ACE Lab: People

Amy Mezulis, PhD

Dr. Mezulis is a developmental psychopathologist interested in understanding the development of depression and related affect regulation disorders such as NSSI. Her research interests include vulnerability stress-models of depression; the development of vulnerabilities to depression in childhood and adolescence; the integration of cognitive, affective, and biological pathways to depression and NSSI; and the emergence of the gender difference in depression in adolescence. Learn more.

Karly Murphy, MS

Karly joined the program in 2012 and is a fifth-year graduate student. Her research interests center on the intersection of physical health and psychological functioning among individuals at risk for cancer, cancer patients, and cancer survivors. Her dissertation examines the impact of stress on somatic symptoms in young adults.

Josh Ahles, MS

Josh joined the program in 2012 and is a fifth-year graduate student. His research interests center on the interaction between cognitive processes and physiological stress reactivity and recovery.

Michelle Kuhn, BA

Michelle joined the program in 2013 and is a second-year graduate student. Her research interests include adolescent psychopathology, with a focus on maladaptive emotion regulation strategies commonly associated with depression, disordered eating, NSSI, and drug and alcohol use.

Brittany Willey, MS

Brittany joined the program in 2013 and is a fourth-year graduate student. Her research interests include maladaptive emotion regulation strategies such as disordered eating and NSSI, as well as the interactions between physiological reactivity to stress, emotion regulation, and the development of psychopathology. She is also interested in temperamental, cognitive, and behavioral vulnerabilities to depression and anxiety.

Julie Vieselmeyer, MS

Julie joined the program in 2013 and is a fourth-year graduate student. Her research interests include understanding the relationship between cognitive emotion regulation and mental health outcomes. She is also interested in how positive trait characteristics, psychological skills training, and exercise may serve as protective factors as a means of regulating thoughts and feelings. For her dissertation, Julie is investigating the impact of ZGiRLS, a sport-based youth development program, on self-esteem, symptoms of anxiety and depression, and resilience.

Jana DeSimone, BA

Jana joined the program in 2013 and is a fourth-year graduate student. Her research interests include physiology, depression, and eating disorders.

Madeline Wielgus, BA

Madeline joined the lab in 2014 and is a third-year graduate student. Her research interests include developmental psychopathology, psychophysiology, and maladaptive emotion regulation behaviors, with a focus on understanding factors that contribute to the onset and maintenance of self-injurious thoughts and behaviors.

Jaclyn Aldrich, BA

Jaclyn joined the program in 2014 and is a third-year graduate student. Her research interests include the development of cognitive and biological vulnerabilities to depression during adolescence.

Lauren Hammond, BA

Lauren joined the program in 2015 and is a second-year graduate student. Her research interests include young adult depression and NSSI.

Andrew Fox, BA

Andrew joined the program in 2015 and is a second-year graduate student. His research interests include identifying how risk and protective factors such as cognitive style, emotion regulation, and motivation interact and predict developmental trajectories of depression from early to late adolescence. He is also interested in the role that parenting and parent-child interactions plays in the development of depression, and the relationships between youth depression, anxiety, and self-harm.

Jordan Skalisky, BA

Jordan joined the program in 2016 and is a first-year graduate student. Her research interests include risk and protective factors for adolescent problem behaviors such as self-injury and substance use.

Hailey Weatherby, BA

Hailey joined the program in 2016 and is a first-year graduate student. Her research interests include factors that contribute to the development of depression in children and adolescents, as well as preventive programming for children with cognitive and behavioral vulnerabilities.