Mariyam Abbas

Major Professor: Theodore A. Walls, PhD
Lab: Centre for Health Monitoring and Intervention

Biography

Mariyam Abbas is a doctoral candidate in the Behavioral Science Ph.D. program, with a foci on Health Psychology and methodology. She holds an M.A. in Psychology with a specialization in Clinical Psychology from Aligarh Muslim University and previously trained as a clinical psychology intern in the Psychiatry Department at King George’s Medical University, Lucknow, India. She earned her B.A. from Avadh Girls’ Degree College, University of Lucknow, majoring in Psychology and English, with a minor in Political Science.
During her undergraduate studies, Mariyam developed and implemented the Child Meliorism Project across two government primary schools in Lucknow to support the academic and
emotional well-being of children from low-income communities. For this work, she was awarded a fellowship by Asha for Education, Zurich. She has also received several distinctions for her academic excellence, community engagement, and social impact.

Research

Mariyam leads research at the intersection of tobacco use, mental health, and health disparities, focusing on multiple health risk behaviors (MHRBs) among underserved and structurally marginalized populations. Her work emphasizes the use of traditional and under-regulated tobacco products such as, bidis, roll-your-own tobacco, little cigars etc. examines how co-occurring substance use, anxiety sensitivity, and social stressors contribute to persistent risk behaviors across global contexts.

Her research spans both domestic and international settings, with studies on smoking motivations and public health outcomes among day laborers in India and homeless individuals in the United States. She is advancing culturally grounded frameworks and intervention strategies to address tobacco-related harms in South Asian and immigrant communities, contributing to equitable, evidence-based advancements in cancer prevention and tobacco regulatory science.