About

Founder & Director

Srishti Meera Sardana, MA., MSc., PhD

• Assistant professor, Department of Psychology | Principle Investigator Milwaukee Trauma Outcomes Project, Medical College of Wisconsin
• PhD 2023, Columbia University
• Previously National Institute of Health – Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Fellow at Johns Hopkins University

Research focus:

Mental health and population health of vulnerable populations, both domestically and internationally with a special focus in war and conflict settings. I also explore the interlinkages of non-communicable diseases and social dysfunction with mental health comorbidities and design advanced measurement and methodologies in social networks for the study of social determinants of health, cohesion and conflict in humanitarian settings.

Research discoveries:

Despite the horrors of war and tragedies of displacement, social support and contextually-adapted, evidence-based care brings hope and essential resources to people who have lost everything, including the significant people in their lives, rights, and dignity. I continue to discover ways to reduce human suffering globally.

Current projects:

In collaboration with the United Nations, Office of Refugee Resettlement, academic partners and colleagues, I am currently prototyping effectiveness frameworks to design, evaluate and integrate evidence-based, low-cost, culturally and contextually validated mental health treatments for most-at-risk-populations including torture survivors, refugees, and forcibly displaced communities.

Fun Fact:

I am an accidental academic! I have been a corrections officer in a juvenile sex offender special unit in India; entrepreneur leading a non-profit; aspiring Cricketer, and a motorcyclist. I live with my 2 year old Corgi “Kashi” who loves to paddleboard, camp, and hike from water to the wood!

Associate Director

Anne Renaud, PhD

Dr. Anne Renaud is a Clinical Psychologist and Global Mental Health scientist, licensed in the state of California. Her passion for contributing to the flourishing and study of human beings began with her sociology-focused interdisciplinary studies as an undergraduate at Kalamazoo College in Michigan. Dr. Renaud trained and worked in a wide variety of settings including labor organizing, criminal justice reform, academic research, and community mental health.

The fulfillment Dr. Renaud experienced working in community mental health settings led her to seek her doctorate in clinical psychology with the goal of both expanding her clinical skillset and systematically exploring ways to make mental health treatment more accessible and effective for populations who are often overlooked. She found an ideal fit in Dr. Lena Verdeli’s Global Mental Health lab at Columbia University. Here, Dr. Renaud supported large-scale clinical research trials in Lebanon, Uganda, and the United States. Her own dissertation research focused on the implementation of a training program for providers treating perinatal depression in New York City, pre and post COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Renaud relocated to Los Angeles to complete her clinical training at Twin Towers Correctional Facility and Century Regional Detention Facility, two jails in the Los Angeles County system serving incarcerated men and women with severe mental illness. Dr. Renaud then completed a postdoctoral fellowship with advanced training in trauma and community-based treatment at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

A Chicago native, Dr. Renaud continues to enjoy her time in Los Angeles with her husband, baby daughter, and two mischievous eternal kittens. In addition to her work with mhSEVA, she provides psychotherapy in outpatient and residential settings. Outside of work, she loves spending time in nature, yoga, pilates, exploring new areas, and spending time with friends and family.

Research Assistant

Narmin Guluzade, MD

Currently a Masters in Public Health candidate at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, Dr. Guluzlade brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the mhSEVA lab. In addition to holding a Medical Doctor (MD) degree from Azerbaijan Medical University, Dr. Guluzade works as a consultant for the NCD division of the WHO Regional Office for Europe focusing on trans-fat elimination, school nutrition promotion, and salt reduction initiatives.

Dr. Guluzade is interested in integrated approaches to addressing non-communicable diseases and mental health, focusing on how environmental determinants of health and climate change contribute to these public health challenges. Additionally, she is passionate about exploring ways to make scientific research more applicable in practice and using systems thinking to tackle complex public health issues. As a young public specialist, she aspires to contribute to the expansion of existing evidence on the interconnectedness between environmental health and NCDs, including mental health. She also aims to develop new frameworks and approaches for tailored responses to pressing NCD and mental health needs across communities.
Outside of her various scholarly pursuits, Dr. Guluzade is a self-made beginner level “ornithologist,” thanks to her experience of caring for her parakeets in low-resource settings! She speaks four languages and enjoys jigsaw puzzles, video games, and instant photography—although she does not have much time for hobbies these days!