 Dr. Sagrestano earned a Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of California
at Berkeley and held NIMH-funded postdoctoral fellowships at UCLA and the University
of Illinois at Chicago. She came to the University of Memphis in August 2006 from
Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, where she held cross appointments as associate
professor of psychology, women's studies, the School of Medicine, and the Center for
Rural Health and Social Service Development.
Her research interests include maternal and prenatal health, adolescent sexual behavior,
HIV prevention, domestic violence, and gender and work stress. She is currently involved
in several projects in Memphis, including 1) a study of sexual harassment in schools,
2) the evaluation of Community Voice, a community based infant mortality intervention, and 3) the Memphis Safe Campus
Consortium, a project aimed at reducing violence against women on local college campuses.
She is a consulting editor of The Psychology of Women Quarterly and serves on the
advisory boards of several organizations in Memphis, including the Memphis Area Women’s
Council, the Domestic Violence Council, and the Governor’s Infant Mortality Committee.
 Mrs. Stokes oversees the sales and distribution of Center
publications, maintains the Center's national database, manages the Center's Resource
Library, and assures compliance with campus policies and procedures. In 2005, Mrs.
Stokes took an early retirement from the U.S. government with 26 ½ years service time.
She moved to Chattanooga, TN to be with her husband full time as he worked in ministry.
They were transferred to Memphis in July 2007 to pastor a church here. Mrs. Stokes
received a B.S. from Alabama A & M University.
Naketa M. Edney, M.A., Research Associate
 Naketa received her M.A. in anthropology from the University
of Memphis in 2006. Her primary research interests include infant mortality, maternal
behaviors and birth outcomes, and health disparities. She has taught undergraduate
courses including Introduction to Anthropology and Cultural Anthropology at the University
of Tennessee at Martin. In addition, she has worked with the Memphis and Shelby County
Health Department's Office of Nursing analyzing maternal behaviors and birth outcomes.
Recently she completed certification to become a foster parent for at risk children.
 Jennifer received her B.A. in Psychology at Southern Illinois University and her M.A.
in Community Social Psychology from the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Her interests
include health psychology and sexual harassment of women and girls. A native from
Chicago, Jennifer is also a certified Teacher of English as a Foreign Language (EFL).
She taught EFL in Europe for over 2 1/2 years, living in London, Prague and Poland
for over 3 years. A fairly recent Memphian transplant, Jennifer says, “I love Memphis
winters!”
Teresa A. Diener, M.A., Project Coordinator
 Teresa received her B.L.S. in Gender Studies from the University of Memphis in 2004.
She obtained her M.A. in Women’s Studies from the University of Memphis in 2006.
Teresa dedicates much of her time to creating awareness of, and working to eradicate
violence against women. She is a regular performer in Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues and has created two one-women-shows documenting her personal experiences with domestic
violence. Teresa also performed as “Erin” a pageant contestant in the Our Own Voice
(a theatre troop dedicated to creating awareness of mental illness and empowering
those with it) original production Miss Bipolar. She is currently teaching undergraduate courses at the U of M.
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