Principal Investigator
Anna E. Epperson, PhD
Dr. Anna Epperson is an Assistant Professor of Health Psychology in the Department of Psychological Sciences at the University of California, Merced. Her research explores how social and cultural factors impact health behavior and perceptions of health risk, particularly among American Indian/Indigenous and Latino/a communities. She examines health behavior through community-based research and current projects focus on: 1) examining vaccine hesitancy; and 2) reducing substance use (e.g., cigarette smoking and vaping). Prior to joining the faculty at UC Merced, Dr. Epperson was an Instructor of Adolescent Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine. She completed postdoctoral training at the Stanford University Prevention Research Center as an National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute T32 research fellow in Cardiovascular Disease Prevention. She earned her PhD in Health Psychology from the University of California, Merced, an MA in Psychology from California State University, Stanislaus, and a BA in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of California, Berkeley. She is an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.
[email protected]

Lab Manager & Research Coordinator
Mary Garcia
Mary Esperanza Garcia was born and raised in the San Joaquin Valley and transferred from community college with a UC Regents Scholarship to the University of California, Merced. While attending University, Mary received a Bachelor's in psychology and completed an internship at the Nicotine and Cannabis Policy Center where she investigated the cessation related needs amongst Latinx tobacco users in the Central Valley. Mary is currently the Research Coordinator in the Epperson Lab for the Connect/Conectados: Social Networks and Health among Indigenous Californians Research Collaborative grant project. Mary’s research interests are grounded in a commitment to address the health issues that continue to affect Central Californians and other at-risk populations.
[email protected]
Graduate Student
Audrey Montgomery, MEd
Audrey Montgomery (she/her) is a first-year doctoral student mentored by Dr. Anna Epperson. She holds a Master of Education in Professional Counseling and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Oklahoma. She spent the previous 5 years working as a senior research assistant assessing the feasibility and utility of mobile health applications and ecological momentary assessments on health promotion behaviors, specifically tobacco cessation. Her current research interests include examining how our environment, community, and identity shapes health information we trust, how we engage in health prevention behaviors, and our general well-being.  
[email protected] 
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=QDBsFkEAAAAJ  

Graduate Student Alumni
Sarah Alnahari, PhD
Sarah Alnahari (she/her) received her doctorate in Public Health in 2025. Her research focuses on tobacco control research, particularly among minority and immigrant communities. She has been awarded a California statue Tobacco Related Disease Research Program predoctoral fellowship to complete her dissertation, which investigates tobacco use behaviors among Arab Americans in California's Central Valley. Specializing in qualitative and quantitative methods, Sarah is dedicated to understanding determinants of smoking to promote culturally informed tobacco cessation strategies. She has also actively engaged in public speaking and community outreach, notably as a finalist in the UC Merced’s Grad Slam competition.

Graduate Student Alumni
Allison Temourian, PhD
Dr. Allison A. Temourian received her doctorate in Psychological Sciences (Health Psychology) in 2024. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco. Her current research examines 1) cognitions as they relate to addictive behavior and 2) antecedents to health risk behaviors. Specifically, her work aims to address the psychosocial factors that encourage youth and young adults to engage in tobacco and/or cannabis use. During her postdoctoral training, Dr. Temourianwill continue her work examining perceptions of nicotine addiction and their overlap with the clinical dimensions of tobacco use disorder.
Website: https://aatemourian.owlstown.net/
[email protected]

Undergraduate Student Interns


Aida Hassani
Aida Hassani is a Muslim Moroccan-American from the Bay Area. She is a third year undergraduate student at UC Merced majoring in Psychology and is interested in behavioral psychology and decision making, while also focusing on mental health disorders. Currently with Epperson Lab she is working on a College Health survey study, with a focus on academic anxiety. She is also part of the UC Merced Nicotine and Cannabis Policy Center, as a Tobacco Endgame Intern, where she will work with a Public Health Center in the San Joaquin Valley. Outside of the lab she works for the UCM Financial Wellness Center as a content creator and is the President of the Muslim Student Association. Her goal is to continue behavioral psychology research into graduate school, as well as work towards a career in film. With both passions in mind she aims to become a psychology-focused documentary filmmaker.
Charu Raihan
Charu is a fourth-year undergraduate student majoring in Psychology with an emphasis in Health Psychology and a minor in Public Health. Her goal is to improve health outcomes. She is particularly interested in psychoneuroimmunology, which combines her interests in mental health, physical health, and the immune system, providing a coherent understanding of how psychological factors can influence overall health. With Epperson Lab, Charu focuses on research examining vaccine hesitancy as part of the CONNECT project, in collaboration with teams at UC Santa Cruz and UC San Francisco. She is also a UC Merced Nicotine and Cannabis Policy Center ENDGAME senior research assistant working on nicotine and cannabis use prevention. After obtaining her bachelor's degree, Charu aims to pursue higher education and earn a PhD in either Health Psychology or Public Health.

Selected undergraduate Alumni

Brandon Castillo Flores
Victoria Ness
Meztli Galicia
Sonia Serrano Garcia
Estrella Rico
Luis Solorio
Joselyn Vasquez