Denise Espinoza '23 | 2021-22 Fellow

About:

I am a research scholar born and raised in Inglewood, California. Since my freshman year, I have worked in the Veteran and Military Family Research Laboratory (Rains Research Assistant Award at LMU; 2020 LMU Summer Undergraduate Research Award) where I have conducted many PRISMA models in order to map out: intimate partner violence (IPV), substance use, and mental health among military populations; I focused on female and LGBTQ+ perpetrator populations. Furthermore, I am well versed in the public health and IPV literature that focuses on family violence correlates and risk factors in heterosexual and interracial military relationships.

My previous scholarship has been recognized at the 2020 LMU Undergraduate Research Symposium where I received first place for oral presentation and I am in the process of publishing with the Journal of Interpersonal Violence. In addition, I was accepted for two presentations at the American Society of Criminology and one for the Pacific Sociological Association. My early field contributions have allowed me to be elected to the American Public Health Association as the student liaison for the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs section. In addition, I was a fellow for the 2020 Predoctoral Summer Institute for First-Generation and Diverse Scholars at USC.

At present, I continue to explore mental health and substance use issues among military populations as a McNair Scholar at LMU. I look forward to the opportunity to help benefit and guide me as I aspire to become an independent researcher and criminal psychologist.