Curriculum Vitae:

Research Interests:

• Obesity treatment
• Physical activity promotion
• Lifestyle modification
• Eating disorders prevention
• Behavioral therapy
• Acceptance and commitment therapy

Bio:

Meghan Butryn, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology and a licensed clinical psychologist. She serves as Director of Research in the Center for Weight, Eating and Lifestyle Science (WELL Center) at Drexel, and Program Leader for Survivorship Research at Thomas Jefferson University’s Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center. Her research interests and expertise lie in weight management, physical activity promotion and dietary change. She specializes in developing and evaluating treatments for obesity, including those that are rooted in traditional and acceptance-based behavioral principles, and also conducts dissemination work related to both eating disorder and obesity prevention. Butryn has been funded as a principal investigator or co-investigator on 10 NIH-funded clinical trials in the areas of eating and weight. She has authored over 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts, co-authored two books, and edited one book. She serves as a standing member of the NIH PRDP study section, a member of the Scientific Review Committee and Publications Board for the Obesity Society, and an editorial board member for the journal Obesity Science & Practice. She also coordinates the faculty/first-year-undergraduate-student mentorship program in Drexel’s Department of Psychology.

Butryn’s work on lifestyle modification is ultimately designed to improve the health of adults by reducing their risk for conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. The environment factors that promote unhealthy eating and activity habits are so powerful, in combination with innate biological drives, that the majority of adults in the U.S. are now overweight or obese and also engage in insufficient amounts of exercise. The Butryn lab uses behavioral principles to understand the challenges of eating a healthy diet and engaging in physical activity, and creates innovations in intervention programs by integrating the latest advances in scientific theory as well as technology.

Specialization:

Obesity treatment; physical activity promotion; lifestyle modification; eating disorders prevention; behavioral therapy; acceptance and commitment therapy

Selected Publications:

• Butryn, M.L., Forman, E.M., Lowe, M.R., Gorin, A., Zhang, F., & Schaumberg, K. (in press). Efficacy of environmental and acceptance-based enhancements to behavioral weight loss treatment: the ENACT trial. Obesity.
• Butryn, M.L., Kerrigan, S.G., Arigo, D., Raggio, G.A., & Forman, E.M. (in press). A pilot test of an acceptance-based behavioral intervention to promote physical activity during weight loss maintenance. Behavioral Medicine.
• Forman, E.M., Schumacher, L.M., Crosby, R.C., Manasse, S.M., Goldstein, S.P., Butryn, M.L., Wyckoff, E.P., & Thomas, J.G. (in press).  Ecological momentary assessment of dietary lapses across behavioral weight loss treatment: Characteristics, predictors, and relationships with weight change.  Annals of Behavioral Medicine.
• Rosenbaum, D.L., Piers, A.D., Schumacher, L.S., Kase, C.A., & Butryn, M.L. (in press). Racial and ethnic minority enrollment in randomized clinical trials of behavioral weight loss utilizing technology: A systematic review. Obesity Reviews.
• Butryn, M.L., Arigo, D., Raggio, G.A., Colasanti, M., & Forman, E.F. (2016). Enhancing physical activity promotion with technology-based self-monitoring and social connectivity: A pilot study. Journal of Health Psychology, 21, 1548-1555.
• Forman, E.M., Butryn, M.L., Manasse, S.M., Crosby, R.D., Goldstein, S.P., Wyckoff, E.P., Thomas, J.G. (2016). Acceptance-based versus standard behavioral treatment for obesity: Results from the Mind Your Health randomized controlled trial. Obesity, 24, 2050-2056.
• Katterman, S.N., Butryn, M.L., Hood, M.M., & Lowe, M.R. (2016). Daily weight monitoring as a method of weight gain prevention in healthy weight and overweight young adult women. Journal of Health Psychology, 21, 2955-2965.
• Kerrigan, S.G., Schaumberg, K., Kase, C., Gaspar, M., Forman, E., & Butryn, M.L. (2016). From last supper to self-initiated weight loss: pretreatment weight change may be more important than previously thought. Obesity, 24, 843-849.
• Lowe, M.R., Arigo, D.R., Butryn, M.L., Gilbert, J., Sarwer, D., & Stice, E. (2016). Hedonic hunger prospectively predicts onset and maintenance of loss of control eating among college women. Health Psychology, 35, 238-244.
• Schaumberg, K., Schumacher, L.M., Rosenbaum, D.L., Kase, C.A., Piers, A.D., Lowe, M.R., Forman, E.M., & Butryn, M.L. (2016). The role of negative reinforcement eating expectancies in the relation between experiential avoidance and disinhibition. Eating Behaviors, 21, 129-134.
• Sherwood, N.E., Butryn, M.L., Forman, E.M., Almirall, D., Seburg, E.M., Crain, A.L., Levy, R., & Jeffery, R.W. (2016). The BestFIT trial: A SMART approach to developing individualized weight loss treatments. Contemporary Clinical Trials, 47, 209-216.
• Butryn, M.L., Arigo, D.R., Raggio, G.A, Kaufman, A.I., Kerrigan, S.G., & Forman, E.M. (2015). Measuring the ability to tolerate activity-related discomfort: initial validation of the Physical Activity Acceptance Questionnaire (PAAQ). Journal of Physical Activity & Health, 12, 717-726.
• Forman, E.F., & Butryn, M.L. (2015). A new look at the science of weight control: How acceptance and commitment strategies can address the challenge of self-regulation. Appetite, 84, 171-180.
• Butryn, M.L., Rohde, P., Marti, C.N., & Stice, E. (2014). Do participant, facilitator, or group factors moderate effectiveness of the Body Project? Implications for dissemination. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 61, 142-149.
• Katterman, S.N., Goldstein, S.P., Butryn, M.L., Forman, E.M., & Lowe, M.R. (2014). Efficacy of an acceptance-based behavioral intervention for weight gain prevention in young adult women. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Sciences, 3, 45-50.
• Lowe, M.R., Butryn, M.L., Thomas, J.G., & Coletta, M.C. (2014). Meal replacements, reduced energy density eating and weight loss maintenance: A randomized controlled trial. Obesity, 22, 94-100.
• Wadden, T.A., Butryn, M.L., Hong, P.S., & Tsai, A.G. (2014). Behavioral treatment of obesity in patients encountered in primary care settings: a systematic review. Journal of the American Medical Association, 312, 1779-1791.

Curriculum Vitae:

Bio:

Dorothy R. Charbonnier, PhD, is an associate teaching professor in the Department of Psychology at Drexel University. After completing her doctoral degree in 1995, she was appointed visiting lecturer/researcher at the Universität of Konstanz in Germany. Upon returning to the United States, Charbonnier was awarded a NIH postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Psychiatry, Neuropsychiatry Division University of Pennsylvania Health System (1997-2000). She has most recently lectured at UArts 2005-2012 and UPenn 2007-2012. She also served on the faculty editorial board of 3808, a journal of critical writing, volumes 6 & 7 (UPenn).

Charbonnier’s earlier research focus included recovery of function after brain injury (Clark University), assessing risk of Alzheimer’s disease in first degree relatives using electrophysiological and neuropsychological measures (SUNY Stony Brook), cortical reorganization in arm amputees (Konstanz, Germany) and early sensory processing deficits in schizophrenia, in particular visual processing and the idea of sensory gaiting (University of Pennsylvania).

She has taught throughout her career. These experiences have given her a better understanding of diverse student populations and their needs as individual learners. Her familiarity with top level research allows her to contextualize these ideas for her students making them more accessible in the classroom.

At present, her interests center on the nature of the creative process, writing, curriculum development, and increasing student engagement, career and Co-op opportunities.

How I Make a Difference in Teaching and Service:

Psychology impacts all aspects of human interaction. This is simultaneously exhilarating and terrifying for students. With psychology there is endless choice. The key is to build a support structure which provides students a space for interaction. This space could be a classroom, student club or organization, volunteer or work experience, or a Co-op opportunity. In each of these settings, students can cultivate their particular passion for psychology. Students can also hone their analytic (problem-solving, divergent thinking), communication (oral, written), and intrapersonal skills (empathy, leadership). Competence in these abilities is desired by employers and the professional psychology organizations.

Within her courses, Charbonnier encourages her students to think critically, engage in active discussion, practice communication skills, and refine their ability to provide well developed written reasons and evidence for their ideas.

Within the department, Charbonnier contributes to the curriculum not only by teaching core courses but also by creating and maintaining courses such as careers in psychology and writing in psychology. She is active in the student life-cycle management committee which focuses on student retention and engagement.

Across the university, Dorothy Charbonnier, PhD, and her team of faculty, staff and students coordinate the implementation of the American Psychological Association Women’s Program exhibit ‘I Am Psyched!’ at Drexel. This interactive exhibit provides viewers with a brief history of the role women of color have had in the shaping of our discipline. Students take leadership responsibilities on many activities related to the exhibit.

Specialization:

Careers in Psychology, I am Psyched! at Drexel, Creative process, Writing, International education, Research methodology

Research Interests:

• Cognitive neuroscience
• Neural bases of memory, language, and executive functions
• Neurocognitive processes associated with problem solving and flexible thought
• Functional neuroimaging and non-invasive brain stimulation in healthy and psychiatric populations (mood and anxiety disorders)
• Translational neuroscience
• Neuropsychology

How does my research make a difference?

How do we use what we know to solve problems or come up with creative ideas? What does it mean to think flexibly and be able to focus on different kinds of information depending on our goals? Cognitive flexibility and creative thinking are the cornerstones of the type of complex mental operations that make us, humans, unique relative to all other species. My lab uses cognitive neuroscience techniques, such as brain imaging and noninvasive brain stimulation, to understand the neural mechanisms enabling this type of flexible thought. The impact of our findings is threefold.

• Education: Our results demonstrate that cognitive flexibility is not a special, innate quality for the lucky few, but rather, it relies on common cognitive processes that can be altered and developed by experience.
• Discovery: Training people to be more creative and flexible is not only possible, but it can increase the kinds of discoveries that can advance our civilization.
• Treatment: Understanding the brain mechanisms that support flexible thinking can help treat inflexibility, a hallmark of most neurological and psychiatric disorders, like dementia and depression.

Bio:

Specialization:

Curriculum Vitae:

Bio:

Douglas Chute, PhD, is a professor of psychology and co-director of the Applied Neurotechnologies Laboratory. He is known as a leading educator in Neuropsychology, co-establishing the first PhD program in the field at the University of Houston, founding the neuroscience major at the University of Toronto, and founding the graduate program at Drexel University (ranked one of the top programs internationally).

He served as a founding co-editor of the American Psychological Association journal Neuropsychology. He is currently a Section Editor for The Clinical Neuropsychologist, the official journal of the American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology. Chute was the founder of the distanCE continuing education program for the National Academy of Neuropsychology and authored or edited courses delivered over the web in neuroanatomy and medical neuroscience and in mild traumatic brain injury. He has published over 100 books, chapters, papers, and software titles and has commercialized a number of technological products in education and cognitive neuroscience and brain imaging. He also developed a patent for a cognitive and environmental assistive system to help maintain community living for persons with neurocognitive impairments.

The National Academy of Neuropsychology has honoured Chute with a presidential citation and also a lifetime service award. He has received national and international recognition for work with technology for people with cognitive impairments, e.g. National Science Foundation/MCI National Search for the Use of Computers for Persons with Disabilities, and an iec ProGAMMA for Social Science and Information Technology, Special Software Award of Excellence from the European Union.

Chute’s former students hold professorships and senior positions in Canada, the United States and around the world in the field of neuropsychology. He recently has been honoured with the Inaugural Mentor Award of the American College of Professional Neuropsychology. He is a licensed psychologist in Pennsylvania and with the College of Psychologists Ontario. He is a Charter Member Emeritus of the Association for Psychological Science and a Fellow of the National Academy of Neuropsychology.

Chute had 20 years of service as the Neuropsychology advisor to the Department of Health, Pennsylvania Head Injury Program, and also served in a similar capacity with the Department of Public Welfare for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In Ontario, he currently serves as an “emeritus member” on the executive board of Brain Injury Service of Muskoka-Simcoe, a provincially funded provider. He has a limited practice in Independent Medical Evaluation for persons with mild traumatic brain injuries. 

Specialization:

Neuropsychology and rehabilitation; Technological applications for the cognitively compromised and those with acquired brain injuries

Selected Publications:

• Chute, D.L. and Wright, D.C. (1973) Retrograde State Dependent Learning. Science, 180: 878-880.
• Chute, D.L. (1973) Chronic Implantation of a Stable Jugular Catheter. Behavior Research Methods and Instrumentation., 5: 312-313.
• Wright, D.C. and Chute, D.L. (1973) State Dependent Learning Produced by Post Trail Intrathoracic Administration of Sodium Pentobarbital. Psychopharmacologia, 31: 91-94.
  
• Wright, D.C., Chute, D.L. and McCollum, G.C. (1974) Reversible Sodium Pentobarbital Amnesia in One Trail Discrimination Learning. Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior, (5), 603-606.
• Chute, D.L. (1974) Innovations in teaching: an ethical paradox, Teaching of Psychology, 1974. Shaw, T. and Chute, D.L. (1976) Kinesthetic Feedback and Recovery from ECS Induced Amnesia. Behavioral Biology, 18 (3), 441.
• Chute, D.L. Phosphodiesterase Inhibition and Memory Facilitation. (1980) Journal of Clinical Neuropsychology. 2, 72-74.
• Gleeson, R.M., Dragunow, M.G., Kirton, N.F., Villiger, J.W. and Chute, D.L. (1980) Intracranial Cannulation of Small Animals. Behavior Research Methods and Instrumentation. 12 (3) 346-348.
• Chute, D.L., Villiger, J.W., and Kirton, N.F. (1981) Testing Cyclic AMP Mediation of Memory: Reversal of AMPT Induced Amnesia. Psychopharmacology, 74: 129-131.
• Chute, D.L. and Bank, B. (1983) Undergraduate Seminars: The Poster Session Solution. Teaching of Psychology. 10, 2, 99-100.
• Chute, D. L., and Bank, B. Undergraduate Seminars: The Poster Session Solution. reprinted in Handbook for Teaching Statistics and Research Methods M.Ware and C. Brewer Eds. Hillsdale NJ: Erlbaum (1988). Third reprinting in Handbook for Teaching Statistics and Research Methods M.Ware and C. Brewer Eds. Hillsdale NJ: Erlbaum (1994).
• Bank, B., Gurd, J.W. and Chute, D.L. (1986) Decreased Phosphorylation of Synaptic Glycoproteins Following Hippocompal Kindling. Brain Research, 390-394.
• Chute, D.L. (1986) MacLaboratory for Psychology: General experimental psychology with Apple's Macintosh. Behavior Research Methods Instruments and Computers, 18, 205-209.
• Westall, R., Perkey, M.N. and Chute, D.L. (1986) Accurate millisecond timing on Apple's Macintosh using Drexel's Millitimer. Behavior Research Methods Instruments and Computers, 18,
  307-311.
• Chute, D.L., Gaeman, D., and Ziegler, T. (1987) MacLaboratory Controller: A switch and A/D interface between the Macintosh and peripheral apparatus. Behavior Research Methods Instruments & Computers. 19, 205-209.
• Chute, D.L., (1987) Glimpses of the darker side of academic computing. Academic Computing 2, 1, 40-59.
• Chute, D.L., Conn, G., Dipasquale, M.C., and Hoag, M. (1988) ProsthesisWare: A new class of software supporting the activities of daily living. Neuropsychology, 2, 41-57.
• Westall, R., Perkey, M.N. and Chute, D.L. (1989) Millisecond timing on Apple's Macintosh Revisited. Behavior Research Methods Instruments and Computers.
• Chute, D.L. and Hoag M. (1989) ColorCard Wheels for the Mind.
• Chute, D. L. (1990) Academic Angst Academic Computing , 4, 8, 10-14.
• Chute, D. L. (1992) MultiMedia: 20 Questions for Department Chairs. The Department Chair; 2, 3, 7-8.
• Chute, D. L., and Quillen, S. (1992) SpeechWare: A Prosthesis for Speech and Motor Impairment. Proceedings of the IEEE: National Search for Computing Applications to Assist Persons with Disabilities.
  124-7.
• Chute, D. L. (1993) MacLaboratory for Psychology: Success, Failures, Economics, and Outcomes over its Decade of Development. Behavior Research Methods Instruments and Computers 25 (2), 180-188.
• Chute, D. L. (1993) The Classroom 2000 Project: A personal view of what the past tells us about the future. Social Science Computer Review II:4, 477-486.
• Chute, D. L. (1996) Things I wish they had told me about technology. Psychology Software News, CTI, York , England, 2-12.
• Chute, D. L. and Westall, R. F. (1996) Fifth generation research tools: Collaborative development with PowerLaboratory. Behavior Research Methods Instruments and Computers , 28 (2), 311-314.
• Chute, D. L. & Schatz, P. (1999) Functional Ability Rating (C-FAR) in the Pennsylvania Head Injury Program. Pennsylvania Department of Health
• Chute, D. L. & Schatz, P. (2000) Functional Ability Rating (C-FAR) for individuals with acquired cognitive deficits, autism, and other neuropsychological impairments in the COMMCARE Program. Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare
• Hillary, F. G., Moelter, S., Schatz, P., Chute, D. L. (2001) Seatbelts Contribute to Location of Lesion in Moderate to Severe Head Trauma, Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology. 16 (2): 171-181.
• Schatz, P., Hughes, L. & Chute, D.L. (2001). Under-utilization of neuropsychology in traumatic brain injury rehabilitation: is managed care to blame? NeuroRehabilitation, 16(4), 281-287.
• Hillary, F.G., Schatz, P, Moelter, S.T, Lowry, J.B., Ricker, J.H.,Chute, D.L. (2002)
  Motor vehicle collision factors influence severity and type of TBI. Brain Injury, 16(8), 729 - 740.
• Chute, D. L. (2002) Neuropsychological Technologies in Rehabilitation. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation 17(5), 369-377.
• Zabel, A., & Chute, D. L. (2002) Near infra-red spectroscopy in functional brain imaging. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation 17(5), 477-488
• Schatz, P., Hillary, F., Moelter, S. & Chute, D.L. (2002). Retrospective assessment of brain injury rehabilitation outcome: Development and utility of the Functional Independence Level (FIL). Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, 17(6), 510-525.
• Schultheis, M. T., Hillary, F. G., & Chute, D. L. (accepted) The Neurocognitive Driving Test: Applying technology to the assessment of driving ability following brain injury. Rehabilitation Psychology
• Cosentino, S., Jefferson, A.J., Chute, D., Kaplan, E., and Libon, D.J. (2004). Clock drawing errors in dementia: Neuropsychological and Neuroanatomical Considerations. Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology, 17(2), 74-83.
• Ruocco, A. C., Swirsky-Sacchetti, T., Chute, D. K., Mandel, S., Platek, S. M., & Zillmer, E. A. (2005) Distinguishing between neuropsychological malingering and exaggerated psychiatric symptoms in a neuropsychological setting. Revised and resubmitted. The Clinical Neuropsychologist.
• Irani, F; Platek, S; Bunce, S, Ruocco, A & Chute, D. Applications of functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to neurobehavioral disorders. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, Neuropsychology Technologies, in press.
• Ford, S; Chute, D; Irani, F & Swirsky-Sacchetti, T. (2006) The relationship between daily stress, coping and post-concussive symptoms.
• Cosentino, S., Chute, D. L., Libon, D., Moore, p., & Grossman, M. (2006) How Does the Brain Represent Scripts? A Study of Executive Processes and Semantic Knowledge in Dementia. Cognitive Neuroscience

Curriculum Vitae:

View/Download CV [PDF]

Research Interests:

• Evidence-based psychosocial interventions for youth
• School mental health promotion
• Prevention and resiliency in urban youth
• Assessment and treatment of children with chronic illness
• Adolescent risk behaviors

How I Make a Difference in Research and Civic Engagement:

Daly and his lab members in the Pediatric and Child Adolescent Psychology lab (PCAP) make a difference by engaging in clinical research that supports those youth most in need but least likely to receive evidence-based behavioral health services. Daly and his team study and provide services to underserved children in the community setting where they spend most of their waking hours: the classroom. Our team thoughtfully partners and collaborates with adults who are frequently the most important influences in a child’s life: their caregivers and teachers. Daly and his team are committed to making a difference in the lives of youth by designing and delivering interventions that enhance social skills and behavioral competencies in order to promote positive developmental outcomes and healthy adjustment.

Bio:

Brian P. Daly, PhD, is a clinical child and adolescent psychologist specializing in the development and evaluation of evidence-based psychosocial evaluations for youth, delivery of mental health promotion in schools, assessment and treatment of children with a chronic illness, and evaluation of adolescent health risk behaviors, He received an undergraduate degree in psychology from Boston College in Chestnut Hill, MA. Following the completion of his doctorate in counseling psychology from Loyola University in Chicago, he completed a clinical internship in child psychology at the VA Maryland Health Care System/University of Maryland School of Medicine Psychology Internship Consortium. Subsequently, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship in pediatric psychology at Temple University Health Sciences Center.

Following the fellowship, Daly was an assistant professor in the Department of Public Health at Temple University as well as the Director of Training for the APA-approved predoctoral clinical psychology internship program.

Daly is an associate professor and the Interim Department Head in the Department of Psychology. He teaches undergraduate and graduate psychology courses including Pediatric Psychology, Developmental Psychology, and Child Psychopathology. Daly’s research has been funded by federal, foundational and corporate agencies.

His research interests include evidence-based psychosocial interventions for youth, prevention & resiliency in urban youth, school mental health promotion, pediatric psychology and neuropsychology, clinical and health psychology, assessment and treatment of children with chronic illness, and evaluation of adolescent risk behaviors. One of his current research projects involves the delivery and evaluation of evidence-based prevention program for Kindergarten, first and second children in a school-based setting. The goals of this study are to promote positive teacher behavior management techniques and social competence for at-risk young children attending inner-city elementary schools.

Specialization:

Evidence-based psychosocial interventions for youth; school mental health promotion; prevention and resiliency in urban youth; assessment and treatment of children with chronic illness; and, adolescent risk behaviors.

Education:

• BA (High Honors), Psychology, Rutgers University
• MA and PhD, Clinical Psychology, MCP Hahnemann University
• JD (Magna Cum Laude), Villanova Law School

Curriculum Vitae:

Research Interests:

• Psychopathy
• Forensic mental health assessment
• Testing in forensic assessment contexts
• Drug policy research

How We Make a Difference:

The DeMatteo Lab focuses on conducting social science research that can be used to inform practice and policy in the criminal justice system, particularly as those practices and policies relate to offenders with substance use and/or mental health problems. By examining juror and judicial decisions in criminal justice contexts, evaluating the effectiveness of novel criminal justice interventions, and studying how courts use social science evidence, the DeMatteo Lab is contributing to the continued development of the criminal justice system. Through collaborations with a number of criminal justice entities, our work is designed to promote the consideration of social science research by courts, legislatures and policymakers.

Bio:

David DeMatteo, JD, PhD, ABPP, is an associate professor of Psychology and an associate professor of Law at Drexel University. He is also the Director of Drexel’s JD/PhD Program in Law and Psychology. His research interests include psychopathic personality, forensic mental health assessment, offender diversion, and drug-involved criminal offenders. His research has been funded by several federal agencies, state agencies, and private foundations. DeMatteo has co-authored several books and more than 100 articles and book chapters – he has given over 200 presentations at national and international conferences. He was Chair of APA’s Committee on Legal Issues. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (Divisions 12 and 41), a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Psychology, and board certified in forensic psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology. DeMatteo is a past President of the American Psychology-Law Society (APA Division 41).

Specialization:

Psychopathy, forensic mental health assessment, testing in forensic assessment contexts, and drug policy research

Curriculum Vitae:

Research Interests:

• Health behavior change, obesity, weight loss
• Technological innovations to promote health behavior change
• Innovations in cognitive-behavioral treatments
• The development and evaluation of acceptance-based interventions for health behavior change
• Neurocognition of eating

Bio:

Evan Forman, PhD, is a professor of psychology and is the founding director of the Center for Weight, Eating and Lifestyle Science, or the WELL Center, at Drexel University. His work focuses on designing, refining, implementing and evaluating innovative behavioral and technology-based treatments for obesity and related eating problems. Forman has authored approximately 150 manuscripts, and is the author of the “Effective Weight Loss” books (Clinician Guide and Client Workbook) for Oxford Press’s “Treatments that Work” series. In addition, his research has been continuously supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for over 10 years. Some of his larger, projects include: Mind Your Health, which is an NIH-funded study evaluating a novel acceptance-based behavioral treatment (ABT) for obesity; Project DASH, which is a National Cancer Institute-funded study evaluating the effect of gamification and of computerized neurocognitive training aimed at helping individuals stay adherent to a healthy diet; OnTrack, an Obesity Society-funded study of a smartphone-based Just-in-Time Adaptive Intervention (JITAI) that uses machine learning to predict and prevent lapses from a weight control diet; and ReLearn, an investigation of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) approach to optimizing intervention features for weight control. He also serves as a co-investigator for several NIH-funded projects including Impact (which is evaluating the extent to which ABTs, in combination with intensive physical activity prescriptions, outperform standard treatment), The Balancing ACT (evaluating whether ABT can augment weight loss outcomes for individuals with binge eating disorder) and BestFit (a Sequential Multiple Assignment Randomized Trial to evaluate the efficacy of switching behavioral weight loss non-responders to ABT), CBT+ (evaluating a smartphone system to enhance eating disorder treatment utilization) and FitLink (which is evaluating the efficacy of incorporating digital data sharing into weight loss coaching). In addition, he is currently serving as a mentor/sponsor of three NIH-funded training grants.

Forman was a previous chair of the Committee of Science and Practice for APA Division 12 (Society for Clinical Psychology) and a recent recipient of the ABCT Mentorship Award. He has mentored numerous undergraduate, masters and doctoral students. Notable student awards have included Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) Obesity and Eating Disorders Special Interest Group Graduate Student Research Award, National Institutes of Health National Service Research Award (NIH NRSA F31), Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM) Meritorious Student Award, Psi Chi Graduate Research Grant, Adelaide M. Delluva Award of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Association for Women in Science, Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology (SSCP) Dissertation Award, APAGS/Psi Chi Junior Scientist Fellowship, Academy of Eating Disorders (AED) Early Career Scholarship, American Psychological Association (APA) Theodore H. Blau Early Career Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Clinical Psychology, and the Academy for Eating Disorders (AED) Student Research Grant.

Forman’s undergraduate work was conducted at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, and the University of St. Andrews in St. Andrews, Scotland. After he achieved his doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Rochester, he completed clinical internships and fellowships at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, the Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research, and the University of Pennsylvania.

How We Make a Difference: Public/Civic Impact:

Almost 70% of Americans are overweight, and, of these, almost 50% are actively attempting to lose weight. Similarly, millions of Americans are attempting to lead healthier lives by making lifestyle modifications such as improving diet and increasing exercise. Unfortunately, due to a combination of our biological hard-wiring combined with the conditions of modern society, making and sustaining such changes is exceptionally difficult. Moreover, even the best interventions for promoting health behavior change fall short.

Forman’s work focuses on identifying new and more effective approaches. In particular, he is developing innovative behavioral and technological approaches that facilitate improvements in health behavior. These range from smartphone apps that learn our individual patterns of behavior and are able to nudge us to make healthy choices at just the right moment, AI systems that optimize coaching to what we need over time, behavioral interventions that merge western science with ancient Eastern mindfulness practices and “brain training” games that help us resist unhealthy impulses. Forman attempts to share his work through books for clinicians and the public, smartphone apps and media appearances.

Specialization:

Health behavior change, obesity, weight loss; Technological innovations to promote health behavior change; Innovations in cognitive-behavioral treatments; The development and evaluation of acceptance-based interventions for health behavior change; Neurocognition of eating

Curriculum Vitae:

Research Interests:

• Clinical and health psychology
• Stressful life events and mental and physical health outcomes particularly in the area of women's reproductive health

Bio:

Pamela Geller, PhD, is an associate professor of psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences at Drexel University, and research associate professor of obstetrics/gynecology in Drexel’s College of Medicine. Geller has studied women’s health issues for over 25 years. She received her MS and PhD in clinical psychology from Kent State University and completed a NIH postdoctoral fellowship in psychiatric epidemiology at the Joseph L. Mailman School of Public Health of Columbia University. Her work focuses on the psychological aspects of events surrounding pregnancy and childbirth, such as infertility, pregnancy loss, and postpartum depression. Geller is co-founder and co-director of Mother Baby Connections, an intensive outpatient mental health program at Drexel for pregnant and postpartum women experiencing anxiety and depression and their infants. With a visiting professorship in neonatology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, she and her colleagues are addressing the experiences of mothers with an infant in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) with ongoing projects relevant to parental distress and adjustment, and nurse education. Geller is an active member of an interdisciplinary National Perinatal Association work group that developed guidelines for psychosocial support services for NICU parents. She chairs the Perinatal Loss Exam Development Committee for the Hospice and Palliative Credentialing Center (formerly National Board for Certification of Hospice and Palliative Nurses). She and Drexel colleagues created the education curricula, Psychological and Medical Aspects of Pregnancy Loss (recipient of an e-ERA award from the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics; Available at: mededportal.org/publication/10240). Geller is an editor of the Health Psychology volume of the Handbook of Psychology (2013), as well as Women’s Health Psychology (2013), both published by Wiley. She has presented her work nationally and internationally and has been featured on BBC Radio programs.

Specialization:

Clinical and health psychology; Stressful life events and mental and physical health outcomes particularly in the area of women's reproductive health

Curriculum Vitae:

Bio:

I am a member of the Department of Psychology teaching faculty. I received my doctorate in clinical psychology and completed a two-year residency in clinical neuropsychology at the University of Pennsylvania Brain Behavior Lab. In addition to my Drexel teaching, I present trainings for professionals and staff working in social service and health settings in mental health and aging and ethical issues arising in elder care. I invite students to come have tea and cookies and talk about the wonderful field of psychology!

How I Make a Difference in Teaching:

Students spend so much time and energy learning so much that is new to them. All of us who teach want to honor their effort by striving to ensure that what and how they learn serves their intellectual growth in and out of the classroom, whether that "room" is on campus or online.

Two of the analytic approaches I use, sometimes interwoven and sometimes separate, are inquiries into the ethical and narrative implications of the material we're studying. What are the moral concerns embedded in research, how is our history as a field compromised or enhanced by our inattention or attention to culture, and how, for instance, would narrative themes such as generativity and communion be discerned in the accounts of aging, or racism, or suffering, that we explore? Not every topic lends itself easily to these filters, but in each course there are moments when one or both of these iterations of critical judgment are readily applied. The practice of ethical and narrative analysis can then, if students wish, continue as a way of considering new material well beyond their undergraduate years.

Specialization:

Clinical neuropsychology, social service and mental health, aging and ethical issues arising in elder care

Curriculum Vitae:

Research Interests:

• Forensic psychology and juvenile justice
• Juvenile justice research and program evaluation
• Juvenile justice policy and practice reform
• Adolescent development and decision-making capacities
• Miranda rights comprehension and juvenile confessions
• Juvenile probation system reform
• Dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline
• Anger management with girls in the juvenile justice system
• Reducing rates of disproportionate minority contact with the justice system

How We Make a Difference: the Juvenile Justice Research and Reform Lab

Naomi Goldstein, PhD, and her Juvenile Justice Research and Reform Lab collaborate with community stakeholders to use social science research to improve juvenile justice policy and practice. To produce better outcomes for youth and communities, the lab works to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline, reform juvenile probation systems, protect youths’ rights during police questioning, and reduce racial and ethnic disparities within the justice system.

Beyond academic publications, program evaluations, and other grant-funded research, Goldstein and the lab have created a positive policing training manual for school officers, a statewide juvenile probation transformation curriculum and training program, an anger management intervention for girls in residential juvenile justice placements, forensic assessment instruments used in evaluations of defendants, and an adolescent development training curriculum to reduce disproportionate minority contact of youth with police. Goldstein and the Juvenile Justice Research and Reform Lab also author policy reports; provide feedback on local, state and national legislation; and contribute to amicus briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Bio:

Naomi Goldstein, PhD is Professor of Psychology at Drexel University, Co-Director of Drexel’s JD/PhD Program in Law and Psychology, and a Stoneleigh Foundation Fellow. An applied researcher and Director of the Juvenile Justice Research and Reform Lab at Drexel, Goldstein seeks to improve juvenile justice policy and practice to promote positive outcomes for youth. For the past 15 years, her work has focused on adolescents’ capacities to make legal decisions, their abilities to fulfill behavioral requirements of the law, and the development of juvenile justice interventions and procedures to promote youths’ long-term well-being.

Goldstein is primary author of the Miranda Rights Comprehension Instruments, an assessment tool used in forensic mental health evaluations of a defendant’s comprehension of the rights to silence and legal counsel during police interrogation. She also created and evaluated the Juvenile Justice Anger Management (JJAM) Treatment for Girls, an empirically supported group intervention to reduce anger and aggression. Driven by her commitment to using research to inform policy and practice in the U.S. and abroad, Goldstein is evaluating juveniles’ competence to stand trial in Argentina to inform the country’s legislative debate about lowering the age of criminal responsibility. In addition, Goldstein is collaborating with juvenile probation departments to reform juvenile probation systems in Philadelphia and across the state to make them more responsive to adolescent development and to promote youths’ successful completion of probation. Collaborating with the Philadelphia Police Department, School District of Philadelphia, and Philadelphia Department of Human Services, Goldstein is evaluating a city-wide, school-based police diversion program that was designed to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline; the Police School Diversion Program resulted in a 54% reduction in the number of school-based arrests in Philadelphia from the 2013-2014 school year to the 2014-2015 school year and approximately a 75% reduction in the number of school disciplinary transfers in the district.

In addition to authoring more than 50 articles and book chapters, Goldstein co-authored Evaluating Capacity to Waive Miranda Rights, published in the Best Practices in Forensic Mental Health Assessment book series. She co-edited Juvenile Delinquency and the American Psychological Association Handbook of Psychology and Juvenile Justice. Goldstein has served on many boards and committees, including the editorial boards of multiple academic journals, the Research Advisory Committee of the American Psychology-Law Society (APA, Div. 41), and numerous juvenile justice work groups and policy committees.

Goldstein’s research has been funded by the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, National Institute of Mental Health, Argentina’s National Ministry of Education, Stoneleigh Foundation, Philadelphia Department of Human Services, American Psychology-Law Society, and American Academy of Forensic Psychology. All of her work is carried out in collaboration with community-based juvenile justice leaders and with the assistance of postdoctoral fellows, research staff, and graduate and undergraduate students in the Juvenile Justice Research and Reform Lab.

Goldstein received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and completed her clinical internship at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in the forensic/corrections track. She received a BA in Psychology from Wesleyan University. At Drexel University, she teaches graduate statistics, graduate and undergraduate courses in child psychopathology and treatment, and undergraduate courses in comparative forensic psychology.

Specialization:

Forensic psychology and juvenile justice; Juvenile justice research and program evaluation; Juvenile justice policy and practice reform; Adolescent development and decision-making capacities; Miranda rights comprehension and juvenile confessions; Juvenile probation system reform; Dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline; Anger management with girls in the juvenile justice system; Reducing rates of disproportionate minority contact with the justice system

Education:

Kirk Heilbrun is currently a professor in the Department of Psychology and previously served as an adjunct member of the Villanova Law School faculty where he co-taught the Law & Mental Health course (with David DeMatteo, PhD). He received his PhD in psychology from the University of Texas at Austin in 1980 and then completed a postdoctoral fellowship in law and psychology at Florida State University. His research interests include forensic mental health assessment, violence risk assessment, and risk-reducing interventions, all of which have received extramural funding since 1994. He has served as president of the American Psychology-Law Society and the American Board of Forensic Psychology. He is a Diplomate (ABPP) in both clinical and forensic psychology.

Curriculum Vitae:

Research Interests:

• Forensic mental health assessment
• Violence risk assessment
• Risk management
• Interventions to reduce risk

How we make a difference – Drexel Reentry Project

Individuals returning to the Philadelphia community following incarceration in federal prison face a host of challenges in their attempt to reintegrate into the community and avoid further offending. The federal court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has developed a program to assist many of these individuals—and Drexel contributes to their efforts by providing pro bono assessment and rehabilitative services.

Using a cognitive behavioral model and focusing on building skills and strengths that will reduce the risk of reoffending, the Drexel Reentry Project has provided services to over 60 individuals during the three years it’s been operating. Using clinician trainees from Drexel’s doctoral program in clinical psychology, and supervised by a faculty member specializing in assessment and interventions with justice-involved individuals, the Reentry Project offers interested individuals the chance to make the difficult reentry process a bit smoother—and provides the Philadelphia community with an important enhanced public safety benefit as well.

Bio:

Kirk Heilbrun is currently a professor in the Department of Psychology. He received his doctorate in clinical psychology in 1980 from the University of Texas at Austin, and completed postdoctoral fellowship training from 1981-82 in psychology and criminal justice at Florida State University. His current research focuses on juvenile and adult offenders, legal decision-making, forensic evaluation associated with such decision-making, and youth mentoring programs. His practice interests also center around forensic assessment, and he directs a practicum within the department in this area. He is board certified in Clinical Psychology and in Forensic Psychology, American Board of Professional Psychology, and is a past president of both the American Psychology-Law Psychology/APA Division 41, and the American Board of Forensic Psychology.

Specialization:

Forensic mental health assessment; Violence risk assessment; Risk management; Interventions to reduce risk

Selected Publications:

• Heilbrun, K., Durham, K., Thornewill, A., Schiedel, R., Pietruszka, V., Phillips, S., Locklair, B., & Thomas, J. (in press). Life sentenced juveniles: Public perceptions of risk and need for incarceration. Behavioral Sciences and the Law.
  Arnold, S., Flack, D., & Heilbrun, K. (in press). Risk assessment and juvenile resentencing: A critical analysis. Behavioral Sciences & the Law.
• Heilbrun, K., Pietruszka, V., Thornewill, A., Phillips, S., & Newsham, R. (in press). Diversion at reentry using criminogenic CBT: Review and prototypical program development. Behavioral Sciences & the Law.
• Kemp, K., Goldstein, N.E.S., Zelle, H., Viljoen, J., Heilbrun, K., & DeMatteo, D. (in press). Building consensus on the characteristics of developmental immaturity: A cross-disciplinary survey of psychologists. International Journal of Forensic Mental Health.
• Goldstein, N.E.S., Giallella, C., Peterson, L., Serico, J., Kemp, K., Riggs Romaine, C., Zelechoski, A., Kalbeitzer, R., Kelley, S., Hinz, H., Kelley, M., Pennacchia, D., Prelic, A., Burkard, C., Grisso, T., Heilbrun, K., Núñez, A., Leff, S., Schwartz, R., & Lochman. J. (in press). Juvenile Justice Anger Management (JJAM) treatment for girls: Results of a randomized controlled trial. Psychological Services.
• LaDuke, C., Locklair, B., & Heilbrun, K. (2018). Psychological, neuropsychological, and neuroscientific evidence equally impact legal decision making: Implications for experts and legal practitioners. Journal of Forensic Psychology: Research and Practice. DOI: 10.1080/24732850.2018.1439142

Selected Book Chapters:

• Heilbrun, K., King, C. M., & Slobogin, C. (in press). Insanity and diminished capacity: Scientific status. In D. Faigman, J. Blumenthal, E. Cheng, J. Mnookin, E. Murphy, J. Sanders, & C. Slobogin (Eds.), Modern scientific evidence: The law and science of expert testimony. St. Paul, MN: West.
• Heilbrun, K., Yasuhara, K., Shah, S., & Locklair, B. (in press). Approaches to violence risk assessment: Overview, critical analysis, and future directions. In R.K. Otto & K. Douglas (Eds.), Handbook of violence risk assessment (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.
• Heilbrun, K., DeMatteo, D., Newsham, R., Pietruszka, V., Fairfax-Columbo, J., & Arnold, S. (in press). Factors predicting desistance from criminal behaviors and aggression in adult offenders: A critical review. In C. Langton & J. Worling (Eds.), Wiley handbook of offender desistance from aggression and crime: Theory, research, and evidence-based practice. New York: Wiley.
• Heilbrun, K., Griffin, P., Mulvey, E., DeMatteo, D., Schubert, C., Winckworth Prejsnar, K., Phillips, S., & Filone, S. (2017). Diversion and the Sequential Intercept Model: Implications for emerging forensic service areas. In R. Roesch & A. Cook (Eds.), Handbook of forensic mental health services (pp. 543-565). New York: Routledge/Taylor & Francis.
• Heilbrun, K. (2017). Jargon, diagnoses, and commenting on other professionals’ work. In G. Pirelli, R. Beattey, & P. Zapf (Eds.), The ethical practice of forensic psychology: A casebook. New York: Oxford.

Selected Books:

• DeMatteo, D., Heilbrun, K., Arnold, S., & Thornewill, A. (in press). Problem-solving courts and the criminal justice system. New York: Oxford.
• Greene, E., & Heilbrun, K. (2019). Wrightsman’s psychology and the legal system (9th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
• Heilbrun, K., DeMatteo, D., King, C., & Filone, S. (2017). Evaluating juvenile transfer and disposition: Law, science, and practice. New York: Taylor & Francis.
• Otto, R., Goldstein, A., & Heilbrun, K. (2017). Ethics in forensic psychology practice. New York: Wiley.
• Heilbrun, K., DeMatteo, D., & Goldstein, N. (Eds.) (2016). APA handbook of psychology and juvenile justice. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.

Selected Presentations:

• Developments in Risk Assessment: Violence Risk and Sexual Violence Risk [PPT] [DOC]
• How Accurately Do Offenders Perceive Risk Factors? [PDF]
• RAWS Reentry Project Manual [PDF] Forensic [DOCX] Article [DOCX]
• Ratkalkar, M. Heilbrun, K., Singer, S., & Goldstein, N.E.S. (2018, August). Adapting risk-need-responsivity interventions for exonerees. To be presented at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, CA.
• Desai, A., Thornewill, A., Pietruszka, V., & Heilbrun, K. (2018, March). Lessons learned from reentry: A participant’s perspective. Presented at the Annual Conference of the American Psychology-Law Society/Division 41, Memphis, TN.

For more please download Professor Heilbrun's CV (PDF)

Research Interests:

• Enhancing treatment outcomes for eating disorders and obesity
• Acceptance-based behavioral treatments
• Evaluating mechanisms of action in behavioral treatments
  
  

How We Make a Difference: Public/Civic Impact

Eating disorders are considered critical public health issues and are associated with significant negative physical and psychosocial consequences. According to a recent study using a nationally-representative sample, as many as 3.7 million Americans will have a lifetime bulimia or binge eating disorder diagnosis and as many as 42.2 million Americans will experience clinically-significant binge eating. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), including an enhanced transdiagnostic version, is the current frontline treatment approach for binge eating. However, although CBT can be an effective treatment for many individuals, recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses have found that 40-50% of patients with binge eating disorder and nearly 70% of patients with bulimia remain symptomatic after a full course of CBT.

Juarascio’s work focuses on identifying new and more effective treatment approaches for eating disorders. In particular, her work focuses on the identification of factors that maintain eating pathology (e.g. impulsivity, emotion dysregulation, altered reward responsivity) that are inadequately targeted in existing treatment approaches and the development of novel treatment approaches that can better target these maintenance factors.

Bio:

Adrienne Juarascio, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology and a licensed clinical psychologist. She also serves as the Director of Practicum Training for the Department of Psychology and the Director of Training for the WELL Center.

Adrienne’s line of research is focused on the development of innovative treatments for eating disorders with two particular areas of emphasis:

1. the use of acceptance-based behaviors treatment approaches to improve factors that maintain eating pathology (e.g. emotion dysregulation, impulsivity, altered patterns of reward sensitivity)
2. the use of technology to augment existing treatments

She is currently the PI on two active grant-funded projects that are evaluating the use of novel technologies to improve treatment outcomes in bulimia nervosa. The ACQUIRE Project is an NIMH funded R34 designed to evaluate the use of ecological momentary interventions as a method for improving skill acquisition and utilization during CBT for bulimia nervosa. The second project is funded through the Hilda and Preston Davis foundation and involves testing whether continuous glucose monitoring could be used to detect compliance with regular eating interventions and disordered eating symptoms in bulimia nervosa. These two projects build off of two recently completed grant funded studies that she served as PI for (the ICAT+ project, funded through the National Eating Disorder Association and the EMOTE Project, funded through the Clinical and Translational Research Institute) which tested a Just-in-Time Adaptive Intervention delivered via smartphone application for transdiagnostic binge eating and the use of wearable sensors that can detect physiological correlates of negative affect that may precede risk for emotional eating behaviors, respectively.

In addition to her technology focused work, she is also the PI on two clinical trials testing novel behavioral treatments for bulimia nervosa (The INSPIRE Project, NIMH K23) and binge eating disorder (The BALANCING ACT Project, NIDDK R01). Both of these treatments are designed to evaluate the efficacy of incorporating acceptance-based treatment components (drawn from treatments such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy) into standard behavioral treatments for eating pathology.

Specialization:

Treatment development and Evaluation for Eating Disorders, Acceptance-based Behavioral Treatments, Using Technology to Augment Behavioral Treatment Approaches

Research Interests:

• Immigrant Psychology
• Authentic Assessment and Pedagogy
• Behavioral Impacts of Educational and Institutional Policies
• Mental Health Issues in the Workplace
• Psychology of Hope

Bio:

Marlin Killen, PhD, is a teaching professor in the Department of Psychology. She brings with her a broad range of professional experience in the field. Following early work as a school psychologist for the Multnomah Education Service District in Oregon, she worked in private practice with children and families, worked with terminally ill patients and their families, and worked with patients who had sustained work-related psychosocial impairments. Her later work in the area of industrial psychology focused on human resources and executive development. Working both within corporations and externally as a consultant, Killen’s work concentrated on employee selection and professional development programs with an emphasis on employee training and development, executive and leadership development, succession-planning and strategic planning for human resources.

How We Make a Difference - Education and Research:

Killen joined the Department of Psychology at Drexel University as a teaching faculty member in 2006. She brings a dynamic and innovative teaching style that emphasizes a strong foundation in professional, evidence-based content combined with applied methodologies and field experiences. Her research in the areas of authentic pedagogy and authentic assessment methods provide a framework for highly engaged student interactions that promote learning and meaningful connections to course materials and the field. She has been recognized for outstanding teaching and has received several awards including the Walter J. High Jr. Award for Outstanding Instructor of the Year, the Samuel Mercer Jr. Award for Excellence in Teaching, and Outstanding Online Instructor Award.

In addition to teaching many required and elective courses in the undergraduate program, Killen’s commitment to excellence in psychology education is reflected in her service role as Faculty Coordinator of Online Education in Psychology within the department. Within that role, she provides support for technology-enhanced teaching, provides online faculty and student support, and promotes the department’s online degree completion program.

Specialization:

Research Interests:

The main focus of my research is the neural basis of creativity, insight, and problem solving. I specialize in high-density electroencephalogram (EEG) recording of brain activity and, through collaborations, also use transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Other research interests include cognitive enhancement and neuromarketing.

Bio:

John Kounios attended Haverford College, where he received a BA with a double major in psychology and music theory/composition. He then enrolled in the University of Michigan's graduate program in experimental psychology, where he received his PhD.

Kounios has held research and faculty positions at Princeton University, Tufts University, the Boston Veterans Affairs Medical Center, the University of Pennsylvania, and Drexel University. He has published research on a variety of topics in cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience, including knowledge representation, insight in problem solving, creativity, and episodic memory.

He is currently Professor of Psychology at Drexel University where his research focuses on the neural and cognitive bases of semantic information processing, problem solving, and creativity. His research has been funded by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, and the National Institute of Aging. His research has been reported by the New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, U.S. News & World Report, Scientific American, The Times (London) and other print and electronic media.

Specialization:

Cognitive psychology/cognitive neuroscience, focusing on human memory, problem solving, intelligence, and creativity; Specialization in electrophysiological methods (EEG, ERP), and other behavioral and neuroimaging methods (e.g., fMRI)

Education:

• PhD, Sociology, Temple University, 1990

Curriculum Vitae:

Download (PDF)

Research Interests:

• Social Gerontology and Health Care Delivery
• Assistive Technologies for Frail and At-Risk Populations
• Intelligence and Human and Machine Agency
• Political Economy and Social Justice
• Philosophical Problems of Socio-cultural Theories

Research Impact:

Kutzik’s applied work is focused on the development and integration of smart technologies into care delivery models designed to maximize independence and functional health of elderly and chronically ill populations. He has played a leading role in the design, development, as well as extensive field testing of sensor-based behavioral monitoring technologies in the United States and Europe. This research has resulted in a series of patent-protected technologies which have been brought to the market as well as innovative methodologies for assessing functioning and impacts of technologies on both patients and care provision service and business models. Kutzik’s current theoretical work is focused on intelligent agency, semiotics and information theory as it applies to both artificial intelligence and cultural historical activity theory (CHAT).

Specialization:

Social and cultural theory; political economy; gerontology; materialisms; semiotic realisms; activity theory; reflection theories; communities of practice and labor theories of culture.

Selected Publications:

• Kutzik, David M. “Konings’ Emotional Economy of Capitalism” in Contemporary Sociology, Volume: 46 issue: 3, pp. 325-326, 2017.
• Kutzik, David M. “Behavioral Monitoring to Enhance Safety and Wellness” in Gerotechnology: Research, Practice and Principles in the Field of Technology and Aging. Sunkyo Kwon (Ed.) Springer Publishing Company, pp. 291-310, 2016.
• Kutzik, David M. and David Burdick, “Technological Tools for Long Term Care” in Long-Term Care Administration & Management: Effective Practices and Quality Programs in Elder Care, Darlene Yee-Melichar, Cristina M. Flores, and Edwin P. Cabigao, (Eds.) Springer Pubishing Company, 2014.
• Lessons for the Success of Telehomecare, Anthony P. Glascock and David M. Kutzik, (Eds.), Assistive Technology Research Series,Volume 30, IOS Press, Amsterdam, 2012.
• Kutzik, David M, “The Business of Telehomecare: Sensors, Servers and Protocols in Zones 1 and 2”, in Lessons for the Success of Telehomecare, Anthony P. Glascock and David M. Kutzik, (Eds.), Assistive Technology Research Series, Volume 30, IOS Press, Amsterdam, 2012.
• Glascock, Anthony P. and David M. Kutzik, “Lessons out of Chaos: Lessons Learned from the Noise of Non-Traditional Environments”, edited by Joanna Lumsden, in Human-Computer Interaction and Innovation in Handheld, Mobile and Wearable Technologies, Hershey PA, IGI Publishing, 2011.
• Glascock, Anthony P. and David M. Kutzik, “The Capital Use of Social Capital or How Social Capital is Used to Keep Capital Concentrated”, in International Journal of Social Inquiry, vol. 3, number 2, pp.101-119, 2010

Curriculum Vitae:

Curriculum Vitae (PDF)

Bio:

Nancy Raitano Lee, PhD, is a clinical child psychologist who specializes in developmental neuropsychology. She received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Human Development and Family Studies from Cornell University and her doctorate in Clinical Child Psychology from the University of Denver. Her clinical training includes the completion of a pre-doctoral internship at the Children’s Hospital of Colorado and a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Colorado School of Medicine’s Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities. Following her training in psychology, Lee completed a fellowship at the National Institute of Mental Health focused on the use of structural neuroimaging to study the developing brain in youth with genetic disorders and those with typical development.

As a child psychologist working within a developmental cognitive neuroscience framework, Lee’s research program aims to augment knowledge about the causes and correlates of developmental learning disorders through the use of innovative neuropsychological and neuroimaging technologies. Much of her research over the past several years has focused on two primary areas of investigation: (a) cognitive and social development in children and young adults with different neurodevelopmental disorders, and (b) brain development in youth with Down syndrome and other chromosomal aneuploidies. For a list of representative publications related to these topics, please see below.

Active research projects in Professor Lee’s lab include studies of:

• Cognition and real world outcomes in children and young adults with neurodevelopmental disorders
• Memory skills in youth with Down and fragile X syndromes¹
• Reading comprehension difficulties in children with Down syndrome²
• Parent-child interactions and cognitive development in Down syndrome²
• Employment and quality of life among young adults with autism spectrum disorder¹
• Brain development in Down syndrome
• Use of fNIRS to study the neural correlates of executive function in Down syndrome¹
• Structural and functional MRI studies of Down syndrome²

¹ Data collection ongoing; ² Data collection complete; data analysis phase

How we make a difference – The LADDER Lab:

Lee and the students in the LADDER lab conduct research that aims to improve adult outcomes and quality of life for individuals with intellectual disabilities and other neurodevelopmental disorders. Intellectual disability, formerly known as mental retardation, is a neurodevelopmental disorder that impacts 1% of the population. It is characterized by global learning difficulties that greatly reduce academic achievement, employment, and independence. Despite the frequency of this diagnosis and its profound impact on everyday functioning, there is a limited understanding of the mechanisms that contribute to poor outcomes. Moreover, specialized treatments that target key cognitive processes that are contributing to outcomes are lacking.

Lee’s research is making an impact for this community in two ways. First, her team is working to identify which aspects of cognition relate to real world functioning, such as reading, daily living skills, employment, and independent living, so that more precise and targeted interventions can be implemented. Second, her work is examining malleable factors, such as parenting strategies, that are predictive of better outcomes in order to develop a parent-implemented intervention to improve higher level thinking and problem-solving skills in youth with intellectual disability. Thus, Lee’s team is making a difference through their commitment to serving a community that has been underserved by scientists but is in great need of additional supports to optimize quality of life.

Representative Publications:

Cognitive and Social Development in Children with Genetic Disorders

• Hamner T, Hepburn S, Zhang F, Fidler D, Robinson Rosenberg C, Robins DL, Lee NR. Cognitive Profiles and Autism Symptoms in Comorbid Down Syndrome and Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2019 Oct 8;PubMed PMID: 31599791.
• Godfrey M, Hepburn S, Fidler DJ, Tapera T, Zhang F, Rosenberg CR, Raitano Lee N. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptom profiles of children with comorbid Down syndrome (DS) and ASD: A comparison with children with DS-only and ASD-only. Res Dev Disabil. 2019 Jun;89:83-93. PubMed PMID: 30959431.
• Godfrey M, Lee NR. Memory profiles in Down syndrome across development: a review of memory abilities through the lifespan. J Neurodev Disord. 2018 Jan 29;10(1):5. PubMed PMID: 29378508; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5789527.
• Lee NR, Anand P, Will E, Adeyemi EI, Clasen LS, Blumenthal JD, Giedd JN, Daunhauer LA, Fidler DJ, Edgin JO. Everyday executive functions in Down syndrome from early childhood to young adulthood: evidence for both unique and shared characteristics compared to youth with sex chromosome trisomy (XXX and XXY). Front Behav Neurosci. 2015;9:264. PubMed PMID: 26539087; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4611056
• Udhnani M, Maiman M, Blumenthal JD, Clasen LS, Wallace GL, Giedd JN, Raznahan A, Lee NR. Phonemic and Semantic Verbal Fluency in Sex Chromosome Aneuploidy: Contrasting the Effects of Supernumerary X versus Y Chromosomes on Performance. J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2018 Oct;24(9):917-927. PubMed PMID: 30375320.
• Lee NR, Wallace GL, Adeyemi EI, Lopez KC, Blumenthal JD, Clasen LS, Giedd JN. Dosage effects of X and Y chromosomes on language and social functioning in children with supernumerary sex chromosome aneuploidies: implications for idiopathic language impairment and autism spectrum disorders. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2012 Oct;53(10):1072-81. PubMed PMID: 22827287; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3480208.

Brain Development in Down Syndrome and Other Genetic Disorders

• Hamner T, Udhnani MD, Osipowicz KZ, Lee NR. Pediatric Brain Development in Down Syndrome: A Field in Its Infancy. J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2018 Oct;24(9):966-976. PubMed PMID: 29789029; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6207466.
• Lee NR, Adeyemi EI, Lin A, Clasen LS, Lalonde FM, Condon E, Driver DI, Shaw P, Gogtay N, Raznahan A, Giedd JN. Dissociations in Cortical Morphometry in Youth with Down Syndrome: Evidence for Reduced Surface Area but Increased Thickness. Cereb Cortex. 2016 Jul;26(7):2982-90. PubMed PMID: 26088974; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4898663.
• Adeyemi EI, Giedd JN, Lee NR. A case study of brain morphometry in triplets discordant for Down syndrome. Am J Med Genet A. 2015 May;167A(5):1107-10. PubMed PMID: 25820455.
• Raznahan A, Lee NR, Greenstein D, Wallace GL, Blumenthal JD, Clasen LS, Giedd JN. Globally Divergent but Locally Convergent X- and Y-Chromosome Influences on Cortical Development. Cereb Cortex. 2016 Jan;26(1):70-9. PubMed PMID: 25146371; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4701121.
• Blumenthal JD, Baker EH, Lee NR, Wade B, Clasen LS, Lenroot RK, Giedd JN. Brain morphological abnormalities in 49,XXXXY syndrome: A pediatric magnetic resonance imaging study. Neuroimage Clin. 2013;2:197-203. PubMed PMID: 23667827; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3649771.

Specialization:

Neuropsychological and neuroanatomic correlates of intellectual and developmental disabilities; Language, reading, and executive function in Down syndrome and other genetic disorders; Comorbid autism spectrum disorder symptoms in youth with genetic disorders; Neuroanatomic correlates of individual differences in typical and atypical cognition

Curriculum Vitae:

Research Interests:

The relation of weight suppression and food restriction to eating disorder psychopathology.  The role of hedonic hunger in obesity and eating disorders. Obesity and the prevention of weight gain and weight regain. The impact of weight variability on health and future weight gain. Integrating biological and psychological influences on eating and weight regulation.

Bio:

My research involves studying eating and weight regulation - and eating and weight disorders - from the perspective of clinical psychology, nutritional science, psychobiology, and neuroscience. The following describes five general areas in which my research group has been exploring these domains

Research Areas:

1. The relationship between dieting, overeating, and weight control
2. Obesity and the prevention of weight gain and weight regain
3. Eating disorders research
4. Integrating biological and psychological perspectives on eating and weight regulation
5. Research on the "power of food"

The impact of my research is manifested as follows:

1. I developed a comprehensive model accounting for the ways that body weight, and changes in body weight, impact the development and perpetuation of eating disorders
2. I developed an obesity intervention to systematically modify the home food environment to promote weight loss
3. I created a widely-used measure of “hedonic hunger,” which refers to strong motivations toward palatable foods in the absence of physical hunger
4. I established the importance of weight variability, which describes the degree of variation in people’s body weight over time,  as a predictor of their susceptibility to future weight gain and difficulty in losing weight
5. I consulted with the Renfrew Center for eating disorders over the past 15 years and helped established the first empirically supported treatment approach in a nationwide, community-based eating disorder treatment facility

Specialization:

Psychobiology of eating and weight regulation (dieting, treatment and prevention of eating disorders and obesity); Social cognition (empirical study of conscious and unconscious cognitive processing)

Research Interests:

John Medaglia, PhD, applies models and methods developed in neuropsychology, cognitive neuroscience, and network science to optimize brain function. His research group studies control and the human brain – how people control themselves and how control theory can guide noninvasive brain interventions. The laboratory uses network-based approaches in diverse data modalities including neuroimaging (MRI, fNIRS, EEG), brain stimulation (TMS, tDCS), and behavioral assessment (neuropsychology, cognitive psychology) to meet these goals. Lab members additionally study public perceptions and moral attitudes toward cognitive optimization.

Impact in Science and Society

Medaglia and members of the Cognitive Neuroengineering and Wellbeing Laboratory (CogNeW) use neuroscience and psychology in individuals to promote wellbeing and improve treatments with brain stimulation. They use advanced network analysis and brain stimulation to study and improve self-control in health and disorders like dementia, ADHD, and stroke. In addition, CogNeW laboratory studies how the public and professionals view cognitive enhancement – improving the mind – with education and technology.

While new techniques are exciting, it’s important to understand the ethical and moral context of enhancing individuals. The public contributes funding and votes to what is preferable to research and use at home, in clinics, and in classrooms, but we know little about how their beliefs guide their actions. Medaglia and his team study what people think is right and wrong to do to help shape public policy and educate people about the stakes and possibilities in human enhancement. Medaglia also works closely with students to run a “Power and Privilege in Professional Psychology” series to improve equity in the field.

Specialization:

Research Interests:

• Influences on preferred body type; changes in body image, self-esteem, and self-efficacy in females as a function of strength training
• Sensation and perception

How I Make a Difference in Teaching:

There is much more happening in a classroom than simply the transmission of knowledge. A goal that I set for myself is to focus on “connections over content.” Learning is enhanced when students can connect to material and appreciate how it relates to content from other courses as well as to their own lives. I seek to maintain a supportive learning environment in which I encourage students to test their abilities and to stretch their limits. I try to impart the idea that making mistakes, or even initially failing at mastery, is acceptable as long as something is gained from the experience and that the knowledge is later applied. My teaching philosophy is based on three primary objectives that serve as the foundation for my courses:

• Create an engaging and respectful environment
• Challenge my students to strive for excellence
• Cultivate enthusiasm for learning

My own interest in psychology was the product of a group of enthusiastic and engaging college professors. Through teaching, I wish to inspire a curiosity about the study of psychology that transcends the classroom.

Bio:

Megan L. Meyer, PhD, is a member of the Department of Psychology teaching faculty. Professor Meyer completed her BA in Psychology at The College of New Jersey. She earned her MA and PhD in Experimental Psychology from Temple University. Her masters and doctoral research was in the area of sensation and perception with a focus in visual perception. She teaches undergraduate psychology courses including Statistics, Cognitive Psychology, Research Methods and Sensation and Perception. For the last 12 years, Professor Meyer has been involved with community-based service with undergraduate students in partnership with Habitat for Humanity.

Specialization:

Bio:

Danette A. Morrison, PhD, is an Educational Psychologist and Assistant Teaching Professor for the Department of Psychology at Drexel University. Professor Morrison graduated from the University of Maryland-College Park where she received her PhD in Human Development from the Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology. She completed her Bachelors of Science in Psychology at Howard University.

Morrison's current research interest focuses on social relationships, identity development and achievement motivation of ethnic minorities. Specifically, Professor Morrison studies how supportive relationships shape the ethnic identity and achievement values of African American adolescents. Her research highlights the interplay of these constructs within the school context, as well as, across multiple domains.

How I Make a Difference

The research of Danette Morrison, PhD, makes a difference by building on the knowledge base needed to develop and implement methods for improving the educational attainment of ethnic minorities. With positive youth development as her guiding framework, Morrison hopes to continue research that would benefit these marginalized groups. Her ultimate aim is to advocate for equity for all students across the education system.

Morrison also focuses on issues related to diversity, teaching and learning, and college student development. Her mentoring approach makes a difference by empowering and supporting students of varied backgrounds as they build a sense of self and community that reflects the diversity of the psychology department and the overall Drexel community. Whenever possible, she promotes herself as a resource for students and advocate for their success.

Specialization:

Social and academic motivation within school context; Social relationships and identity development; Educational attainment of ethnic minorities.

Curriculum Vitae:

Research Interests:

• Social Problem Solving as a Moderator/Mediator of Stress
• Applications of (Emotion-Centered) Problem-Solving Therapy
• Depression
• Suicide
• Veterans Behavioral Health

How We Make a Difference

I am the co-developer of Problem-Solving Therapy (PST; recently renamed Emotion-Centered Problem-Solving Therapy, EC-PST) which is a psychosocial intervention that has been found to be an effective therapy for a wide range of populations and psychological problems. As such, not only is it an evidenced-based therapy approach (as acknowledged by multiple professional organizations, such as the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, NIMH, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense), but also a transdiagnostic intervention. During the past several years, along with Christine Maguth Nezu, PhD, I have been involved in adapting and evaluating this intervention for U.S. veteran and active service member groups. This adaptation has been named Moving Forward and is currently being implemented in VA hospitals and medical centers across the United States. We have also developed versions for VA home-based primary care settings and telehealth protocols (a web-based course; smartphone app). More recently, we have developed an EC-PST-based program to reduce suicide risk among vulnerable populations. Currently, we are funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts to provide free counseling services to veterans in the greater Philadelphia area who are at risk for suicide.

Bio:

Major Editorial Positions

• Editor, the Behavior Therapist (1996-99)
• Series Co-Editor, Specialty Competencies in Professional Psychology, Oxford University Press (2008-15)
• Editor,J ournal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (2011-16)
• Associate Editor, Archives of Scientific Psychology (2012-16)
• Associate Editor, American Psychologist (2016-)
• Editor-in-Chief, Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice (2019-)
• Series Editor, APA’s Concise Guides to Research in the Behavioral, Health, and Social Sciences (2017-)

Major Awards & Honors

• Florence Halpern Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Profession of Clinical Psychology, Society of Clinical Psychology (Division 12 of APA)
• Distinguished Contributions to the Profession of Psychology Award, American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP)
• Art Nezu Dissertation Diversity Award, ABPP(annual award named in his honor given each year)
• Doctor of Humane Letters (Honoris Causa), Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
• Board Certification, ABPP (Cognitive & Behavioral Psychology; Clinical Psychology; Clinical Health Psychology)
• Fellow, APA, APS, SBM, ABCT, ABCBP

Major Professional Activities

• President, Association of Behavioral & Cognitive Therapies, American Board of Cognitive & Behavioral Psychology, World Congress of Behavioural & Cognitive Therapies
• Board of Trustees & Secretary, ABPP
• NIMH Study Section on Interventions for Mood Disorders
• APA working group to revise Journal Article Reporting Standards (JARS) for Quantitative Research
• APA working group to revise Publication Manual (7th ed)
• APA's expert panel to develop Clinical Practice Guidelines for the treatment of depression
• Consultant, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense, U.S. Air Force.
• Research and program development activities funded by the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Mental Health, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense, the U.S. Air Force, and the Pew Charities Trusts
• Special Professor of Forensic Mental Health & Psychiatry and Honorary Professor of Community Health Sciences, University of Nottingham, U.K.
• 23 books and 225+ journal articles and book chapters

Specialization:

Biopsychosocial models of stress and coping, particularly the role of social problem solving; Applications of Problem-Solving Therapy for chronic illness, particularly comorbid with depression; Treatment and prevention of suicide; Prevention and treatment of behavioral health problems of Veterans and Service Members

Education:

• Fairleigh Dickinson University BA (Fine Arts/Psychology) (1977) Fairleigh Dickinson University M.A. (Clinical Psychology) (1981) Fairleigh Dickinson University PhD (Clinical Psychology), (1987) American Psychological Association-accredited program
• Clinical Psychology Internship/Residency: Beth Israel Medical Center/Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, New York, NY (1985-86). American Psychological Association-accredited program
• Postdoctoral Fellowship: Fairleigh Dickinson University, Division of Psychological Services, Teaneck, NJ (1986-1987)
• Professional Licenses: Pennsylvania (1991) #PS-006015-L (active), New York (1987; inactive) #9583, New Jersey (1989; inactive) #2583
• Board Certification: American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) (1998), #5160, Cognitive & Behavioral Psychology (2008), #6458, Clinical Psychology
• Other Clinical Certification: Certified in Penile Plethysmosgraphy, Monarch Systems, Behavioral Technology Institute, Salt Lake City, UT. (2002); Level II Clinician Certification (2004 re-certification)

How I Make a Difference in Psychotherapy Research and the Veteran Community

Christine Maguth Nezu, PhD, and the lab members working with her and Arthur Nezu, PhD, make a difference by developing effective psychotherapy interventions. The treatment that they co-developed, Emotion-Centered Problem-Solving Therapy (EC-PST), has been shown to be a brief, practical and user-friendly treatment for many different types of problems and populations. It is currently available to Veterans across the country, who are managing stressful life problems and is available through in-person, computer and iPhone formats. EC-PST has been adopted by the Department of Veteran Affairs and the Department of Defense as an evidence-based program.

Curriculum Vitae:

Bio:

Christine Maguth Nezu, PhD, is a professor of psychology and professor of medicine at Drexel University. She is a past-president of the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP), a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (Society for Clinical Psychology), and maintained her clinical practice for three decades, often serving as a site for Drexel PhD students to train. She is a current member of the editorial board for the American Psychologist and a past editorial board member of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, she has also been a consulting editorial board member of numerous additional scientific and professional journals. She has received numerous awards from various university and professional organizations, including the 2015 Russell J. Bent Distinguished Service and Contributions to the American Board of Professional Psychology Award, and the 2016 Outstanding Contribution by an Individual for Education and Training Activities Award from the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT). She was recently spotlighted on ABCT’s webpage as one of a small number of elite “pioneers” of behavioral and cognitive therapy.

She is best known for her work as the co-developer of Emotion-Centered Problem-Solving Therapy (EC-PST), a clinical intervention designated by numerous professional organizations and professional treatment guidelines as an evidenced-based, trans-diagnostic psychotherapy approach. She co-developed a PST-based therapy program for the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) that is currently being implemented across the U.S. As a consultant to the U.S. Air Force, she recently co-developed a problem-solving skills training program.

In addition to the professional leadership roles described above, Nezu has held several other positions in various private and professional organizations, including Director of Training for an APA-accredited Internship/Residency program (Hahnemann University Hospital), Associate Provost for Research (MCP and Hahnemann University), Board Member of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Deputy Chair of the World Congress of Behavioural and Cognitive Therapies, and Board Member of the American Board of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy. She has published over 150 journal articles and book chapters, as well as 22 books. Many of her scholarly writings have been translated into various foreign languages.

Nezu’s clinical research collaboration and program development activities have been funded by the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Mental Health, the Department of Justice, the DVA, the DoD, the U.S. Air Force, the Philadelphia Department of Mental Health and the Pew Charities Trust. She has held honorary and visiting faculty appointments in Japan and the United Kingdom and has presented numerous invited workshops around the world. Her current clinical and research interests involve suicide treatment and prevention, particularly regarding Veterans and college student populations, assessment of adaptive functioning in persons with intellectual disability, and integrative psychotherapy.

Specialization:

Emotion-centered Problem-Solving Therapy (PST) for mood, personality, stress-related disorders; EC-PST as an evidence-based, trans-diagnostic intervention across many clinical problem areas and populations including Veterans/US Service Members, and their families; cinical case formulation; integrative psychotherapy approaches; emotionally-focused interventions and CBT; Departmental concentration areas of cognitive behavioral and clinical health psychology

Bio:

Karol ‘Dr. O’ Osipowicz is a Cognitive Neuroscientist. During his time as a psychology undergraduate at Drexel University, he developed a strong interest in evolution, brain function and cognitive research. Following the completion of his undergraduate studies, he received a PhD in Neuroscience, with a focus on cognition and human brain mapping, from Thomas Jefferson University. It was his interest in the biological basis of cognition developed and nurtured at Drexel that led him to pursue his doctoral degree. His research has focused on the application of advanced neuroimaging to the study of human brain function and anatomy. This research has spanned a number of topics including cognitive plasticity and neural reorganization, psycholinguistics, memory, epileptogenesis and the methodological advancement of multimodal neuroimaging. At Jefferson, he also contributed to the direct clinical application of advanced neuroimaging by providing functional and anatomical brain mapping for neurosurgical patients. Combining his backgrounds in Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience and innovative approach to lecturing, Dr. O taught various courses in Drexel’s Psychology Department as an Adjunct Professor before formally joining the department as an Assistant Teaching Professor.

Outside of his time in the classroom and laboratory, Osipowicz enjoys spending time with his wife and dog, exercising and exploring Philadelphia and its surrounding areas on motorcycle. He moved to Philadelphia as an undergraduate and has not left, calling South Philadelphia his home since 2007. Dr. O invites you to discuss cognition, evolution, neuroimaging or other topics of interest and is excited to collaborate with both colleagues and students alike.

How I make a difference:

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”
-Benjamin Franklin

By investing in knowledge I hope to empower an extraordinary future. As a teacher, I attempt to imbue students with a passion for lifelong learning. I engage students in interactive exploration that leads to insights and understanding. As a scientist, I strive to understand the brain. I am currently exploring multiple questions relating to the functions of the hippocampus, and the effects of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy, as well as a myriad of other topics thorough my collaborations. As a professor, I try to steer the university to be a place where innovators can change the world through creativity and discovery. Currently I am the chair of the senate committee on research and scholarly creative activity, a member of the associate deans for research committee, and a member of the institutional review board. I hope that these investments pay the best interest: empowering an extraordinary future for our students, for neuroscience, and for Drexel University.

Specialization:

Cognitive neuroscience, human brain mapping, neuroimaging to the study of human brain function and anatomy, cognitive plasticity and neural reorganization, psycholinguistics, memory, epileptogenesis, and the methodological advancement of multimodal neuroimaging

Bio:

Diana L. Robins, PhD, is currently a professor and Interim Director at the AJ Drexel Autism Institute, where she also leads the Research Program in Early Detection and Intervention for ASD. Much of her work has centered around developing, validating, and refining a widely used screening tool for ASD, the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers. The original M-CHAT paper has been cited more than 1100 times, and the validation of the recent revision, M-CHAT-R with Follow-Up (M-CHAT-R/F), demonstrated that the 2-stage screening questionnaire detects many cases of autism, and children in the study were diagnosed about two years younger than the national median, which improves access to ASD-specific early intervention. Robins’ other research endeavors use neuroimaging and other techniques to understand deficits in social cognition in individuals with ASD, as well as neural mechanisms of intact social cognition in typically developing individuals. She also collaborates with colleagues from Georgia State University on studies of imitation, social cognition, and the development of social, play and communication skills in toddlers at risk for ASD.

Robins’ research has been funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Autism Speaks, and the National Institute of Mental Health, and she has collaborated on projects funded by the Department of Defense and the Templeton Foundation. Her work has been published in leading pediatric and autism journals, including Pediatrics, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, and Autism: the International Journal of Science and Practice. She currently sits on the editorial boards for Neuropsychology and the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, and is an ad hoc reviewer for dozens of journals and grant panels.

Robins received her doctorate in Clinical Psychology, with an emphasis in Clinical Neuropsychology from the University of Connecticut. Following her APA-approved internship at the University of Florida Health Sciences Center, she completed a 2-year postdoctoral fellowship at the Yale University School of Medicine Child Study Center. She then spent 10 years on the faculty at Georgia State University, with a joint appointment in the Department of Psychology and the Neuroscience Institute. Robins was among the faculty on Georgia’s first Leadership and Education in Neurodevelopmental Disorders (LEND) program, housed at Georgia State University.

How I Make a Difference in Research:

Robins’ work in the Early Detection and Intervention research program at the AJ Drexel Autism Institute emphasizes partnering with community agencies to improve implementation of evidence-based practices to detect, diagnose and treat autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as early as possible. Given that research demonstrates that children who receive intensive, ASD-specific treatment earlier have better outcomes across the lifespan, Robins’ projects aim to accomplish goals such as determining the optimal ages for universal screening in primary care settings, identifying community settings outside the medical home to reach underserved populations, and to directly relate the early detection practices in pediatric settings to readiness for kindergarten among children with ASD. In addition to directly touching the lives of thousands of toddlers and their parents in her studies, these research projects have direct impact on policy and practice, and align with the public health mission of the AJ Drexel Autism Institute at Drexel University.

Specialization:

Early detection of autism spectrum disorder, screening for autism spectrum disorder in community settings, social cognition in autism spectrum disorder

Curriculum Vitae:

Bio:

Ludo C.P. Scheffer, PhD, is a teaching professor in the Department of Psychology, and the current Director of the Psychology Undergraduate Studies Program. He has served as a faculty member in the department for more than 22 years. Ludo holds a BS in Elementary and Middle School Education from the National Teachers College (The Netherlands), Doctorandus (PhD–abd) in the Science of Education and Schooling (Educational Psychology) from the Free (Reformed) University of Amsterdam, and a PhD in Education/Interdisciplinary Studies in Human Development from the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education (Psychology in Education Division).

Ludo lives in Philadelphia within walking distance to the university and serves on a variety of Boards of community organizations: Chair of the Board of Trustees (and past Acting President & CEO) of International House Philadelphia, Vice President of the Board of the Fair Housing Rights Center, Secretary of the Indochinese American Council, and Board Member of Young Soon Kim Dance Co. in New York/Brooklyn. Besides being active in the non-profit world, Ludo has been active in faculty/university shared governance for more than 10 years, most recently serving as the Chair of the Faculty Senate of the University for five years, before stepping down. He is the recipient of the Provost’s Award for academic excellence.

Engaging and Supporting Students:

As a teaching professor, I am guided by five values: Social Justice; Self-determination & Participation; Caring & Compassion; Heath; and, Human Diversity. Together, these values provide a foundation on how I engage the students in thinking about the subject and its components at hand in a course. While engaging the students in the material, I am also engaging them in thinking about how we can reframe that topic/issue in a broader context. I hope students don’t only come to understand the text of the topic, but also the context in which these topics/issues occur, as this influences how we come to see the phenomena we study. Thus, thinking about how knowledge develops is as important as under what conditions, from what perspective it develops. And, the classroom atmosphere is one in which we banter, argue, explain, understand and empathize with each other as we try to struggle with the material. Some of the courses I teach are: Psychology of Hate; Psychology of Sustainability; Psychology: Injustice & Inequity; I/O Psychology, and Sport Psychology.

In my role as Program Director, I oversee both the on-campus and online undergraduate program, with the great support of my colleagues and staff. We continuously strive for excellence in offerings, aiming to provide all of our students with the best possible preparation for careers and ongoing, graduate studies after they graduate. In our program, we provide students with a variety of opportunities for engaging in leadership and service (student clubs and labs), and opportunities to engage in scholarship through lab experiences that may guide them to publications/poster presentations on topics of their interest within my colleagues’ labs. To support our students in that endeavor, I have created the Undergraduate Psychology Research Fund, which provides financial support for student presentations at conferences. Ultimately, I believe my role as Director, in collaboration with the Senior Academic Adviser, colleagues, and staff, is to support an environment that makes students feel they belong, and that supports and helps develop their goals for their academic journey.

Specialization:

Meta-cognitive development, writing, and computers; language and literacy development in the early years in the context of family and schooling; Youth-at-risk; Issues in Equity; School/Program/Intervention effectiveness

Curriculum Vitae:

Research Interests:

I am interested in the use of innovative technologies for meeting the clinical needs of individual with neurological compromise. Much of our work is focused on using virtual reality simulation, neuropsychological measures and portable imaging systems (i.e., fNIRS). I work with cognitively impaired populations—traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, stroke, dementia—in order to understand the effects of neurological involvement on functions, such as driving, returning to work and everyday activities of living. Our work intersects psychology, biomedical engineering, transportation, and rehabilitation medicine.

Bio:

Maria Schultheis, PhD, is a professor with appointments in the Department of Psychology and the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems. Schultheis is a Clinical Neuropsychologist who received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Drexel University in 1998.

Schulthies’ clinical and research experience have been focused on the rehabilitation of cognitively impaired populations, including traumatic brain injury, stroke and multiple sclerosis. Specifically, she has specialized in 1) the application of technologies to the clinical, research and education of psychology and 2) studying the demands (physical, cognitive and behavioral) of driving following neurological compromise. Recently, she has focused on the development of new driving assessment protocols for individuals with disabilities. This includes research focusing on the application of Virtual Reality (VR) technology. Schultheis is also investigating the development of VR as a tool for ecologically valid assessment and retraining of everyday activities in rehabilitation. Professor Schultheis' overall interest is in research related to the investigation and development of methodologies that have functional significance and can improve the quality of everyday life for persons with disabilities.

Schultheis' work has been funded by such organizations as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS). Her work was recognized in awards from the National Academy of Neuropsychology and the Philadelphia Neuropsychological Society. She is also the recipient of the 2007 American Psychological Association Early Career Award for Division 40 (Clinical Neuropsychology).

Schultheis’ approach is interdisciplinary and her work cuts across the fields of Clinical Psychology, Rehabilitation, Engineering and Transportation. She has published over 35 manuscripts, chapters and other publications and has presented her work at various international and national forums. She is active in several professional organizations related to these areas and currently serves on the National Research Council, as a member of the Transportation Research Board.

Specialization:

Neurorehabilitation; Application of technology to psychology; Virtual reality technology; Driving capacity after neurological compromise; Rehabilitation of functional, everyday activities

Research Interests:

Adult Psychopathology; Evidence-Based Practice; Competency-Based Training; Competency-Based Clinical Supervision

How My Work Makes A Difference:

Schwartz directs a community facing mental health facility that provides low-cost and high quality services to members of the surrounding community. She brings treatments that are often difficult to access due to cost and distance to individuals who would often not be able to receive such services. Schwartz has built partnerships between the Drexel Psychological Services Center (PSC) and other service agencies so that mental health benefits now augment community initiatives. More importantly, given that the PSC is a training site, Schwartz, through her work at the PSC, instills the values of social justice and giving back to the community in those who are being trained. The PSC does not just model this for students, but teaches them how to build and evaluate such programs.

Bio:

Jennifer Schwartz, PhD, is an associate teaching professor and director of the Psychological Services Center (PSC) in the Department of Psychology. She is a Clinical Psychologist who received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Idaho State University in 2004. She did her postdoctoral internship at Vanderbilt University with placements in Adult Psychiatry and the Nashville Veterans Administration. She did a postdoctoral fellowship at the Psychopathology Research Unit and Center for Cognitive Therapy at the University of Pennsylvania. Schwartz has been a training clinic director since 2005 and was the inaugural clinic director of Drexel Psychological Services Center (PSC) that began in 2013. Schwartz serves on the executive board of the Association of Psychology Training Clinics (APTC) and is an elected member of the American Psychological Association Ethics Committee.

Professor Schwartz is the director of the PSC at Drexel University, a training clinic that serves the Philadelphia community. There, graduate students in the Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program at Drexel are trained in state-of-the-art therapeutic approaches of patient assessment and treatment. Schwartz trains cognitive-behavioral intervention techniques and is heavily invested in utilizing the competency-based model to foster student development as research-informed clinicians. She also utilizes competency-based supervision approaches in her own work with trainees. Schwartz embraces emerging technologies as tools for enhancing patient care and facilitating training of graduate students. In addition to her work with graduate students, she also enjoys working with undergraduate students and exciting them about the field of psychology. She values critical-thinking skills and weaves training in this domain into her courses.

Professor Schwartz has mentored students at the undergraduate and masters level of training. The focus of her research is on best practices in training and supervising. While this area is specific, students have found that the principles and methodologies utilized to explore research questions translate to many other domains.

Specialization:

Adult Psychopathology; Evidence-Based Practice; Competency-Based Training; Competency-Based Clinical Supervision

Research Interests:

• Memory and its neural basis, lifespan development

How I Make a Difference in Teaching:

Careers after a degree in psychology are highly varied; some students will go to graduate school, others into research settings, and many others directly into the workforce in related fields. To increase the value of college beyond it being a mere stepping stone, I encourage students to see the importance of psychological science in their everyday lives. In my opinion, the greatest value of earning a degree in psychology is that it helps us to make better decisions at all stages of life. How do we make and keep friends? What’s the value of volunteerism to ourselves and to society? How should we study to better retain information? How can we raise children to maximize their potential? What does it mean to successfully age, and what are the vast applications of the “use it or lose it” effect? These are some of the many questions I address in my courses. As we review the science, we frequently pause to apply the findings to our lives and to discuss themes we have in common, despite our ultimate career differences.

Specialization:

Memory and its neural basis, lifespan development

Bio:

Giacomo Vivanti, PhD, graduated magna cum laude in Psychology from University of Milan and received a doctoral degree in Cognitive Science from the University of Siena, Italy, in 2008. During 2008-2010 he received postdoctoral fellowship training on autism at the University of California Davis MIND Institute, and in 2010 he became Research Fellow at the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre in Melbourne, Australia, where he worked on a federally funded 5-year project on autism early intervention. His career as a scientist has been driven by a key-commitment, namely understanding the nature of learning difficulties in autism and developing effective programs to address such difficulties within community-based settings. This commitment reflects his life experience of growing up with two brothers affected by autism, as well as his diverse clinical and research background.

Vivanti is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, a member of the Italian Department of the Health Committee to establish evidence-based guidelines for autism treatment in Italy, and a consultant for clinical and research programs for Autism in the US, Europe and Australia. Additionally, he is a certified therapist and trainer in the “Early Start Denver Model” autism intervention program, a member of the Early Start Denver Model Training Advisory Group, and the lead author of the manual “Implementing the Group-Based Early Start Denver Model for young children with Autism”. Vivanti is now assistant professor in the Early Detection and Intervention research program at the A.J. Drexel Autism Institute, and an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Drexel University.

Specialization:

Curriculum Vitae:

View/Download CV [PDF]

Research Interests:

• Multimodal Neuroimaging
• Data Mining
• Data Integration
• Mobile Health
• Wearable Computing

Impact:

Zhang’s work on quantitative modeling aims to improve our understanding of complex and high dimensional data and ultimately our ability to fully utilize the informational complexity for new levels of scientific discovery.

As the amount of data being generated is exploding, we have entered the era of Big Data. To the extent that data can be analyzed, we may be able to gain a completely new perspective on our world, how people interact, spend their resources, and organize their time. Though promises are held, the increasing amount of data, the different types of data from heterogeneous sources, and required fast speed of data processing pose great challenges to data management and analysis. Zhang and her team are committed to making a difference in the statistical thinking and computational approaches required to handle these challenges.

Bio:

Fengqing (Zoe) Zhang, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology. Prior to joining Drexel University, she obtained her PhD degree in Statistics at Northwestern University. Her research interests lie primarily in the development and application of advanced statistical models to analyze complex and high dimensional data (e.g. neuroimaging data, complex behavioral data). In particular, her lab has been focused on using multimodal neuroimaging (e.g., MRI, DTI, fMRI, PET) to examine neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease) and psychiatric disorders (e.g., PTSD, eating disorders). The modeling approach she takes includes machine learning, Bayesian inference, and high dimensional data analysis. In addition, she works on the statistical methods development for informing real time individualized sequences of treatments (Just-in-Time Adaptive Interventions) and integrating multimodal data generated from wearables (e.g., fitness trackers, heart rate monitors).

Specialization:

Multimodal Neuroimaging; Data Mining; Data Integration; Mobile Health; Wearable Computing

Curriculum Vitae:

Bio:

Eric Zillmer is the Carl R. Pacifico Professor of Neuropsychology and the Director of Athletics at Drexel University.

Specialization:

Sports psychology; Sports performance; Psychological assessment; Psychology of terrorists