Sparsh Moondhra

Sparsh Moondhra serves as a Staff Research Associate at CAPPS. She graduated from UCLA with a BA degree in Psychology and a minor in Disability Studies. Prior to her affiliation with CAPPS, under the guidance of Dr. Eliza Congdon, Sparsh contributed to the Digital Mental Health Study, as part of the UCLA Depression Grand Challenge to advance the understanding of causes and trajectories of depression, stress, anxiety, and their potential relationship to other physiological conditions using digital technologies. During her undergraduate years, with the Didi Hirsch Suicide Prevention Center, Sparsh provided crisis counseling to the callers by applying evidence-based approaches for individuals in high emotional distress. Additionally, with UCLA’s KidsConnect program, Sparsh served children with developmental disabilities such as autism through individualized and structured behavioral, cognitive, and developmental interventions. 

Broadly, Sparsh is interested in utilizing multimodal methods (e.g. behavioral, fMRI) to understand how environmental, neurobiological, and behavioral factors influence the development of adolescent serious mental illness in ethnically diverse populations. During her free time, one can find Sparsh cooking and exploring different pasta recipes or binge-watching thriller TV shows.