With over 300 graduates of our doctoral program, Berkeley Social Welfare produces top-notch professors and researchers for some of the best social work schools and policy centers throughout the country and around the globe. We are proud of the rigorous conceptual mentoring our students receive and how they have each drawn extensively on the larger intellectual assets of the world's leading public university. They have conducted research, published in leading journals and have significant teaching experience in undergraduate- and/or graduate-level courses. Each one of these emerging scholars will bring a unique set of skills, both in scholarly pursuits and in their ability to shape future leaders among their students.
Current Students and PhD Candidates
Neena Albarus
(she/her)
Education
- PhD, May 2027 (expected)
- MSW, The University of the West Indies, Mona, 2016
- BSSW, The University of the West Indies, Mona, 2014
Research Interests: Commercial sexual exploitation of children; Substance use and mental health; Social violence in Jamaica; Colonialism in the Black Diaspora; Mixed methods research
Taylor Brown
(he/him)
Education
- PhD, May 2027 (expected)
- MSW, Washington University in St. Louis, 2020
- BSW, Harding University, 2019
Research Interests: Ecosocial policy, climate risk, climate change adaptation, comparative social policy, critical social policy, political economy, computational and econometic methods
Alagia Justice Cirolia
(she/they)
Education:
- PhD, University of California, Berkeley, May 2026 (expected)
- MSW, University of California, Berkeley, May 2023
- BA, University of California, Berkeley 2017
Research Interests: School Ecology; School Mental Health; Critical Theory and Education; School Equity; Latinx Mental Health; Culture and Belief Systems and Mental Health; Trauma-Informed Systems; Relational Interventions; Dissemination & Implementation; Participatory Action Research; Quantitative Critical Research
Aldazia Green
(she/her)
Education
- PhD May 2027 (expected)
-
MSW, University of California, Berkeley, 2024
-
BA, Rutgers University- New Brunswick, 2022
Research interests: Mental Health, justice-involved individuals with severe mental illness (SMI), criminal justice, mass incarceration therapeutic interventions,quantitative methods, program implementation, policy advocacy
Sofia Guo
(she/her)
Education
- PhD, May 2027 (expected)
- MSW, University of California, Berkeley, 2024
- BA, University of California, Berkeley, 2019
Research interests: front line workers in the child welfare system, racial disparities within the CWS, CPS workforce characteristics, CPS workforce policy, econometric modeling of CPS funding resources and child/family outcomes
Anissa Hall
(she/her)
Education
- MSW, University of California, Berkeley, 2026 (expected)
- BASW, Rice University, 2024
Research Interests: Post-traumatic slave syndrome in African Americans, racial and gender equity, social determinants of health, epigenetics and inherited trauma, educational and health disparities, reproductive health disparities, gender-based violence, justice & wellbeing in the queer community
Ryan Karnoski
Education
- PhD, May 2026 (expected)
- MSW, University of Washington, Seattle, 2017
- BASW, University of Washington, Seattle, 2016
Research Interests: Sexual and gender minority youth in the public child welfare system, transgender health and welfare, microaggression, social stratification, adversity and resilience, imagined communities, semiotics, and social identity, systems of social service delivery, conceptual modeling
Tiffany Luo
(she/her)
Education
- PhD, 2025 (expected)
- MSW, University of California, Berkeley, 2021
- BA, University of California, Berkeley, 2016
Research Interests: Health equity, healthcare access, integrated behavioral health care, mental health, implementation science, digital health interventions, digital social work, mHealth design and implementation, program evaluation, mixed methods
Orlando Parrales
- PhD, May 2026 (expected)
- MSSW, Columbia University, 2018
- BASW, Texas Tech University, 2017
Research Interests: Latinx older adults; homelessness; homeless shelter services and utilization research; mental health and substance abuse treatment use; qualitative and mixed methods
Laura Elizabeth Pathak
Education
- PhD, 2026 (expected)
- MSW, University of California, Berkeley, 2020
- BA, University of California, Berkeley 2012
Research Interests: Latinx mental health, health disparities, digital mental health interventions, digital social work, data privacy, community engaged research
Reiley Reed
(she/her)
Education:
- PhD, December 2026 (Expected)
- MSW, University of California, Berkeley, 2022
- MPH, University of California, Berkeley, 2014
- BA, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2009
Research interests: Health and healthcare disparities; power dynamics in healthcare; pregnancy surveillance and criminalization; reproductive and sexual health; social determinants of health; mixed methods
Mo'e Yaisikana
(he/his)
Education
-
PhD, May 2028 (expected)
- MSW, National Chengchi University, 2021
- BSW, National Taiwan University, 2018
Research Interests: Equitable aging, long-term care service; aging policy; anti-oppression social work; Indigenous social work; decolonization theory; biopolitics and social welfare; critical research methods; science and technology studies (STS)
Michelle Zaragoza
(she/ella)
Education
- PhD, 2028 (expected)
- MSW, California State University, Dominguez Hills, 2018
- BA, University of California, Irvine, 2016
Research Interests: Latinx youth and family well-being, migration and mental health, trauma, critical theory, qualitative methods, arts-based research
Leyi (Joy) Zhou
(she/her)
Education
- PhD, May 2027 (expected)
- MSW, University of Pennsylvania, 2020
- BA, Tsinghua University, 2018
Research Interests: geriatric social work, community service delivery, intergenerational intervention, digital inclusion; qualitative and mixed methods, community-based participatory research, co-design approach