Student Success
Dr. Yunyu Xiao, PhD ’20, Receives NYU Outstanding Dissertation Award
Dr. Yunyu Xiao, a 2020 graduate of NYU Silver’s PhD Program who is now an Assistant Professor at Indiana University School of Social Work, has received NYU’s 2021 Outstanding Dissertation Award in the Public Health and Allied Health category for “Social Network Influences on Trajectories of Suicidal Behaviors Among Adolescents Transitioning to Adulthood.” NYU Provost Katherine E. Fleming said Dr. Xiao’s dissertation “stood out from other nominees’ for its great scholarly rigor, quality of writing, and potential for academic and social impact.”
PhD Student Sabrina Cluesman and 2020 PhD Graduate Lauren Jessell Receive APHA Honors
NYU Silver’s PhD Program was well represented at the sectional awards ceremonies at the American Public Health Association (APHA) 2020 Annual Meeting and Expo. Second-year PhD student Sabrina Cluesman, MSW, LCSW, received the APHA HIV/AIDS Section’s David Rosenstein Award for Best Student Abstract and 2020 graduate Lauren Jessell, PhD, received the APHA Public Health Social Work Section’s Public Health Social Work Student Award.
Meghan Romanelli and Yunyu Xiao Secure Research One Faculty Positions
Congratulations to Class of 2020 PhD Program graduates Meghan Romanelli and Yunyu Xiao on receiving faculty appointments at nationally competitive research universities. Dr. Romanelli, whose research focuses on health and mental health disparities among LGBTQ communities, is now an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington School of Social Work. Dr. Xiao, whose research focuses on health disparities in suicide and mental illness across the lifespan, is an Assistant Professor at Indiana University School of Social Work. During their doctoral studies, both Dr. Romanelli and Dr. Xiao were Fellows at NYU Silver's McSilver Institute for Poverty and Research and were mentees of McSilver Institute Executive Director and Constance and Martin Silver Professor of Poverty Studies Michael A. Lindsey.
PhD Candidate Rachel Ludeke Awarded Social Networks and Health Workshop Fellowship
PhD candidate Rachel Ludeke was selected as a 2020-21 Fellow for the Social Networks and Health Workshop, coordinated by the Duke Network Analysis Center and the Duke Population Research Institute, with support from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. In addition to attending a week-long virtual workshop that will introduce attendees to topics in social networks and how they can be applied to research on health, Rachel will be paired with a mentor who will work with her over the next year to help strengthen the methodology of her dissertation research.
PhD Candidate Yeqing Yuan Awarded Social Work HEALS Doctoral Fellowship
PhD candidate Yeqing Yuan has been selected by the NASW Foundation Jane B. Aron/Social Work HEALS Doctoral Fellowship Awards Panel as a 2020-2021 Social Work HEALS Fellow. The fellowship will provide partial support for Yeqing’s dissertation research, a mixed methods study on housing stability among individuals with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders receiving Assertive Community Treatment services.
PhD Candidate Yunyu Xiao Awarded Family Process Institute's New Writers Fellowship
PhD Candidate Yunyu Xiao was named one of ten 2019 New Writers Fellows by the Family Process Institute. The fellowship, which provided tuition and expenses for an intensive workshop on the craft of scholarly writing, supports the development of new scholars who will advance systemic theory, research, and practice grounded in a commitment to social justice.
PhD Student Cliff Whetung Awarded Association for Gerontology Education in Social Work Fellowship
First year PhD Student Cliff Whetung was chosen by the Association for Gerontology Education in Social Work (AGESW) for the ninth cohort of its Gerontological Social Work Pre-Dissertation Fellows Program.
PhD Students Yeqing Yuan and Laura Curran Awarded NIH Funded Pre-Doctoral Fellowships
PhD students Yeqing Yuan and Laura Curran have been awarded National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) funded pre-doctoral fellowships at the Behavioral Sciences Training in Drug Abuse Research (BST) program at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing.
PhD Student Rachel Ludeke Awarded Scholarships to Three Competitive Summer Training Programs
Third-year PhD student Rachel Ludeke has been awarded scholarships to attend three competitive training programs during summer 2019 which will further her dissertation research as well as her professional development as a child welfare scholar.
PhD Student Laura Esquivel Awarded New York Academy of Sciences Fellowship
NYU Silver third-year PhD student Laura Esquivel has been selected as a 2019 Science Alliance Leadership Training (SALT) Program Fellow by the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS). Each year, the fellowship provides exceptional PhD students in STEM fields with preparation and training to assume leadership roles throughout their professional careers.