Meet our Ph.D. candidates
The next generation of social work research scholars, educators and leaders.
The VCU School of Social Work is proud to present our Ph.D. candidates who are on the job market.
Kade Goldin, M.S.W., M.Ed.
I am focused on being part of research that centers lived experts, engages with community members or organizations invested in the work, and is committed to making a positive impact. I will continue to prioritize projects that are collaboratively designed and consistently value youth as co-researchers.”
Katie Kim, M.S.W., LMSW
My work centers on the often-overlooked realities of parents with alcohol and other substance use disorders, and how caregiving, stigma and systemic barriers shape their paths to treatment and recovery. I aim to reframe substance use as a family and social issue, not just an individual one, and to promote healing pathways that strengthen both parents and children.”
Learn more about Katie Kim.
Marianne Lund, LMSW
Entrepreneurship is about starting with your means, learning to manage contingencies, predicting less but controlling more, building networks, minimizing risk. Entrepreneurship is as much a framework for life design as it is a model for economic engagement, product innovation and market creation.”
Caitlin Mayton, LCSW
I hope to expand the field of social work’s understanding of health equity and how to integrate ourselves within healthcare to support and serve patients.”
Rose Miola, LCSW, M.T.S.
My research area grew out of nine years of post-master’s clinical work in a variety of behavioral health contexts. I recognized a gap in clinical interventions regarding how to support meaning-making when trauma, specifically sexual violence, disrupts one’s existential paradigm. My dissertation research seeks to fill this gap with a community-based photovoice project designed to understand how survivors of sexual violence experience the process of posttraumatic growth, and how they can make meaning and move toward positive change after trauma.”
Ya-Li Yang, M.S.W, LSW
Family involvement can be a powerful asset in an individual’s path to recovery, particularly when families are equipped with the essential tools to provide effective support. My research aims to identify the strengths and challenges that families encounter, to inform future family-centered interventions.”
Dissertation
Centering student voice in conversations of care
Education
M.S.W., California State University San Marcos
M.Ed., Bloomsburg University
Statement
Kade is most interested in research that partners with lived experts and community organizations to develop collaborative approaches that improve or inform programs, practice and policies. Kade enjoys working with youth and young adults, LGBTQ+ populations and school-based practitioners.
Research interests
- Community-based research
- Participatory action research
- LGBTQ+ topics
- Youth and young Adults
- School-based supports
Teaching experience
- Social Work 332: Generalist Practice Social Work (Virginia Commonwealth University)
- Social Work 330: Social Work Theory & Assessment with Families, Small Groups, and Mezzo Systems (Virginia Commonwealth University)
- Social Work 531: SW Practice with Individuals and Families II (Portland State University)
- Social Work 541: Societal, Community and Organizational Structures (Portland State University)
Highlighted publications
- Goldin, K. (2025). Towards a Queer and Trans Ethic of Care in Education: Beyond the Limitations of White, Cisheteropatriarchal, Colonial Care: Dr. Bishop Owis. Routledge, 2024; 148 pp.
- Chen, C. C., Naff, D. B., Liu, X., Murphy, J., Wallace, M., Shin, S., Goldin, K., Williams, S., Armwood, C., Jenkins, R., & Gooding, M. (2024). PK-12 Faculty and Staff Capacity to Support Student Mental Health.
- Matijczak, A., Wagaman, M. A., Hall, C., Goldin, K., Shelton, J., & Roberts, C. (2025). Trans Mentor Project: A Qualitative Evaluation of an Online Mentoring Program for Transgender and Nonbinary Youth. Child & Youth Services, 1-15.
Selected honors & awards
- Frank and Patricia Baskind Scholarship Recipient
- Elaine Z. Rothenberg Memorial Scholarship Recipient
- Hampton Roads Pride Foundation Scholarship Recipient
→ Learn more about Kade Goldin: Full profile | CV | Contact: goldink@vcu.edu
Dissertation
Substance use disorder treatment and parenting: Treatment-need recognition, intervention effects, and program design.
This dissertation examines unmet treatment needs and perceived barriers among parents with alcohol or other substance use disorders, evaluates the effects of parenting and family-centered interventions, and investigates how program design and delivery may shape intervention outcomes.
Education
M.S.W., University of Michigan
B.S., social work, George Mason University
Statement
Katie’s research examines how substance use disorders affect parents and families, with particular attention to unmet treatment needs, family-centered interventions and the design of services that support both recovery and parenting. Her work approaches substance use not only as an individual health concern but also as a family and system issue shaped by caregiving responsibilities, stigma, service structures and unequal access to care.
Her dissertation examines treatment needs, intervention effects and program design among parents with alcohol or other substance use disorders. Across the dissertation, her research identifies patterns of perceived treatment barriers among parents who recognize a need for help but have not received treatment or other recovery services; synthesizes evidence on the effects of parenting and family-centered interventions on parenting, family relationships, mental health, child behavior and substance use; and examines how intervention components, delivery formats, intensity, fidelity procedures and comparison conditions may shape outcomes. Together, these studies aim to clarify how parents access substance use disorder treatment, what family-centered interventions can achieve and how such programs can be designed to better support recovery and family well-being.
Through this work, Katie aims to advance evidence-informed policies and practices that improve treatment engagement, strengthen family-centered services and support the long-term well-being of parents and children affected by substance use.
Research interests
- Parental Substance Use Disorders
- Enhancing Treatment Engagement for Parents
- Family Centered Substance Use Interventions
- Parenting, Recovery and Systems Involvement
- Intergenerational Trauma and Substance Use
- Child Welfare and Substance-Exposed Families
- Structural and Gender-Based Barriers to Care
- Equity Informed Approaches to Behavioral Health
Teaching interests
- Research Methods in Social Work
- Clinical Social Work Practice
- Substance Use Disorders and Interventions
- Human Behavior in the Social Environment
- Evidence Based Practice and Implementation
Highlighted publications
- Brummer, J. E., Frederiksen, K. S., Karriker-Jaffe, K. J., Kim, K. N., & Chartier, K. G. (2025). Combining family history and alcohol screening measures to identify emerging adults at risk of NEET. Social psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology.
Highlighted presentations
- Kim, K. N. (2025). The role of perceived parenting factors in adolescent mental health among children of mothers with alcohol use disorder. Poster at the annual meeting of the Research Society on Alcohol, New Orleans, LA. Chartier, K., Kim, K. N., Francis, M., Reddish, N., Long, A., Van de Riet, K., & Gomez, R.
- (2025). Equipping social workers on the frontline: Implementation of an innovative training program in addictions for child welfare professionals. Poster at the annual meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence, New Orleans, LA.
- Kim, K. N., Sinha, R., & Seo, D. (2020). Sex differences in stress, trauma, and relationship to alcohol use severity in a community sample of non-disordered individuals. ePoster presented at the annual convention of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies.
Selected honors
- School of Social Work Service and Leadership Award, VCU, 2025
- Doctoral Fellow, Minority Fellowship Program, CSWE, 2023-2025
- Beck Institute CBT Fellowship Award, 2023
- School of Social Work Scholarship, University of Michigan, 2018-2019
- BSW Academic Achievement Award, George Mason University, 2018
→ Learn more about Katie Kim: Full profile | CV | Contact: kimk15@vcu.edu
Dissertation
Bien estar familiar: Constructivist grounded theory study of necessity entrepreneurship among foreign-born Latina single householders
Education
M.S.W., clinical specialization, Virginia Commonwealth University
M.Ed., teaching, University of Pittsburgh
B.A., Latin American studies, Mount Holyoke College
Statement
Marianne B. Lund studies necessity entrepreneurship and familial well-being among foreign-born Latina single householders. Her dissertation is a constructivist grounded theory study of how these women construct, negotiate, and sustain bien estar familiar under conditions of precarity, using effectuation theory and Relational-Cultural Theory as sensitizing frameworks. She is a licensed bilingual social worker specializing in clinical practice with Latina survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence and human trafficking, and she brings her knowledge of Latine families and her clinical training to her community-engaged research design. Her future research goals include entrepreneurial education and posttraumatic growth, and the teaching of entrepreneurship to social workers.
Research interests
- Necessity entrepreneurship among foreign-born women
- Familial well-being under conditions of precarity
- Latine immigrant family systems and parenting processes
- Intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and human trafficking recovery
- LGBTQ+ Latine identity, healing, and belonging
- Effectuation Theory in social work practice and clinical decision-making
- Relational-Cultural Theory and borderlands frameworks
- Bilingual (Spanish) qualitative interviewing and analysis
- Constructivist grounded theory and theory-building qualitative methods
- Community-engaged and community-advisory-board research
- Photovoice and arts-based community intervention
Teaching interests
- Social work theory and assessment with individuals and microsystems
- Biopsychosocial assessment and person-in-environment frameworks
- Clinical practice with survivors of interpersonal violence
- Practice with immigrant, refugee, and Latine communities
- Applied research methods and program evaluation
- Qualitative methods and grounded theory
- Entrepreneurship as method in social work
- Human behavior and the social environment
Highlighted publications
- Lund, M. B., & Kuttikat, M. (2025). Beyond Western models: A grounded theory study of parenting processes among Sri Lankan Tamil refugee families in protracted displacement. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 22(2).
- Lund, M. B., Murphy, J., Kuttikat, M., Saleh, M., & Roldan, P. (2025). Community health workers' perspectives on family functioning among Sri Lankan refugees. Migration and Development.
- Kuttikat, M., Lund, M. B., Chan, D., & Sahoo, I. (2025). A conceptual model of refugee family dynamics: A study with Sri Lankan Tamils. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 22(2).
- Saleh, M., Amona, E., Kuttikat, M., Sahoo, I., Chan, D., Murphy, J., Kim, K., George, H., & Lund, M. B. (2024). Child mental health predictors among camp Tamil refugees: Utilizing linear and XGBoost models. PLOS ONE, 19(9).
- Holmes, C. M., Ciak, J., Lund, M. B., et al. (in press). An innovative, interdisciplinary intervention for justice-involved emerging adults. Teaching and Supervision in Counseling.
Selected honors
- Robin M. McKinney Dissertation Honor Fund, VCU School of Social Work
- Building Interdisciplinary Bridges in Women's Health Research Award, VCU Women's Health Research Day (2025)
- Child Welfare Title IV-E Stipend Recipient
→ Learn more about Marianne Lund: Full profile | LinkedIn | CV | Contact: lundm@vcu.edu
Dissertation
Patient perceptions along the path to kidney transplantation
Education
M.S.W., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
B.S., Guilford College
Statement
My dissertation research centers on the lived experiences of Black kidney transplant patients maneuvering through the complexities of the transplant continuum, highlighting the impact of structural racism. Outside of dissertation work, I have had the opportunity to work with two invaluable multidisciplinary teams, one at VCU with the Partnership for People with Disabilities and the other through Colorado University Anschutz School of Medicine.
I hope to expand the field of social work’s understanding of health equity and how to integrate ourselves within healthcare to support and serve patients. Specifically, conducting research on or teaching future learners about solid organ transplantation and VAD inequities.
Research interests
- Health Equity
- Solid Organ Transplantation and VADs
- Community Engaged Research
- Psychosocial Assessments
Teaching interests
- Healthcare and Health Equity Social Work
- Direct Social Work Practice
- Social Work and Policy
Highlighted publications
- Mayton, C., Dellinger-Wray, M., Cramer, E. P., Dinora, P., & D’Aguilar, A. (2021). “You can change your mind about who you trust”: People with intellectual disability’s understanding about healthy and unhealthy relationships. Journal of the Division on Autism and Developmental Disabilities, 8(1), 10-26.
- Siry-Bove, B., Mayton, C., Latimer, A., Khazanie, P., & Knoepke, C. E. (2021). Mental health and substance use in the psychosocial assessment for ventricular assist devices. Circulation, 144(suppl 1), A13447.
- Knoepke, C. E., Siry-Bove, B., Mayton, C., Latimer, A., Hart, J., Allen, L.A., Daugherty, S. L., McIlvennan, C. K., Matlock, D. D., & Khazanie, P. (2022). Variation in left ventricular assist device postdischarge caregiver requirements: Results from a mixed-methods study with equity implications. Circulation: Heart Failure, 15(8), e009583.
- Latimer, A.L., & Mayton, C. (2023). Heart and Lung Failure. In: Hemphill, M., Nathanson, A. (eds) The Practice of Clinical Social Work in Healthcare. Essential Clinical Social Work Series. Springer, Cham.
- Latimer, A.; Chuzi, S.; Mayton, C.; Siry-Bove, B.; Watts, K.J.; Thompson, J.; Bond, L.; Moser, D.K.; Wu, J.-R.; Knoepke, C.E. (2026). Ensuring Equitable LVAD Access by Enhancing Psychosocial Risk Assessment. Journal of Cardiac Failure Intersections.
Selected honors
- SSW Office of Research Pilot Award, 2025
- VCU School of Social Work Service & Leadership Award, 2020
→ Learn more about Caitlin Mayton: Full profile | CV | Contact: maytonch@vcu.edu
Dissertation
A community engaged, photovoice exploration of posttraumatic growth after sexual violence
Education
M.S.W., Boston College
M.T.S., Boston College
B.A., Loyola University Maryland, English literature and theology
Statement
Rose is a scholar-practitioner motivated by her clinical experiences working as a trauma therapist. She recognized a gap in clinical interventions regarding how to support meaning-making when trauma, specifically sexual violence, disrupts one’s existential paradigm. Her dissertation research seeks to fill this gap with a community-based photovoice project designed to understand how survivors of sexual violence experience the process of posttraumatic growth, and how they can make meaning and move toward positive change after trauma.
Her three-paper dissertation, expected to be complete in April 2027, will 1) outline the ways in which survivors of sexual violence experience the process of posttraumatic growth; 2) discuss the structural elements that complicate posttraumatic growth, such as oppression and complex trauma; 3) and use the lived experiences of survivors of sexual violence to revise the theoretical model of posttraumatic growth. The research will highlight the experiences of those excluded from traditional literature, such as survivors of color and queer survivors, to help practitioners and survivor-facing support services facilitate the process of posttraumatic growth for all survivors of sexual violence.
Research interests
- Posttraumatic Growth
- Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Gender-Based Violence
- Racial Trauma & Oppression-based Trauma
- Critical Consciousness
- Community Based Participatory Research
- Qualitative Research
- Intervention Development
Teaching interests
- Clinical Practice
- Gender-Based Violence
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
- Antiracist Social Work Practice
- Policy
Highlighted publications
- Miola, R. E., McGinnis, H.A., Kim, A. Y., Cho, S., Kim, S., Baden, A. L., & Kim, J. (2026). Exploring the role of critical consciousness on complex trauma for adopted adults. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry.
- Brown, K., Lazarus, K., Williams, C. D., Miola, R. E., Stokes, A., Kerr, N., & Sullivan, T. (2026). The moderating role of support systems in associations between dating violence and depressive symptoms among Black adolescents. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology.
- Smith, R. L., Miola, R. E. Yang, Y. L., Francis, M., & Bannard, T. (2026). Comparing Recovery-Related Outcomes as a Function of Harm Reduction Pathways to Recovery in Collegiate Recovery Participants. Journal of Prevention & Health Promotion.
- Baldwin-White, A. Miola, R. E. (2026). “Once Upon a Party”: Preventing Sexual and Dating Violence on College Campuses Through Game-Based Learning. Journal of Technology in Human Services.
- Miola, R. E., Morgan, M. R., Green, M. N. & Ross, R. (2025). Posttraumatic stress across color lines: A history of anti-Black exclusion & PTSD. Community Mental Health Journal, 61(6), 1102–1114.
- Francis, M. W., Smith, R., Miola, R., Yang, Y. L., Bannard, T., Burns, V., Cleveland, M., Karimova, K., LaBelle, O., Murphy, D., & Piccirillo, M. (2025). Recovery identity as a buffer: Mitigating trauma's impact on recovery capital in collegiate recovery programs. Frontiers in Adolescent Medicine, 3:1602130.
- Miola, R. E. & Benjamin, N. Making Sexual Violence Policy More Trauma-Informed: A Case Study using Article 7 of Virginia Code. Social Work. Under Review.
- Miola, R. E., McGinnis, H. A., Baldwin-White, A. Broda, M. D. & Luce, C. Family Matters: Exploring the role of social support on trauma symptoms among university students. College Student Affairs Journal. Under Review.
- Miola, R. E., Russo, J., Baldwin-White, A., & Siebert, L. Cultural perceptions of sexual violence & prevention strategies amongst college students at increased risk for violence. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research. Under Review.
- Bagwell-Grey, M. E. & Miola, R. E. Posttraumatic Growth and the Art of (re)Claiming Sexual Health after Intimate Partner Violence. Violence Against Women. Under Review.
- Baldwin-White, A., Fedock, G. & Miola, R. E. Using a Structural Violence Framework to Prevent Gender-Based Violence on College Campuses. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. Under Review.
Selected honors
- VCU Academic-Community Partnership Grant, 2026-27
- Hans Falck Scholarship Award, 2026-27
- Elaine Z. Rothenberg Memorial Scholarship, 2024-25
- HRSA Fellowship Award, 2016-17
→ Learn more about Rose Miola: Full profile | CV | Contact: miolare@vcu.edu
Dissertation
How families develop resilience through communication in the context of supporting a loved one in recovery: A mixed-methods study
Education
M.S.W., Syracuse University
B.A., Chinese literature and social welfare, National Chung Cheng University, Taiwan
Statement
My research agenda focuses on how family dynamics influence the recovery trajectories of individuals with substance misuse, to inform and advocate for family-centered interventions that support families throughout the recovery process. My dissertation examines how family communication influences support and resilience, and how external factors and resources, such as stigma and formal or informal support, impact the way families support their loved ones during recovery.
I hope this exploration will reveal how families adapt and grow through the challenges brought on by substance misuse; highlight the strengths and difficulties they face; offer hope to others still navigating the recovery journey; and deepen social work professionals’ understanding of these families within broader systemic contexts to inform the development of future interventions.
Research interests
- Recovery Capital in the Context of Alcohol and Substance Misuse
- Family Dynamics and Communication
- Stigma
- Social Connectedness
- Community-based Intervention and Evaluation
Teaching interests
- Social Work Practice
- Research Methods and Analysis
- Human Behaviors
- Mental Health, Substance Misuse and Stigma
Highlighted publications
- Francis, M. W., Smith, R. L., Miola, R., Yang, Y. L., Bannard, T, Burns, V., Cleveland, M., Karimova, K., LaBelle, O., Murphy, D., & Piccirillo, M. (2025). Recovery Identity as a Buffer: Mitigating Trauma’s Impact on Recovery Capital in Collegiate Recovery Programs. Frontiers in Adolescent Medicine, 3.
- Smith, R.L., Francis, M. W., Yang, Y. L., Miola, R., Bannard, T. (Under review: Journal of Prevention and Health Promotion). Comparing Recovery-Related Outcomes as a Function of Harm Reduction Pathways to Recovery in Collegiate Recovery Participants.
Selected honors
- Grand Challenges for Social Work Fellowship Award: Eradicate Social Isolation, 2025
- Research Society on Alcoholism Student Merit Travel Award, 2023
- Taiwan Government Scholarship for Studying Abroad, Ministry of Education, Taiwan, 2020
- Catherine Mary Esposito Achievement Award, Syracuse University, N.Y., 2005
→ Learn more about Ya-Li Yang: Full profile | CV | Contact: yangy11@vcu.edu