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
BRITTANY BAUGHER
6th Year Graduate Student
Brittany is currently a sixth-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
6th Year Graduate Student
Emily is currently a sixth-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 and beliefs about emotions might impact emotion regulatory processes.
MEGAN KORHUMMEL
4th Year Graduate Student
Megan is a fourth-year graduate student in Clinical Psychology. She graduated from San Diego State University in 2023 with a bachelor's in psychology, with an emphasis in Neuroscience. As an undergraduate, Megan completed a senior honors thesis under the mentorship of Dr. Vanessa Malcarne, examining sociodemographic factors as moderators of the association between cancer fatalism and health-related quality of life among Hispanic American adults. Broadly, her research interests center on the development of psychopathology in the context of chronic stressors, with a focus on affective processes that contribute to psychological well-being and adaptive coping. Her research has examined emotional self-efficacy and self-conscious emotions, with an interest in how these affective processes influence psychological and physical health outcomes over time.
BREE WESTFALL
1st Year Graduate Student
Bree is a first-year graduate student in Clinical Psychology. She graduated from the University of Arkansas in 2024 with a bachelor's in psychology. As an undergraduate, Bree completed a senior honors thesis under the mentorship of Dr. Jennifer Veilleux, exploring the experience of the emotional numbness. Broadly, her research interests center on the experience of emotions and emotion regulation mechanisms.
POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHERS
JULIE SCHUPBACH
SLS Project Coordinator
PROJECT COORDINATOR
Julie began working for the CAS lab in the summer of 2022 while completing her undergraduate degree. She graduated from Kent State University in May 2023 with her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. From March 2023 to September 2023, Julie worked as the project coordinator for the Resilience and Adaptation to Injury (RAI) Study. After that, Julie undertook a new position as project coordinator for the Kent State Student Life Study. She is currently in grad school to obtain her Master's in Public Administration at KSU. In her free time, Julie enjoys spending time with family and friends, exercising, cooking, making art, reading and watching movies.
RESEARCH ASSISTANTS
Afra Ibnat Chowdury
Allison Hlad
Ana Ravagli
Andrew Bowser
Annie Anselmo
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Dominic Chifulini
Grace Meuleman
Jane Bates
Jasmine Brewe
Jillian Thomas
Karina Nasshan
Kate Brown
Kayla Dixon
Kira Morisue-Lesser
Lily Stoughton​
Madeleine Nolte
Maryam Bonchu
Rielly Fabrizo
Sophia Malinoski
Tanushree Varsha Ujjineni
William Doering