Tanya Crabb is senior psychologist with the UNLV Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine’s Well-Being Program. She specializes in combating PTSD, traumatic response, and other mental health concerns via existential, humanistic, and interpersonal treatment.

Crabb is a first-generation college graduate, Jamaican immigrant, Marine Corps veteran, and author. As a clinical trauma professional, she has made guiding military veterans, women, and marginalized populations through life’s challenges with resilience and strength a priority.

Crabb — who also offers services through UNLV’s Student Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) — conducts innovative workshops such as "Taking off the Cap: Transitioning out of the Military," "Superhero Stress Management," and "Superhero Relationship Management," which use the narratives of comics to relate valuable lessons in mental health and well-being. She also co-hosts a weekly podcast on 91.5 KUNV called “Let’s Talk, UNLV!”.

Aya Shata — an assistant professor in digital media at the Hank Greenspun School of Journalism and Media Studies — brings more than 14 years of strategic communication teaching experience, and serves as the faculty advisor for UNLV's chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA).

Shata is passionate about purpose-driven research that serves communities and pursues social change across a range of critical issues, including sustainable development, climate change, cyberbullying, HIV, women empowerment, and sexual harassment.

Her current research focuses on the ways Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the media landscape, with a particular emphasis on the role and impact of AI in public relations, advertising, and higher education. Shata's overarching goal is to promote a more responsible use of AI, striving to bridge the gap between theory and practice across various industries. 

Her previous research explored attitudinal and behavioral changes brought about by interactive digital media, examining narrative persuasion and the messaging embedded in entertainment education, and investigating the effectiveness of persuasive communication campaigns and media advocacy efforts. During her doctoral studies, she also looked at transmedia narrative to promote sustainable development and identify the narrative persuasion mechanism for transmedia edutainment.

Shata's work has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of Creative Communication, Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, Games for Health Journal, Journal of African Media Studies, and Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication.

Candace Burton is an expert on stress and trauma, particularly in interpersonal relationships within the context of health disparities. She is board-certified in advanced forensic nursing, and has conducted research funded by organizations including the UCI Initiative to End Family Violence. 

Her recent projects have examined stress-related blood and breath proteins in women affected by intimate partner violence, as well as the traumatic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the nursing workforce. She has also worked to develop strategies for providing trauma-informed care to vulnerable populations, including immigrant and LGBTQ patients.

Burton is a member of organizations such as the Nursing Network on Violence Against Women, and the International Association of Forensic Nurses. She is a member of the Journal of Forensic Nursing editorial board and an associate editor with Clinical Nursing Research.

Natasha Mosby is a licensed clinical social worker in Nevada and the clinical program director of the Nevada Pediatric Access Program with the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health. She has been in the mental health field for more than 20 years, working in mental health and community agencies, inpatient psychiatric hospitals, non-for-profit agencies, and private practice.

She previously served as the Greenspun College of Urban Affairs' integrated healthcare program coordinator and a lecturer for graduate students in the School of Social Work. In this role, she was responsible for the implementation and oversight of the integrated healthcare scholarship as well as developing and enhancing clinical courses and trainings for students and community partners. Mosby also provides clinical supervision to clinical social work interns and serves as a mentor to first-generation college students.

Mosby is currently serving a second appointed term as a member of the Nevada Commission on Behavioral Health, and she provides clinical consultation and mental health trainings throughout Southern Nevada.

Federick Ngo is an associate professor in UNLV's College of Education. His work examines the impact of higher education policy and practice on college access and success, with a focus on community college students.

Ngo has studied topics including the implementation and impact of developmental/remedial education and developmental education reforms, the persistence and attainment of under-served students in the community college setting, undocumented students, and the role of math in college access. The former high school math teacher's research projects have been funded by entities such as the National Science Foundation. He was the recipient of the UNLV College of Education's Early Career Award in 2020 and the Distinguished Research Award in 2023.

His work has been featured in media outlets including U.S. News & World Report, Salon, Inside Higher Ed, and The Conversation.

Gabriela Buccini is a UNLV School of Public Health professor who researches maternal and child health and nutrition, including breastfeeding and infant feeding, food insecurity, and early childhood development inequities. She is certified as a lactation consultant (IBCLC) by the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners.

An epidemiologist and speech pathologist by training, Buccini's work focuses on helping new mothers overcome challenges. She has worked in multiple countries to understand different breastfeeding environments, learn how culture can affect policymaking processes, and examine how maternal/child health nutrition education and counseling programs can be better implemented and sustainable over time.

Buccini's research has explored topics including the relationship between pacifiers and exclusive breastfeeding, the influence of maternity leave on breastfeeding, ultra-processed food consumption among infants, childhood obesity, and pathways for scaling up evidence-based early childhood and nutrition programs in low-income settings and vulnerable populations. Her findings have been published in Annals of the New York Academy of Science, International Breastfeeding Journal, Maternal and Child Nutrition, and Journal of Poverty.

Alissa Cooley is the managing attorney for the UNLV Immigration Clinic, a Boyd School of Law community resource that provides free assistance with DACA renewals, deportations, unaccompanied children, and related issues.

After graduating cum laude from UNLV's law school in 2014, Cooley became one of the first two justice AmeriCorps fellows at the Thomas & Mack Legal Clinic, effectively jumpstarting the growth of the UNLV Immigration Clinic as a legal aid provider. She spent two years representing and securing asylum, special immigrant juvenile visas, and residency for more than 100 unaccompanied children and teens in immigration court proceedings. 

From 2016 to 2021, Cooley went into private practice, primarily focusing on immigration cases including family-based petitions, Violence Against Women Act, non-immigrant U and T visas, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), residency, naturalization, removal defense, and asylum. The native Nevadan — who also assisted clients with appeals, record sealing, and family law — has helped shape state law regarding SIJS in two published Nevada appellate decisions.  

After co-teaching UNLV’s Policing and Protest Clinic in 2021, Cooley returned to Boyd full-time to lead the Immigration Clinic's Community Advocacy Office in downtown Las Vegas.

She is a member of the Lt. Governor’s Keep Nevada Working Task Force. Cooley additionally volunteers with the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada, Nevada Legal Services, City of Las Vegas, Somos Votantes, PLAN, Asian Community Development Council, and Al Otro Lado's Border Rights Project.

Jason D. Flatt is an assistant professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Health at UNLV's School of Public Health. His most recent research works to better understand the concerns and needs of LGBTQIA+ seniors living with Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, as well as the needs of their chosen families. He also teaches courses on community based participatory research and social and behavioral health theory.

For the last decade, Flatt has leveraged his platform as a public health researcher to work as an advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community. To further the reach of his advocacy efforts in Las Vegas, he partners with the LGBT Center of Southern Nevada, Las Vegas Trans Pride, Nevada Alliance for Student Diversity, and the Nevada Minority Health Equity Coalition. He is also working with several Southern Nevada community leaders to create Building H.O.U.S.E. Las Vegas, a group dedicated to organizing and creating affordable and welcoming housing for LGBTQIA+ people aged 50 and older.

Flatt’s work has been featured on NPR, U.S. News & World Report, The Advocate, and Newsweek, as well as in Alzheimer's Association outreach.