Florida International University, Center for Children and Families, Miami International Child and Adolescent Mental Health Conference at the FIU North Campus Roz and Cal Kovens Conference Center in Miami on Feb. 5th, 2020. (Photo by MagicalPhotos.com / Mitchell Zachs) 
Florida International University, Center for Children and Families, Miami International Child and Adolescent Mental Health Conference at the FIU North Campus Roz and Cal Kovens Conference Center in Miami on Feb. 5th, 2020. (Photo by MagicalPhotos.com / Mitchell Zachs) 
Student Awards
2012: American Psychological Foundation Violet & Cyril Franks Scholarship (Weisman)
2013-14: University of California President’s Dissertation Year Fellowship (Knapp)
2014: American Psychological Association Graduate Student Association (APAGS) State Leader of the Year (Modir)
2015: International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS) Outstanding Student Advocacy & Service Award (Capous)
2016-17: University of California President’s Dissertation Year Fellowship (Capous)
2017: Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA) NSR Dissertation Research Grant (Santacrose)
2017-18: University of California President’s Dissertation Year Fellowship (Liu)
2018: University Award of Distinction (Santacrose)
2018: APA, Division 37, Society for Child and Family Policy and Practice Student Poster Award, Patterns of Adversity and Pathways to Health Among Ethnic Minority Youth (Liu)
2019: Institute on Violence, Abuse, and Trauma, First Prize Poster Award, Assessing for Secondary Distress Using Social Media: An Examination of the Psychological Impact of Black Lives Matter (Sims)
2021: American Psychological Association, Division 56 (Trauma), Outstanding Dissertation in Trauma Psychology Award (Liu)
2021: American Psychological Association, Division 56 (Trauma), Cultivating Healing, Advocacy, Nonviolence, Growth, and Equity (CHANGE) Grant (Sims)
2022: Lee Broadbent – Vern Persell Scholarship in Applied Psychology (Tran)
2022: University of California Graduate Division Dissertation Fellowship (Nerenberg)
2022: National Partnership to End Interpersonal Violence Across the Lifespan (NPEIV) Founder’s Award (Sarmiento Hernández)
Graduate Student Research
Health Care Providers and Their Families at the Frontline of COVID-19 (PI: Alavi) Examining factors that contribute to resilience among health care providers offering disaster and pandemic response. Funded by the Multidisciplinary Research on Coronavirus and its Impact (MRCI) grant.
Rapid telepsychology transition for Latinx parents in a Family Prevention Program (PI: Evans). Examining factors influencing Latinx parent acceptance and engagement with a family prevention program rapidly transitioned to telehealth due to pandemic.
The Influence of Executive Functioning on Internalizing and Somatic Symptoms in Trauma-Exposed Arab Resettled Refugee Parent-Child Dyads (PI: Guler). Examining intrafamilial processes associated with the moderating influence of executive functioning on psychosocial outcomes in a sample of trauma-exposed resettled refugee children and their parents. Funded by NICHD F31 Training Grant.
Aid Worker Resilience Project (PI: Nerenberg). Examining primary and secondary trauma, culture shock, loneliness, burnout, and mental health challenges, as well as resilience among aid workers. Funded by the Multidisciplinary Research on Coronavirus and its Impact (MRCI) grant. Link: https://www.aidworkerresilience.com/
Mindfulness-based Interventions for Latinx Populations (PI: Sarmiento Hernández). Systematic review of mindfulness-based interventions and their use with Latinx populations, considering acceptability, feasibility, and outcomes.
Media Exposure of Police Violence: Assessing Psychological Risk and Resilience in Black Americans (PI: Sims). Examining the factors that influence mental health among Black Americans exposed via media to police violence towards Blacks. Funded by the Cultivating Healing, Advocacy, Nonviolence, Growth, and Equity (CHANGE) APA Division 56 Grant.
Adversity and Yoga Project (PI: Taghavi). Examining the role of yoga in the lives of individuals who have experienced adversity. Funded by Ray E. Hosford Fellowship Fund.
Predoctoral Internships and Postdoctoral Sites
2012-13 Children’s Institute, Los Angeles, CA (Levitan)
2013-14 Counseling & Psychological Services, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT (Knapp)
2014-15 Louisiana State University Health Sciences, New Orleans, LA (Schock; Post-doc: Kaiser)
2015-16 Long Island VA, Long Island, NY (Brown; Post-doc: Boston VA)
2015-16 Pacific Clinics, Pasadena, CA (Lepore; Post-doc: UCLA)
2016-17 UCLA Semel Institute, Los Angeles, CA (Modir; Post-doc: Children’s Hospital Orange County)
2016-17 University of Texas Health Sciences Center, San Antonio TX (Weisman; Post-doc: San Francisco VA)
2017-18 UCLA Semel Institute, Los Angeles, CA (Santacrose; Post-doc: UCLA)
2019-20 Harvard Medical School/Cambridge Health Alliance, Cambridge, MA (Liu; Post-doc: UC Irvine NIH Conte Center )
2021-22 NYU School of Medicine/Bellevue Hospital, New York, NY (Taghavi)
2021-22 Columbia University/Irving Medical Center, New York, NY (Sims)
Prospective Students
I will be accepting new graduate students for the upcoming academic year who aspire to an academic or research career in clinical psychology. You are welcome to email me to introduce yourself, but do the volume of messages I receive, please do not expect an individual response but rather, refer to the rest of the website for more information.
We receive hundreds of applications each year and many inquiries about the program, and in order to be equally fair to all applicants, I do not meet with anyone individually until the time of the interviews. Please do rest assured that your application will be given full consideration. I personally read each and every application thoroughly and typically look for solid research experience and a strong match (e.g., overlapping interests). In January, the top applicants are contacted and invited for a full day of conversations and information about the program.
Most importantly, follow our application guidelines and make sure to meet our deadline. Check the Department Website for more information.
I’ll look forward to receiving your application.
Maryam Kia-Keating, Ph.D. 