Become a Psychologist

Ph.D., San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego, 2000
Office Location: Logan Rm 164
Phone: (505) 277-0633
Email: sverney@unm.edu
Personal Website:
Curriculum Vitae and Publications

Research Area

I believe culture counts. As an Alaska Native (Tsimshian) psychologist, I believe culture is infused in all of our beings influencing how we think, feel, and behave. My research has evolved into a mental health disparities focus. I am interested in issues of assessment validity, with a focus on cognitive assessment, for different cultural groups. Differences in assessment validity add to the health and mental health disparities seen in the U.S. I investigate cultural influences on cognition, psychopathology, and aging. My research focuses on psychophysiological indices of information processing efficiency. I also continue to investigate culture-fair methods of assessment for ethnic and minority populations.

I am currently a Senior Fellow with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center for Health Policy at UNM for Hispanic and American Indians and a past fellow in the American Indian Alaska Native Program at the University of Colorado. I am a co-investigator on an NHLBI-funded project, the Strong Heart Stroke Study, investigating stroke in older American Indians, the population with the highest rate of stroke in US. I is also the Director for the Research Core of an NCMHD-funded New Mexico Center for the Advancement for Research and Engagement on Health Disparities (NM CARES HD; ). I have also been a past recipient of the Outstanding Faculty of Color Award, awarded by the Project for Peer Mentoring Graduate Students of Color to faculty who demonstrate excellence in teaching, research, mentoring, and service.

My longer-term research goals are to continue to research areas of culture and cognitive functioning, and physical and mental health disparities.