Vanessa is a fourth year Honors Psychology student attending Georgia State University. She has a passion for mental health advocacy, creativity, equity, diversity, and inclusion. Vanessa hopes to go into the field of Behavioral Health or Pediatric Psychology through earning a Ph.D. in either Health or Clinical Psychology. She hopes to focus her research and clinical interests on a breadth of topics including:

* Mindfulness and Psychotherapy treatment

* Delivering patient centered integrated care that integrates behavioral health and primary care

* Conducting mental health advocacy work and spreading resource awareness through health communication strategies to optimize health related knowledge, prevention, and intervention strategies

* Exploring the interplay between race and culturally based health practices and health outcomes

* Parental involvement to improve child mental health and physical well-being

* Addressing Mental Illness Stigma and Disparities in the African American community

Her current honors thesis focuses on examining race bias in pediatric pain assessment and perceived pain rating.