one step at a time

EDUCATION

University of Miami - Department of Psychology, Health Division - Coral Gables, FL - Expected 2029

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Clinical Psychology 

APA & PCSAS Accredited

The New School - The New School for Social Research - New York, NY - Awarded 2024

Master of Arts, Psychology - GPA: 4.0/4.0 - 

Sarah Lawrence College - Bronxville, NY - Awarded 2022

Bachelor of Arts, Theater, Dance & Global Health- GPA: 4.0/4.0

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE  

University of Miami | Doctoral (PhD) Student (2024–Present)

Supporting quantitative research and manuscript writing for the Hispanic Community Health Study, a multi-site longitudinal study on Hispanic health.

The New School Center for Global Mental Health | Primary Investigator (2024–Present)

Leading the cultural and media adaptation of WHO task-sharing mental health interventions into telenovela scripts for Spanish-speaking migrant communities, coordinating a global team, and securing funding.

The New School Center for Global Mental Health | Bilingual MHPSS Technical Specialist (2024)

Led Spanish-language cultural adaptation and remote training of PM+ for community-based organizations, supervising non-specialist staff across global projects.

Consortium on Forced Migration, Displacement & Education | Program Coordinator (2023 and 2024)

Managed recruitment and program delivery for a research-based study abroad program in Switzerland, co-developing global mental health curricula and securing partnerships with international stakeholders.

Trauma & Global Mental Health Lab | Lab Manager (2023–2024)

Oversaw lab operations, coordinated 55+ members, streamlined communication, supported grant identification and writing, and organized dissemination events to advance global mental health initiatives.

Graduate Research Assistant | Trauma & Global Mental Health Lab (2022–2024)

Contributed to large-scale studies on task-sharing interventions for adversity-impacted communities, focusing on cultural adaptation, recruitment, training, and data collection.

• RECOUP-NY (NIMH-R01) | New York, NY

PIs: Brandon Kohrt, MD, Ph.D., Adam Brown, Ph.D.

• Assessment of Key Interviewing Factors for Research Assistants (AKIRA) | New York, NY; Uganda; Nepal

PIs: Alesha Cid-Vega, Adam Brown, Ph.D., Brandon Kohrt, MD, Ph.D.

Developed a novel competency-based tool for enhancing data collection quality across global mental health programs.

• Group PM+ Implementation for Displaced Women | Barranquilla, Colombia

PIs: Adam Brown, Ph.D., Ana Maria Trejos Herrera, Ph.D.

Conducted qualitative coding, data analysis, and dissemination events on a project evaluating the implemetaiton of Group Probelm Management Plus (gPM+) for displaced women in Colombia.  

• HopeX PM+ Implementation Trial | Duluth, Minnesota

PIs: Adam Brown, Ph.D., Brandon Kohrt, MD, Ph.D.

Supported research design and implementation strategies with local NGOs and stakeholders.

• Climate Anxiety and Resilience Building | Grand Bahama, Bahamas

PIs: Adam Brown, Ph.D., Andy Laing, Ed.D.

Provided implementation support for PM+ interventions addressing climate-related mental health impacts.

International Rescue Committee | MHPSS Zolberg Fellow (2022)

Supported MHPSS monitoring and evaluation programs across South Asia and conducted a literature review on maternal mental health in humanitarian contexts.

CLINICAL EXPERIENCE

The New School - Student Health Services | Problem Management Plus (PM+) Helper (2023–2024)

Delivered evidence-based interventions to address stress, anxiety, and depression in college students, adhering to clinical safety protocols, telehealth platforms, and HIPAA compliance.

MANUSCRIPTS

Cid-Vega, A., Best, C., Sangraula, M., Pfeffer, K., Gwaikolo, W., Caracoglia, J., Brown, A. D., & Kohrt, B. (Submitted). Assessment of key interviewing factors for research assistants (AKIRA): Development of a novel training and evaluation competency-based tool for public mental health data collection. Frontiers in Education.

Lee, Y. J., Kazungu, R., Ssekalo, I., Blackwell, S., Nakaziba, K. S., Monnig, E., Mbabazi, R., Muwereza, P., Cid-Vega, A., Brown, A., Rohrbaugh, R., Rosenheck, R., Waiswa, P., & Kohrt, B. (Submitted). Mixed-methods evaluation of a global South-North research fellowship in Uganda: Global Health Experiential Fellowship (GHEF).  Global Health: Science and Practice.

Sangraula, M., Diaz, J., Cid-Vega, A., Martins Lanes, A., Greene, M. C., Castellar, D., Carmago, N., Diaz, J., Merino, V., Miller-Suchet, L., Chamorro Coneo, A., Venegas, M., Cristobal, M., Chavez, D., Kohrt, B., Venetevogel, P., Ramirez, C., Boz, A., Schojan, M., Brown, A. D., Bonz, A., & Trejos Herrera, A. (In preparation). Effectiveness and implementation of community-based training and supervision strategies for non-specialists delivering Group Problem Management Plus for Venezuelan women refugees and migrants in Colombia: A mixed-methods analysis.

Cid-Vega, A., & Brown, A. D. (2023). Reimagining communities of care in the performing arts: A call for a community-based task-sharing approach to address the mental health needs of performing artists. Social Science & Medicine - Mental Health, 3, 100222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmmh.2023.100222

PRESENTATIONS

Cid-Vega, A., Holman, A., Luna, R., Iñigo, N., Petrone, O., Sangraula, M., Brown, A., & Kohrt, B. (November, 2024). Adaptación cultural de la capacitación de facilitadores de la intervención psicológica Enfrentando Problemas Plus (EP+) para comunidades hispanohablantes en Nueva York. World Psychiatry Congress 2024, World Psychiatry Association, Mexico City, Mexico.

Cid-Vega, A., Best, C., Pfeffer, K., Sangraula, M., Gwaikolo, W., Caracoglia, J., Sauharda, R., Chauhan, J., Brown, A., & Kohrt, B. (November, 2024). A qualitative evaluation of the Assessment of Key Interviewing Factors for Research Assistants (AKIRA): A novel monitoring and evaluation tool to enhance data collection competencies. World Psychiatry Congress 2024, World Psychiatry Association, Mexico City, Mexico.

Lopes, M., Walsh, E. A., Chester, M. A., Cid-Vega, A., Antoni, M. H., Traeger, L., Perdomo, D. M., Yanez, B., & Penedo, F. J. (Accepted, 2024) Perceived stress management skills, family conflict, and social disruption in Hispanic prostate cancer survivors. Society of Behavioral Medicine Annual Meeting. San Francisco, CA.

Cid-Vega, A., Holman, A., Luna, R., Iñigo, N., Petrone, O., Sangraula, M., Brown, A., & Kohrt, B. (2024, October). Adapting Problem Management Plus training and implementation for Spanish-speaking Latinx communities in the U.S. American Public Health Association Annual Meeting 2024, Minneapolis, MN.

Cid-Vega, A., Dolan, P., Tait, C., Barnhart, A., & Brown, A. (2024). Transforming mental health in the arts: Community-driven care in performing arts training. University of South Florida - Performing Arts Medicine Association (PAMA) Conference, Tampa, FL. https://www.usf.edu/arts/music/events/pama/index.aspx

Cid-Vega, A., Sangraula, M., Diaz, J., Martins Lanes, A., Greene, M. C., Carmago, N., Diaz, J., Merino, V., Miller-Suchet, L., Schojan, M., Brown, A. D., Bonz, A., & Trejos, A. M. (2023). Implementation of Group Problem Management Plus among displaced women in Colombia: A qualitative examination of a community-delivered mental health intervention. Association of Pacific Rim Universities Global Health Conference. Oral presentation, Mexico City, Mexico. https://aprugh23.com/summaries.php

Amelinckx, M. (Director), Brown, A., & Cid-Vega, A. (2023). Small changes, big transformations [Film]. American Public Health Association Film Festival. https://apha.confex.com/apha/2023/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/540830

Cid-Vega, A. (Guest), & Apple, J. (Host). (2023). A different approach to mental health and the arts (61) [Audio podcast episode]. In Empowering Artist Collective. https://www.empoweredartistcollective.com/alesha-cid-vega

Cid-Vega, A., Best, C., & Wong, J. (2023). Toward improved quality in public health data: A competency-based framework for the training and evaluation of individuals conducting interviews with communities. Global Public Health Week, World Public Health Federation. Webinar.

Cid-Vega, A. (2022). "Adversidad y estrés traumático en la infancia" (Childhood adversity and traumatic stress). Guest lecture, Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, School Counseling and Psychology Department, Madrid, Spain.

LANGUAGES

Spanish (native), English (bilingual), French (fluent).

AWARDS

• University of Miami Doctoral Fellowship in Psychology (2024 - 2026) 

• Outstanding Master’s of Psychology Award, The New School for Social Research, New York (2024)

• Nova Talent 111 Student List Nomination, Spain (2023 & 2024)

• Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility Conference Travel Award, The New School, New York (2023) 

• YOUNGA World Delegate Scholarship in Mental Health & Wellbeing  (2023)

• The New School for Social Research Conference Travel Award (2023)   

• International Rescue Committee (IRC) Mental Health Fellowship (2022) 

• The New School for Social Research Merit Scholarship (2022) 

• Sarah Lawrence College Gryphon Summer Research Grant, Bronxville, NY (2021) 

• Sarah Lawrence College International Scholarship Award, Bronville, NY (2020) 

COMPLETED ACADEMIC & RESEARCH CREATION PROJECTS

• The Decolonization of Trauma-Focused Psychological Interventions in Natural Disasters (2022).

• Movement Practice as Ritual for Healing, Integration and Meaning-making (2022).

• Music Therapy in the Improvement of Heart Rate Variability & State Anxiety during Pregnancy (2021).

• Choosing the Human Before the Art: From Rape Culture to Consent Culture in U.S. Film, TV, and VOD in the #MeToo era (2021).

• The Tealeaves of What Could Have Been: A Multisensory Collection of Writings about Home & Displacement (2021).

• A Climate of Gender-Based Violence in Girls’ Development in Rural and Urban Communities in Mexico City (2020).

CERTIFICATIONS

The New School

Problem Management Plus (PM+) Helper and Facilitator 

The New School for Social Research & Red Cross

Psychological First Aid (PFA) Helper and Trainer

National Child Traumatic Stress Network

Primeros Auxilios Psicológicos Infantiles (Psychological First Aid for Children)

Intimacy Directors & Coordinators (IDC)

Consent in the Performing Arts 

Mental Health First Aid

Mental Health First Aid 

New York University - School of Professional Studies

Vocology I 

Mamen Márquez Voice Studio (Madrid, Spain)

Voice Pedagogy and Coaching Graduate Certificate

International TEFL/TESOL Training

TEFL: Teaching English as a Foreign Language Certified Teacher

International Baccalaureate Organization

International Baccalaureate Bilingual Diploma