Faculty and Staff
Diana Abarca Sasser, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Assistant Professor
Communication Sciences and Disorders
E-mail: Diana.Abarca@ucf.edu
Latifa S. Abdelli, MS, Ph.D.
Lecturer
Health Sciences
Location: HS II
Room: 210L
E-mail: latifa.abdelli@ucf.edu
Areas of Specialty:
- Stem cells in tissue repair and regeneration
- Role of Gut-Brain axis in health and disease
Alauna Adams, Ph.D., LCSW
Lecturer
Social Work
Location: HS I
Room: 245
E-mail: alauna.adams@ucf.edu
Areas of Specialty:
- child welfare
- Qualitative Methods
- Special Education
- Postsecondary Education
- Interagency Collaboration and Transition for High School Students with Disabilities
- Persons with Disabilities
Kim Anderson, Ph.D., MSSW, LCSW
Professor
Social Work
Location: HS I
Room: 212
E-mail: kim.anderson@ucf.edu
Phone: 407-823-5201
Areas of Specialty:
- Qualitative and mixed-methods research
- Experiential and participatory approaches to teaching research
- Trauma-informed pedagogy and professional education
- Adverse childhood experiences among social work students
- Adult interpersonal violence and mental health outcomes
- Childhood exposure to domestic violence and intergenerational trauma
- Violence against women and survivor-centered justice
Abigail Anderson, PT, DPT, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Exercise Physiology & Rehabilitation Science, Physical Therapy
Location: HS I
Room: 271
E-mail: Abigail.Wilson@ucf.edu
Areas of Specialty:
- Quantitative Sensory Testing
- Mechanisms of Rehabilitation Interventions for Musculoskeletal Pain
- Treatment Stratification by Underlying Mechanism
- Pain Phenotypes
Shaheen Awan, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Research Professor
Communication Sciences and Disorders
E-mail: shaheen.awan@ucf.edu
Bethany Backes, Ph.D., MSW, MPH
Associate Professor
Social Work
E-mail: Bethany.Backes@ucf.edu
Areas of Specialty:
- Violence Against Women
- Multidisciplinary responses to victims
- Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence
- Stalking
- Sexual Violence
- Victim Help-Seeking
- Program evaluation
