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. Laura is currently completing her doctoral internship in the Charleston Consortium at the Medical University of South Carolina!
Vanessa Dominguez (she/her/hers/ella)
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 understanding the factors contributing to health inequities for marginalized communities, specifically in Latine populations, and how to better address them using adaptable interventions. This work addresses questions related to improved health and treatment outcomes, improved health service access, and utilizing nontraditional evidence-based interventions. Bridging her clinical and research interests, Vanessa's dissertation broadly seeks to further elucidate the specific mental health needs for the Latine immigrant communities who have traumatic event exposure and the community health workers (CHWs) working with them by exploring CHWs’ perspectives in facilitating access to digital mental health tools and expected facilitators and barriers in delivery of these tools, thus expanding access to culturally responsive mental health needs in the Latine immigrant community. Vanessa enjoys cooking, social justice advocacy, and drinking lots of coffee.
Jacey Anderberg (she/her/hers)
Jacey graduated from the University of South Dakota (USD) in 2021 with a B.S. in Psychology and a B.A. in Spanish. As an undergraduate, she worked on over a dozen separate research projects under the direction of Dr. Christopher Berghoff in the Behavior, Emotion Regulation, and Treatments for Health and Anxiety (BERTHA) Lab. Jacey was involved in all stages of the research process, including developing research questions, writing IRB protocols, selecting appropriate psychological instruments, and cleaning and analyzing resulting datasets. Here, she also completed her undergraduate honors thesis which explored cognitive fusion as a mediating factor in the relation amongst anxiety sensitivity and rumination in undergraduate college students. Upon graduating Jacey spent a year working as an undergraduate Admissions Counselor at USD for Nebraska and Spanish-speaking students while also continuing to work in the BERTHA Lab and refine her thesis for publication. In November 2022, Jacey moved to Houston, Texas to work under the direction of Dr. Eric Storch in the Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM). She coordinated the Latin American Trans-ancestry INitiative for OCD genomics (LATINO), an international, NIH-funded study that aims to understand the genetics and phenotypic presentation of OCD amongst individuals with Latin American, Brazilian, and Caribbean ancestry. During Jacey’s time at BCM, LATINO enrolled 3,500 participants of their 5,000-recruitment goal. She was also afforded the opportunity to engage in participant recruitment and present her research across the United States, Peru, El Salvador, and Ecuador. Her current interests surround health disparities and utilizing community-based participatory research methodology to develop strategies for advancing health equity amongst minority populations, with particular emphasis on those identifying as Latine. Jacey is thrilled to begin her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and to have the opportunity to work with Dr. Trey Andrews and the Iniciativa HABLa Lab. In her free time, Jacey enjoys experiencing new cultures, trying new foods, and being outdoors.
Carolina Garcia (she/her/hers)
Carolina graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 2019 with an MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. As a graduate student, Carolina worked with Dr. Norma Day-Vines applying the multidimensional model of broaching behavior to student counselors in order to address the role of race, ethnicity, and culture in client’s presenting concerns. Shortly after graduation, Carolina moved home to South Dakota where she began working as a school based mental health counselor, helping pre-K through 12 grade students navigate varying mental and emotional health needs. In 2021, Carolina transitioned into a new role as clinical research coordinator at the Avera Research Institute (ARI). At ARI, Carolina worked in a handful of studies assessing the effects of the environment on children’s health and development including airborne pathogens and long-COVID. In 2022, Carolina applied and was one of five students across the nation awarded the Diversity Supplement Scholar grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Her project was created in response to the NIH call to promote diversity and inclusion in clinical trials, especially in rural settings. Carolina sought to better understand factors that contribute to the increased participation of diverse individuals in clinical trials through the conducting of interviews with key collaborators and hosting of community focus groups. Interview data was tied to the Transtheoretical Stages of Change model to guide research institutions in adapting their inclusive research practices. Both research and clinical experiences have guided Carolina to this next stage in her professional career. She is thankful to have resumed her education at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln under the guidance of Dr. Trey Andrews. Currently, Carolina’s research interests include studying the inter-connectedness and current uses of social networks via network interventions. She seeks to find support for peer-interventions to better help attend to the mental health needs of our underserved Latiné populations. In her free time, Carolina enjoys spending time with friends, family, playing tennis, and exploring new places/foods.
Project Managers
Jocelyn Covarrubias (she/her/hers) - Project Manager
Hi! I’m Jocelyn, the project manager for the lab. I recently graduated from UNL with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and ethnic studies. I mainly work with the project ARDeN, which explores how discrimination-related stress affects the physical and mental health of Latinx and Hispanic individuals. My current research interests are broad, though my recent work has primarily centered around underrepresented groups. I also aim to understand and address mental health disparities in marginalized communities.