Social work faculty, students, alumni presenting at SSWR 2024

Dec. 19, 2023, from VCU School of Social Work

More than 50 VCU School of Social Work faculty, students and alumni have had presentations accepted or are serving in other roles such as moderating special interest groups, roundtables or symposia at the Society for Social Work and Research 2024 conference in Washington, D.C.

How I found my research: Victoria Cashio

Nov. 9, 2023, from VCU News

Victoria Cashio, a second-year social work doctoral student and commissioned behavioral health science officer in the U.S. Army, focuses her research on promoting equality and well-being for people who identify within the gender-diverse community

How I found my research: Paloma Rodriguez

Oct. 25, 2023, from VCU News

Paloma Rodriguez, a B.S.W. student, focuses her research on understanding cultural processes and experiences and impacts on psychological, educational and health outcomes/disparities.

A new VCU-led project will support high-risk youth transitioning out of incarceration

Oct. 24, 2023, from VCU News

A multidisciplinary team of researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University is launching a project to provide supported employment, trauma counseling, peer support and case management for youth and young adults with behavioral health disorders who are transitioning out of a Richmond-area juvenile correctional facility. Social work Interim Dean Gary S. Cuddeback, Ph.D., is a co-principal investigator, collaborating with VCU colleagues from the Department of Rehabilitation Counseling, the VCU Institute for Women’s Health and the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs.

2023 Council on Social Work Education conference presentations

Oct. 19, 2023, from VCU School of Social Work

VCU School of Social Work faculty, student scholars and social work alumni were a part of 37 presentations at the Council on Social Work Education‘s 69th Annual Program Meeting in Atlanta.

VCU to offer Virginia’s first specialized training for social workers on addiction in child welfare

Oct. 18, 2023, from VCU News

The federally funded fellowship program, with $838,000 in funding from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Drug Abuse, will provide child welfare professionals with training, supervision and mentorship about how to assess and address substance use problems when working with children and their caregivers.

VCU social work doctoral student Katie Kim selected for national Minority Fellowship Program

Oct. 16, 2023, from VCU News

The second-year doctoral student has a research focus on cognitive responses to adverse childhood experience, particularly around parental alcohol misuse. The goal of the MFP – sponsored by the Council on Social Work Education – is to improve health and mental health disparities.

In Cape Town, social work professor Maurice Gattis found 'the whole city was my learning lab'

Sept. 14, 2023, from VCU News

Maurice Gattis, PhD., studied the psychosocial experiences of LGBTQI+ youth experiencing homelessness in South Africa’s Cape Metropole. He partnered with the University of the Western Cape on research activities, he collaborated with the Pride Shelter Trust, and he hosted six VCU students for a weeklong study abroad experience.

VCU doctoral student Paola Roldán builds on her research into stigmas that transgender workers face

July 27, 2023, from VCU News

An intensive summer program in quantitative methods fueled Paola Roldán’s research to mitigate transgender discrimination and stigmas.

Muna Saleh’s focus on refugee health has roots at home, in Somali community

May 23, 2023, from VCU News

Muna Saleh, a social work Ph.D. student, is working on a research project centered around trauma, health and well-being in refugee communities.

Professor’s mobile app making it easier for health care providers to ask hard questions

May 18, 2023, from VCU News

Social work assistant professor Adrienne Baldwin-White, Ph.D., is working to improve the culture of trauma-informed care for sexual assault survivors.

Fulbright awards fuel opportunities abroad for social work faculty Gattis, Burnette

Feb. 28, 2023, from VCU School of Social Work

Two School of Social Work faculty members are repeat recipients of Fulbright awards. Associate Professor Maurice Gattis, Ph.D., has been named a Fulbright U.S. Scholar for Social Sciences and Humanities, with a placement in Cape Town, South Africa. Denise Burnette, Ph.D., Samuel S. Wurtzel Endowed Faculty Chair in Social Work, has been named a Fulbright Specialist, with a placement in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.  

Professor’s project showcases the art of Black motherhood

Feb. 27, 2023, from VCU News

Social work Assistant Professor Nicole Corley, Ph.D., co-led a research project and art exhibit engaging with Black mothers in the community – and across the nation – to tell their stories.

Doctoral student wins award to help fund research into gender equity and housing instability

Feb. 20, 2023, from VCU News

Social work Ph.D. student Aaron Kemmerer earned one of 13 national awards for his proposal, “Transgender and Gender Expansive Southerners’ Experiences with Housing Instability.”

Social work faculty, students, alumni presenting at SSWR 2023

Jan. 4, 2023, from VCU School of Social Work

School of Social Work faculty, students and alumni had more than 60 accepted presentations or participation in other sessions at the annual Society for Social Work and Research conference in Phoenix.

Social work-led project will train pediatricians to reduce adverse childhood experiences

Dec. 19, 2022, from VCU News

Associate Professor Sunny Shin, Ph.D., leads a project seeking to reduce the risk of adverse childhood experiences by training Virginia pediatricians and providing parent resources. 

2022 Council on Social Work Education conference presentations

Nov. 3, 2022, from VCU School of Social Work

School of Social Work faculty and Ph.D. candidates and students had nearly a dozen accepted presentations at the Council on Social Work Education's Annual Public Meeting in Anaheim, California. 

Ph.D. student Matt Morgan earns national fellowship that provides dissertation support

July 12, 2022, from VCU School of Social Work

Matt Morgan has been named to a nationwide cohort of 10 pre-dissertation fellows by the Association of Gerontological Education in Social Work (AGE-SW).

Social work’s Chartier to lead behavioral health research institute and its signature survey

March 5, 2022, from VCU School of Social Work

School of Social Work Associate Professor Karen Chartier, Ph.D., has been named the interim director of the Institute for Research on Behavioral and Emotional Health and its annual student survey, Spit for Science.

VCU-led project to reduce homelessness among LGBTQ+ youth, pregnant and parenting youth receives major grant

Jan. 26, 2022, from VCU News

School of Social Work associate professors, Maurice N. Gattis, Ph.D., and M. Alex Wagaman, Ph.D., have secured a $883,014 Virginia Housing Trust Fund Homeless Reduction Grant to reduce homelessness among LGBTQ+ youth, pregnant and parenting youth, and young people at the intersection of these groups.

Social work faculty and student researchers presenting at SSWR 2022 

Dec. 9, 2021, from VCU School of Social Work 

School of Social Work faculty, students and alumni had more than 20 presentations accepted for the Society for Social Work and Research's 26th Annual Conference. 

2021 Council on Social Work Education presentations

Nov. 2, 2021, from VCU School of Social Work

School of Social Work faculty, students and alumni had presentations accepted for the 67th Annual Program Meeting of the Council on Social Work Education.

Ph.D. student Bouchard earns prestigious rural health fellowship

Oct. 19, 2021, from VCU School of Social Work

Ph.D. student Leah Bouchard's commitment to and expertise serving communities and youth – particularly marginalized youth – dealing with substance misuse have been recognized with a prestigious fellowship from the National Rural Health Association. Only one social worker has been selected among 31 fellows from the previous two classes.  

Sharing their stories: Social work-led researchers are studying Horn of Africa migrants in greater Washington

Oct. 8, 2021, from VCU News

Building on her work with Tamil refugees in India, Associate Professor Miriam Kuttikat, Ph.D., is leading a research team studying migrants closer to home. Sponsored by VCU’s Presidential Research Quest Fund, she and colleagues will study communities from four Horn of Africa countries – Eritrea, Somalia, Ethiopia and Djibouti – now living in the Greater Washington, D.C., area. On the research team are colleague Kyeongmo Kim, Ph.D., assistant professor, and five social work graduate students.

NIDILRR awards $600K contract to Partnership

Sept. 10, 2021, from School of Education

Associate Professor Matthew Bogenschutz, Ph.D., and doctoral student Sarah Lineberry are part of an interdisciplinary team at VCU’s Partnership for People with Disabilities that was awarded a $600,000 National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research grant. The grant will measure and track personal and health outcomes for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities who use Medicaid home- and community-based services.

Among LGBTQ+ youth, pets can be an important source of well-being — but also stress

July 16, 2021, from VCU News
A new study with multiple School of Social Work connections has found that pet ownership among sexual and gender minority emerging adults provides positive benefits but also comes with psychological stressors. The lead author is recently departed faculty member Shelby McDonald, Ph.D.; co-authors include three current Ph.D. students and two recent social work alumni.

VCU Social Work professor receives ‘rising star’ award in field of gerontology research

July 16, 2021, from VCU News
Assistant Professor Kyeongmo Kim, Ph.D., has received the 2021 Carroll Estates Rising Star Award from the Gerontological Society of America, recognizing him for his outstanding early career contributions in social research, policy and practice. 

iCubed Sustainable Food Access core member evaluates VCU student food insecurity

July 15, 2021, from VCU Inclusive Excellence
Associate Professor Youngmi Kim, Ph.D., has conducted three studies on VCU student food insecurity with an internal grant from the School of Social Work. The studies addressed the prevalence of student food insecurity, challenges associated with food insecurity and how students cope with those challenges.

18 receive project funding from VCU’s Presidential Research Quest Fund

July 2, 2021, from VCU News
Associate Professor Miriam Kuttikat, Ph.D., is among 18 VCU researchers who will share $512,00 in awards from the Presidential Research Quest Fund. Kuttikat’s project is titled “Testing Family Dynamics Among Eritrean Migrants in the Greater Washington, D.C. area.”

Project aims to reduce homelessness among LGBTQ+ youth, pregnant and parenting youth

April 5, 2021, from VCU News
Associate professors M. Alex Wagaman, Ph.D., and Maurice Gattis, Ph.D., are leading a new grant project focused on interventions to reduce homelessness among LGBTQ+ youth and pregnant and parenting youth. “We aim to increase visibility and develop a program that centers their needs and experiences, while drawing on the power of peer support and connections,” Wagaman says.

Study: For those on psychiatric medication, family caregivers can be valuable resource

March 9, 2021, from VCU School of Social Work

Professor Kia J. Bentley, Ph.D., LCSW, conducted an in-depth study, published in Community Mental Health Journal, around family members’ needs as caregivers to loved ones with serious mental illness. Her findings suggest families “crave inclusion and wish providers would more radically embrace both collaboration and balance in their approach to medication maintenance,” she says. 

Older African Americans in counties with a high number of Black residents are less likely to seek mental health care. Why?

Feb. 12, 2021, from VCU News

Research published in the journal Psychiatric Services by Assistant Professor Kyeongmo Kim, Ph.D., shows that in counties with a higher population of Black residents, older African Americans are less likely to seek mental health treatment. “It is important to understand the effect of geography, because accessing mental health care occurs in the community that people live in,” Kim says.

VCU News: Can pets help LGBTQ+ people cope with microaggressions?

Jan. 28, 2021, from VCU News

Angela Matijczak, a first-year social work doctoral student, led a study exploring how social support from humans and comfort from companion animals can help LGBTQ+ young adults deal with microaggressions. The published article was featured on the cover of the January issue of the journal Behavioral Sciences. 

Social work faculty and student researchers presenting at SSWR 2021

Jan. 12, 2021, from VCU School of Social Work

Twenty-four VCU School of Social Work faculty and students, representing 26 research initiatives, will be part of the annual Society for Social Work and Research’s virtual conference Jan. 19-22, 2021. Research collaborators include 27 faculty or professional social workers and 12 Ph.D. students from 26 different universities and institutions.