Meet Our Research Staff
Our Directors
Director of Baylor IMPACT Lab - Houston
Director of Baylor IMPACT Lab - Houston
Dr. Parrish, PhD, MSW, is the Director of the Baylor IMPACT Lab - Houston, a professor with the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work, and a faculty affiliate with the Health Behavior Research and Training Institute (HBRT) at the University of Texas at Austin.
Co-Director of Baylor IMPACT Lab - Houston
Co-Director of Baylor IMPACT Lab - Houston
Dr. Zhao is the Co-Director of the Baylor IMPACT Lab - Houston, and an assistant professor at the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work.
Dr. Kirk von Sternberg
Faculty Affiliate
Kirk von Sternberg, Ph.D., is an associate professor at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work, the associate director of the Health Behavior Research and Training Institute (HBRT), and adjunct Ph.D. faculty with the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work at Baylor University. Von Sternberg has a master’s degree in social work from the University of Houston and a Ph.D. in behavioral science from the University of Texas Health Science Center-School of Public Health. Von Sternberg has 20 years of experience in designing and implementing large clinical trials to test interventions based on the Transtheoretical Model and Motivational Interviewing (MI). As an investigator, he was responsible for study design and data analysis on several large NIH and CDC-funded randomized controlled intervention trials addressing the risk of alcohol-exposed pregnancies, alcohol and safer sexual practices, STI screening, cocaine abuse, and screening and brief interventions for alcohol and drugs in medical settings to name a few. Von Sternberg has a particular interest in the mechanisms of change and recently was the primary data analyst on a study to examine the intervention tapes from the successful Project Choices Efficacy trial. Along with a current intervention trial, CHOICES Plus, to prevent alcohol- and tobacco-exposed pregnancy (CDC), and a trial to test screening and brief intervention for drugs in a level 1 trauma setting (NIDA), Von Sternberg is currently involved in psychometric analyses of the process of change assessments to develop briefer measures for use in a computer adaptive testing format (CAT). Dr. von Sternberg is M-PI on the CHOICES-TEEN study.
Dr. Mary Velasquez
Faculty Affiliate
Mary M. Velasquez, Ph.D., is the Centennial Professor in Leadership for Community, Professional, and Corporate Excellence and director of the Health Behavior Research and Training Institute at The University of Texas at Austin Steve Hicks School of Social Work. Velasquez holds a master’s in clinical psychology and a Ph.D. in behavioral sciences from the University of Texas Health Science Center- School of Public Health.
Her program of research focuses on the development and implementation of interventions using the Transtheoretical Model and Motivational Interviewing. With over 20 years of support from the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Velasquez has developed and studied behavioral interventions in the areas of integrated primary care, screening and brief interventions, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, alcohol and other drug abuse, prenatal health, HIV prevention, and smoking cessation. A recent emphasis has been on teaching graduate students and health professionals to use brief motivational interventions in medical settings. She is the author of books, journal articles, and book chapters on using brief interventions to facilitate treatment adherence and promote behavior change for a variety of health problems. Velasquez is an internationally recognized trainer in both Motivational Interviewing and the Transtheoretical Model and is a founding member of the Steering Committee for the International Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers. Dr. Velasquez is a co-investigator on the CHOICES-TEEN efficacy study.
Dr. Laura Benjamins
Faculty Affiliate
Dr. Laura Benjamins, MD, MPH, FAAP, AAHIVS is a Professor at Wayne State University Pediatrics Department and she is board-certified in pediatrics and adolescent medicine. She received her medical degree from Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, MI. She completed pediatric residency training from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, and two fellowships in Adolescent Medicine and Joint Primary Care at McGovern Medical School and the University of Texas Center at Houston while obtaining her MPH from the University of Texas School of Public Health. Prior to her current position, she was a professor of Adolescent Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth where, for the last 17 years, she has been working with the Pediatric Infectious Disease team to provide care to adolescents and young adults with HIV. She also has served as the medical director for Harris County Juvenile Probation, providing care at three facilities for Juvenile Justice-Involved Youth. Dr. Benjamins was a co-investigator on the CHOICES-TEEN pilot study and is now co-investigator and subcontract PI on the CHOICE-TEEN Efficacy Study.
Dr. Angela Stotts
Faculty Affiliate
Dr. Angela Stotts is a Professor and Vice Chair for Research as well as the Director of the Behavioral Health and Addiction Research Program in the Department of Family and Community Medicine. She holds a cross-appointment in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences as well as an appointment in the Center for Clinical Research and Evidence-Based Medicine.
She has established a long-standing research program specializing in the development and evaluation of behavioral and pharmacological treatments for substance use disorders, with special emphasis on maternal and child populations. She has conducted pioneering work testing interventions to reduce secondhand smoke exposure with families who have an infant in the neonatal intensive care unit.
Dr. Stotts has been continuously funded since 2000 and has served on NIH study sections and special emphasis panels. She is also a Co-Investigator on the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s Clinical Trials Network for the Texas Node. She is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Addiction and a member of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, College on Problems of Drug Dependence, as well as the Society for Teachers of Family Medicine.
At UTHealth, Dr. Stotts has served on multiple committees, as well as the Faculty Senate, and has mentored numerous faculty members, postdoctoral fellows, residents, graduate students, and medical students. She has been the recipient of the UTHealth President’s Award for Mentoring Women (1999) and the Distinguished Professional Woman Award (2015). Dr. Stotts is a co-investigator on the CHOICES-TEEN Efficacy Study.
Dr. Aynsley Scheffert
Faculty Affiliate
Aynsley Scheffert, Ph.D., MSW, LICSW is an Assistant Professor of Social Work and the BSW Program Director at Bethel University. She received her MSW from St. Thomas University and her Ph.D. in Social Work from Baylor University. Following completion of her MSW degree, she worked in hospital social work at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, and then as an individual, family, and group psychotherapist at Zumbro Valley Community Health Center in Rochester, MN. She specializes in child and adolescent trauma, prolonged exposure for PTSD in adults, ADHD, mood disorders, dual diagnosis, and severe and persistent mental illness. During her doctoral program, Dr. Scheffert was awarded the Garland School of Social Work Doctoral Research Fellowship and continued her work as a graduate research assistant through her three years in the Ph.D. program supporting Dr. Parrish and the CHOICES-Teen project. In this role, she served as project coordinator for the pilot study that provided critical feasibility data for the proposal. Her research interests focus on utilizing quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods methodologies to assess the impacts of disasters and other adverse events and the development of adverse mental health responses, such as depression, PTSD, and maladaptive loss, as well as mechanisms that serve as protective factors and promote the development of resilience. She has a particular interest in implementation research surrounding the integration of educational initiatives for mental health first aid and crisis intervention for organizational leaders, especially in times of disaster and crisis.
Dr. Flor Avellaneda
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Dr. Avellaneda’s professional practice and research experience inform her commitment to helping address the intersectional barriers faced by Latinx immigrants. She is currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work at Baylor University, working under the leadership of Dr. Danielle Parrish. In this role, she has been instrumental in helping conduct research for CHOICES-TEEN, alongside her colleagues. Her social work practice and background have informed her current research agenda. As a case manager and community educator, she worked with adolescents and their families to foster educational growth and well-being. Her prior practice experience also involved working with Latina domestic violence survivors, where she witnessed firsthand the challenges that Latina migrant women experienced due to partner violence. Some of these challenges included a lack of legal documentation, limited access to community resources (e.g., culturally informed mental health provision), and loss of social networks. All factors that are important in addressing IPV survivors’ needs. Vitally important is research that informs prevention interventions that will promote the health and well-being of women and girls who face sexual health disparities and intimate partner violence. As informed by this particular practice experience, Dr. Avellaneda completed a doctoral internship at the University of Texas Medical Branch Obstetrics and Gynecology Department in Galveston, TX. Under the leadership of Dr. Jeff Temple, she helped examine risk factors associated with dating violence by examining longitudinal data using the Dating it Safe: A longitudinal study on teen dating violence data set, collected as part of an NIJ-funded project. Upon completing her Postdoctoral work, Dr. Avellaneda will pursue a tenure-track faculty position at a Tier One research university, where she will continue to build her research agenda focused on developing culturally informed interventions that improve the quality of life for women and girls.
Cherisha “Cheri” Williams
Project Coordinator/Behavioral Health Specialist
Cheri Williams, LPC, is the Project Coordinator and Behavioral Health Specialist on the NIH-funded CHOICES-TEEN study and a professional affiliate of the Health Behavior Research and Training Institute (HBRT). Previously, she was the Houston-based Project Coordinator for the NIH-funded Choices4Health R01 study (PI: Mary Velasquez, Ph.D. Director of the Health Behavior Research and Training Institute at the University of Texas at Austin). She earned her master’s in counseling from Louisiana Tech University and is a Licensed Professional Counselor. Ms. Williams is responsible for the implementation, coordination, and administration of the CHOICES-TEEN research project in partnership with Harris County Juvenile Probation, providing extensive training, coaching, and procedural guidance for all staff. Equipped with over 12 years of experience in behavioral and mental health, Ms. Williams also conducts clinical assessments and delivers a motivational interviewing-based intervention to participants involved in the study. Before joining the Baylor IMPACT Lab - Houston and the HBRT family, Ms. Williams used her clinical skills to provide outpatient counseling services and case management to students and their parents in an elementary school setting for a national nonprofit. She has also worked with victims of trauma and abuse and helped rehouse military veterans dealing with homelessness. One of Ms. Williams’ professional goals is to help destigmatize mental illness and treatment services, especially in the African-American community.
Leslie Sirrianni
Training Affiliate
Leslie Sirrianni, LCSW, is the Training Coordinator at the University of Texas at Austin Health Behavior Research and Training Institute (HBRT). A member of the international Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT), Ms. Sirrianni earned her MSSW degree from UT Austin and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). She works with HBRT senior trainers to coordinate and deliver MI training, coaching, coding, and supervision to clinicians, human service providers, and program staff from diverse work settings. She was a member of the clinical team on HBRT's recently completed NIDA-funded Traumatic Injury Prevention R01 study (PI: Dr. Velasquez and Dr. Craig A. Field). Before joining HBRT, she was a program manager and clinical therapist delivering interventions in support of the NIMH-funded study, “Telehealth Problem-solving Therapy for Depressed Homebound Older Adults”(PI: Dr. Namkee Choi). She also has provided direct counseling services to homebound older adults through the Counseling Services Department of Family Eldercare, a local nonprofit service organization, and is a long-time CASA volunteer.
Patricia Fiess
Behavioral Health Specialist
Patricia Fiess, LMSW, is a Behavioral Health Specialist for the CHOICES-TEEN Efficacy Study. Patricia also works as a Youth Service Specialist with Harris County at Goose Creek CISD, and before this worked for 6 years as an Academic and Behavioral Paraprofessional with Deer Park ISD. Patricia received her MSW from Baylor University’s Diana R. Garland School of Social Work in 2021, and her Bachelor’s Degree in Behavioral Sciences from the University of Houston-Clear Lake in 2019.
Cathy Crouch
SEARCH Homeless Service
Cathy Crouch, LCSW is Executive Vice-President of SEARCH Homeless Services and has been leading the agency in research and evaluation through the use of evidence-based practices since 1994. Over her career, she has served as a consultant or co-principal investigator on a number of large federal research grants, including several clinical trials. She is a State Board-approved clinical social work supervisor and is a trainer in the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers. Cathy is co-author of the best-selling Group Treatment for Substance Abuse: A Stages of Change Therapy Manual.
Jillian Landers
Doctoral Research Assistant
Jillian, LCSW, is a PhD Candidate in social work at the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work. She received her bachelor’s in education from Texas A&M University in 2016, and her master’s in social work from Baylor University in 2018. Most recently, she worked as an advocate for Commercially Sexually Exploited Youth (CSEY) with Unbound Houston. Jillian is passionate about improving the working conditions of social workers. Her dissertation research focuses on exploring social workers’ experiences of workplace support during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to provide implications for human service leaders. Her other research pursuits include program evaluation, at-risk youth, adoption and foster care, poverty, and family disruption.
Becca Dup, MA
Research Assistant
Becca is an MSW candidate at Baylor University’s Diana R. Garland School of Social Work. Becca received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota and a Master of Arts in Sport and Performance Psychology at Minnesota State University where she completed her Master’s Manuscript on ‘The Influence of Imagery Use on Confidence in Injured Athletes’. Becca has extensive experience serving adolescents and adults within clinical mental health settings addressing presenting concerns of mood disorders, anxiety, depression, and interpersonal struggles. Becca is excited to join Dr. Parrish and the Choices Teen team and to continue advancing her knowledge in preventive interventions/measures to protect youth from high risk behaviors. In her free time, Becca enjoys running, playing soccer, spending time with family, and traveling.
Emily Lawrence
Research Assistant
Emily is an MSW candidate at Baylor University’s Diana R. Garland School of Social Work. Emily currently lives in Houston, but she previously lived in Waco, TX where she got her Bachelors of Science in Children and Family Studies with an emphasis in Child Development at Baylor University. She has enjoyed working with children in a variety of capacities including as a preschool teacher, an early intervention specialist, and more. After graduation, Emily hopes to continue working alongside children and adolescents as they navigate their experiences and goals. Emily is excited to work with Dr. Parrish’s team to help advance knowledge in the social work field. In her free time, she loves going on walks with her husband, spending time with her dogs and cat, and reading books.
Janey Peavy, MBA
Research Assistant
Janet is a current MSW candidate at the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work at Baylor University. She previously earned her MBA from the Baylor University Hankammer School. She has worked in marketing and public relations and strategy for packaged goods, energy, big-ticket, and non-profit companies. She has served on the board of directors and as president of several charitable organizations. Most recently, she was the General Manager for Lyft in Texas where she led multiple local and remote teams, and brokered partnerships between Lyft and the United States Army and Air Force, senior centers, breast cancer screening centers, and medical centers for non-emergency medical transportation. She ran multiple campaigns to combat drunk driving, and promote mobility options for seniors and veterans. Janet is a mom to four children, three are in high school, and one is in junior school. She enjoys playing the piano and frequently accompanies her children during their music competitions and performances. Janet is also an avid reader and loves biking, yoga, and long hikes. Janet hopes to study methods to prevent teen suicidality in her future career. Janet is excited to have the opportunity to have the opportunity to work with Dr. Parrish and the Choices Teen team to increase her knowledge of social work and research.