about
The ESSENCE Lab
As a part of the UC Berkeley, our Ph.D. in Clinical Science program, The ESSENCE Lab represents studies in Eradicating Suicide and Stress by Empowering, Nurturing, and Cultivating Equity.
We study how racism-related stress and social inequities contribute to suicide risk and mental health disparities — and how cultural, familial, and community strengths promote thriving, purpose, and resilience among Black adolescents and emerging adults.
Mission
We believe that in order to create a world where Black youth no longer desire to die, we must build a world that gives them a reason to live— A world rooted in belonging, purpose, and equity.
Vision
We envision a future where Black youth are empowered to live lives of meaning, joy, and possibility, supported by systems that honor their identity, protect their mental health, and sustain their collective thriving.
meet the Lab Director
Dr. Jasmin Brooks Stephens
Dr. Jasmin B. Stephens (she/her) is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, whose work is focused on transforming suicide prevention and mental health equity in the United States.
An award-winning clinical psychologist and scientist, she studies how systemic racism and social context shape mental health and develops strengths-based, community-driven strategies that promote healing and resilience among Black youth and emerging adults. Dr. Stephens has authored over 40 peer-reviewed publications in leading journals, including JAMA Psychiatry, JAMA Network Open, Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, and American Psychologist, and secured competitive research funding. Her work has been recognized by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and featured in major outlets including TIME and Forbes.
Known for bridging science, community, and systems change, she partners with organizations, media, and leaders across sectors to translate research into actionable strategies that improve mental health outcomes and build more equitable systems of care.
She earned her PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Houston and completed her clinical internship and postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School / Massachusetts General Hospital. In 2025, she was named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list in Healthcare.
the essence lab
The Team
Graduate Research Assistant:
Mattea Parker, M.A., M.S.
I am Mattea Parker (she/her), a PhD Student in Clinical Science within the ESSENCE Lab. I am passionate about exploring how parenting and family dynamics influence the intergenerational transmission of racial trauma, mental health challenges, and suicidality. I want my work to focus on uncovering the emotional, relational, and cultural mechanisms that perpetuate cycles of harm, with the goal of disrupting these patterns and empowering Black families toward healing.
Graduate Research Assistant:
Najia Griffin, B.S.
I am Najia Griffin (she/her), a PhD student in Clinical Science within the ESSENCE lab. I am passionate about using an intersectional-contextual framework to understand how complex and vicarious trauma, across both offline and online contexts, shape suicidality among Black youth. I am particularly interested in exploring culturally grounded protective factors that may buffer the psychological risk and impact of these experiences and promote resilience and well-being among Black youth.
Lab Manager:
Kam McQueen, B.A.
I am Kam McQueen (they/them), a recent graduate from The University of Texas at Austin and Lab Manager for the ESSENCE Lab. I am particularly interested in how Black LGBTQ+ youth negotiate their multiple social identities, construct meaning from experiences of inter- and intragroup marginalization, and how these identity processes shape suicide risk and resilience. I hope to dedicate my career to using community-based research methods and radical healing frameworks to discover culturally responsive interventions that foster positive self-regard and affirming pathways to well-being.
Undergraduate Research Assistant:
Mira McDavitt
I am Mira McDavitt (she/her), a recent graduate from the University of California Berkeley and research assistant for the ESSENCE Lab. I am deeply interested in how social drivers shape mental health and substance use outcomes in the Black and Brown community. Namely, how the intersection between Blackness and rurality shape substance use, suicidality, and accessibility to prevention, intervention, and treatment. I hope to pursue a PhD where I will apply the strengths based community driven frameworks of the lab to inform a research career committed to broadening the development of culturally informed substance use care in under resourced communities of color.
Undergraduate Research Assistant:
Jasmine Ibrahim
I am Jasmine Ibrahim (she/her), an undergraduate RA at the ESSENCE Lab! I am a senior at UC Berkeley majoring in psychology. I am passionate about addressing the mental health needs of underrepresented communities, specifically focusing on how faith and religion can serve as protective factors and inspire strength-based interventions. I hope to pursue a Clinical Psychology PhD and contribute to making research more inclusive and culturally relevant to minority populations.
Lab Affiliate:
Niceidy Green
I am Niceidy Green (she/her), an undergraduate student at the University of Southern California and Lab Affiliate within the ESSENCE Lab. I am particularly interested in investigating the intersection of neural and psychosocial mechanisms underlying suicidality and the development of psychopathological disorders in Black adolescents. I aim to examine the precursors to these health disparities and leverage prevention science to improve mental health outcomes in this marginalized population.
Lab Affiliate:
Sydney Caddell, B.S.
I am Sydney Caddell (she/her), a recent graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Lab Affiliate for the ESSENCE Lab. I am passionate about using Black Feminist frameworks to understand how sociocultural and racial trauma shape mental health among Black and intersectional youth and young adults. I am particularly interested in developing and evaluating culturally responsive, community-based interventions that draw on identity affirmation, cross-generational connection, lived experiences, social agency, and historical education of Black communities to examine the connection between community and individual wellbeing and how this can serve Black adolescents.
Lab Affiliate:
Imani Marc
I am Imani Marc (she/her), a third-year Psychology major and Criminology minor at Howard University and an Affiliate Research Assistant in the ESSENCE Lab. I am passionate about using computational models to understand how social, environmental, and culturally relevant risk factors shape suicidality among Black adolescents and emerging adults. I am particularly interested in identifying protective factors that may reduce suicide risk and promote resilience and well-being among Black youth.
Collaborators
Dr. Lauren Mims, New York University
Dr. Matthew Nock, Harvard University
Dr. Shirley Wang, Yale University
Dr. Velma Murry, Vanderbilt University
Dr. Maryam Jernigan Noesi, Jernigan & Associates, LLC
Dr. Michael Lindsey, New York University
Dr. Riana Anderson, Columbia University