Meet the Mandel School's new PhD cohort

The beginning of the semester marked a new chapter for a group of PhD students at Case Western Reserve University’s Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences. 

The Mandel School’s PhD in Social Welfare program welcomed eight new doctoral students who have begun their journeys as scholars, researchers, educators and leaders. Over the next several years, they will gain skills in social science research methodologies, statistics and theory—enabling them to take on social welfare issues in their communities and beyond.

“The 2025 doctoral class entered the program with great professional experiences,” said Victor Groza, PhD, associate dean for doctoral education, “and with the power to ask questions that can change the world.” 

Read on to learn about these students and what they hope to achieve at the Mandel School.

Rashad Bolden 

Bachelor of Social Work, Juniata College
Master of Social Work, West Chester University

Rashad Bolden hails from Pittsburgh where he works for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center as a behavioral health therapist for their intensive outpatient and partial hospitalization programs. Bolden’s previous experience includes serving as an after-school program facilitator, completing an internship at the Free Library of Philadelphia in Kensington, and holding nonprofit board positions with Future Kings Mentoring and Team Upstanders. Bolden came to the Mandel School to study mental health impacts on athletes who have lost their sports careers due to injuries.

Jesse Bassett 

Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Religion, Indiana Wesleyan University
Master of Social Work, Certificate in Trauma-Informed Practice, Case Western Reserve University
Master of Divinity, Princeton Theological Seminary

Jesse Bassett is a research associate at the Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education where he evaluates state- and federally funded programs addressing mental health, substance use, violence prevention, and trauma-informed interventions for youth and adults involved in the justice system in Cuyahoga County. His previous experience includes roles as a child, adolescent and family therapist at Bellefaire JCB, and program leadership positions at Good Grief, a New Jersey-based nonprofit serving bereaved children and families. With this background, Bassett will focus on research that informs policy and practice, strengthens collaborations, and improves outcomes for vulnerable youth and families.

Brittany Buddie 

Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice with a minor in sociology, Bowling Green State University
Master of Social Work and Graduate Certificate in Chemical Dependency Counseling, Cleveland State University 

Brittany Buddie is an independently licensed social worker with field experience at the Cuyahoga County Division of Children and Family Services and as a mental health therapist. She continues to work in private practice and is also a clinician on the Police Crisis Co-Responder Team with Frontline Service and the Cleveland Division of Police. At the Mandel School, Buddie will study the effects of sexual abuse on child and adolescent development, namely: the impact of having an engaged parent/caregiver in the implementation of therapeutic treatment modalities; precipitating factors of sexual abuse and sexual violence; and improved community interventions to be used for the prevention of sexual abuse and sexual violence. 

Brighid Ivanick 

Bachelor of Social Work, University of Pittsburgh
Master of Social Work, University of Pennsylvania

Brighid Ivanick has been a caseworker in the child welfare system and is a licensed social worker in Pennsylvania where she provides support to families who have lost a child to a non-homicidal cause of death or a loved one of any age to suicide. She has experience participating in Child Death Reviews, Maternal Mortality Reviews, and Philadelphia’s Study of Associated Risks of Stillbirth. Ivanick’s research interests are wide-ranging with a shared thread of preventing violence and enhancing maternal and child health—including intimate partner violence education and prevention programming, perinatal health and loss, and social networks surrounding those topics. 

Melanie Miller

Bachelor of Science, Master of Public Health, Master of Legal Studies, University of California Los Angeles

While at University of California Los Angeles, Melanie Miller studied environmental health disparities related to pollution in Los Angeles County as well as the positive impact of Medicaid expansion on K-12 education. She conducted qualitative research on disrespectful maternal care experienced by non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic communities in Connecticut, and collaborated with healthcare professionals to develop and implement initiatives aimed at improving access to quality healthcare services in underserved communities. Now that she’s at the Mandel School, she will focus on risk and protective factors related to maternal mental health with a special interest in the fourth trimester “transition cliff,” aiming to enhance vitality within these populations. 

Patti Tanner

Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, Graduate Certificate in Conflict Management, Pennsylvania Western University, Edinboro

A Navy veteran, Patti Tanner has served as an educator, community organizer, program manager, advocate and researcher across nonprofit, higher education, and government sectors. She is a mental health and behavioral health subject matter expert at the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs where advises on suicide prevention, mental health and behavioral health care for veterans and the Pennsylvania National Guard. She also founded and led a veteran support nonprofit organization, RISE: Rank & File, from 2019 until 2022. As a student at the Mandel School, Tanner will study suicide prevention, moral injury, complex and intergenerational trauma, community violence intervention, organizational culture, social systems and ethnography.  

Courtney Reynolds 

Bachelor of Arts, Goucher College
Master of Arts, Miami University and Mahidol University
Master of Science in Social Administration, Case Western Reserve University

A licensed social worker, Courtney Reynolds works as a senior research analyst on the Elder Justice Research Team at the Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging. She also co-chairs the Research Committee of the Ohio Attorney General’s Elder Abuse Commission, participates on the Cuyahoga County Scam Squad and serves on the Ethics Committee of the National Adult Protective Services Association. Her past roles include social work with McGregor PACE, developing an online training for Ohio's mandated reporters of elder abuse in 2023 and coordinating volunteers at a Naturally Occurring Retirement Community in New York City. While at the Mandel School, she plans to study aging in place, preventing elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation through applied research and practice. 

Victor Trussell 

Bachelor of Arts, Emory and Henry University
Master of Social Work, Temple University

Victor Trussell is a licensed clinical social worker, a research assistant with Temple University's Child Maltreatment Prevention Lab, and a research affiliate with SAFELab at the University of Pennsylvania, which is an interdisciplinary research group that aims to prevent and intervene in youth violence. Trussell’s social work interests center on schools, outpatient therapy settings, youth and LGBTQ+ adults facing anxiety, depression, grief and various other mental health challenges. Beyond the counseling room, Trussell is a former professional actor and self-published children's book author. His latest work, Gilroy's Good Heart, underscores the importance of mental wellness for Black youth.