Nishita (Nishi) Dsouza is a researcher dedicated to promoting livable and equitable communities. She has extensive research experience in academic, nonprofit, and public sector settings on projects related to built environment and health, obesity prevention, access to health and social care, implementation science, and behavioral economics. Dr. Dsouza’s research portfolio centers around examining and promoting livable policies, systems, and environments for minoritized populations, and encouraging the dissemination of evidence-based findings for the translation of research across sectors for primary prevention purposes. In her dissertation research, she created and validated a new statewide measure of livability and conducted a multilevel analysis examining associations between livability and health in the state of Connecticut.
Before coming to SIG, Dr. Dsouza was a doctoral research fellow with the Drexel University Urban Health Collaborative and worked with Latino communities in Philadelphia on an NIMHD-funded grant to improve access to care for co-occurring issues of substance use, HIV/AIDS, domestic violence, and mental health. Before that, Dr. Dsouza served as a Commissioner's Fellow at the Tennessee Department of Health with their Office of Primary Prevention, managing a grant program for built environment and health projects in rural areas and providing training and technical assistance for health department staff.
Dr. Dsouza has a B.S. in Human Science from Georgetown University, an M.P.H specialized in Urban Design from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, and a Ph.D. in Community Health and Prevention from the Dornsife School of Public Health at Drexel University
Madison is a doctoral student at Columbia University School of Social Work exploring the intersections of intimate partner violence (IPV), illicit drug use, and criminalization. Her research explores the multi-level impact of substance use coercion among women who use drugs, aiming to understand the survival and care strategies they engage in when traditional paths to safety are unavailable.
Currently, Madison is a fellow in the NIH T-32 Predoctoral Training Program on HIV and Substance Use in the Criminal Justice System, under the mentorship of Dr. Victoria Frye. Her goal is to develop a syndemic-focused intervention to enhance safe drug use and reduce health-related risk factors associated with substance use coercion, such as overdose and intimate partner homicide.
Prior to her doctoral studies, Madison worked as a counselor and legal advocate for criminalized survivors detained at Rikers Island. She also served as a case manager for incarcerated men in Detroit, MI. In her personal time, Madison runs a community mutual aid initiative providing survivors of IPV and sex trafficking with free tattoo cover-ups. Madison earned her BA from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, and her MSW from Columbia University School of Social Work
Kevonyah Edwards is a doctoral student at the Columbia University School of Social Work. Her research focuses on integrating culturally competent substance abuse treatment within correctional settings. Her interest broadly focuses on providing behavioral health services in both correctional and community correctional settings. Prior to coming to Columbia, Kevonyah was a clinical supervisor at Talbert House, a large non-profit organization in Cincinnati, Ohio, She oversaw the daily clinical operations of a 146 jail-based substance abuse program in conjunction with the Hamilton County Justice Center. Kevonyah earned her Master of Social Work degree from the University of Cincinnati in 2019 where she was a PRI-Care Fellow where she worked to integrate behavioral health services into primary care. Keonyah graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 2015 with a Bachelors of Science in Criminal Justice. Kevonyah is a Licensed Social Worker (LSW) and Licensed Independent Chemical Dependency Counselor (LICDC) in the state of Ohio.
Linkedin link linkedin.com/in/kevonyah-e-b1507595.
Dr. Dean Rivera is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow and a Postdoctoral Research Scientist. Since 2003, Dr. Rivera’s research and professional experience have centered on system- and individual-level factors that affect the treatment and well-being of individuals and families affected by a substance use disorder (SUD). At Columbia University, Dr. Rivera is receiving advanced implementation science training while working on the HEALing Communities Study, which uses a multisystem and multilevel intervention model (Communities That Heal) to reduce opioid overdose deaths by 40% and increase access to naloxone and medication assisted treatment among 67 communities across four states.
In Los Angeles, California, Dr. Rivera conducted a multisite research study with women’s SUD treatment providers (directors and clinicians) to generate a deeper understanding of how cross-system policies and clinical practices between problem-solving courts (PSC), child welfare (CW), and SUD treatment systems adversely affect treatment processes and outcomes. At the individual level, his research seeks to advance understanding of women’s SUD treatment retention and completion differences and associated psychological risk factors between the three primary SUD treatment entry pathways (PSC, CW, and self-referral).
Through an implementation science framework, Dr. Rivera’s research focuses on multisystem and multilevel implementation of evidence-based interventions and practices that will improve SUD treatment delivery systems, treatment provision, and outcomes for individuals and communities affected by SUDs.
Various grant, scholarship foundations, and universities have supported Dr. Rivera’s future such as the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) T32 Training Program on HIV and Substance Use in the Criminal Justice System, the University of Southern California Hamovitch Research Center, the California State University Chancellor’s Doctoral Incentive Program Fellowship, the California State University Pre-Doctoral Fellowship, the National Hispanic Science Network, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, the Hispanic Community Affairs Council, the National Association of Social Workers (Consuelo W. Gosnell Memorial Scholarship), and the CalSWEC II mental health stipend award.
Dr. Dean Rivera has been honored and recognized by distinguished politicians, including California Attorney General Rob Bonta and California Congresswoman Barbara Lee (13th District) for his community engaged service and advocacy. Being further recognized by President Barack Obama, receiving the President’s Volunteer Service Award, reinforces Dr. Rivera’s passion and commitment to improving SUD treatment delivery systems, policies, and clinical practices through social work science.
Dean holds a PhD from the University of Southern California, an MSW from California State University, East Bay, and a BA in Human Development from California State University, East Bay.
Publications:
Rivera, Dueker, & Amaro, 2020
Rivera, Dueker, Sanchez, & Amaro, 2021
Daria is a doctoral student at Columbia University School of Social Work on the Advanced Practice track. Their research focuses on gentrification, social determinants of health, and the impacts of racism and discrimination on mental health, self-determination, and self-worth. As their research takes a community-focused approach to systems of oppression, Daria intends to improve policy that disproportionately criminalizes and incarcerates communities of color by leveraging data that amplifies the voices of the communities directly impacted by these policies with the goal of identifying actionable and equitable recommendations. As a Fellow in the NIH T32 Predoctoral Training Program on HIV and Substance Use in the Criminal Justice System, Daria hopes to focus their work on those incarcerated who have been impacted by substance use, housing insecurity, and other social determinants of health.
Prior to coming to Columbia, Daria was a therapist at the Valley Youth House Achieving Independence Center, where they empowered clients to achieve wellness goals through individual solution-focused brief therapy and group therapy. Daria earned their Master of Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice in 2022, where they had rich clinical experiences at the Anti-Violence Partnership of Philadelphia where they conducted trauma-focused therapy sessions, and at Delaware County Memorial Hospital where they facilitated substance use therapy sessions with individuals and groups. Daria graduated with her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Michigan in 2020, where they assisted with research on methods and sex differences, facilitated dialogues for high school students on power and privilege, and researched implicit gender stereotypes in parents and children using open source software.
Fellows
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