​Four DePaul doctoral students have earned highly competitive fellowships with the American Psychological Association. The Minority Fellowship Program, known as MFP, has a selection rate of only 7%. Linda Toch, Laura Saldana, Fiona Sun and Samantha Nau will receive up to three years of support for pursuing careers in behavioral health services or policy and serving communities of color. 

Linda Toch came to DePaul knowing that she wanted to make a difference in the lives of Asian American refugee families. Now a third-year Ph.D. student in the College of Science and Health’s clinical-community psychology program, Toch is researching the effects of structural violence and historical trauma.​

“My father is a Khmer refugee who resettled in Los Angeles, and my mother survived the Khmer Rouge genocide for all four years. My research comes from both a personal place and a desire to make resettlement a safer experience for refugee groups" Toch says.​

The MFP is empowering Toch to ​pursue impact research rooted in cultural humility and responsiveness. “I'm excited to research what facilitates our community's psychological strengths, like our cultural pride, autonomy, and tendencies toward collectivist healing" Toch explains.​ 

Laura Saldana, a doctoral candidate in clinical-child psychology, received the fellowship for her own dissertation project. Saldana delivers and evaluates a group-based coping skills intervention for third and fourth graders participating in an academic enhancement program.  This research builds off a multi-year project that she and her colleagues in the Culture and Evidence-Based Practice La​b carry out with Chicago Public Schools. Her work uses evidence-based practices in community settings to increase the accessibility of healthcare for those who need it most.​

“Several factors lead families from minoritized backgrounds to underuse mental health services. Increasing accessibility is two-fold: implement services in settings where families can reach them, and partner with families so that they feel empowered through the care they receive" Saldana shares.

Clinical psychology doctoral candidate Fiona Sun likewise found the fellowship support critical to enhancing the impact of her research. For her dissertation, Sun is interviewing Chinese American high school students to assess what preferred mental healthcare looks like for this group. She hopes her work can help inform and target culturally appropriate mental health services. 

Samantha Nau earned her doctorate in clinical-community psychology this year. She is grateful to be part of a network of MFP fellows committed to the behavioral health of underserved communities of color. Her research explores the experiences of African-born asylum seekers who have survived torture and immigration-related stressors. She studies how migrants' perceptions of the U.S. sociopolitical climate and immigration system affect their sense of wellbeing.

“Asylum seekers often face social isolation, lack of access to basic necessities and social services, and ongoing chronic stress. There is often an emphasis on the trauma that forcibly displaced migrants experience in their home countries, but there is less awareness of the traumatic experiences that asylum seekers face along their migration journey and once they go through the immigration system," Nau says. “My hope is that my work can help raise awareness of the lived experiences and unique needs of asylum seekers who have survived torture."

Read more stories of DePaul graduate students' research on the College of Science and Health's website.