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 CBD Lab Group Photo
 Top Row from Left to Right: Eric and Mazin

Bottom Row from Left to Right: Ted, Katie L., Sarah, Dr. Kopp, Katie G., and Maureen.

Principal Investigator

Lisa Gatzke-Kopp, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies, and a member of the graduate faculty in the Interdepartmental Neuroscience Graduate Program. Her research expertise and interests are in the area of developmental neuroscience of psychopathology. She is particularly interested in how children develop behavior problems such as aggression, hyperactivity, and substance abuse. Research has shown that such problems likely evolve when innate vulnerability interacts with environmental stressors. Understanding the neurobiological dysfunction that contributes to this vulnerability informs the identification of experiential and environmental factors that exacerbate or ameliorate risk. Identification of these factors positions researchers, and eventually policy makers, to implement changes in the environment that may alter these trajectories and improve developmental outcomes.

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Post-Doctoral Students

 

Michelle K. Jetha, Ph.D. is a post-doctoral researcher with the Human Development and Family Studies. Her current research interests are focused on the neural basis of emotion in typical and atypical development. She is especially interested in individual differences in temperament, the neural mechanisms underlying these differences, and the relations among
temperament, social self-regulation and attentional control in children. Assessing these relations developmentally may have implications for identifying vulnerabilities to socio-emotional stress and understanding risk and resilience for adult sychopathology.

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Graduate Students

Katie Gates, M.A. is a second year graduate student in the HDFS doctoral program. She received an undergraduate degree in Psychology from Michigan State University and a Masters degree in Forensic Psychology from the City University of New York and continues to be interested in identifying correlates of aggressive behavior. Katie’s primary research interest surrounds the application and development of methods and statistics for use in human development research. She currently focuses on psychophysiological data as well as techniques that enable idiographic approaches to studying human development.
Sarah Karalunas , M.S. is a fourth-year graduate student in the Clinical Psychology doctoral program (child track). Her research focuses on understanding cognitive development in typically-developing children and children with attention or hyperactivity problems. She is particularly interested in how motivational and cognitive factors interact across development to lead to particular cognitive strengths and weaknesses. Sarah received an undergraduate degree in Neuroscience from Hamilton College, and she continues to be interested in using neuroscience methodologies to better understand cognitive and motivational processes.

Wael Mohamed, MBBCh graduated from the Manoufiya Faculty of Medicine in Egypt in 1996 with an MBBCh, which is equivalent to an MD in the United States. After finishing his residency in Menoufiya University hospital he worked for the Egyptian ministry of health. More recently, he became a research intern at Menoufiya University Hospital where he participated in studies surrounding neuropsychopharmocology and cognitive processes in individuals with neurological disorders. Wael received a scholarship from the Egyptian government to obtain a Ph.D. at the Pennsylvania State University through the Intercollege Graduate Degree Program. Here, he primarily works with Dr. Byron Jones on studies examining psychophysiological effects of MDMA (commonly called “ecstasy”) when used alone and with alcohol. Wael is also interested in examining the relation between iron deficiencies in early life with the development of ADHD and late adulthood drug addiction.

Undergraduate Students

Mazin Albert is a senior majoring in Biology with a Vertebrate Physiology Option. He hopes to continue his education in medicine and to pursue a career as a cardiologist. He is originally from Whitehall, Pa.
Maureen Gagliardi is a senior majoring in Psychology with a Biological and Evolutionary Sciences Option. She plans to pursue a graduate degree in Clincial Psychology. She is originally from Lansdale, Pa.

Katie Logano is majoring in Biobehavioral Health. Upon graduation in August 2008, she plans to obtain a job in the health field and later attend graduate school for physician assistant studies or biomedical sciences. Her hometown is Ambler, Pa.
Ted Molnar is a senior majoring in Biobehavioral Health. Upon graduation he plans to attend medical school. He considers his hometown to be Pittsburgh, Pa.
Eric Stene is a senior majoring in Biobehavioral Health. He is originally from Hershey, Pa.