Commitment to Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion (EDI)

OVERVIEW: EDI is a critical part of my mentoring philosophy. As a first-generation researcher from a low socioeconomic background, I feel strongly that I would not have been able to successfully navigate the graduate school application process and conduct my own independent research in graduate school without the generous support of a wide mentorship team. In my research, I study aging populations who are underrepresented in the literature in general. But I also study the oldest-old (ages 85+ years), who represent the fastest growing segment of the global population and are even more underrepresented in brain and cognitive aging research. Below, I list some of previous experiences that emphasize my commitment to promoting EDI in academia and beyond.

Service Roles

Chair, Duke University Postdoctoral Association Outreach Committee, 2023 - pres. 

Member, Duke Brain Imaging and Analysis Center, Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion (EDI) Committee, 2023 - pres.

Judge, North Carolina Student Academy of Science Regional Competition, 2023

Visibility/Recruitment Leader, Duke Cognitive Neuroscience Research Internship, 2022 - pres.

Member, Job Search for Assistant Professor in the Cognitive Neuroscience of Aging Committee, UCR, 2021

Panelist, UCR Department of Psychology Graduate School Open House, 2020, 2021

Panelist, UCR PsiChi Graduate School Information Session, 2020

Member, UCR Graduate Student Well-Being Committee, 2020 - 2021

Member, Job Search for Psychology Laboratory Assistant Committee, 2019, 2021

Campus Representative, Association for Psychological Science, 2018 - 2020

Mentoring Experience

Supervisory Roles

Independent Project, Nicole Stepovich (Duke University). The Role of Bilingualism in Task-Related Functional Connectivity in Healthy Aging. 2022. 

Independent Project, Monique Ramirez (UCR). Basal ganglia network contributions to associative and skill learning. 2021.

Independent Project, Madeleine Mendoza (UCR). Implicit associative learning: Hippocampus and caudate involvement over time. 2019.

Senior Thesis, Sierra Cheung (UCR). Age-related differences in white matter integrity in the younger- and oldest-old. 2019.

Peer Mentor Roles

Next Generation of Psychology Scholars (NPSP), 2022.

UCR Women’s Resource Center Undergraduate Mentoring Program, 2020 - 2021.

UCR Department of Psychology First-Year Graduate Students, 2018 - 2021.

UCR Campus-wide Graduate Student Mentorship Program, 2018 - 2021.

Association for Psychological Science Undergraduate Mentoring Program, 2018 - 2020.

Formal Training

Certificate of Completion, Postdoc Academy: Building Skills for a Successful Career, 2023.

Maintaining Effective Communication and Aligning Expectations Workshop, 2022.

Building Your Skills as an Inclusive Mentor Workshop, 2022.