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Zamzam Dini, PhD, LMFT (she/her)
Zamzam Dini, PhD, LMFT (she/her)
Founder and Director, TRACE Lab
Zamzam Dini is an Assistant Professor in Couple and Family Therapy at Alliant International University and a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She is also the founder and director of the TRACE Lab. She holds a PhD in Family Social Science with a specialization in Couple and Family Therapy from the University of Minnesota.
Her research focuses on systemic and intergenerational trauma in refugee and Muslim communities, with an emphasis on how trauma is experienced, interpreted, and transmitted across family and sociocultural contexts. She is particularly interested in relational processes of meaning-making, adaptation, and healing.
Her work integrates interdisciplinary perspectives across family science, mental health, and public health to advance culturally and spiritually responsive approaches to research and practice. She has developed conceptual frameworks, including the Intergenerational Refugee Contextual Stress Model (IRCSM) and the IntraFamily Trauma Interactions (IFTI) framework, to guide this work.
Core Collaborators
Kadija S. Mussa, PhD, LAMFT (she/her)
Kadija S. Mussa, PhD, LAMFT (she/her)
Core Collaborator, TRACE Lab
Dr. Kadija S. Mussa is a Licensed Associate Marriage and Family Therapist and research scientist at Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute. She holds a PhD in Family Social Science from the University of Minnesota, with a minor in Quantitative Social Science Research Methods.
Her research focuses on trauma recovery, hospital-based violence intervention programs, immigrant caregiving, and culturally responsive mental health care. Her work integrates qualitative and quantitative approaches, including structural equation modeling and community-engaged evaluation.
Dr. Mussa is a frequent collaborator with the TRACE Lab and has co-authored multiple peer-reviewed publications with Dr. Dini. As a first-generation Oromo immigrant and mother of four, she brings both lived experience and scholarly rigor to her research. She is also the founder of A Quiet Promise, a scholarship initiative supporting East African youth pursuing healing professions.
Graduate Researchers
Graduate Researchers
The TRACE Lab’s graduate researchers contribute to ongoing projects related to trauma, intergenerational processes, and culturally responsive mental health care.
Nathan Elias, MA (he/him)
Nathan Elias, MA (he/him)
Graduate Researcher, TRACE Lab
Nathan Elias is a doctoral student in Counseling Psychology (PsyD) at the University of St. Thomas. As a second-generation Ethiopian and Eritrean immigrant, his work is grounded in a commitment to advancing equitable and culturally responsive mental health care for underserved communities.
His clinical and research interests focus on the intersection of trauma, substance use, and systemic inequities impacting Black and immigrant populations. His research examines acculturation, coping, and resilience across generations, with the goal of informing culturally responsive approaches to mental health and substance use care.
Shreya Sharma, MSc (she/they)
Shreya Sharma, MSc (she/they)
Graduate Researcher, TRACE Lab
Shreya Sharma is a doctoral student in Family Social Science (Couple and Family Therapy specialization) at the University of Minnesota and a systemic and relational mental health practitioner.
With a background in community mental health, her work focuses on the intersection of gender, health, and trauma. Her research examines intergenerational trauma and barriers to healthcare access among South Asian populations, with an emphasis on culturally responsive and community-informed approaches.
Zahra Muse, LMFT-A (she/her)
Zahra Muse, LMFT-A (she/her)
Graduate Researcher, TRACE Lab
Zahra Muse is an Associate Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in Washington State. Her research and clinical work focus on trauma and medical family therapy, particularly in the context of cancer and chronic illness.
She is particularly interested in integrative care models that support both patients and caregivers. Her work spans interdisciplinary research in collaborative care, culturally responsive mental health, and clergy burnout, and she brings a trauma-informed and relational approach to practice.
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