Morgan Shields, PhD
Director of IDEAL Lab
Assistant Professor at the Brown School at Washington University
Assistant Director at the Center for Mental Health Services Research
Dr. Shields researches the quality and accountability of health care, with a focus on behavioral health services. The majority of her work has focused on institutional settings given the extreme power imbalances and vulnerabilities that patients face in these settings.
As one of the only health services and policy researchers studying the quality of inpatient psychiatry in the country, Dr. Shields has had a measurable impact with her work. For example, in 2016, the Deputy Under Secretary for Health and Organizational Excellence at the Veteran’s Health Administration informed her and her co-author that a paper they published triggered internal investigations into the quality of care provided at VHA inpatient psychiatric facilities. This paper eventually led to the implementation of a program to improve trauma-informed care throughout the eastern region’s inpatient psychiatric facilities. In 2019, the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health revamped their critical incident monitoring system for inpatient psychiatric facilities in order to better support trend analyses of complaints and safety incidents in response to a 2018 paper Dr. Shields published in Health Affairs. Dr. Shields has also been called upon to offer expert testimony and consultation in several legal matters regarding the treatment of patients in psychiatric hospitals.
Dr. Shields started as an Assistant Professor at Washington University in St. Louis in July of 2022. She is finished an NIMH T32 postdoctoral fellowship in implementation science and academic-community partnerships at the Center for Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Shields completed a PhD in Social Policy at Brandeis’ Heller School for Social Policy, where she was supported by a T32 fellowship from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and was a Harvard Kennedy School Rappaport Doctoral Public Policy Fellow. She received an MSc from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Dr. Shields has published peer-reviewed manuscripts in outlets such as Health Affairs, Medical Care, Psychiatric Services, JAMA Health Forum, and Medical Care Research and Review, as well as several contracted policy reports for entities such as the HHS’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.
Student Affiliates
Student Research Assistants
Rachana Cheu, BA
Graduate Student at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis
Rachana Cheu is pursuing a Master’s in Public Health, specializing in mental and behavioral health. She got her BA in International Studies, majoring in International Relations at the Royal University of Phnom Penh. She was awarded a Fulbright Foreign Student Scholarship and a PEO International Peace Scholarship. Before graduate school, she was an analyst in the HIV program for the Clinton Health Access Initiative, co-founder of a youth-led mental health project, and a program coordinator and research consultant for social and health research projects. Her research interests include mental health policy, trust in healthcare and their help-seeking behavior, harm reduction, and mental and behavioral implementation science at the community and policy levels.
Zohra Kantawala, BS
Graduate Student at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis
Zohra Kantawala is pursuing a Master’s in Public Health specializing in Biostatistics and Epidemiology from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. She graduated from the University of Houston – Honors College with a BS in Psychology and a double minor in Biology/Medicine & Society. Her research interests include understanding health inequities in health risk behaviors (depressive or suicidal behaviors, anxiety, morbidity) within marginalized and underserved communities. Additionally, she is interested in exploring the elements, systems, and determinants contributing to health outcomes and health equity.
Gaby Musickant, BA
Graduate Student at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis
Gaby Musickant is pursuing a Master’s in Public Health and a Master’s in Social Work specializing in Child Behavioral Health at Washington University in St. Louis. She graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a B.A. in Anthropology: Global Health & Environment and a minor in Sociology. Her academic and research interests include understanding the role of social and structural determinants of health in predicting mental and behavioral health outcomes in children and adolescents. She is also interested in exploring the effectiveness of various mental health interventions for children and adolescents, particularly as they relate to early childhood trauma.
Ashley Kennedy
Graduate Student at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis
Ashley Kennedy is pursuing a Master’s in Social Work concentrating in Mental Health from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. She is a member of the Brown School’s 3-2 program and will graduate from Washington University with a BA in Women Gender Sexuality Studies and double minors in Political Science and Legal Studies in the spring of 2024. Her research interests include studying ways to improve mental health services and provide more equitable care to vulnerable populations.
Student Collaborators
Hyein Sarah Lee, BS
MD/PhD Student at the University of Massachusetts Medical School
Hyein Sarah Lee (she/they) is currently an MD/PhD student at University of Massachusetts Medical School and graduated from Brown University with a BS in Neuroscience. Her research interests include utilizing precision psychiatry tools and qualitative methods to nuance how we conceptualize and treat suicidal risk, studying iatrogenic harm in mental healthcare particularly for patients with marginalized identities, and supporting non-carceral systems of care.
Sasha Zabelski, BA, MS
PhD Student in Public Health at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte
Sasha Zabelski (she/her/hers) has her BA in Psychology from the University of Colorado, Boulder and her MS in Clinical Psychology from the University of Southampton. She is currently a Public Health PhD student at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. Her research interests include studying ways to create equitable access to mental health resources for marginalized populations and how passing targeted policy can close inequitable gaps in access.
Alicia Lewis, BA
PhD Student in Economics at the University of Michigan
Alicia Lewis is an incoming PhD in Economics at the University of Michigan (starting fall of 2023). She holds a BS in economics from Arizona State University, where she received the Dean’s Medal. Alicia is a Research Analyst Assistant at the Center for Health Information Research at Arizona State University. Her research interests focus on health and labor economics, and she is particularly interested in market failures in health care markets.
Former Student Affiliates
Francis Ochman, BS
Former Research Assistant, University of Pennsylvania, Currently a Clinical Research Coordinator at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)
Frankie worked in the IDEAL Lab from 2022-2023. He recently completed his postbaccalaureate studies at Penn and is currently applying to medical school. During the gap year between matriculation, he will be working in the Department of Psychiatry at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia as clinical research coordinator for Dr. Jerome Taylor. In addition, he will be assisting with the Brain Exercise Initiative at Penn, a volunteer organization that leads memory cognition classes to patients with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. His interests in the medical field include neurobiology, psychiatry, and emergency medicine. During his free time, Frankie likes to run, swim, bike, read, and spend time with his family and friends.
Kaley Ciluffo, BA, MA
Former Graduate Student at the Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, Currently a PhD Student at City University of New York
Kaley L. Ciluffo was an MSEd student at the University of Pennsylvania while working in the IDEAL Lab. Prior to matriculating at Penn, Kaley earned her BA and MA in Political Science from Villanova University in 2020. Kaley’s research focuses on a theory and intervention she developed, Healing Centered Mentoring. Her work centers on youth pedagogies, literacies, and cultures to determine how students and educators might push institutions toward courage and posttraumatic growth to create stronger communities and shift the social purpose of an education for those most vulnerable and marginalized. Kaley has published with SAGE Methodspace, the Field Center, the Journal of Youth Studies, and has a forthcoming book on the way. Kaley is currently a second-year PhD student in Critical Psychology at the Graduate Center, City University of New York
Kelly Davis, BA, MSW
Former Graduate Student at the School of Social Policy & Practice, University of Pennsylvania
Associate Vice President of Peer and Youth Advocacy at Mental Health America
Kelly Davis is the Associate Vice President of Peer and Youth Advocacy at Mental Health America, where she works on the expansion of peer support and young adult leadership. She is passionate about lived experience-driven programs, policies, organizations, and research. Kelly has been awarded the Disruptive Innovator Award by the National Association of Peer Supporters and the National Peer Leader of the Year Award by Peerpocalypse. She is a certified yoga teacher and holds a certificate in Applied Positive Psychology from The Flourishing Center. Kelly and her work have appeared in the New York Times, Teen Vogue, NBC Nightly News, and the White House. She is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Nonprofit Leadership at the University of Pennsylvania.
Pamela Chan, BA, MPH
Former Graduate Student at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis
Pamela Chan worked in the IDEAL Lab from 2022-2023 while completing her Master’s in Public Health, specializing in Biostatistics and Epidemiology from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. She graduated from the University of Washington with a B.A. in Public Health Nutrition and a minor in global health. She is experienced at statistical programming, such as R, SAS, and Stata, in healthcare settings. Pamela is also experienced in manuscript preparation, adolescent health, and primary care. She is currently a data analyst for a large healthcare system in Texas.