populations. To carry out this research, he developed the Lubben Social Network Scale (LSNS), an abbreviated measure designed for both research and clinical use among older populations. The LSNS has been translated into many languages and employed in studies throughout the world. Scores on the LSNS have been associated with a wide array of health indicators including mortality, morbidity, psychological distress and loneliness, cognitive impairment, and health care use.

Dr. Lubben served many years as a consultant to the World Health Organization regarding health and welfare systems development for aging societies.  He also served as a Fulbright Senior Specialist to Chile. Dr. Lubben served four terms (12 years) on the congressionally mandated Gerontology and Geriatrics Advisory Committee for the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. He was elected to three different national boards for social work education: Society for Social Work and Research, Council on Social Work Education, and the Group to Advance Doctoral Education. He also served two terms (6 years) on the Executive Committee for the Grand Challenges in Social Work Initiative sponsored by the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare. Dr. Lubben is a Fellow in the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare and also a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America.

Selected Publications

Chi, I., Chappell, N. L., & Lubben, J.   (2001). Elderly Chinese in Pacific Rim Countries – Social Support and Integration.  Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.

Lubben, JE, Blozik, E, Gillmann, G, Iliffe, S, Kruse, WR, Beck, JC, Stuck, AE. (2006). Performance of an Abbreviated Version of the Lubben Social Network Scale among Three European Community-Dwelling Older Adult Populations. The Gerontologist, 46(4):503–513.

Crooks, VC, Lubben, JE, Petti, DB, Little, D & Chiu, V. (2008). Social Network, Cognitive Function and Dementia Incidence in Elderly Women. American Journal of Public Health. 98:1221-1227.  PMCID: PMC2424087

Lubben, JE. (2009). Cultivating a New Generation of Scholars: The Hartford Doctoral Fellows Program.  In NR Hooyman (Ed.), Transforming Social Work Education: The First Decade of the Hartford Geriatric Social Work Initiative. (pp. 79-97). Alexandria, VA: Council on Social Work Education Press.

Sabbath, EL, Lubben, JE, Goldberg, M, Berkman, LF (2015). Social engagement across the retirement transition among young-old adults in the French GAZEL cohort. European Journal of Ageing 12(4): 311-320.  PMCID: PMC5549155

Lubben, J. (2017).  Addressing social isolation as a potent killer! Public Policy & Aging Report. 27(4):136-138.

Fong, R., Lubben, J. & R. Barth, R.P. (Eds.). (2018). Grand Challenges for social work and society: Social progress powered by science. New York and Washington, DC: Oxford University Press.

Vilar-Compte, M; Vargas-Bustamante, A & Lubben, J. (2018). Validation study of the abbreviated version of the Lubben Social Network Scale Spanish translation among Mexican and Mexican-American older adults. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology. 33:83-99.

Lachman, M. E., Lipsitz, L., Lubben, J., Castaneda-Sceppa, C., & Jette, A. M. (2018). When Adults Don’t Exercise: Behavioral Strategies to Increase Physical Activity in Sedentary Middle-Aged and Older Adults. Innovation in Aging, 2(1), gy007. http://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igy007. PMCID: PMC6037047

Amy Ritterbusch

Dr. Amy E. Ritterbusch is an Assistant Professor of Social Welfare at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. Her work illuminates both the theory and practice of participatory action research (PAR), invoking the Latin American origins of this mode of inquiry, and focuses on multiple forms of state violence perpetrated against what she and activist co-authors refer to as ‘street-connected’ communities, including children and youth who depend on the streets for survival in the absence of other caring structures. Dr. Ritterbusch leads PAR collectives in Colombia and Uganda that work in solidarity with street-connected-communities against police violence and forced displacement.

The urgency of action, from the streets toward policy, is a key focus of Dr. Ritterbusch’s scholarship, and her work offers methodological and theoretical insights on how to do PAR with historically marginalized communities in ways that repel extractive, unilateral, and colonial modes of traditional scientific inquiry.  Throughout her research and teaching career, she has explored different forms of radical accompaniment of social leaders on the frontlines in the global South and continues to imagine new pathways forward toward a Fals Bordian ciencia popular involving the collective work of movements and academics in protective spaces that grow in distance from both the non-profit and academic industrial complex.

Dr. Ritterbusch’s scholarship involves public intellectual work in the global South including human rights shadow reports, street-level organizing and collective writing that seeks to influence policy outcomes for social justice. Her research has been funded by the Open Society Foundations, the National Science Foundation, the Fulbright U.S. Program and other networks promoting global social justice.

 

Selected Collective and Individual Publications:

Correa-Salazar, C., Martínez, L., Maldonado Salamanca, D., Ruiz, Y., Rocío Guarín, L.,  Hernández Guarín, A.,  & Ritterbusch, A. (2022) Reflections on activism, the academy and the Non-Profit Industrial Complex in Colombia: What a revolutionary ethos might look like, Global Public Health

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2022.2042354

Ritterbusch, A., Simbaqueba Gomez, A.L., Restrepo, J., Montes, N., Rentería, C., Velazco, Y., García Jaramillo, S. & Maldonado, D. (2021). Growing Up Guerreándola: On Adolescent Formations of Conscientização in Colombia. The Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare 48(4): 118-146.

DOI: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol48/iss4/7

Ritterbusch, A., Pinzon, E., Reyes, R., Pardo, J., Jaime, D., Correa-Salazar, C. (2020). ‘I feel safer in the streets than at home’: Rethinking harm reduction for women in the urban margins. Global Public Health. 15(10): 1479-1495.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2020.1751234

Ritterbusch, A. & El Cilencio. (2020). ‘We will always be street’: Remembering the L in Bogotá, Colombia. City. 24(1-2): 210-219.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13604813.2020.1739915

Ritterbusch, A., Boothby, N., Mugumya, F., Wanican, J., Bangirana, C.,   Nyende, N., Ampumuza, D., Apota, J.  & Meyer, S. (2020). Pushing the Limits of Child Participation in Research and Policy-Making: Reflections from a Youth-Driven Participatory Action Research (YPAR) Initiative in Uganda. International  Journal of  Qualitative Methods. 19:1-12.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406920958962

Ritterbusch, A. (2019). Empathy at Knifepoint: The Dangers of Research and Lite Pedagogies for Social Justice Movements. Antipode 51(4): 1296-1317.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/anti.12530

Human Rights Reports

Comisión Ciudadana Nacional e Internacional (National and International Citizen Commission). (2022). “En Colombia Nos Volvimos Cifras”: Informe para el esclarecimiento de los hechos occuridos el 9, 10 y 11 de septiembre de 2020 en Bogotá y Soacha [In Colombia We Became Numbers’: Shadow Report for the Historical Clarification of the [Police Brutalities] Occurring on the 9th, 10th and 11th of September of 2020 in Bogotá and Soacha]. Bogotá: CCEEU (La Coordinación Colombia Europa Estados Unidos) Available online:

https://www.cinep.org.co/es/informe-en-colombia-nos-volvimos-cifras/

https://coeuropa.org.co/en-colombia-nos-volvimos-cifras/

Simbaqueba, A., Restrepo, J. & Ritterbusch, A. (2020). Vidas y territorios en disputa: dolor, memoria y lucha de la población LGBTI en las laderas [Lives and territories in dispute: Pain, memory and struggle of the LGBTQ community in the urban margins]. National Truth Commission. Bogotá, Colombia.

Available online: https://issuu.com/vidas_territorios_en_disputa/docs/vidas_y_territorios_en_disputa_–_dolor__memoria_y

Blandón, T., Espinosa, J., González, T., Camacho Iannini, S.I., Juanita, Llano Agudelo, A., Fonseca, C., González Coy, P., Guardiola Navarro, A.C., Leguízamo Parales, M.V., Maldonado Salamanca, D., Pérez, C., Pérez, G., Romero, A., Ruiz, Y., Salamanca Cortés, J., Sarasty, A.S., Uribe Durán, S., Victoria Mena, P., Weinstein, L., Summer, V., Ritterbusch, A. & González, M. (2019). Sueños furiosos: Aportes para la construcción de una agenda política trans [Furious Dreams: Contributions for the Construction of a Trans Political Agenda]. Institute on Inequality and Democracy. Luskin School of Public Affairs, UCLA.

Available online:

https://challengeinequality.luskin.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2019/09/Ritterbusch-Amy-SUE%C3%91OS-FURIOSOS.pdf

Tovar, M., Trejos, C., Giraldo, Y., Delgado, G., Lanz, A., Lanz, S., León, S., Lloreda, A., Pardo, L., Morales, A., Salamanca, J & Ritterbusch, A. (2017). Destapando la olla: Informe sombra sobre la intervención en el Bronx [Uncovering the Pot: Shadow Report on the [Police] Intervention in El Bronx]. Bogotá: Impresol Ediciones.

Available online:

https://issuu.com/cpat_ong/docs/destapando_la_olla_

Cubides Kovacsics, M.I., Lloreda, A., Pardo, L., Picasso, N., Lanz, A., Ritterbusch, A., Montoya, M.J., Guzmán, Y., Cocomá, A., Rubianogroot, M., Vargas, M.A., Chaux, S. (2016). Ley Entre Comillas: Informe de Derechos Humanos del Observatorio de Trabajo Sexual [. Bogotá: Parces – PAIIS.

Available online:

https://issuu.com/adrianamarialloreda/docs/ley_entre_comillas_informe_ddhh_tra

Carol A. Leung, LCSW

Carol A. Leung’s research area is broadly focused on the areas of gun violence and suicide prevention. Her dissertation focuses on whether proximal and distal suicide risk factors are associated with firearm use for suicide by women in different age groups. In this work, Carol evaluates whether there are precipitating circumstances and life events that predispose women to suicide by firearms. This research is of particular importance given the complexity of gun violence in the United States as well as the rising suicide rates among women.

Carol has advanced training in research methods and theory development and is particularly skilled in conducting quantitative research with large data sets, including the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention’s National Violent Death Reporting System. She has published her research in peer-reviewed journals, including International Social Work and the Journal of Aging & Social Policy. Recently, Carol published a manuscript entitled “Deploying an Ecological Model to Stem the Rising Tide of Firearm Suicide in Older Age.” Carol has taught or assisted in teaching courses for undergraduate and graduate students at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs since 2015. These include classes in health policy, aging and diversity, adult psychopathology, firearm violence, human behavior and the social environment, and research methods. Additionally, she has worked on three grant-funded projects in her area of research and presented at 11 conferences and workshops.

Carol is a licensed clinical social worker. Prior to UCLA, she worked as a psychotherapist at Flushing Hospital Outpatient Mental Health Clinic in New York City serving immigrant and refugee populations. Carol has six other publications in clinical training guides and book chapters on topics related to multicultural skills and mental health interventions. She graduated with honors from the University of Texas at Austin in Psychology with a Business Administration minor in 2009.

Leung, C.A. (2014). Bye-bye bullies. In M. Cheung, Therapeutic games and guided imagery Volume II: Working with children, adolescents and families with special needs and in multicultural settings (A13). Chicago, IL: Lyceum Books.

Cheung, M., & Leung, C.A. (To be published in 2019). Social-cultural and ecological perspective. In R. Ow & A. Poon (Eds.), Mental health and Social Work. New York, NY: Springer.

Ashleigh Herrera

Ashleigh Herrera’s research focuses on the treatment of co-occurring psychiatric and substance use disorders in minority populations.

This research endeavor seeks to provide insight into population characteristics related to experiences with trauma and psychiatric conditions in order to guide practice and policy related to the provision of SUD treatment services for patients and the importance of integrated treatment for trauma, PTSD, and other psychiatric conditions.

Her dissertation utilizes secondary data in order to examine the role of lifetime experiences of trauma and psychiatric conditions and distress on residential substance use disorder (SUD) treatment outcomes for patients with Medi-Cal in Los Angeles County

Ms. Herrera specializes in quantitative methodology and program evaluation. She has training in

the following software systems: ARC-GIS, SPSS, and NVivo. She has worked as a research assistant for faculty members at UCLA as well as the University of Houston, Graduate College of Social Work, culminating in several publications in peer-reviewed journals, such as Social Work and the Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health. She has presented her work at both national and international social work conferences, including in Hong Kong and Sweden. Ms. Herrera has taught undergraduate courses at UCLA. These have included classes in aging and human behavior in the social environment.

Additionally, Ms. Herrera has worked in direct clinical practice since 2015. In 2017, she obtained her LCSW. She is currently working as the onsite clinician at a residential SUD treatment facility. In this capacity, she conducts assessments, develops treatment plans, provides individual counseling, facilitates psychoeducational groups, trains AOD counselors, and collaborates with

DMH, SAPC, DCFS, and DOC to address the needs of her patients.

Prior to entering the doctoral program at UCLA, Ms. Herrera graduated at the top of her class from the MSW program at the University of Houston, Graduate College of Social Work, where she focused on Macro Practice and obtained a specialization in Trabajo Social (Social Work Practice with Latinos). During her MSW program, she completed internships in Houston, Texas, and Hong Kong. She also served as the President of the Hispanic Student Association. In 2010, she graduated Cum Laude with her bachelor’s degree in History and minor Sociology from the University of Houston.

SELECTED BOOKS & PUBLICATIONS

“Factors Contributing to Depressive Symptoms among Mexican Americans and Latinos”

“The Perceived Role of Family in Heroin Use Behaviors of Mexican-American Men.”

Joanna Barreras

Dr. Joanna L. Barreras’ research focuses on understanding and addressing health and mental health disparities among Latinos. Joanna is particularly interested in the role of Latino cultural factors, such as familism, fatalism, family cultural conflict, acculturation, and acculturative stress, with regard to wellbeing and healthcare service utilization. Through her research, Joanna aims to develop culturally grounded policies and interventions to increase health and mental health service utilization.

Ms. Barreras is well-trained in both quantitative and qualitative research methods. In collaboration with faculty at UCLA, the Medical College of Wisconsin, the RAND Corporation, and Kaiser Permanente’s Department of Research & Evaluation, Ms. Barreras has worked on projects funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)— including PI and Co-I roles. Joanna has presented her work at interdisciplinary academic conferences, has taught graduate and undergraduate classes at UCLA and California State University Los Angeles, and has publications in high impact journals.

Joanna is currently the Associate Director of Research and Evaluation at Bienestar Human Services, Inc., a community-based organization that focuses on identifying and addressing health issues faced by Latino sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations. Drawing upon 10 years of research experience on Latino health and mental health disparities, five of which include research with the SGM communities and HIV prevention and intervention. Further, Joanna has contributed to several community-based initiatives and professional undertakings that address the needs of disenfranchised and marginalized groups.

Through her research, Joanna aims to develop interventions to improve the well-being of diverse minority communities. Joanna is a graduate of California State University, Long Beach (BA in Psychology) and California State University, Los Angeles (MSW). She was born and raised in East Los Angeles, California and is fluent in Spanish.

Courtney Demko

Courtney Demko’s research focuses on caregiver health and well-being. She is particularly interested in Alzheimer’s caregivers and young adult caregiver burden. Courtney’s dissertation uses national survey data and focuses on the multidimensional factors associated with caregiver burden among young adult caregivers from the millennial population. This research is of particular importance given the increase of the older adult population in the U.S. and will demonstrate to policymakers and program planners the unique needs of an overlooked population.

Courtney has training and experience in both quantitative and qualitative methodologies and has used her research skills on several grant-funded research projects at UCLA. She is a member of the Latino Economic Security (LES) team at UCLA which researches the economic impact of a nation growing older and more diverse. Courtney served as the Project Director for the team’s latest project which included conducting focus groups and surveying older white conservative adults in Orange County, CA looking at their attitudes and beliefs towards immigration and immigration policy. She has published in peer-reviewed journals such as The Journal of the American Society on Aging and book chapters on topics related to aging and diversity.

As part of Courtney’s doctoral training, she has also acquired management and administrative experience as the Assistant Director for the Center for Policy Research on Aging at UCLA’s Department of Social Welfare and Public Policy. Courtney’s expertise includes writing grants for leading foundations.

Courtney also has several years of teaching experience. She has assisted in teaching both master’s and undergraduate courses at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs Department of Social Welfare. These include classes in Social Work Research Methods, Social Work Policy and Diversity and Aging. She’s also served as a Guest Lecturer at UCLA’s Department of Social Welfare including topics on Caregiving and Public Policy. Prior to entering the doctoral program, Courtney acquired training leading support groups and providing one-on-one counseling with homeless women at the Downtown Women’s Center on Skid Row in Los Angeles. She also gained experience providing care consultations and co-facilitating support groups for early-stage Alzheimer’s patients and their family caregivers at the Alzheimer’s Association in Los Angeles.

Courtney earned her B.A. in Political Science from Davidson College (2005), and an M.S.W from UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs, Department of Social Welfare with a specialization in Gerontology (2013).

SELECTED BOOKS & PUBLICATIONS

The Politics of Aging in a Majority-Minority Nation and Later-Life Social Support and Service Provision in Diverse and Vulnerable Populations.

Lia W. Marshall

Lia W. Marshall’s research focuses on older adult well-being. She is particularly interested in understanding prolonged independence and ability to age in place by investigating the interconnections between social isolation, mobility, and the built environment. Lia’s mixed methods dissertation, situated at the nexus of social welfare, gerontology and urban planning, seeks to understand the mobility experiences of socially isolated older adult women. This research is an important step in guiding policymakers to effectively allocate resources to enable aging in place and to enhance the lives of older women.

While Lia has training in both quantitative and qualitative research methods, she is particularly skilled in employing qualitative methodologies. In collaboration with faculty in both UCLA’s Urban Planning and Social Welfare Departments, she has served as a graduate research assistant for several projects, including “Disrupting Aging & Building Livable Communities: Los Angeles”, and with The Los Angeles Community Academic Partnership for Research in Aging (L.A. CAPRA). Lia has presented her work at conferences across academic disciplines, and has taught and guest lectured with both master’s students and undergraduates. Lia’s interests in social welfare, gerontology and urban planning inspired her to develop and teach the course entitled: “Environmentally Sustainable Aging: Diversity, Resilience, and Health” as a teaching fellow at UCLA.

In addition to teaching, Ms. Marshall continues her community engagement work with the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust as a Steering Committee member for Golden Age Park, the first intergenerational park in Los Angeles, and as the Service Learning Coordinator for the UCLA undergraduate gerontology cluster. Lia received a Masters of Social Work from California State University, Los Angeles and a Bachelors of Arts in Psychology from the University of California at Santa Cruz.