Diana Santacrose (formerly Capous) of UC Santa Barbara’s Gevirtz School has been awarded a competitive national dissertation grant from the Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA). Santacrose’s dissertation focuses on “An Intergenerational Model of Protective Factors among Latino/a Adolescents Exposed to Stress and Trauma” and is part of Proyecto HEROES, the larger National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) grant of her advisor, Dr. Maryam Kia-Keating. Proyecto HEROES uses community-based participatory research to address violence-related disparities among Latino/a youth.
The Society for Community Research and Action, Division 27 of the American Psychological Association, is an organization devoted to advancing theory, research, and social action. Its members are committed to promoting health and empowerment and to preventing problems in communities, groups, and individuals. SCRA serves many different disciplines that focus on community research and action.
Santacrose is a fifth year clinical doctoral student in the Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology at UC Santa Barbara’s Gevirtz School; her dissertation is being funded by the 2016-17 President’s Dissertation Fellowship. She has also received the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS) 2015 Outstanding Student Advocacy and Service Award. Santacrose earned her B.S. in Human Development from Cornell University
Santacrose has been involved in a variety of activities and associations on campus and in the community, including the American Psychological Association of Graduate Students Advocacy Coordinating Team, and the Gevirtz School’s Diversity and Equity Committee. She also helped to coordinate Proyecto HEROES’ photovoice project, a photography project where Latino high school students, working with UCSB undergraduate mentors, captured the strengths and struggles in their communities through photos. Her current work focuses on violence prevention research and integrating cultural, familial and community strengths to working with Latino/a youth and families. She is committed to contributing to the field of trauma-informed, culturally sensitive research and clinical care.