Our PhD Students

Ashley Weitensteiner

Ashley Weitensteiner earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Oklahoma State University and a Master of Social Work (MSW) from San Diego State University with a concentration on macro-level approaches to social welfare. While completing her MSW, Ashley focused her research on examining the intersection of homelessness and substance use among LGBQ individuals.

Ashley’s experience includes binational work with asylum-seekers and refugees with the International Rescue Committee (IRC), development and coordination of diversion programming with juvenile justice-involved youth, and designing interventions with youth experiencing homelessness. Ashley’s research interests center around the interaction of stigma and structural inequities across risk and protective factors of substance use in marginalized populations, examination of resilience in substance use, as well as exploring trauma and substance use among asylum-seeking populations. Ashley’s pronouns are she/her/hers.

Katie Bailey

Katie Bailey earned a B.A. in Political Science from St. Louis University and a Master of Public Affairs from Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Throughout her educational career she sought opportunities to study and conduct sponsored research in Latin American countries, including Mexico, Peru, and Costa Rica.  In 2019 – 2020, Katie served as a Fulbright Public Policy Fellow in Peru, which included conducting independent research and providing technical assistance in Peru’s national drug ministry (DEVIDA). Katie traveled throughout Peru to conduct monitoring of government-funded drug abuse prevention and treatment programs and provided an assessment of the agency’s monitoring practices and opportunities for improvement.

Katie’s research interests in substance use were initiated while working for the Indiana Department of Child Services where she conducted an evaluation of a pilot program aimed at providing substance abuse treatment for parents of children in the child welfare system. She broadened her portfolio in substance use research while serving on research teams at the Indiana University Center for Health and Justice Research and the Wayne State University Center for Behavioral Health and Justice. Her research interests include harm reduction strategies and policies, co-occurring substance use and mental health issues, and diversion of people who use drugs from the criminal legal system.   

Mele’ana Kehaulani ‘Ākolo

Becoming an anthropologist I received my undergraduate degree (BA) in Anthropology at California State University, East Bay and a graduate degree (MA) in Applied Anthropology at Humboldt State University. However, I have worked in the Public Health field for eight years in the San Francisco Bay Area and decided to transition my studies to meet my professional experience. I got into the health field with my studies by receiving a graduate degree (MS) in health care administration at California State University, East Bay. I have been able to apply my academic and work experience as an anthropologist to my work in the Public Health field as a supervisor for a supported living services program serving adult clients with mental health issues. I am also completing the Chemical Dependency Program at California State University, East Bay to become certified as an alcohol and drug counselor and recently gained entry into the addiction treatment field working in a residential treatment program. My research interests are ethnographic research with previously incarcerated adults receiving drug treatment or case management in the community, substance use disorder (SUD) with the incarcerated, and SUD treatment with re-entry programming.

Stephen Omotayo Ololade

Stephen Omotayo Ololade earned a Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) from University of Benin Nigeria and a Post-graduate diploma in Community Dentistry from University of Pretoria, South Africa. He later received his MPH at Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University South Africa. His MPH research involved the use of integrated Univariate and Multivariate statistics to examine substance use and misuse among high school learners in an informal settlement within South Africa where residents are at risk of alcohol and other substance abuse due to abnormally high concentrations of alcohol outlets. His interest in substance use developed after treating a nine – year old boy with orofacial defects caused by prenatal exposure to alcohol while practising as a dentist in Nigeria. Based on his research background, he strives to address the issues of substance use among youths and evaluate possible treatment and prevention methods for addiction.

The basic biological sciences and pharmacology knowledge acquired during his undergraduate dental training will be a background framework for interdisciplinary research related to substance use and misuse. His involvement in public and private health services in Africa also afforded him some degree of exposure and enriched knowledge to understand the different levels of approach to health issues and related policy processes. He wishes to use the doctoral training at JDP IRSU to boost his knowledge and skills to become an intervention research specialist in a multidisciplinary setting responsible for strategic primary prevention of diseases, especially those associated with substance abuse.

Talin Gharibian

Talin Gharibian earned a Bachelors in Art History with a minor in Russian Studies and Literature from the University of California, Los Angeles and a Masters in Social Work from California State University, Northridge. During her graduate studies, Talin examined the relationship between Middle Eastern cultural identity and mental health / substance use, among individuals of Middle Eastern descent.

As an MSW candidate, her field placement experience included working at Kaiser Permanente Behavioral Health conducting assessments, providing resource referral, and facilitating psychoeducational groups. Following this, she worked as a social worker case manager at Kaiser Permanente, working with dually-eligible Medi-Cal Medicare patients suffering from chronic comorbid illnesses enrolled in the Special Needs Program.

Talin’s research interests include health disparities, trans-generational trauma (such as the Armenian Genocide and occupation of Palestine), substance use and culturally-informed interventions among South West Asian North African (SWANA) populations.