Jonathan Varghese is a Clinical Research Assistant at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's Center for Violence Prevention. He is supporting the CVP to promote diversity and inclusion through research on racial microaggressions in the workplace and in schools. In collaboration with CVP Co-Director Dr. Stephen Leff and Research Scientist Dr. Rui Fu, Jonathan is helping to carve out a new line of research, dedicated to creating more socially inclusive environments through the lens of racial equity and justice, at CVP. Jonathan is currently supporting the development of Respect4All, a workshop series on promoting inclusion in the workplace at CHOP, and efforts to understand the nature of microaggressions in school environments for youth.

Jonathan received his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in New Brunswick in 2021. His interest in the intersection of psychology and social justice began while he served at the Rutgers Social-Emotional and Character Development Lab. He learned the principles of community psychology under Dr. Maurice Elias, who spurred him on to apply what he learned to developing a student community workshop on forgiveness and promoting anti-racism in the lab. Jonathan is excited to apply his skills at CVP to create an environment in which people of all identities feel accepted and can thrive.