Jessie joined the UConn HDFS masters program in Fall 2022. She previously earned her bachelor’s in HDFS from UConn in May 2022.

As an undergraduate student, Jessie declared her major after taking HDFS 1060 with Dr. Kari Adamsons, who later connected her to her current advisor. Jessie began working with Dr. Rebecca Puhl on her undergraduate honors thesis after expressing an interest in weight stigma and body image. Her thesis used novel quantitative research assessing self-reported retrospective recall of body image, social media usage, exercise behaviors, and eating behaviors before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper is currently under review for publication. This research experience, partnered with Jessie’s love for UConn’s HDFS program, inspired Jessie to pursue her masters in HDFS. Jessie is currently working on her master’s thesis project with Dr. Puhl to examine how being in a romantic partnership is related to weight bias internalization among individuals of higher weight currently engaged in weight loss efforts.

In Jessie’s spare time, she loves to read mystery and fiction books, alpine ski, and run with her roommate. She is also employed with UC Cafes and can usually be found at Crossroads or Bookworms in between classes.

Yuanyuan Zhang is a first-year Ph.D. working with Dr. Na Zhang. Yuanyuan’s research interests include mindfulness, health, and well-being in the family context, as well as the application of mindfulness interventions in various domains. Specifically, she is interested in studying mindful grandparenting and relationship quality between parents and grandparents in three-generation families.

Before joining UConn for her doctoral studies, Yuanyuan worked as a research assistant at Zhejiang University, where she used mixed-methods research to verify the validity of an adapted mindfulness training program to improve the self-control of college students with academic difficulties. She obtained her master’s degree in applied psychology at East China Normal University, where she verified the effectiveness of mindful communication through a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. She found that mindful communication and cooperative orientation were positively correlated, with emotion regulation strategies, particularly acceptance, playing significant mediating roles in this association. She presented this research at the International Conference on Mindfulness Asia-Pacific in 2022.

Yuanyuan was born and raised in China and is currently in her first year in the United States. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, exploring nature, and engaging in fitness routines, including jogging. Meditation is also a regular part of her life.

Suge Zhang is a first-year PhD student working with Dr. Charles Super as an advisor. Her primary interest lies in how race, ethnicity, and culture interact to affect the experiences of Asian and Asian American parents and children. In particular, she is interested in ethnic-racial socialization among Asian immigrant families from an intergenerational perspective. Another line of her research focuses on Asian American fathering and the role of employment in Asian American fathers’ involvement in parenting.

Prior to starting her doctoral study at UConn, Suge worked as a Research Associate at the Yale Child Study Center, where she supported the preliminary development and validation of a new, multidimensional measure of Chinese parents’ emotion regulation beliefs and behaviors. She graduated from New York University (NYU) with a bachelors in social work and drama in 2018 and a masters of social work in 2019. During her time at NYU, Suge accumulated a diverse range of work experiences encompassing academic research, clinical practice, and social activism concerning understudied, under-recognized needs and challenges of Asian American families in New York City.

Suge was born and raised in China and moved to the US with her parents when she was 13. She attended New Haven public schools and spent her adolescent years in the East Rock neighborhood. During her free time, Suge enjoys exploring local eateries in New Haven with her friends and family.

Graduate student Cali Salafia was awarded a Predoctoral Research Fellowship in Psycho-Oncology from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to begin late May 2023. Congratulations Cali!

Congratulations to graduate student Lexi Tomkunas, who received funding from the Collaborative to Advance Equity Through Research on Women and Girls of Color through Africana Studies at UConn, for her project on Black girls and discipline through Florida schooling.

Graduate Student Rachael Farina was recently a co-leader in a discussion about inclusive sex and gender education for parents and caretakers at the Hartford Gay and Lesbian Health Collective.