CICM would like to extend its heartfelt congratulations to two PhD Candidate Research Assistants: Autumn Asher BlackDeer and Daji Dvalishvilli
Autumn Asher BlackDeer
Autumn has accepted a Tenure- track Assistant Professor Position at the University of Denver starting Fall 2022. The position is particularly meaningful to Autumn because “The University of Denver if my tribe’s traditional homelands, and I’m so excited to be returning home!”
Autumn Asher BlackDeer is a queer decolonial scholar from the Cheyenne and Arapaho Nation whose work seeks to illuminate the impact of structural violence on American Indian and Alaska Native communities. BlackDeer centers Indigenous voices throughout her research by using quantitative approaches and big data as tools for responsible storytelling. Her dissertation investigates manifestations of structural violence through Alaska Native mothers’ experiences of interpersonal violence, including family, partner, and community levels of violence, in addition to mental health, substance use, and maternal-child health outcomes.
Daji Dvalishvili
Daji has received the Predoctoral Fellowship in Child & Family Well- Being from the institute for Child and Family Well- Being at the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee (UWM). Daji explains, “As the Predoctoral fellow, I will be working with Dr. Joshua Mersky on various research projects. This mentored research experience will be primarily devoted to strengthening my skills further while authoring and co-authoring scholarly publications. “
Darejan (Daji) Dvalishvili is a Ph.D. candidate in social work at Washington University in St. Louis, where she concentrates on economic interventions, child maltreatment, poverty, and adverse childhood experiences (ACES). Her research focuses on the intersection of child maltreatment, poverty, and ACES in the US. She is also exploring the impact of family empowerment economic interventions on children’s wellbeing in Sub-Saharan Africa. Darejan earned an MSW from Columbia University (New York, US) and an MD from Tbilisi State Medical University (Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia).