I worked with Team E closely with Deborah Fisk and Dr. Ani. I shadowed Dr. Ani at the Wellness Center, a primary care clinic integrated into a large community mental health hospital. I am collecting patient data to show the benefits of this system.

I learned a lot about the intersection of mental health and physical health, especially metabolic diseases.

The compassion and humility of the clinicians at CMHC inspire me. It exposed me to serious mental illnesses and the difficulties that many patients go through, such as substance abuse, comorbid mental illnesses, alienation from family, and poverty.

Outside of research, I love to sing, and enjoy using music as a way to engage in social connection.

I am grateful for the opportunities and resources I have received through Dwight Hall because they have allowed me to alleviate financial burdens while exploring different career paths and developing my interest in community service and research. I became a Dwight Hall Community Mental Health Fellow at the beginning of my junior year, and through my placement with Dr. Brian Zaboski at the Yale OCD Research Clinic and Bridgeport REACH Intensive Outpatient Program, I am being trained on how to conduct exposures for exposure therapy, having more patient-facing interactions, and learning about different roles in the mental health field (e.g., social workers, psychiatric technicians, and psychiatric nurses). I have also conducted phone screens with patients, shadowed clinicians, and contributed to ongoing research projects at the lab (we just submitted a deep learning and OCD paper to Frontiers!).

I am someone who values practice in order to supplement theory, and I truly believe that my approach to research has become more holistic through my work with Dwight Hall and the CMHC. It has helped me realize that when people go home, their lives encompass much more than the prototypical approach to a diagnosis, and that some things just do not fit as neatly into a box as we may want them to. Understanding these nuances has been an important part of my clinical education.

I've learned how challenging it is to open a new program from staffing to defining the goals of the organization. It has been inspiring to see how many people have dedicated their time and energy to shaping the program and working to increase the services available to the New Haven community.

I'm interested in going into Emergency Medicine and this program has shown me how alternatives to the ER can be successful for many patients. I'm leaving this experience increasingly dedicated to providing care to every patient I encounter and now have a better understanding of the various resources available in cities like New Haven.

I work at the ENACT Research Lab, which conducts psilocybin-assisted clinical studies for participants with a range of mental illnesses, including MDD, OCD, and anxiety. Currently, I’m working with my mentor Dr. Gabrielle Agin-Liebes on an open label study to explore psilocybin’s effect on functional impairment. A wide range of symptoms fit within the eligibility criteria of the study, which is designed to make the study as accessible as possible for diverse participants, even those without formal diagnoses. Equity is central to our lab’s mission, which I wholeheartedly share.

A key takeaway for me has been seeing the stunning power of psilocybin on mental health. Psychedelic experiences are as varied as people themselves, but there is undeniable potential for psilocybin to be used in treatments across diagnoses. I have had the honor of witnessing its profound medicinal impact in many participants’ lives.

This fellowship has helped me crystallize my passions, work style, and nonnegotiables in the workplace. The scientists, clinicians, and participants at ENACT Lab inspire me immensely to be unconventional in my thinking, approach to research and clinical practice, and personal life. The incredible mentorship from my colleagues has exposed me to incredible resources for professional development, including a DSM training course offered for free at Yale. Ultimately, it has been an invaluable experience to gain deeper insight into psychedelics, the challenges and rewards of psychiatry, and the diversity of lived experiences in New Haven and across the north east.

For my placement, I work in the Fineberg Lab. In addition to screening participants over the phone and helping out with eligibility visits, I helped out with creating data collection instruments on RedCap for two upcoming studies (one on MDMA in patients with BPD and another on the treatment of BPD with neurofeedback).

I'm learning a lot about the regulatory processes for studies and clinical trials, such as IRB approval. I'm also improving my clinical decision-making skills through talking to participants and assessing eligibility for our studies.

As someone potentially interested in doing clinical research in the future, getting exposure to the very start of these studies and how much you have to think ahead about how you're going to collect data even before you start recruiting participants has been a great experience.

Through this fellowship, I've had the opportunity to analyze data related to substance use among Nigerian youth. Additionally, I've been able to shadow patients in New Haven who are seeking treatment for substance use. This experience has really shown me the importance of asking the right questions and building trust with patients to truly understand their needs.

I have two placements this year. The first is doing research at the Yale School of Nursing with Dr. Iennaco, a PMHNP. We are currently working on a scoping review examining steps taken after patient assault on healthcare workers. I learned a lot about how to use Covidence and End Note.

My other placement is at the MAT (Medication Assisted Treatment) Clinic at the CMHC. There, I shadow Jenn Mastriano, a nurse clinician, as she sees clients who are dealing with substance use disorder. I have learned how to take and read urine toxicology tests, take vitals, and write encounter notes.

My main takeaways are learning more about nursing and working in psychiatric mental-health care.

I am extremely grateful for this fellowship because it helped me realize I like nursing and want to work in substance abuse treatment.

I currently work with Dr. Annie Harper, researching the effects of mental health from debt. At the beginning of the semester, I briefly worked on cleaning data from a previous survey done back in 2021, asking participants about the types of debt they accumulated and how that is affecting their lives. Now, I focus on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance. More specifically, I will be interviewing New Haven locals about their experiences with SSI and/or SSDI and whether they know about the ABLE program. When individuals receive SSI and/or SSDI, they are limited in the amount they can save. If they save too much, then their benefits decrease. ABLE accounts are like a remedy for that issue.

Working on this project, I am able to interact with people who deal with debt and learn their stories in a meaninful way.

In my work at the Inpatient Services Unit, I work closely with Dr. Erika Carr and her team to analyze the effects of patient centered care on patients with schizoaffective disorders. I have sat in meetings with health care experts, a mix of nurses, psychiatrists, etc., and learned how patient treatment plans are adapted to foster improvement and personalization. I am also working on analyzing the impact of this form of care by identifying schizoaffective behaviors from patient data. We are also working on another study in which we investigated the role of terminology in patient-health care providers interactions and recovery.

I've learned how to approach and understand mental health disorders from a clinical perspective. Through my experience with clinicians, I have observed the empathy, care, and thoughtfulness that goes into a patient's mental wellbeing, and how that supports improvement. I am also doing phone-screening in Dr. Fineberg's Lab, where I carry what I learned about patient interaction and care.

This fellowship inspired me to do clinical research in my gap year, solidifying my interest in clinical psychology and psychiatry. I am eager to continue learning about mental health disorders and how health care providers can better support and understand individuals with severe mental illnesses.