Rachel Winograd, PhD, Big Enchilada (Principal Investigator)
Rachel Winograd, PhD, is fascinated by drugs and all the reasons and ways people use them. She’s most interested in how some people's drug use turns into problematic use or addiction, their experiences accessing care, and the beliefs, knowledge, policies, and practices of those working in clinical settings to provide substance use services to those who need them. Currently, her focus is on expanding access to medical treatment, harm reduction strategies, and person-centered approaches for evidence-based care for substance use disorders in Missouri. Rachel enjoys sunshine, eating cereal in the evening, and has recently discovered she likes puzzles. She’s outspoken and rarely takes no for an answer, except when dealing with her three young children, when sometimes she chooses to simply give up.
Rashmi Ghonasgi, Lab Maven (Research Coordinator)
Rashmi Ghonasgi (she/her) is a research coordinator for the REAL Lab as well as the ASPIRE Lab at UMSL. She has recently completed her bachelor's degree in Clinical Psychology from UIUC. Throughout her undergraduate years, she was involved in many different labs and types of research but found her interest in substance use and addiction. Specifically, she is interested in the utilization of social and community networks in intervention and treatment initiatives for reducing harmful substance use as well as how to tailor these community initiatives to speak to the needs of specific groups and people. In her free time, she likes to read, bake, and rock climb.
Kanila Brown, MA, MS (3rd Year Clinical Psychology Student)
Kanila is third-year student in UMSL's Clinical Psychology PhD program. She earned her BA in Psychology from Talladego College in 2017. In 2019, she earned her MA in Clinical Psychology and MS in Quantitative Psychology at Ball State University. There, her Master's thesis examined social cognitive predictors of substance use and sexual risk behavior among emerging adults. Broadly, Kanila's interests include understanding behavioral and mental health disparities, predominantly among Black people. More specifically, she is interested in understanding the mechanisms of substance use/addiction among Black people and culturally sensitive interventions. Her current thesis will use qualitative data to build a model of frequent cannabis use among Black adolescents through a social-ecological framework.
Schyler Newman, Rizz Master (2nd Year Clinical Psychology Graduate Student)
Schyler Newman (she/they) is a first-year student in UMSL’s Clinical Psychology PhD program. In 2018, she earned her BA in Psychology at Rowan University in south Jersey. She then went on to complete a post-bacc experience where she assisted with the development and implementation of contingency management interventions for substance use. From there, she earned a position at the University of Pennsylvania where she worked on The Whole Health Study–a RCT focused on collaborative care for OUD in primary care settings. Broadly, Schyler is interested in optimizing treatments for OUD, contingency management, and the dissemination of research to policy makers and the public. In her free time, she enjoys reading fanfiction, weightlifting, and streaming Call of Duty.
Brandon Park, Karaoke Emcee (1st Year Clinical Psychology Graduate Student)
Brandon Park (he/him) is a first-year clinical psychology Ph.D. student at UMSL. In 2017, he graduated with B.A.'s in Psychological & Brain Sciences and the Natural Sciences Area at the Johns Hopkins University. Soon after graduating, he worked with the Maryland Opioid Research (MOR) group of the Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit (BPRU) at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. For two years, he coordinated multiple in-person adn remote studies evaluating patient-centered perspectives of opioid craving, drug legalization and decriminalization beliefs, and substance use disorder treatment outcomes. At UMSL, Brandon is eager to investigate barriers to opioid use disorder treatment in the community, with a special commitment to incarcerated and forensic populations. Outside of research, he is passionate about music (especially playing cello), exploring art museums, and trying new things outdoors.
Rithvik Kondai, Research Associate and Vibes Consultant
Rithvik (Vik) Kondai (he/him) is the Senior Overdose Prevention Coordinator on the Addiction Science team at UMSL-MIMH and an MPH student at Mizzou. In his role at UMSL-MIMH, Vik works with the Harm Reduction team to implement harm reduction programming throughout the state of Missouri. Vik graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a BA in Psychology-Neuroscience-Philosophy, an interdisciplinary degree where Vik learned to fall in love with the mind. He found his passion for harm reduction after working at a syringe service program in St. Louis. Vik joins the ASPIRE lab as a graduate research associate and vibes coordinator. He is broadly interested in learning about and advancing work in the fields of substance use, addiction, harm reduction, implementation science, drug policy, community health, health equity, and racial equity. He is also in the ASPIRE lab to maintain the vibes. Vik is committed to spreading the harm reduction gospel and finding ways to empower communities to keep eachother safe and healthy.
Bridget Coffey,How-to Queen (Addiction Science Liaison)
Micah Nellis, Newbie (Lab Assistant)
Micah Nellis is a fourth-year undergraduate psychology student at UMSL. He has always been interested in how different ideas interact to produce changes in people and institutions. His foremost passion is thinking about where and how the theoretical meets the individual – which is what brought him to the field of psychology, as it is the epitome of this process. More recently, he found the UMSL addiction science team, whose members do precisely this: they aim to improve the lives of individuals who use drugs using every level of analysis: research, policy, practice, and community. In addition to academics, he likes to sing and have lengthy, heated debates with his siblings about any topic one could have an opinion on.
Dez Smith, Sorcerer's Apprentice (Lab Assistant)
Dez Smith (she/her) is a Sophomore in UMSL’s Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology program. She’s always thinking about psychological things, geeking out over the littlest neurons. This is her first lab and she’s excited to make mistakes and then learn from them.Outside of school and the lab she loves to read, make coffee, and take walks.
The ASPIRE Lab is not accepting graduate students for 2024 - 2025 enrollment.
The ASPIRE Lab is accepting undergraduate research assistants on a rolling basis. Please apply if you are interested :)
