Youssef Khattab

• Bilingual/multilingual
• Individuals from a socially or economically disadvantaged backgrounds (e.g., individuals who were or are currently homeless or in the foster care system; were eligible for federal food and nutrition programs [for 2 or more years]; were eligible for Pell grants; received WIC; have/had no parents or legal guardians who completed a bachelor's degree; grew up in a rural or low-income area)
• Other

• SPS Conference Mentor

My past mentorship experience spans multiple institutions and academic groups as an aspiring academic Clinical Neuropsychologist. My first experience with mentoring was during my undergraduate years as a psychology major and board member for the UC Davis Mental Health Initiative (MHI) program within the student government body at UC Davis (ASUCD). In addition to helping raise awareness for students' mental health, I was engaged in leadership activities throughout the annual conference, which involved mentoring a group of students who were prospective MHI members to help introduce them to mental health advocacy on a large college campus. After graduation, I gained the opportunity to mentor two undergraduate research assistants when I was a postbaccalaureate researcher in Dr. Mendez's laboratory at UCLA. I trained them on the entry, scoring, and organization of neuropsychological data. I currently serve as a mentor at the Nextgen Psych Scholars Program (NPSP) until May. I am advising two BIPOC applicants on admission into a doctoral program. This work involves meeting routinely with mentees to discuss application progress, assist with writing and self-expression, and connect them to appropriate resources.

As a first-generation high school graduate and former UN refugee, I overcame generational barriers to pursue learning in a resource-exhausted environment. Because of this, I gained great wisdom and prudence to share with fellow underrepresented applicants historically excluded from our field. Having been in the shoes of an SPS/N2N mentee two years ago, I hope to pay back as a current PhD student and neuropsychology trainee. I believe I can share factual knowledge and personal experience with mentees at the AACN conference this year, not only about the neuropsychology field in general but also about entering that training path. Aside from facilitating meetings and social activities for mentees at the AACN conference, I am also interested in answering questions about being a neuropsychology trainee in a clinical psychology PhD program at an academic medical center and answering questions related to networking via conferences.

This mentorship experience will contribute to my professional goals in many ways. First, it will allow me to engage with young, curious minds interested in learning and networking with students who have taken a similar path to pursuing higher education. This experience will further stretch my advisorship skills as an aspiring professor in the field. Second, I am keen to deepen my involvement with the AACN network as a current doctoral student and later professional. Participating in this opportunity will encourage me to help diversify the field further and contribute to building additional programs within AACN that will be accessible to trainees from a wide range of levels (e.g., high school, undergraduate, graduate, etc.). Receiving this award would allow me to attend the conference as a budgeting PhD student working on an abstract to submit. Experiencing extreme budget tightness in my mentor's lab, this award would allow me to attend the conference as a contributor to the science and networking + mentorship aspects of it.