Mentoring & Internships

PhD Alumnus, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing

Dissertation: Understanding risk factors, including substance use, for recurrent assault-related injury

Dr. Alexander’s Role: Dissertation committee member and NIH F31 Consultant

“I am passionate about better understanding how structural inequities such as structural racism, policies, practices, and social determinants of health shape the racial and gender disparities we see in violent injury. Dr. Alexander has worked closely with me to design and carry out my dissertation study.”

PhD Alumnus, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing

Dissertation: Understanding the impact of post-separation abuse on children’s health and flourishing

Dr. Alexander’s Role: Dissertation Committee Member and Research Mentor

“My research focuses on the intersection of IPV and child maltreatment, IPV-related homicides of women and children, structural determinants of health and safety such as judicial decision-making and risk assessment, as well as interventions that promote safety, resiliency, and recovery from trauma.”

PhD Alumnus, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing

Dissertation: Take Charge Study: Sexual Health Services Designed By You for You

Dr. Alexander’s Role: Dissertation Committee Member and Research Mentor

“Over 10-years healthcare experience illuminated the devastating impact of ignoring the factors that impact the sexual and reproductive health of Black women. As an emerging scholar, I am passionate about enriching the health of Black women. I joined this team to collaborate with other scholars and experts who center women in their work. My research focuses on designing a community informed intervention to enrich the sexual reproductive health of Black women, while simultaneously preventing new cases of HIV/STIs.”

PhD Student, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing

Dissertation: Hablemos de Ti: Engagement in Care and Emotional Support in the context of Interpersonal Trauma among Latino immigrant men living with HIV

Dr. Alexander’s Role: Dissertation Committee Member and Research Mentor

“My experience as a victim of violence while living in Central America and the experiences of trauma and social isolation among the Latinx immigrants that I cared for as a nurse have given me a passion to promote psychosocial and emotional health among Latino immigrant men. Dr. Alexander has advised and guided my dissertation project through her expertise in qualitative methodology and psychosocial health promotion among racial and sexual minorities.”

PhD Alumus, Johns Hopkins University

Assistant Professor, Marquette University College of Nursing

Dr. Alexander’s Role: Research Mentor

“My program of research focuses on the intersection of violence and the sexual and reproductive health of women who sell sex and women who use drugs. I was privileged to have Dr. Alexander as my PhD advisor, and we have continued our mentorship relationship focused on addressing the complex issues facing marginalized women who experience violence.”

Postdoctoral Alumnus, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing

Assistant Professor, Ohio State University College of Public Health

Dr. Alexander’s Role: Research Mentor

“My research focuses on understanding and using strengths-based and community-based approaches to improve the sexual and mental health of young people and their families. My current work examines how resilience, trauma, health behaviors, and social contexts influence sexual and mental health outcomes among girls and young women, particularly those with marginalized identities. Ultimately, I aim to use my research findings to develop and implement culturally-relevant trauma-informed interventions and to create structural change by informing policy.“

PhD Student, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing

Dissertation: Multi-Level influences on Perceptions of Psychological IPV: Implications for Sexual Risk Behaviors Among Black adolescent and young adult Women

Dr. Alexander’s Role: Doctoral advisor and mentor

“My current research focuses on intersections between intimate partner violence and HIV, but I am broadly interested in exploring the mechanisms through which trauma shapes the health and well-being of adolescents and young adults, particularly those who have experienced violence. “

PhD Student, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing

Dissertation (tentative topic): The prevalence of suicidality (suicide and suicidal ideation) and associated factors among adolescents living with HIV

Dr. Alexander’s Role: Dissertation Committee Member and Research Mentor

“My research focuses on adolescent mental health and HIV/AIDS, with particular emphasis on improving mental health care access and HIV prevention for hard-to-reach adolescents and young people. Driven by the lived realities of youth who face overlapping challenges of mental health vulnerability and HIV risk with limited support, I aspire to develop equitable, youth-centred interventions that address these dual burdens.”