Director
Dr. Arthur "Trey" Andrews III
I direct the Iniciativa Healthcare Access & Bienestar Latine (HABLa) lab at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. I received my PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Arkansas in 2014. I also did my clinical internship at the Medical University of South Carolina with a specialization in traumatic stress. I continued this work as an NIMH-funded postdoctoral fellow at the National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center (also at the Medical University of South Carolina). Throughout my clinical training and clinical work I retained a focus on providing services for Latinx immigrant populations. The majority of my clinical work has been conducted in Spanish. In 2016, I joined the faculty in the Department of Psychology with the Clinical Training Program and the Institute for Ethnic Studies with Latino and Latin American Studies.
I am incredibly passionate about making sure that my research translates into positive impacts for my community. This is reflected in my dual research aims. I want to make sure that we not only understand why disparities occur for Latinx populations, but also make sure that we find solutions. Similarly, I want to provide mentoring opportunities to individuals from underrepresented backgrounds and work to improve diversity in the psychology training pipeline. When I'm not working on research or teaching, I enjoy traveling and spending time outdoors with my wife, daughter, and son.
You can find my full CV here. Also, please feel free to contact me at arthur.andrews@unl.edu if you are interested in my research or have questions about joining the lab. You can also see my faculty page here.
Graduate Students
Laura Acosta
Laura graduated from Florida State University (FSU) in 2015 with a B.S. in Psychology and a minor in Sociology. During her time as an undergraduate, she worked as a research assistant in clinical psychology labs and eventually completed her honors thesis under Dr. Thomas Joiner on suicidal ideation among Hispanic/Latinx individuals. After graduating, she went on to work in the social psychology labs of Dr. James McNulty and Dr. Andrea Meltzer where she coordinated four longitudinal projects on marital satisfaction among couples. Her passion for research lies in the prevention of mental health disparities among minority populations, especially Hispanic/Latinx individuals. She is also fascinated by the dual roles that family can have in the prevention and sometimes exacerbation of mental health disorders among Hispanic/Latinx young adult and adolescent populations. Aside from her academic pursuits, Laura can be found spending time with her family and Corgis, watching documentaries, playing video games, and complaining about the lack of Cuban food in NE.
María Natalia Acosta
Natalia graduated from Universidad de los Andes, in Bogotá, Colombia in 2016 with a B.S. in Psychology. For three years she worked as a research assistant in the Public Health area of Fundacion Santa Fe de Bogota, a local non-profit private institution. There, she participated in projects regarding screening of behavioral and emotional issues in early childhood, prevention of obesity and diabetes in rural populations, and sexual health education of Colombian youth. She also worked with teens who were former guerrilla members, most of whom experienced internal displacement. Natalia is interested in the factors that influence the development of mental health issues in immigrants, especially Latinx population. In her spare time, she enjoys watching movies and series, as well as reading any book she can lay her hands on.
Allura Ralston
Allura received her B.A. in psychology from Temple University. As an undergraduate, she worked in the Adult Anxiety Clinic of Temple where she completed her honors thesis under the direction of Dr. Richard Heimberg. After graduation, she worked at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, coordinating research projects exploring technology-assisted adjuncts to care. These experiences ignited a passion for research and clinical work focusing on mental health disparities and treatment dissemination and implementation strategies (particularly technology-assisted treatments) for underserved populations. She bridges these research and clinical interests through her work with both Dr. Andrews’ lab and Dr. Debra Hope’s lab. Outside of her academic pursuits, Allura enjoys spending time with her family and friends, reading, and spending time outdoors.
Vanessa Dominguez
Vanessa graduated from the University of Florida (UF) in 2015 with a B.S. in Psychology, B.A. in Anthropology, and minors in Health Disparities and Women’s Studies. As an undergraduate, Vanessa interned at the Florida Department of Health as a Florida Certified HIV Counselor. Following graduation, Vanessa worked as a post-baccalaureate research assistant at the Center for Study of Emotion and Attention/Fear and Anxiety Disorders Clinic at the University of Florida. Under Dr. Peter Lang, Vanessa worked on an NIMH funded study researching multidimensional classifiers for anxiety and mood disorders through psychophysiology measures, fMRI, and cortisol. Vanessa joined the Woods Neuromodulation Lab at UF in 2018 as a study Interventionist applying transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in conjunction with cognitive training for the Augmenting Cognitive Training in Older Adults (ACT) Study. Vanessa’s research interests include the development of mental health issues and their relationship to cultural factors, linguistic barriers, and physical disease in underrepresented groups, specifically racial and ethnic minorities and immigrant populations. Vanessa enjoys cooking, social justice advocacy, and drinking lots of coffee.
Project Managers
Evelyn Estrada Gonzalez - Project Manager