OUR TEAM
Scientific Minds
KARIN G. COIFMAN, PHD
Lab Director
Karin grew up in southern Connecticut and attended Yale University where she completed an undergraduate degree in English. From there, she worked for several years for a community health and education agency in NY where she got her first real taste of the field of psychology. In 2001, Karin went to graduate school at Columbia University and worked under the mentorship of George Bonanno, completing a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology in 2008. Karin stayed on at Columbia for a two year post-doctoral fellowship, under the mentorship of Geraldine Downey and Eshkol Rafaeli. She has been on the faculty in the Department of Psychological Sciences, as part of the Clinical Psychology Program at Kent State University since 2010. Karin currently lives in Akron, OH with her husband, two daughters and their dogs.
GRADUATE STUDENTS
BEN MITCHELL
4th Year Graduate Student
Ben is a fourth year doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology Program at Kent State University. After graduating from KSU in 2018 with a B.A. in psychology, he continued to work in the Clinical Affective Science Lab as Project Coordinator of an NIMH-funded study aimed at modeling risk for psychopathology in individuals recovering from a traumatic injury. After a couple of years working as a research assistant and project coordinator, Ben was excited to continue his research in the Clinical Affective Science Lab as a PhD student. His research interests include basic emotion processes involved in psychopathology, with an emphasis on disgust and its associated disorders (i.e. obsessive-compulsive disorder). He is currently working on projects examining mechanisms for facilitating disgust-related behavioral approach and extinction of learned disgust responses.
BRITTANY BAUGHER
3rd Year Graduate Student
Brittany is currently a third-year graduate student in Clinical Psychology. She graduated from Ohio State University in 2018 with a major in Psychology and a minor in Neuroscience. After her bachelor’s degree, Brittany received a master's degree in Experimental Psychology at Villanova University where she primarily studied early life stress and sex differences in stress resilience within rodent models. Brittany then worked as a research coordinator at the Cleveland Clinic while working part-time as an adjunct professor. Brittany has always been interested in how experiences throughout the lifespan shape risk and resilience in the development of psychopathology. Her current projects within the lab focus on the role of positive and negative early life experiences in shaping emotional reactivity in adulthood.
EMILY GAWLIK
3rd Year Graduate Student
Emily is currently a third-year graduate student in Clinical Psychology. She graduated from the University of Mississippi with a B.A. in Psychology in 2019, where she completed a senior honors thesis under Dr. Stefan Schulenberg that examined correlates of posttraumatic stress in a hurricane-exposed community sample. Following graduation, Emily worked as a research assistant at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill Institute for Trauma Recovery as part of the AURORA Study. Broadly, her research interests include risk and protective factors in the development of psychopathology after stressful life events–and, in particular, what factors might contribute to greater wellbeing and effective coping. She is also interested in how individual differences in interpretation might impact emotion regulatory processes.
MEGAN KORHUMMEL
1st Year Graduate Student
Megan is currently a first-year graduate student in Clinical Psychology. She graduated from the San Diego State University with a B.A. in Psychology with an emphasis in Neuroscience in 2023. Megan completed a senior honors thesis under Dr. Vanessa Malcarne that examined sociodemographic factors as moderators of the association between cancer fatalism and health-related quality of life in Hispanic-American adults. Broadly, her research interests include the development of psychopathology in the context of chronic illness and what factors might contribute to greater well-being and effective coping. She is also interested in how individual differences might impact emotion-regulatory processes throughout the illness trajectory.
POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER
JULIA RICHMOND
Postdoctoral Researcher
Julia is a postdoctoral research scholar at Kent State University. After completing a B.A. in psychology from Ohio Northern University and an M.A. in clinical psychology from Cleveland State University, she completed her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Toledo in 2022. Julia’s research interests include emotion regulation and its role in the development and transmission of psychopathology. She is currently working on projects examining the interplay between emotion regulation and interpersonal functioning.
JULIE SCHUPBACH
Project Coordinator
PROJECT COORDINATOR
Julie graduated from Kent State University in May of 2023 with her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. She currently works as a project coordinator for the Resilience and Adaptation to Injury (RAI) Study as well as the Student Life Study. Julie plans to attend a graduate program next fall to obtain her master's degree in school counseling.
RESEARCH ASSISTANTS
ADDISON THOMPSON
Addi is a junior majoring in both Child Psychology and Peace and Conflict Studies and minoring in Human Development and Family Studies. Her future goals are to attend graduate school to obtain her certificate in Mental Health Counseling and later get her LPCC.
AMANDA SHAFER
Amanda is a junior at Kent State University pursuing a B.A. in Psychology with a counseling careers concentration and a B.S. in Neuroscience. She plans on becoming a clinical psychologist with a focus on adult psychopathology and engaging in research and clinical practice. Specifically, she has research interests surrounding suicidality, non-suicidal self-injury, addiction, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and the complex biological and psychological processes that underlie these issues.
ASHLEY HALADAY
Ashley is a post-baccalaureate research assistant who graduated from Kent State University in 2015 with a B.S. in Psychology. Her future goals include enrollment in a Clinical Psychology Doctorate program. Her research interests focus on the credibility and clinical utility of dimensional models of psychopathology.
COURTNEY THAMAN
Courtney is a post-baccalaureate research assistant who graduated from Kent State University with a B.A. in Psychology in 2014 where she also worked in the lab as an undergraduate. Her current research interests include mental illness in relation to disability and chronic and terminal illnesses. In addition to assisting in the lab, she also volunteers as a patient companion with ECHO Hospice of Cleveland throughout the week. She is planning on applying for a Master’s program in Clinical Mental Health Counseling next fall.
ELIZABETH HEEKE
Elizabeth is a 3rd year senior majoring in psychology. Elizabeth is minoring in human sexuality and LGBTQ+ studies. Elizabeth will be applying to graduate school for a Master in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and would like to counsel adults dealing with mental health issues.
KASSY HOTTMANN
Kassy is currently in her senior year at Kent State for a B.A. where she is majoring in psychology and minoring in sociology. Since attending Kent State, she has earned an Associate of Arts degree with Distinction. Her research interests include anxiety disorders and her future career goal is to work in the mental health field.
LAUREN SCHLEMMER
Lauren Schlemmer is currently a senior undergraduate student majoring in psychology. This is Lauren’s third semester in the lab, and her personal research interests include psychopathology development and interpersonal relationships. In the future, Lauren plans on continuing her work as a victim advocate at Townhall II and applying to graduate programs next fall.
MADDY O'REILLY
Maddy is a senior pursuing a B.A. in psychology. Her research interests include anxiety and other stress disorders specifically in relation to athletics. Upon graduation, Maddy is looking to pursue a graduate program in Sport and Exercise Psychology or Counseling Psychology with an emphasis on Sport Psychology.
MORGAN KALISZEWSKI
Morgan is a current junior completing a B.A. in Psychology with minors in Sociology and Human Development and Family Studies. Her research interest lies in adolescent development and how social contexts influence mental health and emotional well-being moving into emerging adulthood. Morgan is planning on pursuing an M.A. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.
OKSANA ZAREFOSS
Oksana is a junior with senior credits, I am a Bachelor of Science in Psychology major with a Criminology minor. She currently has an Associate of Science degree in Psychology. Oksana's goal for the future is to continue her educational experience in graduate school to become a Forensic Psychologist.
SEEMA DHAHER
Seema is majoring in Psychology and minoring in Arabic. She is interested in understanding the relationship between thoughts and emotions and human physiology. Seema will complete her undergraduate degree and continue to work in research in hopes of getting accepted to a Clinical Ph.D. program.