Congratulations CHP Graduates!

These students received their doctorate degree in Psychology during the Commencement Ceremony held Friday, August 10, 2012.

Rachel Andre Glenn

Dissertation: Race, Rurality, and Lifestyle Communication for Diet and Exercise in Primary Care
Mentor: Dr. Michael Perri
Future Plans: Rachel has a one-year appointment as a postdoctoral psychology resident in behavioral medicine at the Bruce W. Carter Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Miami, FL.

Leah Newlove Clionsky

Dissertation: Child Directed Interaction Training for Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: The Impact on Child Language, Social Skills, and Problematic Behaviors
Mentor: Dr. Sheila Eyberg
Future Plans: Pending

Joseph Michael Dzierzewski

Dissertation: Cognitive Change in Older Adults: Practice Effects, Short-Term Variability, and Their Association with Sleep
Mentor: Dr. Christina McCrae
Co-Mentor: Dr. Michael Marsiske
Future Plans: Joe recently began a position as an advanced postdoctoral fellow in the Greater Los Angeles Veterans Affairs System GRECC (Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center).

Ryan Emily Fussell

Dissertation: Emotional and Behavioral Functioning of Siblings of Pediatric Cancer Patients: Discordance Between Parent and Self-Report and Associations with Family Functioning
Mentor: Dr. Shelley Heaton
Co-Mentor: Dr. Sheila Eyberg
Future Plans: Ryan will be starting a postdoctoral fellowship in pediatric psychology at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles.

Katherine Wells Junger

Dissertation: Examining the Contribution of Health Behaviors and Psychosocial Functioning in Anti-Epileptic Drug Induced Weight Gain Among Children with Epilepsy
Mentor: Dr. David Janicke
Future Plans: Kate has a postdoctoral fellowship in the Center for the Promotion of Adherence and Self-Management at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, OH.

Nicole Ashley Kahhan

Dissertation: Lifestyle, Psychosocial, and Demographic Predictors of Metabolic Syndrome in Overweight and Obese Youth
Mentor: Dr. David Janicke
Future Plans: Pending

Lisa Marie Nackers

Dissertation: Is a Fast or Slow Rate of Weight Loss Associated with Greater Long-Term Weight Loss Maintenance? The Effects of Prescribing Mild of Moderate Calorie Restriction Goals
Mentor: Dr. Michael Perri
Future Plans: Lisa is currently completing a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Preventative Medicine at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, IL.

Shannon Marie Sisco

Dissertation: Neighborhood Influences on Cognitive Level and Training Gains in the Active Study
Mentor: Dr. Michael Marsiske
Future Plans: Shannon recently began a position as a Staff Neuropsychologist at the Lake City VA Medical Center, part of the North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Affairs Administration Health System.

Bethany Caitlin Wangelin

Dissertation: Attention Capture and Affective Engagement by Emotional Facial Expressions and Naturalistic Scenes: Implications for Social Anxiety
Mentor: Dr. Peter Lang
Future Plans: Bethany just began a postdoctoral position as a project therapist and research health scientist at MUSC and the VA Medical Center in Charleston, SC working on two different RCTs of exposure therapy for veterans with PTSD.

Laura B. Zahodne

Dissertation: Components of Depression in Parkinson Disease: Relation to Psychophysiology and Affective Chronometry
Mentor: Dr. Dawn Bowers
Future Plans: Laura just began a postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University School of Medicine on a T32 training grant.

Zvinka Zoe Zlatar

Dissertation: Cognitive and Structural Brain Correlates of Physical Activity and Fitness in Aging: A Cross-Sectional Voxel-Based Morphometry Study
Mentor: Dr. Bruce Crosson
Future Plans: Zvinka has just begun a postdoctoral fellowship in the T32 (institutional postdoctoral program) in Geriatric Mental Health at the University of California San Diego.