Vianney Atugonza is a 2nd year Family Social Science MA student at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She has a MA in Sociology from the St. Augustine University of Tanzania. Her research area of interest is parent-child sexual health communication and the use of Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) with the goal to improve the well-being of adolescents and young people in developing countries. In her previous work, she has worked with parents and young people using media to improve access to sexual and reproductive health information among youth in Tanzania. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, reading, and watching movies.
Elizabeth Hruska is an established career development leader and consultant. She has a masters in Counseling Education and is a first year PhD student in Family Social Science, Family Science track. Elizabeth’s research is focused around College Families, First Generation College Students and also Families and Technology. She is currently investigating how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the parents of college students. When not working she can be found practicing hot yoga or navigating the screentime / fresh air / free play balance with her 3 young kids.
Celia Tseyen Lee is a first-year PhD student in the Department of Family Social Science at the University of Minnesota. Before becoming a Gopher, she earned her M.S. in Human Development and Family Science from Florida State University and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of British Columbia. Her research focuses on how technology shapes adolescent and emerging adult mental health and relational outcomes. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with friends and family, taking nature walks, reading, jamming to her favorite songs, and traveling all over the world.
Eunyoung Park is a PhD student in the Department of Family Social Science at the University of Minnesota. She received her master’s in Child and Family Studies and Human Life and Innovation Design at the Yonsei University in South Korea. Her research focused on the role of technology in the family context, especially in parent-adolescent relationships. She studies how parents and adolescents use technology to connect with each other and how it may influence the quality of their relationships.
Ting Xu is currently in her third year as a Ph.D. student in the Family Social Science Department at the University of Minnesota. Her educational journey began with a B.A. in Social Welfare, complemented by a minor in Psychology, which she pursued at Wuhan University. She furthered her academic pursuits by obtaining an M.S. in Social Science from the University of California, Los Angeles. Post-graduation, she embraced the role of a data manager at the Missouri Prevention Science Institute, affiliated with the University of Missouri. This experience paved the way to her current doctoral studies. Her research is primarily focused on the interface between technology and family dynamics, with a keen interest in understanding the impact of technological advancements on parent-adolescent relationships. In her free time, she enjoys traveling and savoring great food, which offers her a refreshing break from her academic pursuits.
Alumni
Dr. Jennifer Doty is an Associate Professor in the Department of Counseling Psychology and Human Services at the University of Oregon and a research affiliate of the Prevention Science Institute. Prior to that, she was an Assistant Professor in the Family, Youth, and Community Sciences department at the University of Florida (UF) and a postdoctoral fellow in a T32 training grant in Interdisciplinary Research Training in Child and Adolescent Primary Care. Her research is focused on leveraging parent-child relationships and technology to promote adolescent mental health and well-being. Dr. Doty works to prevent youth aggression and cyberbullying and improve parenting practices both in person and online. In this line of research, she employs multiple methods to identify the factors that can be targeted by prevention programming. She is a Co-Investigator on a NIDA funded grant to develop a parent-based program to promote healthy technology use among teens. Additionally, she has launched a community participatory research project to understand the needs of Latinx families. She values integration of community perspectives and equity in prevention program development as integral to addressing systemic issues and ensuring long-term sustainability.
Dr. Heather Hessel (she/her) is an Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, where she teaches in the Human Development & Family Studies and Marriage & Family Therapy programs. Dr. Hessel’s research interests include emerging adulthood, extended family relationships, and the use and impact of technology in families and in clinical practice. She also maintains a small private practice as a licensed therapist and supervisor.
Hailey Holmgren is a research associate and project manager at Brigham Young University. Her research focuses on parent-child communication about and using technology, parent-child relationships, and the influence of maternal mental health on parent-child closeness and communication.
Angela Keyzers is Program Evaluator at Centerstone’s Institute for Clinical Excellence and Innovation. She joined Centerstone in 2022 and currently serves as lead/supervising evaluator on four federally funded grants focused on improving substance use and mental health outcomes, and suicide prevention. Angela holds a B.A. in Psychology from Hamline University, and a M.A./Ph.D. in Family Social Science from The University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Her research interests include parent-child relationships, mental health, substance use, technology use, and suicide prevention.
I am a proud alumna of the TECH lab, where I was under the guidance of Dr. Dworkin from 2016 to 2023. In 2018 I earned my Masters in Family Social Science and in 2023, I successfully earned my Ph.D. in the same program. Currently, I am a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Minnesota, in the Leadership Education in Adolescent Health (LEAH) program within the Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Health, Department of Pediatrics. My research revolves around understanding the experiences and implications of family support for the success and well-being of adolescents and emerging adults, specifically first-generation college students. I am passionate about unraveling the intricate dynamics of familial relationships and their impact on the developmental journey of young individuals.
Angel Martinez-Johnson is a recent graduate from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. She has a bachelors of science in Family Social Science and a minor in leadership. She is currently working as a trauma support staff at an emergency domestic violence shelter called Women of Nations. Additionally, she is in the process of applying to graduate school for marriage and family therapy. During her time with the TECH lab, her research focused on the association between parental technology choices and adolescent self-disclosure.