CREAR Lab
About Us
Welcome to CREAR Lab, where we embody our name in action: Community Research Exploring Adolescent Resilience. "Crear," meaning "to create" in Spanish, symbolizes our commitment to creating, or fostering, positive psychological well-being among youth and families exposed to violence. Through rigorous research and compassionate outreach, we strive to empower young lives, creating pathways to resilience and brighter futures. Join us in our journey to transform challenges into opportunities for growth and healing.
Our research in this lab is oriented towards identifying factors that contribute to optimal well-being and resilience in the face of contextual risk factors, with a particular focus on community settings. Our program of research focuses on interpersonal and sociocultural influences on academic and psychological well-being across the lifespan (ages 11–65). Aims of this research include identifying factors that may act as protective in the face of violence (i.e., community violence exposure, sexual harassment, interpersonal violence). Protective factors of interest include cultural values like familismo, and dimensions of parent-adolescent relationships like parent-adolescent communication and parental involvement. While our lab has a particular interest in Latino/as in the U.S. and Latin America (e.g., Honduras, Puerto Rico, Mexico), we are interested in adolescents of color more broadly.
Andrea S. Medrano, Ph.D.
Welcome! I'm Dr. Medrano, a developmental psychologist committed to examining how youth and women exposed to violence make sense of, survive, and resist trauma in their daily lives. I serve as Director of the CREAR Lab and Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh. My research focuses on poly-victimization, gender-based violence, and structural inequalities, with an emphasis on resilience processes.
I lead international, community-engaged studies across Honduras, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, and the U.S., using mixed methods to ensure that voices and data inform our work. Through the CREAR Lab, I mentor a powerhouse team of undergraduate and graduate students—primarily women and scholars of color—who share a passion for equity-driven research.
Our Values
The CREAR Lab is made up of passionate researchers committed to promoting the well-being of youth and families of color through a strengths based approach. We value the diversity of lived experiences and work actively to make the lab an inclusive, accessible, and collaborative space.
We foster mutual support, open communication, and respect. Our commitment is to train ethical, rigorous researchers who contribute to transformative knowledge and professional growth through research and mentorship.
Welcome to CREAR
Welcome to CREAR, where ciencia meets soul,
Where data y corazón make the vision whole.
We create with purpose, not just to know,
But to plant resilience and help young lives grow.
Aquí, we study struggle, but center the luz,
Charting how jóvenes rise, even when they lose.
From barrios to schoolyards, from casa to calle,
We listen, we honor, we walk in cada valle.
CREAR means more than “to make” or “to build,”
It means to nurture, to grow, to help hearts be filled,
With fuerza from cultura, with roots deep and wide,
With cuidado that surrounds and esperanza as guide.
Nuestro compás is culture, our lens is clear,
We follow las voces of those we hold dear.
Familismo guides us, en palabra y abrazo,
Una fuerza que cruza todo fracaso.
We ask: ¿Qué protege? ¿Qué sana? ¿Qué da fuerza?
What fosters belonging, cuando la vida es adversa?
In pláticas de familia and community care,
We find las herramientas that help youth repair.
We walk with los jóvenes who have weathered the storm,
Turning dolor into purpose and grief into form.
With each historia shared and each vida we touch,
We remember: resiliencia can mean so much.
So join our misión, grounded and vast,
Where ciencia and justicia walk forward at last.
Together we crear, with alma and truth,
Un mañana más brillante for every youth.
Written by Patrick Tanori Quintero, PhD Student