ABOUT US

We Believe Every Family Deserves Care That Fits

OUR MISSION

We improve youth mental health by partnering with communities, families, and youth to create interventions that are locally rooted and globally scalable in the places people already seek support—honoring their values, cultures, and lived experiences. We specialize in engaging fathers and men to improve their own mental health and strengthen families.

Grounded in Evidence, Culture, and Care

OUR VISION

Raise Family Lab envisions a world where all youth and families—regardless of geography, background, or identity—have access to relevant, intergenerational mental health supports that reflect their values and help them thrive. We aspire to lead globally in co-designing solutions where rigorous research meets community insight, ensuring that what we build is scalable, sustainable, and embraced by those we serve.

A Future Where Every Family Can Thrive

Kenya LEAD Trial Community Advisory Board, 2025

OUR APPROACH

A Model Rooted in Partnership and Practice

Partner & Listen

We listen first to community needs through formative work, partnerships, and community engagement.

Collaborate & Design

We respond together to design responsive implementation and intervention strategies rooted in evidence & community.

Implement & Evaluate

We study what works for all to advance intervention science and reduce the burden of youth mental health.

Each value below informs how we work with youth, families, and communities, from the first conversation to the final intervention. They ensure our research is never extractive, always responsive, and deeply rooted in mutual respect and care.

Our Values in Action

  • We co-create solutions with families and community partners—never for them—so solutions feel owned, welcomed, and sustained.

  • We uphold fairness, integrity, and humility, honoring every voice and lived experience as essential to better youth mental-health outcomes.

  • We draw on community knowledge, traditions, and strengths—translating them into supports that fit local realities and feel truly relevant.

  • We lead with honesty, authenticity, and self-awareness, acting with accountability and transparency. We acknowledge what we don't know and remain committed to ethical excellence and genuine relationships.

  • We marry cutting-edge science with real-world needs, producing research that is both methodologically sound and immediately applicable.

  • Guided by "build-with," not "build-then-hope," we adapt quickly to feedback and evolving contexts where family wisdom meets evidence. We continuously iterate, integrating new data and community insight to keep our interventions useful, scalable, and lasting.

Meet the Minds and Hearts of the Lab

  • Ali Giusto, PhD

    DIRECTOR

    Ali is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Assistant Professor at FIU’s Department of Psychology and affiliate of the Center for Children and Families. Ali earned her Psychology degree from Yale, her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Duke, and completed clinical and postdoctoral training at Columbia. Her research interests have led her to focus on scalable, community-based family and caregiver interventions that promote youth well-being through global collaboration and implementation science.

    LEARN MORE | CONNECT WITH ALI

  • Gillian Dysart

    CLINICAL SCIENCE DOCTORAL STUDENT

    Gillian’s research interests include using community engaged methods and implementation science to design, adapt, and evaluate evidence-based prevention and intervention programs to improve youth mental health and to increase access to effective services.

  • Julia Grobman

    LAB COORDINATOR AND RESEARCH ASSISTANT

    Julia is interested in using community-engaged research and implementation science frameworks to inform the development of treatments for youth, with a particular focus on neurodivergent populations.

  • Juan Sebastián Castillo Perez

    APPLIED SOCIAL AND CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY DOCTORAL STUDENT

    Juan Sebastián uses community-engaged and implementation science approaches to study Latino men’s mental and sexual health. He focuses on how immigration, family dynamics, and intersecting identities shape well-being and inform culturally adapted interventions. 

  • Dan Aburi

    PROJECT COORDINATOR

    Dan is interested in combining evidence-based clinical practice with implementation science to strengthen mental health services; his work focuses on improving equity and quality care in community focused interventions.

  • Winnie Maina

    RESEARCH ASSISTANT

    Winnie is committed to advancing community mental health through clinical care, awareness, and translating research into real-world impact.

  • Doris Choge

    CLINICAL SUPERVISOR & INTERN

    Doris is a Clinical Psychologist interested in research that advances mental health awareness and improves access to meaningful support, by promoting evidence-based approaches that strengthen systems of care and contribute to better outcomes in people’s everyday lives.

  • Susan Kathini

    CLINICAL SUPERVISOR & INTERN

    Susan is passionate about supporting men’s mental health and empowering communities by creating safe spaces where men can connect, share, and grow.

  • Vivian Muthoni

    CLINICAL SUPERVISOR & INTERN

    Vivian is passionate about advancing mental health through care and research, with a focus on supporting families and integrating accessible, evidence-based services into everyday health systems.

  • Wilter Rono

    EXPERT CONSULTANT

    Wilter is passionate about community based research that strengthen family relationships, enhance communication and promote positive behavioral change among children.

  • Mercy Korir

    EXPERT CONSULTANT

    Mercy is a clinical psychologist interested in research aiming at expanding mental health awareness and treatment access by incorporating task-shifting and task-sharing models that train and support lay providers and community health promoters.

Our Partners: Local Voices. Global Reach.

Florence Jaguga

Dr. Jaguga is a clinical psychiatrist whose work uses implementation science to expand practical, affordable access to mental health and substance-use treatment and prevention in Kenya. She leads the Department of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Rehabilitation Services at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret, Kenya.

Eve Puffer

Dr. Eve Puffer is a clinical psychologist and global mental health researcher whose work focuses on expanding community-based interventions that support families in low-resource settings. She is an Associate Professor at Duke University, leading efforts to integrate evidence-based mental-health and family-support programs into existing systems worldwide.

SUPPORT THE LAB

Change That Lasts, Starts With Partnership

1 in 7 youth experience mental health challenges globally.  

Your support helps us build and sustain partnerships that drive real change. From advancing the South Florida Fathers Network which strengthens father mental health, substance use recovery, and family engagement, to expanding youth and family prevention programs, every contribution helps bring scalable, community-embedded mental health care to more families.

Invest in Impact