Postdoctoral Fellows for 2016-2017

Danielle DelPriore

 Danielle DelPriore is working with Bruce Ellis.  

Danielle received her PhD in Experimental Psychology from Texas Christian University in 2013. Danielle was trained to integrate experimental methods with evolutionary insights to conduct theory-driven social psychological research. The goal of my research program is to understand the myriad ways that social and developmental contexts influence individuals’ decision making with implications for health and well-being. Toward this end, my work broadly investigates how current social contexts, childhood experiences, and their interaction influence functional variation in human reproductive strategies and associated outcomes. My primary line of research examines the impact of fathering on daughters’ risky sexual attitudes, perceptions, and behavior. I am also involved in collaborative projects designed to test for the effects of developmental background on eating behavior and food-relevant preferences.  

Eunjin Lee

 Eunjin Lee is working with Cindy Berg.  

Eunjin received her PhD in Human Development and Family Studies from University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2016. Eunjin's research interests lie in the area of couple and family relationships, with an emphasis on physical and mental health-related adversity (i.e., diabetes, cancer, suicide, alcohol use, depression, and anxiety) and coping strategies through the lens of couple and family relationships. In addition, I am interested in stress and coping theories in couples and families dealing with health-related adversity. Finally, I am interested in positive intra- and inter-personal relationship processes including: forgiveness, compassion, and mindfulness as potential prevention, intervention, and postvention tools aimed at promoting couple’s and family’s well being and relationship quality and stability in stressful situations.

Feea Leifker

Feea Leifker is working with Brian Baucom.

Feea will receive her PhD in Clinical Psychology from The Pennsylvania State University in December 2016.  Feea is broadly interested in the bidirectional association between psychopathology and intimate relationship functioning. In particular, my research has examined interpersonal factors that contribute to the development and maintenance of PTSD and related interpersonal problems, including marital accord (e.g., spousal social support, intimacy) and discord (e.g., relationship distress, intimate partner violence). I am interested in applying such research to inform prevention and intervention efforts to improve mental health and relationship well-being.

Betty Lin

 Betty Lin is working with Liz Conradt, Sheila Crowell, and Patricia Kerig.

Betty received her PhD in Clinical Psychology, Child Clinical Area from the Arizona State University in 2016. Betty's research interests lie primarily in understanding how transactions between child, caregiver, and environmental factors, beginning in the prenatal and early childhood periods, exert cascades of influence on children's socioemotional development. Specifically, my research focuses on clarifying the extent to which exposure to adversity (e.g., prenatal stress, ethnic minority status, poverty, trauma) influences children's proclivities for behavioral and physiological reactivity, and on identifying caregiver/family factors that may mitigate or exacerbate their associations.

Alexis May

Alexis received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of British Columbia in 2016.  She has recently completed her clinical psychology internship at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University.

My program of research is focused on understanding the etiology, trajectory, and prevention of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Specifically, my work has focused on differentiating those who act on suicidal thoughts from those who do not, understanding motivations for suicidal behavior, and clarifying the role of impulsivity in suicidality. I am currently working on projects to improve suicide screening in primary care settings, test innovative methods for suicide risk detection in the context of romantic relationships, and identify objective measures of the capacity to act on suicidal thoughts. Clinically, I am trained in dialectical behavioral therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and motivational interviewing. 

Brandon Thomas

 Brandon Thomas is working with Sarah Creem-Regehr and Jeanine Steffanucci.  

Brandon received his PhD in Experimental Psychology from the University of Cincinnati in 2016.  Brandon is broadly interested in how perception and memory are constrained by peoples’ actions and action capabilities. I am currently working on a number of projects related to the perception and memory of affordances, sex differences in navigation and spatial perception, exploratory movements for perceiving objects and object properties, implicit memory, prospective memory, and workplace engagement.  

Alexander Wong

Alexander Wong is working with Jonathan Butner, Brian Baucom, and Craig Bryan.

Alexander received his PhD in Experimental Psychology from Florida Atlantic University in 2016. Alexander is interested in how people's sense of identity, such as their self-certainty, changes over time, and how these changes affect aspects like well-being and goal pursuit. He enjoys using dynamical systems modeling to explore these relationships.