Meet the Team
Principal Investigator
Dr. Guadalupe López Hernández
Principal Investigator
Dr. López Hernández is a developmental scholar and assistant professor at Loyola University Chicago. She received her doctoral training at the University of California, Los Angeles, in Human Development and Psychology. Her research agenda intends to understand and address issues related to the social belonging of Latinx immigrant-origin adolescents in the context of families, schools, and communities. Core questions that motivate her research plan include:
How do immigration experiences (e.g., being in an undocumented household) shape adolescents’ social-emotional development and social belonging?
How do oppressive immigration policies, laws, and toxic rhetoric impact immigrant-origin adolescents’ social belonging (or exclusion) in communities with recent demographic changes?
What factors predict resilience in the context of racial injustice, racism, and xenophobia for immigrant-origin children and adolescents?
Some of her hobbies are baking and cooking new recipes, playing with her two little boys and exploring new neighborhoods in the city of Chicago.
Graduate Students
Danieli M. Mercado Ramos, M.S.
Pronouns: She/ Her/ Ella
Hometown: Aguada, Puerto Rico
Education: B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Marketing from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez (UPRM) and a Master of Science in the Developmental Psychology Sequence from Illinois State University.
Current Status: 2nd year PhD Student and Graduate Assistant
Research Interests: Her research interest include exploring how bilingual adolescents navigate their Ethnic Racial Identity and finding spaces of belonging, specifically on the Latinx community.
Hobbies: In her free time, she enjoys reading and listening to audiobooks, cooking, going on walks, doing arts and crafts while watching/listening to the Mamma Mia soundtrack, exploring the city of Chicago, and traveling back to Puerto Rico!
Undergraduate Students
Jetzemany Sanchez
Research Assistant
Pronouns: She/Her/Ella
Hometown: Minooka, IL
Education: B.S. Psychology and B.A in Women and Gender Studies (Loyola University Chicago 2026)
Current Status: 2nd year Research Assistant in Juntos Lab
Research interests: She is interested in learning about the intersection of trauma, mental health, and anxiety in adolescents who are part of immigrant populations, ethnic minorities, or the LGBTQIA+ community.
Hobbies: In her free time, she enjoys reading, drinking boba, singing, tutoring, playing the guitar, trying new foods, spending time with friends and family, and exploring the city of Chicago!
Goals: She chose Juntos because their research is incredibly personal, meaningful, and fascinating to her. As a Latina who grew up in the suburbs with Mexican immigrant parents, she wants to help understand others who have shared her experiences with belonging and discrimination and, through Juntos, help improve her understanding of how to enhance belonging, well-being, and support for Latine adolescents from immigrant backgrounds in predominatly white spaces.
Past Undergraduate Students
Jannat Cheema
Research Assistant
Hometown: Rushville, IL
Education: B.S. Psychology (Loyola University Chicago 2025)
Current Status: 1st year Research Assistant in Juntos Lab
Research Interests: She is passionate in helping adolescents adapt to environments they are excluded in. By understanding the relationship between social belonging and mental health for immigrant-origin adolescents, she strives to discover effective resources and methods to provide that help.
Hobbies: Long walks, driving, reading, and re-watching her favorite shows
Goals: She entered the Juntos Lab with hopes of exploring her passions to encourage underrepresented children in establishing a strong sense of self and belonging through their unique experiences as minorities within their environment. As a woman growing up in a predominantly white, rural community, Juntos Lab provides her with the experiences she hopes to have as she works to achieve her goal.
Viviana Martinez
Research Assistant
Hometown: Chicago, IL
Education: B.S. Psychology with a minor in Neuroscience (Loyola University Chicago 2024)
Current Status: 1st year Research Assistant in Juntos Lab
Research Interests: She is intrigued by the experiences of Latinx adolescents in spaces of exclusion and the lasting impact left on mental health and further development. She aims to unearth outlets for youth to form greater connections of belonging, hopefully improvong well-being as a whole.
Hobbies: She enjoys playing soccer, playing the violin, crocheting, taking late-night drives through the city, listening to music and hiking.
Goals: She began working in the lab as a Junior at Loyola University Chicago after being introduced as a student under Dr. Lopez-Hernandez. As a Mexican-American growing up in a predominantly white neighborhood, access to places of belonging was limited. She aims to help youth with a similar background by aiding them in finding places of acceptance. Coming from an immigrant family, her goals also include helping others understand the detrimental impact xenophobia and racism leave on mental health and wellbeing.
Sharya Shah, B.S.
Research Assistant
Pronouns: She/Her/Ella
Hometown: Aurora, IL
Education: B.S. in Cognitive/Behavioral Neuroscience and Psychology (Loyola University Chicago 2023) with minors in Spanish and Biology on the Pre-Medicine Track
Current Status: 1st year Research Assistant in Juntos Lab
Research Interests: Her research interests include the detrimental influence of stress on an individual's biopsychosocial model, and at Juntos Lab, she is able to gain insight into the stress caused by social integration in Latinx individuals.
Hobbies: She enjoys cooking, baking, watching K-dramas, drinking boba, listening to K-pop, playing recreational volleyball, and going on adventures in the city of Chicago!
Goals: She joined Juntos Lab because as a South Asian woman living in America, she understands first-hand the challenges that immigrant-origin adolescents face when trying to navigate their identities in a new cultural context. She was particularly drawn to the Juntos Lab's research and wanted to contribute to the research that aims to improve the social belonging and identity formation process of immigrant-origin adolescents. She is eager to explore how systematic racial inequalities, xenophobia, and racism impact Latinx immigrant-origin adolescents' sense of belonging in white suburban neighborhood communities.