Team | PATH Lab

Tanya C. Saraiya, Ph.D.

Director

Dr. Tanya Saraiya (she/her) is a licensed clinical psychologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). She also holds an adjunct appointment in the Department of Clinical Psychology at Rutgers University. Broadly, Dr. Saraiya aims to make trauma treatments better, for a diverse range of people. With her team, she develops and evaluates therapy treatments for PTSD and co-occurring substance use disorders (SUD). She is particularly invested in how such treatments can be optimized to historically marginalized populations in research, such as women, racial and ethnic communities, and individuals with complex, clinical presentations, such as opioid use disorder and complex trauma. Dr. Saraiya is invested in how individual identity and cultural context influence healing. As such her work also focuses on how race and culture interact with our understanding of what trauma is and how to best approach it. She welcomes new students and patients to clinical research.

Ariel Worley, M.P.H.

Lab Manager & Program Coordinator

Ariel (she/her) serves as the PATH Lab manager and the Program Coordinator for the HOPE and IPVOT studies. She works closely with Dr. Tanya Saraiya and Dr. Amber Jarnecke. She holds an MSPH from Meharry Medical College as well as an MMS from MUSC. As a prospective PhD student, she is passionate about mental health awareness in minority communities and mentorship for those pursuing higher education.

Jenifer Euceda Nuñez, B.A.

Research Assistant

Jenifer (she/her) is a Program Coordinator for Dr. Christine Hahn's Skills for Psychological Recovery study at the Medical University of South Carolina and is currently also working with Dr. Tanya Saraiya as a Research Assistant. She completed her B.A. in Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness from Virginia Commonwealth University. She is passionate about research that focuses on and helps marginalized groups, particularly the Latinx community. She hopes to earn her master's degree in the near future!

Fellows

Aeriell Armas, Ph.D.

Aeriell Armas, PhD is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the T32 National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Postdoctoral Program within the Addiction Sciences Division at the Medical University of South Carolina. Her research focuses on developing digital therapeutics to address mental health disparities, including trauma and substance use disorders, among Latina/e women exposed to intimate partner violence.

Doctoral Students

Sonali Singal, Psy.M.

Sonali (she/her) is a fourth-year Clinical Psychology PsyD student at Rutgers University. She obtained her B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Songwriting from Northeastern University. Before coming to Rutgers, she worked as a Research Coordinator on clinical trials for substance use and anxiety. She is interested in translational research in substance use, trauma, and anxiety as well as creating more culturally-informed evidence-based treatments for racial/ethnic minorities.

Sara Hameed, B.A.

Sara (she/her) is a second-year Clinical Psychology PsyD student at Rutgers University. She obtained her B.A. in Psychology from Barnard College, Columbia University. Before coming to Rutgers, she worked as a Clinical Research Coordinator on intervention-based studies for depression, anxiety and PTSD. She is passionate about increasing the accessibility of care to marginalized groups who have experienced trauma, including ethnic and racial monitories as well as immigrant and refugee populations.

Collaborators

Sudie Back, PhD

Devin Banks, PhD

Alexandria Bauer, PhD

Donte Bernard, PhD

Delisa Brown, PhD

Aimee Campbell, PhD

Chantel Ebrahimi, PhD

Denise Hien, PhD

Amber Jarnecke, PhD

Brian Keum, PhD

Teresa Lopez-Castro, PhD

Lab Alumni

Tamina Daruvala, J.D., M.S.W.

Tamina was a research assistant in the PATH Lab. She is now a study therapist on the HOPE study and a 5th year doctoral student in the Rutgers PsyD program. Tamina is going to Mount Sinai Hospital for her clinical psychology internship.

Chole Rosenkranz, B.A.

Chloe continues to participate on a scoping review project in the laboratory. She is a 4th year doctoral student in the Rutgers PsyD program.

Priya Johal, B.S.

Priya was a postbaccalaureate research assistant in the PATH Lab and has worked across several projects. She is now a doctoral student in Dr. Ateka Contractor's STRESS Lab at the University of North Texas.

Daphne Gray, M.F.T.

Daphne was a research assistant on the Women, Trauma, and Opioid Use study. She is now a marriage and family therapist in California.

Sarah Helpinstill, M.S.

Sarah was a research assistant on the Women, Trauma, and Opioid Use study. She recently completed her Masters of Public Health at George Washington University and works at MUSC.