Bistra Dilkina Named CAIS Co-Director
USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Bistra Dilkina, a leader in the burgeoning field of computational sustainability and whose research aims to leverage AI to find solutions to real-world problems, has become co-director of the USC Center for Artificial Intelligence in Society, or CAIS. “I’m thrilled to be stepping up in my initiative to growing CAIS,” said Dilkina, an associate professor of computer science who joined the USC Viterbi School of Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in spring 2018. “I think it’s an amazing organization that is doing and will continue to do wonderful things.” Dilkina joins CAIS cofounder Eric Rice, an associate professor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, as center co-director.

Rebecca Zimmerman is a member:
Empowering the survivor voting block
Boulder Weekly
“What we know about abuse is that it’s all about power and control. And when an abuser loses that power and control of you, they will do pretty close to anything to get that feeling of control back,” adds Rebecca Zimmerman, domestic violence researcher at Denver University’s graduate school of social work, who also works with Violence Free Colorado.

Judy Uzzi is a member:
Salute to Case Managers
South Florida Hospital News
Judy Uzzi, LCSW, CMC, serves as the clinical program director of the MorseLife Care Management and Counseling Program. A licensed clinical social worker with more than 35 years of experience, Judy oversees a staff providing counselling and care management to a fragile senior population, most of whom are between the ages of 80 and 100 living with chronic conditions. During the pandemic she has led innovations in the delivery of care to include telehealth while also providing the technological training and opportunities for patients to connect with family members.

Amalia Miralrío is a member:
How To Tell Someone You’re Not Interested Without Ghosting
Bustle
“It is unkind to ghost someone because it often leaves people to assume that the reason you were uninterested in them is because of whatever their greatest insecurities are,” Amalia Miralrío, LMSW, LCSW, MSW, MEd, a therapist in private practice, tells Bustle. “Without a clear explanation of why the relationship wasn’t a good fit for you, the ending can reinforce negative and oftentimes false beliefs about someone’s self-worth.”

Brenna Rizan is a member:
[Video] UC Davis social worker: Miscarriages are more common than people think
Yahoo News
Chrissy Teigen and John Legend have lost their child following pregnancy complications, the couple announced on their social media accounts. The model and TV personality was hospitalized in Los Angeles on Sunday. Teigen said she had been on bed rest and bleeding for weeks during her pregnancy. UC Davis Health’s Brenna Rizan is an OB/GYN social worker and works with families experiencing loss. She said it can be hard for women to talk about miscarriages. Get the full story in the video above.

Kara Catrelle is a member:
Study links gender-affirming IDs to improved mental health
The Blue Banner
“In my professional experience, I  have witnessed trans-identified clients  repress or hide their gender identity  which led to substance abuse, depression, anxiety and sadly, sometimes suicide. As an analytical psychotherapist, I have seen mental health issues form as a result of repressed or suppressed parts of the self,” said Kara Catrelle, an analytical psychotherapist specializing in sexuality and gender-related issues based in Asheville.

[Audio] Together, Mother And Daughter Social Workers Face New Challenges In A Pandemic
NPR
Lauren Magaña followed in her mother’s footsteps when she became a social worker. It’s been a most challenging year for both of them. They work mostly with elderly patients — those particularly vulnerable during the coronavirus pandemic. But Magaña and her mom, Michelle Huston, have been able to lean on one another. Huston, now 50, and Magaña, 26, first recorded a StoryCorps interview in 2018 — long before the pandemic had figured into their work — to talk about why they chose to enter a career in social work.

Daniel Olavarria is a member:
Why Queer People Protect Themselves With Two Social Media Profiles
NewNowNext
Psychotherapist Daniel Olavarria, LCSW, explains that a queer person’s public account often becomes a digital form of “code-switching,” a behavior in which people present different versions of themselves to different audiences. “It is an adaptive response for human beings that takes on particular importance for historically marginalized communities,” he tells NewNowNext. “Sometimes, it’s used as a means of survival.”

Cory Whitfield is a member:
Improving racial, social justice in East Tennessee
East Tennessean
Cory Whitfield, an ETSU graduate student, was recently elected to serve as a student representative for the Tennessee chapter of the National Association of Social Workers Board of Directors. Whitfield will be working with other social workers to promote racial and social justice in Tennessee. The organization also works to promote the social work profession in the region. Whitfield also completed his undergraduate degree in social work at ETSU.

Widian Nicola is a member, and president-elect of NASW-NJ:
Opinion: Sterilizing immigrant detainees must stop now
NJ.com
Widian Nicola, D.S.W., LCSW: Reports are emerging that women in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement are being sterilized en masse. These women came to the United States as refugees seeking asylum from horror, brutality, and oppression. Asking shelter from poverty and violence and a future for themselves and their children, they are instead incarcerated in for-profit detention centers and surgically stripped of their ability to have children — a brutality and oppression that is both heartbreaking and unspeakable but must be spoken as it must now stop.