Danielle Berke, PhD (she/her)
Principal Investigator
Dr. Danielle Berke received a graduate certificate in Women's Studies and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Georgia. She completed her doctoral internship in the National Center for PTSD of the VA Boston Healthcare System, where she developed a clinical specialization in the assessment and treatment of PTSD and women's mental health . Dr. Berke also served on the VA Boston Healthcare System's Interdisciplinary Transgender Treatment Team providing affirming gender evaluation and psychotherapy services for transgender veterans. She completed a postdoctoral research fellowship, affiliated with the Boston University School of Medicine and the VA Boston Healthcare System, focused on interpersonal violence, trauma, and treatment outcome research. Dr. Berke also served VA Boston as a Research Psychologist from 2017-2018.
RAMNIK DHINGRA M.A. (THEY/SHE)
Project Coordinator
Ramnik is a second year master's student at the New School for Social Research's MA in Psychology program. They graduated from Agnes Scott College in 2019 with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology. Ramnik joined the GBV lab in July 2022. Prior to starting graduate school, she worked as a research assistant for the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study at VCU, where she worked with a team to test mental, emotional, physical, and social factors that may impact adolescent development. As an undergraduate student, Ramnik noticed gaps in the research as they saw queer people of color struggling to find competent mental health providers. Ramnik is interested in researching the influence of race, gender, and sexual identity on development and trauma in order to create more awareness and competency in therapeutic practices.
MADALYN LIAUTAUD, m.a. (sHE/HER)
Graduate Student Researcher
Madalyn is a 6th-year doctoral student in the Health Psychology and Clinical Sciences program at the Graduate Center. She graduated from Northwestern University in 2015 with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Gender & Sexuality Studies. Madalyn joined the Gender-Based Violence Lab in August 2019. Her research focuses on identifying risk and protective factors that shape sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals' sensitivity to minority stress and, in turn, risk for psychological impairment and physical disease. She is also interested in how subjective experiences of minority stress correlate with objective biomarkers and stress indices. Madalyn is currently collecting data for her NIH-funded dissertation project, which aims to identify transdiagnostic, modifiable intervention targets for PTSD-SUD comorbidity that develops in the context of co-occurring exposure to chronic and unique identity-based stressors. Her long-term career goal is to study and treat addiction and associated psychiatric comorbidities among high-risk, marginalized populations. She aims to achieve this through the integration of culturally responsive research and clinical work as a scientist-practitioner.
ASH SMITH, M.A.. (They/HE)
Graduate Student Researcher
Ash is a 4th-year doctoral student in the Health Psychology and Clinical Sciences program at the Graduate Center. They graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, with a B.Sc. in Psychology. After graduating, he worked as a research coordinator at Boston Medical Center, managing implementation science and community-centered projects to increase access to evidence-based care. Ash joined the Gender-Based Violence Lab in August of 2020. His current research leverages community-engaged implementation science to build sustainable community care structures that promote access to gender affirmation and mitigate suicide risk in trans and nonbinary populations. In the Gender-Based Violence Lab, he has taken a lead role in building and maintaining a network of community organization partnerships. They also administer clinical assessments for PTSD. Ash has a passion for mentoring students, learning new mixed methods approaches, and peer models of care. They are invested in furthering non-exploitative approaches to research and clinical work, and leveraging their privilege to center the voices of queer and trans people of color.
MADELEINE MILLER (SHE/HER)
Graduate Student Researcher
Madeleine is a third-year doctoral student in the Health Psychology and Clinical Science program at the Graduate Center. Madeleine’s current work focuses on increasing access to evidence-based care for historically underserved populations through use of community engaged dissemination and implementation science. She graduated from the Pennsylvania State University in 2019 with a Bachelor's of Science in Psychology and a minor in Rehabilitation Services. Madeleine then worked for three years at the National Center for PTSD in Menlo Park, CA, at the Department of Veterans Affairs, as a project coordinator on studies testing the efficacy of exposure therapy delivered in web-based or mobile app formats. Madeleine ultimately aims to contribute to trauma prevention and intervention through collaboration with communities and leveraging both community strength and evidence-based principles of therapy to promote healing.
Bismah Dhar, B.A. (She/her)
Research Assistant
Bismah Dhar is a fourth-year undergraduate Psychology student at CUNY Hunter College who joined the GBV Lab during the Spring semester in 2024. She has an interest with the treatment of PTSD for those who have a diverse gender identity, as well as a passion to complete research and build a foundational understanding of those who do identify as gender diverse. With aspirations to pursue both a master's degree and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, she aims to make a profound impact in the field of mental health
Joseph Carter, M.A. (He/HIM)
Graduate Research Assistant and Clinical Trainee
Joseph graduated from CUNY Hunter College, with a master's in psychology. His research interests focus on the intersections of race and gender identity that contribute to psychosocial mental health disparities among transgender and gender expansive populations. He has worked at the Gender Based Violence for three years, as a graduate student researcher and clinical trainee. He ultimately hopes that his career in research and clinical sciences will aid in the development of trauma-informed, clinical interventions that leverage strength and resilience to improve the well-being of marginalized populations.