​Persephone Crittenden is a Psy.D. student in the Palo Alto University PGSP-Stanford Consortium program. She is a graduate of the Integrative Medicine Education program at California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) Institute for Health and Healing. She earned her Master’s in Counseling Psychology from University of San Francisco and her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Following a career as the managing director of a multi-national consulting firm focused on achieving racial equity in education, Ms. Crittenden engaged in international aid, development, and public health in developing countries throughout Sub-Saharan Africa and in India. She has worked closely with prevalent and persistent trauma in communities affected by genocide, war, famine, poverty and HIV. Through her work with the Human Rights and Trauma Mental Health Laboratory at Stanford University, She completed an extensive updated analysis of the effects of trauma on the psychiatric outcomes of survivors of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. She has also worked with Dr. Jennifer Keller at Stanford University focusing on prevention and intervention of interpersonal violence and abuse in women in communities in South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the U.S. She has travelled to Central African Republic with a PAU faculty group to work on a trauma intervention program.

pcrittenden@paloaltou.edu

Ms. Hansell is a Ph.D. student at Palo Alto University. She is a 2007 graduate of the University of Vermont with a Bachelor's Degree in Geology and a minor in Sociology.  

During 2006, she studied abroad in South Africa, where she fell in love with the country and continent while gaining hands-on experience in restorative justice and transitional societies.  To develop these skills, she attended the University of Amsterdam, where she earned a Master’s degree in Political Science with a concentration in International Conflict Resolution in 2011.  Her thesis on acculturation strategies and the effects on ethnic identity in immigrant populations in Amsterdam, led her into study of the psychological aspects of political instability.  She entered Palo Alto University in 2015, to pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology with a focus on refugee and immigrant population mental health during political instability.  In 2016, she joined the PAU Risk and Resilience Lab to develop these interests.

thansell@paloaltou.edu

Charissa Hosseini is a Ph.D. student at Palo Alto University  focused on Trauma studies and working in the PAU Risk and Resilience Lab. She previously served as treasurer of PAU's Students for Global Mental Health Board. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and American Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her primary interest is the ways in which traumatic experiences affect older adults, specifically older adults of different cultural backgrounds.

chosseini@paloaltou.edu

​Minsu Kim received his B.A. (Honors) in psychology from University of California, Berkeley and in 2015, he began the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program at Palo Alto University, specializing in the Trauma Area of Emphasis. He has conducted research on post-traumatic stress disorder among North Korean defectors since 2014, and currently he is also working on the Army Study To Assess Risk and Resilience in Service Members (Army STARRS) project with Dr. Lisa Brown in the Risk and Resilience Research Lab.

mkim@paloaltou.edu

Osnat Lupesko-Persky is a fourth-year Ph.D. student of Clinical Psychology at Palo Alto University. She received her Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, in 2002, where she focused on criminal and international law and gained significant international-relations exposure both academically and professionally. She received her Masters of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School at Tufts University in 2007, where she focused on international law, international negotiations and conflict resolution.

During her Master’s studies, Ms. Lupesko-Persky worked at a humanitarian-aid organization in Sri Lanka post tsunami disaster (2005) where she coordinated housing rehabilitation between international organizations and governmental agencies. In 2006, based on her experience in international aid post natural-disasters, she was asked to contribute as a research assistant at the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs. She worked as a criminal defense attorney in New York city until 2013.

olupesko-persky@paloaltou.edu

Yimi Omofuma  is a Ph.D. student at Palo Alto University with trauma as her area of emphasis. She is a member of the PAU Early Intervention Clinic, a research clinic dedicated to developing and evaluating different methods of treatment for trauma survivors.  She is a past president of PAU's Students for Global Mental Health. She received her Master of Forensic Psychology from Fairleigh Dickinson University and her Bachelor of Science in Business Management from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.

A native of Nigeria, Ms. Omofuma has had the opportunity to travel extensively and observe many different cultures.  She is particularly interested in work relating to the experiences of former child soldiers and other individuals affected by wars and conflict. She hopes to one day work with organizations dedicated to treating the overall wellbeing of members of these populations, including their mental health.

yomofuma@paloaltou.edu

Adriana Panting is a Ph.D. student at Palo alto University whose areas of emphasis are Diversity and Community Mental Health, and  Meditation and Psychology. She has served as a Public Relations Officer for PAU's Students for Global Mental Health. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Spanish language from Sonoma State University.

Having traveled extensively and lived in several countries, Ms. Panting wishes to use her cultural competency and understanding of diversity issues in future clinical practice and to help reduce the stigma surrounding  trauma and mental illness in minority populations in the United States and abroad.  She first worked with individuals of minority status as the manager of the Family Support Program at the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI ) of Sonoma County. She continues to work with individuals from various backgrounds at Tri-Valley Haven, where she is currently creating the agency's first advocacy program for supporting survivors of human sex trafficking. She also leads two therapeutic art, writing, and meditation groups in Santa Rita Jail.

apanting@paloaltou.edu

Rayna Sanghvi is a PH.D. student at Palo Alto University whose area of emphasis is Trauma. She is part of the Early Intervention Clinic and also a member of Pau Students for Global Mental Health. She completed her B.A in psychology at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Ms. Sanghvi's interests include complex trauma, military sexual trauma and global mental health.

rsanghvi@paloaltou.edu

Isabel Unanue is pursuing a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Palo Alto University. She is a former vice president of the board of PAU Students for Global Mental Health. She has a Master's degree in Clinical Psychology from Teachers College of Columbia University, a Master's in Public Health from Universitat  Pompeu Fabra of Barcelona, Spain, and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Yale University.

She began her work in global mental health in 2012 when she created a mental health curriculum for mothers of malnourished children for the innovative, Rwanda-based NGO Gardens for Health. In 2014, she became Program Associate for the Contemplative-Based Resilience Project, an initiative dedicated to bringing resiliency and wellness trainings to international humanitarian aid workers. In addition to her Ph.D. studies, she assists in the development of mental health projects in Kenya and Central African Republic.

iunanue@paloaltou.edu

Jessica Walsh is a Ph.D. candidate at Palo Alto University. She is a former Research Officer of the board of Palo Alto University Students for Global Mental Health. She earned a Master of Science degree in Psychology from the University of East London and a Bachelor of Arts in Social Studies and French, with a focus on Human Rights, from Harvard University.

Ms. Walsh's interest in global mental health began in 2010 with her undergraduate thesis on a French village that saved more than 5,000 Jewish children during the Holocaust.  This experience sparked her interest in transcultural trauma and post-conflict reconciliation processes.  She moved to London, England to explore this interest further and spent four years working with survivors from both sides of the international conflict: refugees and veterans.  She has co-authored written evidence for the British Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights on the topic of unaccompanied migrant young people in the United Kingdom, a joint venture between the Tavistock Clinic and Royal Holloway University. Ms. Walsh formalized this research with her Masters Dissertation on Transcultural Mental Health Service provision for refugees in the United Kingdom. She also has extensive experiences working with British veterans and is beginning a clinical rotation at the San Francisco Veterans Administration's PTSD team.  Her research interests involve the international repercussions of war, moral injury, the psychology of terrorism, and trauma, particularly amongst older adults.

jwalsh@paloaltou.edu

Ms. Ward is a Ph.D. student in the Trauma and Meditation emphases at Palo Alto University. She is part of the Early Intervention Clinic. She has served as Public Relations Officer for PAU's Students for Global Mental Health. She completed her B.A. in Psychology at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Ms. Ward's  experiences working with families struggling with the immigration process, combined with her love of traveling, has spurred her interest in global mental health.  She is interested in trauma, nature-based interventions, mindfulness, empowerment and global mental health.

nward@paloaltou.edu

Andrea Wister is a student in the PhD program interested in global work with adolescents. She has served as Secretary of PAU Students for Global Mental Health. She is originally from Norway, and is passionate about traveling and learning about other cultures.

awister@paloaltou.edu