Our Team

Jennifer Canico, M.S.

Jennifer (she/her/ella) is a third-year Clinical Psychology Ph.D. student at the University of Oregon. She graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a B.A. in Psychology and Chicana/o Studies and a minor in Applied Developmental Psychology. Prior to joining the lab, she served as a research assistant in Dr. Anna Lau’s Culture and Race/Ethnicity (CARE) in Youth Mental Health Lab and Dr. Denise Chavira’s Culture and Anxiety Lab for Mental Health Advances (CALMA) at UCLA. In these roles, she primarily worked with Spanish-speaking families on various implementation research projects focused on youth behavioral health. She also worked with the Maternal and Developmental Risks from Environmental and Social Stressors (MADRES) Center for Environmental Health Disparities at the USC Keck School of Medicine.

Jennifer is passionate about advancing mental health equity. Her research is driven by the goal of improving the quality and accessibility of culturally and linguistically responsive care for ethnic minoritized families. She is particularly interested in identifying strategies to better support direct service providers and interpreters working with Latine families who speak a language other than English in community settings. She is also committed to enhancing graduate training and supervision to prepare clinicians for effective bilingual service delivery in Spanish. Additionally, her work explores ways to strengthen youth and parent engagement within the delivery of evidence-based practices with ethnic minoritized families and community-based providers. In her free time, Jennifer enjoys listening to podcasts, discovering new foods, practicing Pilates, and spending time with her family and adorable dog (Bruno).

Representative Publications and Presentations

  • Canico, J., Velez, C., Quintero, J., Manners, D., Chorpita, B., & Park, A.L. (2025, July). Community mental health staff perspectives on using interpretation and translation services with families who speak a LOTE. Paper presented at the 8th Biennial APA Division 45 Research Conference, Ann Arbor, MI.

  • Park, A. L., Kondo, E., Molina, N., Velez, C. V., Canico, J., Dunn, N., & Kitagawa, Y. (2025, July). Universal and context-specific cultural adaptations to mental health treatments.  Paper presented at the 8th Biennial APA Division 45 Research Conference, Ann Arbor, MI.

  • Mudiam, K. R., Canico, J., Park, A. L., Allen, N. B., Williamson, A. A., Luiggi-Hernandez, J.G., Hamm, M. E., & Davis, M. F. (2024, November). Voices of youth with minoritized identities and caregivers: Leveraging primary care settings to discuss behavioral health concerns to prevent youth suicide risk? Poster presented at the 58th Annual Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) Convention, Philadelphia, PA.

  • Kitagawa, Y., Canico, J., & Park, A.L. (2024). Reflection on Affirmative Care Across Domains: Advancing Mental Health Equity. Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT).

  • Canico, J., Wright, B. M., Cox, J. R., Lau, A. S., & Brookman-Frazee, L. (November 2021). Do racial/ethnic match and therapist acculturation predict client engagement challenges with Latinx families receiving EBPs? Virtual poster presented at the 55th Annual Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) Convention, New Orleans, LA.

Twitter: @jennifercanico | Bluesky: @jcanico.bsky.social