DEI-Focused Awards and Recognition

Luis Angel Gomez

Luis Angel Gomez is an incoming graduate student to the Clinical Psychology PhD program where he will train under the supervision of Dr. Jennifer Brown. He is a first-generation Latino and queer scholar researching the associations between substance use and stressors related to a person’s minority identity with a particular focus on intersecting ethnic racial sexual and gender minority identities.
 
A native of San Jose Luis earned his Associate’s in Psychology at City College of San Francisco. Interested in supporting individuals recovering from alcohol and drug addiction he has volunteered with The Salvation Army and various Twelve Step organizations.
 
At the height of the pandemic Luis moved to Chicago Illinois to further his academic pursuits. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree with Distinction in Psychology from Dominican University (Chicagoland) and served as a research assistant at DePaul University’s Center for Community Research examining Oxford House recovery homes as supportive environments for LGBTQ+ individuals in recovery from alcohol and other substances.
 
Upon completion of the PhD program Luis plans to seek a faculty position at a university pursue academic research that diversifies the field’s understanding of substance use and collaborate with marginalized and underserved communities to provide equitable access to treatments and reduce overdoses.
 
During his free time Luis enjoys flow arts (movement-centered expressive arts) reading non-fiction books arranging bouquets caring for his plants and exploring new coffee shops.

Peng Zhang

Peng Zhang is going to begin her doctoral studies in Speech Language and Hearing Sciences at the College of Health and Human Sciences in Fall 2023.
 
Originally from China, Peng earned her master’s degree in Linguistics from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2023. Her research interests lie in speech and language processing, assessment and analysis of language production, as well as the development of language-specific interventions for monolingual and bilingual individuals with aphasia.
 
Prior to joining Purdue, Peng gained valuable experience as a member of the Aphasia Research Team at SJTU. During her time there, she actively contributed to a number of interdisciplinary projects that combined the fields of psychology, linguistics, and medicine, such as the development of naming treatment and naming test for Chinese speakers with aphasia and the processing of scalar particles. She had also worked as a speech therapy researcher in a local hospital, collaborating with doctors to promote accessible and affordable therapy and an awareness campaign.
 
Peng is excited to start her PhD under the supervision of Dr. Jiyeon Lee and work on sentence processing impairment and implicit learning-based treatments in aphasia. From Purdue, Peng wants to see her career progress towards a lifelong researcher in aphasia, and especially aphasia in Chinese, and through this to be a protagonist of aphasia treatment in this country of many hidden patients.
 
During her free time, Peng enjoys spending time with friends and family, dancing, and joining outdoor activities. As a passionate traveler, Peng has visited more than 100 cities and is eager to continue exploring the world.

GÉNESIS SANTIAGO BURGOS

G​énesis is beginning the College of Health and Human Sciences’ PhD program in Public Health in Fall 2022.

Génesis Santiago Burgos was born in Puerto Rico and received her bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Purdue University in December 2021. Génesis’ research interests include health promotion and interventions within underprivileged communities such as Latinx and Hispanic communities. She is also interested in researching factors that may cause health disparities. Prior to joining the Public Health PhD program at Purdue University, Génesis worked as an undergraduate research assistant under Dr. Yumary Ruiz. Génesis is excited to start her Public Health PhD program under the mentorship of Dr. Yumary Ruiz and join the Purdue Puentes Project.

Once finished with the PhD program, Génesis wants to continue advocating for good health practices in underprivileged communities and join a major research university as a faculty member.

In her free time, Génesis loves to read, listen to music, and spend time with loved ones. She also likes to learn new languages such as French and Korean.

RONNIE HILL

Ronnie will begin his 1st year with the Clinical Psychology PhD program in the Fall of 2022. Ronnie comes to us as an alumnus, having served his undergraduate tenure in the College of Health and Human Sciences as well as the College of Liberal Arts at Purdue, and graduated with both his Psychological Sciences and Classical Studies degrees in the Spring of 2019.

He is originally from Indianapolis, Indiana where he attended Cathedral High School as a multi-sport student athlete in all AP/Honors level courses, and graduated with High Honors. He then enrolled at Purdue University as a member of the Boilermaker Football Team where he was a two-time academic All Big-Ten selection, and served as the president for the undergraduate Rho Sigma Chapter of The Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Incorporated. Ronnie has spent the last three years in Indianapolis working as a Mental Health Specialist for the state wide healthcare organization, Community Health Network, in the inpatient psychiatric facilities at both the North and East hospital campuses, while simultaneously maintaining involvement in various research projects.

In terms of his career goals, upon completion of the program Ronnie aims to obtain a university faculty position as a researcher; specializing in clinical assessment and the clinical interview in correspondence to the identification and diagnosis of personality disorders, while highlighting the psychopathology that differentiates normal vs. abnormal behavior (with emphasis on incorporating cultural and environmental context). He is further interested in researching personality disorders broadly, with primary focus on the pathology of Cluster B Personality Disorders. As a subsequent interest, he wishes to investigate the link and indications that Cluster B disorders play in the conceptualization of psychopathy and the dark triad. His hope is that such research would foster examination of treatment/assessment models currently used for treating and diagnosing personality disorders in clinical and forensic settings alike.

In his free time, Ronnie enjoys spending time with friends and family, playing his guitar, skating, traveling, and watching movies/TV shows. Ronnie is a 1st generation Doctoral Student and we are very excited to have him!