Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Violeta J. Rodriguez, PhD, MSEd @vjrp.bsky.social · 7d

So proud to share our paper on Academic Brokering with brilliant #LatinaScholars. 🌟 Grateful to @dllabarrie.bsky.social for leading the way & to Amanda Perozo Garcia, Michelle Perez, and @thaniagalvanphd.bsky.social for making this project come to fruition. 💜

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Navigating Academic Brokering: Enhancing Belongingness in Scientific Training Programs

As more psychologists engage with marginalized communities for research, the lack of diversity in the academic workforce and inadequate cultural sensitivity training often leads to relying on trainee...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Violeta J. Rodriguez, PhD, MSEd @vjrp.bsky.social · 11d

Grateful to NIH OAR for inviting me to join the panel at the Early Career Investigator Workshop in HIV. 🙏

Loved being in conversation about the many pathways research careers can take, and inspired by the leadership + commitment across institutes.

📺 Recordings: oar.nih.gov/nih-workshop...

NIH Workshop for Early Career Investigators in HIV | National Institutes of Health

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oar.nih.gov

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Violeta J. Rodriguez, PhD, MSEd @vjrp.bsky.social · 13d

Excited to be included in Nature’s roundup of 99 lab hacks!

I shared advice on lab meetings + clear expectations for trainees. Small structures that can make a big difference in mentoring.

Check out the full piece here: doi.org/10.1038/d415...

It’s a new term: here are 99 lab hacks

Nature asked contributors, editors and working researchers to share their best advice for scientists.

doi.org

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Violeta J. Rodriguez, PhD, MSEd @vjrp.bsky.social · 15d

Reminder 🚨 The NIH Workshop for Early Career Investigators in HIV is this Friday!

I’ll be speaking at 1:35pm ET, but the whole day is packed with great sessions.

📅 Sept 26, 2025 | 11am–3pm ET | Virtual
Register here: www.scgcorp.com/eciworkshop2...

Violeta J. Rodriguez, PhD, MSEd @vjrp.bsky.social · 19d

Of course! Thank you for inviting us!!

Violeta J. Rodriguez, PhD, MSEd @vjrp.bsky.social · 19d

@qmmmmliu.bsky.social and I just gave a presentation for the UChicago internship program on writing faculty job statements.

We talked through what makes them compelling (and what to avoid).

Slides are here if interested 👉 osf.io/3skx4/?view_...

Thanks to Dr. Shona Vas inviting us!!

Faculty Jobs

Hosted on the Open Science Framework

osf.io

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Violeta J. Rodriguez, PhD, MSEd @vjrp.bsky.social · 25d

🚨 New publication in Archives of Sexual Behavior! ❤️

Co–first authored w/ Dr. Qimin Liu — we applied conditional inference trees to examine intragroup nuances in discrimination + psychological distress among U.S. sexual minority adults.

@psychillinois.bsky.social

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Disentangling the Heterogeneity in Minority Stress: A Data Mining Approach - Archives of Sexual Behavior

Minority stress theory posits that discrimination contributes to increased distress among individuals with minoritized identities, including individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, and bisexual. The...

link.springer.com

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Violeta J. Rodriguez, PhD, MSEd @vjrp.bsky.social · 28d

A critique in my review: “The authors used omega instead of alpha.”

Cool, let me just return my master’s in measurement.

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Reposted by Violeta J. Rodriguez, PhD, MSEd

Lorenzo Lorenzo-Luaces, PhD @lluaces.bsky.social · Sep 8

No other leads???

Lorenzo Lorenzo-Luaces, PhD @lluaces.bsky.social · Sep 5

1: Crowdsourcing #academia help.

TL;DR: we wrote a paper on reactions to the 2025 executive orders but it's gotten rejected several times and we're looking for an appropriate venue for it.

@claudialugo.bsky.social @egv.bsky.social @drjennyzd.bsky.social

osf.io/preprints/ps...

OSF

osf.io

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Violeta J. Rodriguez, PhD, MSEd @vjrp.bsky.social · 29d

🚨 New paper in JMIR! 🚨

With @qmmmmliu.bsky.social, we analyzed nearly 1,000 Facebook comments on our LGBTQIA+ parent research ads. While frustrating to read, we’re excited to share this work to shine light on the stigma researchers & families face in digital spaces.

🔗 doi.org/10.2196/79080

doi.org

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Violeta J. Rodriguez, PhD, MSEd @vjrp.bsky.social · Sep 6

✨ REGISTRATION OPEN! ✨

I’ll be speaking (1:35pm ET) at the NIH Workshop for Early Career Investigators in HIV, hosted by NIH OAR 🎤

Join us to talk NIH resources, funding, and advancing #EndingTheHIVepidemic.

🔗 www.scgcorp.com/eciworkshop2...

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Violeta J. Rodriguez, PhD, MSEd @vjrp.bsky.social · Aug 28

A retired civil engineer tried to join my lecture today.

Why? “After 50 years, I realize psychology is IT even though in my youth I mocked it. You deal with happiness and wellbeing. That’s LIFE.”

And you chose my CLASS?

Well, now I’m inspired.

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Reposted by Violeta J. Rodriguez, PhD, MSEd

Alejandro L. Vázquez, PhD @alvazquezphd.bsky.social · Aug 28

#NLPA2025 Summit registration is open. Excited to soon learn from and be in community with other Latinx psychologist.
If you haven’t already, consider attending this timely conference. Hope to see you in Texas!

www.nlpa.ws/2025-confere...

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Violeta J. Rodriguez, PhD, MSEd @vjrp.bsky.social · Aug 21

Thank you so much!! 😊

Violeta J. Rodriguez, PhD, MSEd @vjrp.bsky.social · Aug 20

Happy to share that I passed the EPPP today! 🎉

In Illinois, this comes after completing supervised hours, which I fulfilled through pro bono asylum evaluations and therapy with unaccompanied minors from around the world.

Grateful for the chance to serve, and excited for licensure!

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Violeta J. Rodriguez, PhD, MSEd @vjrp.bsky.social · Aug 14

Reflexive practice doesn't need to be esoteric. Just in time before Fall: the SpORE Manual is now live and open access on OSF: osf.io/rx4bn

SpORE is a modular, beginner-friendly framework to support reflexive practice in applied learning, designed for both instructors and trainees.

OSF

osf.io

Violeta J. Rodriguez, PhD, MSEd @vjrp.bsky.social · Jul 2

Happy to be back at Yale as a panelist for Yale Ciencia Academy—5 years after being a fellow. Full circle. 💫

Grateful to share space with brilliant minds & talk about making change in academia. Thank you Yale, Mónica, Giovanna & crew for building this incredible community. 💜

#AcademicLife

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Violeta J. Rodriguez, PhD, MSEd @vjrp.bsky.social · Jun 11

📣 HIRING!

The Health Equity and Action Lab (@ UIUC) is looking for a Coordinator to support an NIH-funded study on parents.

💼 Start by 9/1
📍 Champaign, IL
✍️ Apply: [email protected] (CV + cover letter)

RT to help us find someone great! 💜

#AcademicJobs #PsychologyJobs #HealthEquity

Health Equity and Action Lab – A publish.illinois.edu site

publish.illinois.edu

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Violeta J. Rodriguez, PhD, MSEd @vjrp.bsky.social · May 28

Folks have started reaching out again, so here’s your reminder: I will be reviewing PhD applications this fall!

📅 Deadline: Nov 15, 2025
🔗 Info: publish.illinois.edu/healthequity...
📨 Questions? [email protected]
🔵 @vjrp.bsky.social

#PhDChat #HealthEquity #ClinicalPsych

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Violeta J. Rodriguez, PhD, MSEd @vjrp.bsky.social · May 23

So proud of @antoniayuxinhua.bsky.social for winning the APS RISE award and presenting her incredible work on her birthday! What a way to celebrate.

May every birthday be this inspiring and impactful—congrats, Antonia! And thanks @qmmmmliu.bsky.social for working with us on this project!!!

Antonia Yuxin Hua @antoniayuxinhua.bsky.social · May 23

So grateful to be able to present my poster at #aps25dc 🎉 huge shout out to my mentors on this project, @vjrp.bsky.social @qmmmmliu.bsky.social
Looking forward to the rest of the conference, and learning from the amazing research being done in psych science🤓!

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Violeta J. Rodriguez, PhD, MSEd @vjrp.bsky.social · May 17

Huge congratulations to my honors student Flor Quiroz on her graduation from @psychillinois.bsky.social — and to all the amazing grads of 2025! ¡Felicidades, Flor!

Watching students cross the stage felt like witnessing the future of our field take flight!

#PsychMajor #UIUCGrad2025

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Violeta J. Rodriguez, PhD, MSEd @vjrp.bsky.social · May 12

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
?

The Harms of Class Imbalance Corrections for Machine Learning Based Prediction Models: A Simulation Study

Introduction Risk prediction models are increasingly used in healthcare to aid in clinical decision-making. In most clinical contexts, model calibration (i.e., assessing the reliability of risk esti...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Violeta J. Rodriguez, PhD, MSEd @vjrp.bsky.social · May 10

I took this survey and took me 3 minutes. Take it!

Chris Dabbs, Ph.D. @dabbspsych.bsky.social · Apr 30

Help us understand what mental health professionals think about autism registries by participating in our short survey!

Participation is limited to those 18+ who are mental health professionals (broadly defined)/trainees in mental health fields.

valposocialwork.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

A research participation advertisement flyer. The text reads: “VU #25-11. Your perspective. We are interested in collecting perspectives from mental health professionals (18+) regarding the recently proposed national ASD registry in the United States. Participation: 10 minutes.” The poster has a central QR code for scanning.

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Violeta J. Rodriguez, PhD, MSEd @vjrp.bsky.social · May 7

Just wrapped up the Dr. Sandra J. Finley Teacher Scholar Certificate at UIUC!
Taught across 3 semesters, developed a teaching project, engaged in service, and reflected on how/why I teach.

Grateful for programs that treat teaching as scholarly work.

#Teaching #HigherEd #UIUC #PedagogyMatters

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Violeta J. Rodriguez, PhD, MSEd @vjrp.bsky.social · May 2

So proud of my amazing master’s and PhD students present their work at #SRCD2025 today! From parenting stigma to psychometrics to intersectional mental health—each one did so great! Thank you to everyone who showed up, and to Chair Dr. Sungha Kang for leading such a meaningful session!

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