Laura Mata López, raised in a low-income Costa Rican community, faced hardships due to poverty and lack of mental health support. After immigrating to New York City at 12, she struggled with selective mutism in school but eventually became a psychiatric nurse focused on serving marginalized communities. Her doctoral research at Johns Hopkins on suicide risk among Latina immigrants received federal funding, which was unexpectedly terminated by the Trump administration, creating significant challenges for her ongoing work and stability.
"Even then, I always had this identity of being a migrant and being an other," Mata López said.
Her work has been federally funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the National Institutes of Health.
Mata López became selectively mute, a condition she could not name at the time, when she started school in New York City.
The Trump administration terminated her grant, along with all other Diversity F31s, which has been destabilizing for Mata López.
Collection
[
|
...
]