Eminet Abebe Gurganus, PhD is a 2023 graduate of the HDFS doctoral program. She entered the program having earned her Bachelor’s and Master of Public Health degrees from Yale University. Her research interests pertain broadly to social determinants of health, with a specific interest in system-level interventions to address health inequities. Working with her advisor, Dr. Marlene Schwartz, she has investigated partnerships between the healthcare system and social services (e.g., food pantries) and how such partnerships can be improved and leveraged to better serve people in need. In her dissertation, she applied qualitative and quantitative methods to study the implementation of referral and linkage processes between healthcare and community-based organizations for patients experiencing needs such as food or housing insecurity.

In addition to her research, Eminet has worked for several years in the healthcare sector. Her roles have included serving as program manager for a children’s hospital’s community health initiatives, health policy associate at a statewide child health policy institute, and director of grantmaking for a foundation focused on health equity. She currently works in the insurance industry as a strategic advisor for health equity.

Outside of work, Eminet enjoys nature walks, birdwatching, cooking, and being mom to her two boys, which she considers a privilege and her most important job.

Congratulations to Makayla Dawkins, Bachelor of Science, Individualized major in Gender, Sexuality, and Reproduction; minor in Human Development and Family Sciences, winner of the Provost’s Award for Excellence in Community Engaged Scholarship – Undergraduate Student Award.

Graduate student Rachael Farina was recently interviewed for Cosmopolitan. Read the article here.

Congratulations to graduate student Lexi Tomkunas, who was awarded a 2023 Wood/Raith Gender Identity Living Trust summer fellowship.

Graduate student Kaleigh Ligus featured as one of the UConn students graduating this Spring. Read the article in UConn Today.

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.