Lab Members
Meghana Akkati
Meghana Akkati earned a B.S. in Human Biology from the University of California, San Diego, and is currently working as a Research Assistant on the SAFAD Study and the Web-SUCCEED Study. Meghana will be starting medical school in August of 2026! She aspires to become a physician who provides compassionate, culturally informed care. She is currently exploring different specialties, with a particular interest in OB/GYN. Through her clinical work as an EMT and a primary care medical assistant, as well as her community and global health experiences, she has become passionate about advancing health education and addressing cultural and structural barriers to care. For fun, Meghana loves to dance, cook, and travel with her family and friends. Fun fact: she earned her Black Belt in TaeKwonDo a few years ago!
Shreya Desai, MS
Shreya Desai is a medical student at the Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine at the University of Houston. Shreya earned a B.S. in Biology and in Psychology at the University of Houston. In 2020, she joined the Community Health and Prevention Research master's program at Stanford University, where Dr. Ranak Trivedi served as her research internship and thesis mentor. After completing the master's program, Shreya remained with the lab. She is continuing to work on the SAFAD study, and is currently conducting a one-year scholarly research project as part of her medical school curriculum under the mentorship of Dr. Trivedi. She is excited to continue to work with the lab in the world of caregiving research and finding culturally attuned ways to support patients and their caregivers. For fun, Shreya enjoys playing soccer and she loves to travel! Feel free to contact Shreya via email at sdesai03@alumni.stanford.edu.
Lauren Ibarra
Lauren Ibarra earned a B.S. in Biochemistry and Cell Biology at the University of California-San Diego (UCSD). She is currently on leave from her medical school program at UCSD while she earns a Master of Science degree in Community Health & Prevention Research (CHPR) at Stanford University. As part of the CHPR program, she is working on the SAFAD and Web-SUCCEED projects as part of her thesis and internship under the mentorship of Dr. Trivedi. Concurrently, she is also the study lead of the ASDMedEd project based in San Diego, creating patient-communication guides for the adult autism community and providers. She is interested in using co-generative design to improve healthcare infrastructure so it is more accessible for marginalized communities. More specifically, Lauren is interested in working with the adult intellectual and developmental disability community and in U.S.-Mexico border health. For fun, she is currently learning to make stained glass! Lauren's family is particularly fond of glass art, which is why she has developed an interest in the hobby. So far, she has made flowers and a spaceship! Keep up with all that she is doing on LinkedIn!
Kathryn (Kate) Macia, PhD
Dr. Kathryn Macia is a Research Health Science Specialist at the HSR&D Center for Innovation to Implementation (Ci2i) and National Center for PTSD (NCPTSD) Dissemination and Training Division at VA Palo Alto Health Care System (VAPAHCS). She has been involved in VA research since 2012 and recently completed a VA Advanced Postdoctoral Fellowship in health services research at NCPTSD and Stanford University after receiving her Clinical Psychology PhD from Palo Alto University and completing her predoctoral internship at Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System. Dr. Macia has a strong background in Veteran homelessness and mental health including trauma/PTSD treatment, health services research, and quantitative methods. She has a high level of expertise in advanced statistical methods and analysis of data relevant to the current project, which has included leading and consulting on topics relevant to data analysis for RCTs and other funded research projects.
Zen Marshall, MS
Zen Marshall is a a research assistant in the Framily and Mental Health lab and the Project Coordinator for the Web-SUCCEED study under the guidance of Dr. Trivedi. Zen earned a B.A. in Psychology at California State University, Sacramento and a M.S. in Psychology at Palo Alto University. In addition to her position in the Framily and Mental Health lab, Zen is an UX Researcher with the Public Digital Health Innovation team with the National center for PTSD supporting the development of mobile mental health apps. Zen is an aspiring clinical/developmental psychologist and wanting to earn a PhD. Her research interests focus on addressing mental and chronic illnesses predominantly affecting minority communities and underserved populations. She strives to eliminate existing gaps between underserved populations and occurring antecedents to mitigate negative mental health outcomes to create preventable measures and better practices. In her free time, Zen enjoys hiking and being out in nature, gardening, playing the ukulele, cooking and baking and going to Broadway, ballet and the symphony. She loves anything she can put her artistic expression into and enjoy supporting community arts and theatre. Feel free to contact Zen via email at zendrea.marshall@va.gov.
Armaan Shetty
Armaan Shetty is a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology at the University of Florida. He earned a B.S. in Economics and Psychology from the University of Wisconsin. Armaan is currently conducting research that examines how psychosocial, cultural, and healthcare-delivery factors affect South Asians living in the United States, with the goal of identifying barriers and designing culturally attuned strategies to improve care. She is excited to continue to work with the lab in the world of caregiving research and finding culturally attuned ways to support patients and their caregivers. He also is interested in advancing research at the intersection of clinical psychology and behavioral economics to optimize treatment engagement and behavioral health outcomes. For fun, Armaan enjoys playing soccer and traveling!
Sophia Tong
Sophia Tong is a pursuing a master's degree in Epidemiology and Clinical Research at Stanford University. She earned a B.S. in Public Health Sciences and a Minor in Psychological Science at the University of California, Irvine. She has joined the lab and will be working on the SAFAD Study. She aims to work in clinical research and continue working towards chronic disease prevention and survivorship. Sophia is also interested in pursuing a PhD in the future. For fun, she loves to watch sitcoms and do puzzles. Sophia also enjoys dancing and swimming in her free time! A fun fact is that she can learn dance choreography just by watching videos of it!
Joseph Wielgosz, PhD