Meet the Team
Director
Dr. Sycarah Fisher received her doctoral training in School Psychology at Michigan State University with an emphasis on working with culturally diverse populations. She completed her pre-doctoral internship in New Orleans, Louisiana focusing on Response to Intervention within urban school systems. After the completion of her degree, she served for 3 years as a School Psychologist at an urban charter school in Washington, DC. Dr. Fisher's research focuses on improving life outcomes for diverse populations. This manifests itself in two lines of research. The first involves examining models of risk and resilience related to mental health and substance use for African American adolescents. The second line of research focuses on the implementation of expanded school mental health services and substance use preventive interventions in low-income minority serving schools.
Graduate Students
Libby Day is a first-year student in the School Psychology PhD program. She graduated from Belmont University with a B.S. in Psychology and a minor in Education. While receiving her undergraduate degree she worked in the Hemmeter Project Lab at Vanderbilt University studying social-emotional development and coaching support for teachers. As a graduate student, she is currently working with Dr. Fisher as a research assistant and is pursuing becoming a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. Libby’s current research interests include Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), self regulation and resiliency factors.
Publications
Fisher, S., Arsenault, C., Fisher, A., Huang, H., Day, E., & Barnes-Najor, J. (Under Review). Teacher support as a moderator of peer victimization and school engagement: Does student race matter? School Psychology
Publications
Fisher, S., Arsenault, C., Fisher, A., Huang, H., Day, E., & Barnes-Najor, J. (Under Review). Teacher support as a moderator of peer victimization and school engagement: Does student race matter? School Psychology
Shlon Smith is a third-year PhD student in the School Psychology. She graduated from the University of Buffalo with a B.S. in Psychology and from the University of Rochester with a M.S. in Education Policy. Shlon spent several years working in schools in various capacities prior to starting her PhD program. Recently, she was selected to join the Robert Wood Johnson’s Health Policy Research Scholars program. Dr. Fisher is Shlon’s faculty mentor for the HPRS program as Shlon’s research interests focus on access to mental health services in low-income schools and the school-to-prison pipeline.
Grants
2020-2023 Co-Principal Investigator. Health Policy Research Scholars: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Title: Access to Mental Health Services in Low-Income Schools and the School to Prison Pipeline
Grants
2020-2023 Co-Principal Investigator. Health Policy Research Scholars: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Title: Access to Mental Health Services in Low-Income Schools and the School to Prison Pipeline
Undergraduate Students
Hannah Huang is a third-year undergraduate student studying Biology and Public Health at the University of Georgia. She currently works as an undergraduate research assistant for Dr. Sycarah Fisher and is planning to head to medical school after undergrad to pursue an MD/MPH. She has research interests in race-based disparities in health and academic achievement and optimizing school-based mental health interventions for at-risk, low-income minority youth.
Publications
Fisher, S., Arsenault, C., Fisher, A., Huang, H., Day, E., & Barnes-Najor, J. (Under Review). Teacher support as a moderator of peer victimization and school engagement: Does student race matter? School Psychology
Fisher, S., Benner, K., & Huang, H. (Under Review). Adolescent substance use and school-based SBIRT: "We have to help." School Mental Health
Publications
Fisher, S., Arsenault, C., Fisher, A., Huang, H., Day, E., & Barnes-Najor, J. (Under Review). Teacher support as a moderator of peer victimization and school engagement: Does student race matter? School Psychology
Fisher, S., Benner, K., & Huang, H. (Under Review). Adolescent substance use and school-based SBIRT: "We have to help." School Mental Health
