Current Team Members
Graduate Researchers
Jeremiah (Miah) Sabas, M.S.
📍 Doctoral Student, Clinical Psychology, University of Massachusetts, Boston
Jeremiah (Miah) Sabas completed her B.A. in Psychology and Social Behavior at the University of California, Irvine with minors in Social Ecology and Asian American Studies. Completing her M.S. in Counseling at California State University, Fullerton, Miah’s capstone project explored the experiences of therapists working with Asian heritage LGBTQ+ parents. She has provided therapy at a community college counseling center for low income, racialized students and a university counseling center at a minority-serving institution, initiating a LGBTQ+ support group and co-facilitating an Asian American support group.
Her research focuses on activism, resistance to oppression, and the mental health impacts of racialization in Asian American communities. She is particularly interested in resistance against racism among Asian American queer people, colonial mentality, and internalized homophobia. Miah aspires to bridge Asian American Studies with Psychology to one day teach as a professor and serve minoritized communities.
🔹 Research Interests: Asian American LGBQ+ experiences of oppression and resistance, coping with racism, internalized oppression, and mental health effects of conscientization.
Saniya Soni, M.A.
📍 Doctoral Student, Clinical Psychology, University of Massachusetts, Boston
Saniya Soni earned her M.A. in Clinical Psychology from UMass Boston and a B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Criminal Justice Studies from Drexel University.
Her current research explores the impacts of historical trauma and racism on family experiences of South Asian American communities, developing interventions for collective healing.
Saniya has provided psychotherapy in low-income counseling centers and community health hospitals to racialized, underserved, immigrant and refugee communities. She has also co-chaired diversity initiatives, organized community events promoting healing and solidarity, and co-hosted a podcast addressing mental health stigma within the South Asian diaspora.
🔹 Research Interests: Intergenerational/historical/collective trauma, racism, liberation, south Asian/Americans.
Robyn Wong-Lee
📍 Doctoral Student, Clinical Psychology, University of Massachusetts, Boston
Robyn holds a B.S. in Psychology and Women & Gender Studies. She has worked in research and equity-enhancing projects, including health promotion for underhoused groups and sexual health education for youth experiencing psychosis.
Robyn is interested in how race-related stress and racial trauma may motivate or discourage Asian Americans to engage in resistance and activism against racism, and how community factors and empowerment may advance mental health outcomes for Asian Americans.
Robyn aspires to co-create a non-profit collective integrating psychotherapy, research, and activism to support Asian American communities.
🔹 Research Interests: Asian American resistance, empowerment, activism; racial trauma, race-related stress, intersectionality, solidarity, gender.
Patrick Fang
📍 Doctoral Student, Clinical Psychology, University of Massachusetts, Boston
Patrick Fang earned his B.A. in Psychology and Law, History, & Culture from the University of Southern California, where he completed a senior honors thesis examining the relationship between mental health stigma and psychotherapeutic service use in Asian Americans.
Before coming to UMB, he worked as a Research Assistant at the Olin Neuropsychiatry Research Center in a lab focusing on transcranial magnetic stimulation and substance use.
🔹 Research Interests: Critical consciousness, racial identity development, peer social support.
Undergraduate Researchers
Kyle Chear
📍 Undergraduate Research Assistant, University of Massachusetts, BostonKyle Chear is pursuing a B.S. in Psychology with a program of study in Asian American Studies.
Kyle has worked as a teaching assistant for the Asian American Studies Program for the courses “Cambodian American Culture & Community” & “Rise Up! Asian American Leadership & Social Change.” He has also worked as a youth camp counselor at his local Boys & Girls Club in Lynn, MA. Kyle is currently the Co-President of the Khmer Culture Association at UMass Boston and is also the Vice President of the “Lynn Youth Led Mental Health Team.”
Kyle’s experience as a second-generation Cambodian American informs his current research interests in intergenerational trauma, youth support, and activism. Kyle aspires to obtain his doctorate to serve marginalized youth and to teach courses related to ethnic studies and psychology.
🔹 Research Interests: Youth support, intergenerational trauma, activism, ethnic studies.
TIffany Tang, B.A.
📍 Post-Bacc Research Assistant, University of Massachusetts Boston
Tiffany Tang graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, with a B.A. in Psychology. She previously worked on Dr. Elizabeth Dugan’s Healthy Aging Data Reports research team.
Tiffany is interested in the racial identity development of Asian American youths and its influence on mental health. Her long-term goals are reducing the stigma against mental health in the Asian American community and advancing professionally to become a psychologist specializing in supporting those from marginalized backgrounds. Tiffany’s research interests and goals are heavily influenced by her identity as a second-generation Chinese-American.
🔹 Research Interests: Racial identity development, Asian American youth
Doctoral Affiliated Researchers
Swapandeep Singh Mushiana, M.S., Psy.D.
📍 Director of Behavioral Health and Wellness, Soccer Without Borders
Swap Mushiana is the Director of Behavioral Health and Wellness at Soccer Without Borders, an international non-profit using soccer to improve psychosocial outcomes for immigrant and refugee youth.
His work includes delivering behavioral health interventions for youth with chronic health conditions, developing community programs, and implementing health equity strategies.
Swap completed his M.S. in Counseling Psychology (Marriage & Family Therapy) at Dominican University, his Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the University of San Francisco, and advanced post-doctoral training through the VA Quality Scholars Program.
🔹 Research & Focus Areas: Behavioral health, trauma-informed care, health equity, immigrant youth support.