Ranjana Srinivasan is a 3rd year doctoral candidate in the Counseling Psychology program at Teachers College Columbia University. Ranjana received her undergraduate degree from Berklee College of Music where she graduated Summa Cum Laude with a major in Music Therapy and minor in Psychology. She also attended Teachers College for her masters degrees in both Education and Counseling Psychology. Ranjana is currently a pre-doctoral extern at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital within the outpatient psychiatric unit where she is a member of the Community Treatment Team as well as the Intensive Treatment Team. Her research is focused on increasing mental health and multicultural awareness around the clinical needs of the South Asian American population, specifically regarding the domains of body image and eating disorder issues, as well as common microaggressive encounters. Ranjana is thrilled to be part of the Winter Roundtable Conference and its mission of bringing students and researchers together in working towards systematic and social change.

Charles Joseph (CJ) Polihronakis is a third-year doctoral candidate in the Counseling Psychology Ph.D. program at Teachers College, Columbia University. CJ graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude from Georgetown University in 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and English. He also earned his Master of Arts in School Counseling and his Master of Education in Mental Health Counseling from Teachers College, Columbia University in 2014 and 2015, respectively. Clinically, CJ has worked with culturally diverse clients in high school and college counseling settings, wherein he is currently serving as a pre-doctoral psychology extern at CUNY Baruch College’s Counseling Center. His specific research curiosities encompass the overall well-being and resilience of bisexual persons possessing intersecting marginalized social identities, as well as cross-cultural bisexual identity development across the lifespan. Ongoing projects CJ collaborates on examine: experiences of minority stress among women of color as they relate to occupational and mental health outcomes; sexual objectification among bisexual women and subsequent sexual health outcomes; as well as the protective role of womanist attitudes.

As Co-Coordinator of the Winter Roundtable, CJ is excited to provide a space that connects students, professionals, and scholars from diverse disciplines, all while bridging the gap between scholarly discourse and community activism. He is also excited to be working with such an inspirational group of people!