Culture, Family & Health Lab

Seth J. Schwartz was born in New York City, grew up on Long Island, and moved to Florida at the age of 10. He earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Florida State University in 1993, his master’s degree in family and child sciences from Florida State University in 1996, and his Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Florida International University in 2000. Dr. Schwartz was a postdoctoral fellow and later a professor at the University of Miami from 2000 to 2020. In January 2021, he joined the College of Education at the University of Texas at Austin.

Dr. Schwartz is the author or editor of three scholarly books: Handbook of Identity Theory and Research, Oxford Handbook of Acculturation and Health, and The Savvy Academic: Publishing in the Social and Health Sciences. He has published more than 400 journal articles and has received multiple grant awards from the National Institutes of Health and other funding agencies.

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Duyen Vo grew up in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), Vietnam. As the first generation in her family to graduate from high school, she moved to the United States in her late teens to pursue higher education. Duyen earned a Bachelor of Science in Health Studies (Summa Cum Laude) and a Master of Science in Health Behavior. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Health Behavior at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research focuses on the intersection of culture, family, and immigration, with a particular interest in in-group discrimination and the mental health of immigrants, international students, and workers. Duyen works as a graduate research assistant at UT Austin and serves as managing editor of the International Journal of Intercultural Relations. She is also a former teaching assistant in the College of Education and an intern with the American Heart Association.

SeoWoo Lee was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea as the first daughter of a two-child family. She received a bachelor’s degree in Child & Adolescent Studies / Psychology from Sungkyunkwan University in the Republic of Korea and a master’s degree in Child Psychology and Education from the same university under the guidance of Professor Tae Kyoung Lee. She is pursuing a PhD in Kinesiology and Health Education at the University of Texas at Austin starting this August. Her current research involves social determinants of health and dynamic processes of health problems in adolescence and emerging adulthood. In her future research, she looks forward to finding ways to reduce social and racial/ethnic health disparities and promote health equity.

Maria Duque earned her Ph.D. in Health Behavior and Health Education at The University of Texas at Austin and is now a postdoc researcher at Boston College. She is a psychotherapist and a public health practitioner by training and spends every day thinking critically about evidence-based solutions for building a more inclusive, fair, and healthy society. Much of her work centers around how structural forms of discrimination, negative context of reception, and prejudice shape population health disparities, and counter empathy in situations of perceived threat. Her research focuses on the psychosocial mechanisms that contribute to adverse mental health outcomes among migrants forced to flee their homelands due to climate change, war, dictatorial governments, and public health hazards (crisis migrants). At a more granular level, she has a growing interest in the governance of emerging technologies (i.e., artificial intelligence and augmented virtual reality) and its effects on health, identity processes, and human well-being. Maria received her master’s degrees from the University of Miami and Harvard University.

Carolina Scaramutti has a wealth of professional experience working in Public Health, including business, public relations, and case management for non-profit organizations. She has conducted research, specifically focusing on under-resourced child populations in the Miami-Dade County region as a Research Assistant for the Center for Children and Families at Florida International University and the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Carolina also has over six years of experience working with children in hospital and school settings and is currently registered in Florida as a Licensed Mental Health Clinician, focusing on trauma, crisis migration and behavioral disorders. She has experience in project planning, statistics, quantitative and qualitative research methods, and development evaluation. She is a former co-editor for the FCA newsletter and has worked under the Past President of the Florida Psychological Association as well as the Forensic Division for FPA, Wade H. Silverman, Ph.D., ABPP. She is interested in the Public Health sector advocating for mental health and minority health disparities. She earned a Ph.D. from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. She is a current recipient of the National Institute of Health’s Minority Health Disparities International Research Program.

Yara Acaf is a doctoral student at the Stan Richards School of Advertising and Public Relations interested in science communication. More particularly, she works on environmental advertising, campaigns, activism, and justice in an intercultural context. Previously, Yara worked as a Communications Assistant with REVOLVE, a media company based in Europe that fosters sustainability. She also worked as a Research and Development Assistant at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN‐ESCWA) where she studied the climate change and conflict nexus in the MENA region. Yara is passionate about environmental advocacy and social justice, which is why she joined the Mediterranean Youth for Climate Action (MedYCA) network and co‐founded the Global Youth Biodiversity Network (GYBN) Lebanon chapter as well as Peace on Climate (a think tank that aims to raise the issue of climate change and conflict with policymakers). Her projects have been awarded by the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, Anna Lindh Foundation, and Center for Mediterranean Integration. She has given numerous workshops on environmental justice and youth mobilization and appeared on BBC Arabic on several occasions to discuss climate change mitigation and adaptation in the Arab region and globally.

Sumeyra Sahbaz was born in Switzerland to Turkish parents. She received her bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Bern, her master’s degree in educational psychology from Virginia Tech, and her doctoral degree in educational research and evaluation, also from Virginia Tech. She has worked as a data analyst, adjunct professor, program manager, and research affiliate at various institutions including Virginia Tech, the University of Notre Dame, and Oklahoma State University. Dr. Sahbaz joined the Culture, Family, and Health Lab at UT Austin in August 2023 as a research affiliate. Currently, she serves as a postdoctoral fellow at The University of Teacher Education Schwyz in Switzerland.

Pablo Montero-Zamora was born and raised in Costa Rica. Dr. Montero-Zamora is an Assistant Professor at UT-Austin’s Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, College of Education. His research delves into the intricate interplay of context, parents, and peers on substance use and mental health among Latino youth. His work investigates how cultural stressors, migration, and social norms influence family dynamics, shaping antisocial and prosocial youth behaviors. Dr. Montero-Zamora’s research aims to enhance the development, implementation, and evaluation of culturally adapted evidence-based interventions tailored to serve Latino families in the United States and Latin America. He earned his Ph.D. in Prevention Science and Community Health at the University of Miami and completed postdoctoral training as a UT-Austin Provost’s Early Career Postdoctoral Fellow. With extensive research experience in Latin America, particularly in Mexico, where he earned his Master’s in Epidemiology from the National Institute of Public Health, Dr. Montero-Zamora brings a rich academic background that includes a Master’s in Dentistry from the Complutense University of Madrid and a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the University of Costa Rica.

Magdalena Bartoszak was born and raised in Poland. Researcher & lecturer at the Institute of Psychology, Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology in Warsaw. Psychologist, certified psychological trainer, educational expert, owner of the training company. She received her MA in Psychology diploma at the Jagiellonian University in Cracow and Ph.D. in Psychology at the Institute of Psychology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, which she graduated with honors. Scholarship holder of the Minister of Science and Higher Education. The first chairwoman of the Council of the Student Government at the Polish Academy of Sciences in Poland, she was also a representative of the Polish Academy of Sciences in the National Representation of Ph.D. Candidates. Author of scientific publications in the field of cross-cultural & educational psychology, migration studies. She teaches and coordinates academic subjects for bachelor’s, master’s and postgraduate students. She also conducts “Cross-cultural psychology” with Erasmus students. Her courses, e.g., “Cross-cultural psychology”, “Migrations & refugees and the modern world”, “Bilingual and multicultural child”, “School systems in Europe and other parts of the world”. Dr. Bartoszak’s research interests include: cross-cultural psychology (migration/refugees issue, acculturation, social stereotypes, bilingualism & multilingualism, social stereotypes; interdisciplinary research (mental health, family issues, cultural diversity, inequality, human/children’s rights, contemporary challenges of psychology. Member of scientific societies, e.g., APA (American Psychological Association), IACCP (International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology), Society for the Teaching of Psychology, Association for Psychological Science.

Danny Hang (He/Him) was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Utah, his work focuses on solidarity formation; that is, when do people commit to and support minoritized communities and those most negatively impacted by the legislature, conflict, and current events? Moreover, his work explores when people choose not to extend their solidarity towards specific communities and the psychological and cognitive mechanisms contributing to this. Danny applies his work through an interdisciplinary lens through psychology, sociology, political science, and cognitive science. Danny’s university profile is linked here. Keywords: intergroup relations, solidarity, intersectionality, culture, context, identity

Elena Bochkina was born and raised in Russia. She received her bachelor’s degree in educational sciences from Moscow City University, her master’s degree in educational psychology, and her doctoral degree in educational and cognitive psychology, which she also graduated with honors from Moscow City University. The author of the theory of development of ideas about the cyclicity of spatio-temporal processes in preschool children as a tool for social integration. Based on which the child development program “Me and Time” https://meandtime.ru was written and implemented. Researcher & lecturer at the Moscow City University, Department of Psychology in Moscow. Head of an international research group (Russia, China, Israel) studying issues of acculturation and the influence of the environment on the intellectual development of the child.  Her research interests include: cross-cultural psychology (migration/refugees’ issue, acculturation, social stereotypes, social stereotypes; cognitive research (cognitive differences among migrants; cognitive development of preschool and primary school children, the connection between the image-anticipation and intellectual development).