Dr. Marci Lobel
Professor Marci Lobel directs the Stress and Reproduction (STAR) Lab. She received her undergraduate degree in Psychology and Social Relations summa cum laude from Harvard University, and her PhD in Social Psychology (with minors in Health Psychology and Measurement) from the University of California, Los Angeles. Her research focuses on conceptualization, measurement, and effects of stress on health, particularly women’s reproductive health. She conducts research to address critical public health issues, including racial disparities in birth outcomes, psychological aspects of infertility and assisted reproductive technology, and rising rates of surgical delivery. Dr. Lobel collaborates with scientists in Europe, Asia, and at other universities across the U.S. She serves on the editorial boards of several journals and she teaches courses in Social Psychology, Stress and Coping, and the Psychology of Women’s Health. Dr. Lobel has received a number of awards for her research, teaching, and service, including the Strickland Daniel Distinguished Mentoring Award from Division 35 of the American Psychological Association and the Distinguished Leadership Award from the American Psychological Association Committee on Women in Psychology.
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Current STAR Lab Members:
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Sirena Ibrahim (Ph.D. expected 2020)
Sirena Ibrahim is currently a graduate student in Social and Health Psychology at Stony Brook University. She earned her Bachelors degree in Psychology and Health Science at California State University, Fullerton. Her research focuses on social psychological aspects of health, particularly women’s reproductive health. More specifically, she is investigating prenatal stress, coregulation of stress between couples and coping.
Jennifer Nicoloro-SantaBarbara (Ph.D. expected 2019)
Jennifer Nicoloro-SantaBarbara entered the Social and Health Psychology Ph.D. program in 2013. Her research focuses on stress and coping in the context of reproductive health, chronic illness, and rare diseases such as Mastocytosis. She is also investigating the role of the patient-provider relationship in buffering the effects of stress.
Dr. Heidi Preis
Dr. Preis joined the STAR Lab as a Postdoctoral Fellow. She earned her doctorate in Social Work from Tel Aviv University. Her doctoral dissertation focused on first-time mothers’ beliefs about birth and their actual birth experiences. In 2017, Dr. Preis was awarded a Rahamimoff Grant for young scientists from the US-Israel Binational Science Foundation to work with Dr. Lobel. That collaboration laid the groundwork for a recent study (Preis, H., Lobel, M., & Benyamini, Y. [In press]. Between expectancy and experience: Testing a model of childbirth satisfaction. Psychology of Women Quarterly). In 2018, Dr. Preis was awarded the Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship from Tel Aviv University to train with Dr. Lobel in the STAR Lab for a two-year period. Dr. Preis’s primary research interest is understanding risk factors for physical and mental health problems related to women’s reproductive health, especially how psychological and social context affects behaviors in the perinatal period. She has additional expertise in practice research where she utilizes robust measures to investigate the impact of medical and psychoeducational interventions in vulnerable populations. During her training period in the STAR Lab, she will spearhead research on psychosocial factors that contribute to the prenatal health behaviors of pregnant women who suffer from opioid use disorder.
Dr. Brittain Mahaffey
Brittain Mahaffey Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist with expertise in the treatment of anxiety and stress disorders. Her research focuses on: (1) improving our understanding of risk for and resilience to the mental and physical health effects of stress and, (2) developing more effective and accessible interventions for stress and anxiety problems. More specifically, she is interested in the promotion of psychological resilience in at-risk populations and during sensitive periods such as pregnancy and the peripartum. Dr. Mahaffey is a research assistant professor at the Mind Body Clinical Research Center in the Stony Brook Medicine Department of Psychiatry. She is the operations manager for the Mind Body Center and directs their Women’s Health Program. Dr. Mahaffey is a co-investigator on several large federally funded grants aimed at developing resilience in vulnerable populations such as 9/11 and Hurricane Sandy Disaster Responders. She has also published over 25 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters on the diagnosis and treatment of anxiety and stress related disorders. She is the recipient of an award the National Institutes of Health Loan Repayment Program (2017-2019) for her outstanding program of research. She also recently received a K23 Mentored Career Development Award from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). Dr. Lobel serves as the primary mentor on this grant. This project will explore methods for improving mental health treatment engagement during pregnancy and evaluate the preliminary efficacy of an internet-delivered stress management program (SMART Pregnancy) for women with elevated prenatal maternal stress.
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STAR Lab Alumnae:
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Dr. Melissa Auerbach (Ph.D. 2016)
Melissa Auerbach entered the Social and Health Psychology Ph.D. program in 2011. She is investigating psychosocial factors associated with health behaviors among pregnant women and among college students. Current profile: https://liberalarts.temple.edu/academics/faculty/auerbach-melissa
Dr. Ceylan Cizmeli (Ph.D. 2013)
Dr. Ceylan Cizmeli’s research has focused on the construct and predictive validity of multidimensional models of prenatal stress among diverse women, differences in levels of stress accounted for by individual and contextual factors, and stability and change in interpersonal violence across the pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, and postpartum periods. Dr. Cizmeli is currently on leave from SUNY Oswego and conducting research for the United Nations during her leave of absence.
Dr. Natalie (Lilly) E. Grey (Ph.D. 2013)- Lecturer, California State University, Channel Islands.
Dr. Susan Darlow (Ph.D. 2011)
Dr. Susan Darlow is an Oncology Scientist/Medical Writer at the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. Her research focuses on the use of technology (e.g., smartphone, web) in interventions to reduce cancer risk, especially skin cancer.
Dr. Lisa Rosenthal (Ph.D. 2011)
Dr. Lisa Rosenthal earned her BA in Psychology in 2006 from Queens College, of the City University of New York, and her PhD in Social and Health Psychology in 2011 from Stony Brook University, of the State University of New York. She then completed a 2-year Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Public Health at Yale University. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the NYC Psychology department at Pace University. Current profile: http://webpage.pace.edu/lrosenthal/dr-lisa-rosenthal.html
Dr. Jada Hamilton (Ph.D. 2009)
Dr. Jada Hamilton is an Assistant Member at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, as well as an Assistant Attending Psychologist in the Behavioral Sciences Service, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and in the Clinical Genetics Service, Department of Medicine at Memorial Hospital in New York, NY. Prior to joining the faculty of Memorial Sloan Kettering, Dr. Hamilton received a BA in Genetics and Psychology from Ohio Wesleyan University (2004), an MA and PhD in Social and Health Psychology from Stony Brook University (2006, 2009), and an MPH from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University (2010). Dr. Hamilton also completed a postdoctoral fellowship as part of the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program. Dr. Hamilton’s research examines psychosocial aspects of cancer prevention and control, including how people perceive, respond to, and make decisions regarding health risk information revealed by emerging genetic and genomic testing technologies. The goal of her program of behavioral research is to translate advances in genetic and genomic medicine into improvements in patient care and public health. Current profile: https://www.mskcc.org/research-areas/labs/members/jada-hamilton
Dr. Dolores Cannella (Ph.D. 2007)
Dr. Dolores Cannella is Director of Behavioral Sciences at the Stony Brook School of Dental Medicine. Her research and teaching focus on a variety of topics relevant to the patient-provider relationship such as health literacy, cultural competency, and health behavior change, and the use of social psychological theories to investigate health promotion and disparities in health care services. Current profile: https://dentistry.stonybrookmedicine.edu/faculty/cannella
Dr. Christine Veloso (Ph.D. 2006) – Co-Director, Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program, Department of Technology and Society, Stony Brook University
Dr. Cheryl Woods Giscombé (Ph.D. 2005)
Dr. Cheryl Woods Giscombé’s program of research focuses on the contribution of stress and coping to health inequities and the development and implementation of culturally-relevant stress management interventions. Current profile: https://nursing.unc.edu/people/cheryl-giscombe/
Dr. Jennifer Graham- Engeland (Ph.D. 2003)
Dr. Jennifer Graham-Engeland joined the Biobehavioral Health faculty at Penn State in 2006. Her PhD is in Social/Health Psychology from Stony Brook University and she completed postdoctoral work in psychoneuroimmunology at The Ohio State University. She is now the Professor-in-Charge of the Graduate Program in Biobehavioral Health. Dr. Graham-Engeland is a PI and Co-I on several NIH grants and serves as a standing member of the NIH study section “Social Psychology, Personality, and Interpersonal Processes” (SPIP). She investigates the impact of psychological stress on physical health and the psychological, physiological, and behavioral mechanisms underlying stress and health connections. She emphasizes the impact of cognitive and emotional responses to stress (e.g., rumination, meaning-making, anger) that are potential targets for non-pharmacological intervention, with focus on chronic pain. Dr. Graham-Engeland’s original research in these areas is published in numerous biomedical and psychological journals and she presents her work worldwide. Dr. Graham-Engeland is also a dedicated instructor and teaches multiple graduate and undergraduate courses.
Dr. Jayne Schneider (Ph.D. 2003)- Retired. Formerly Research Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Stony Brook University.
Dr. Carla DeVincent (Ph.D. 2001)- Retired. Formerly Research Assistant Professor, Cody Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Stony Brook University
Dr. Janice Grackin (Ph.D. 1999)- Assistant Vice President, Academic Assessment and Program Review, Nassau Community College
Dr. Robyn Stein Deluca (Ph.D. 1999)
Dr. DeLuca is a former lecturer in Women’s Studies at Stony Brook. Her research interests include the psychology of women’s reproductive health and the application of feminist theology to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Current profile: http://delucainsight.com/
Dr. Anne Marie Yali (Ph.D. 1998)-Professor of Psychology, City University of New York, City College and Graduate Center
Dr. Lynette Dias (Ph.D. 1998)- Instructor of Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, Stony Brook University
Dr. Julie Exline (Ph.D. 1997)
Dr. Julie Exline is on the Psychological Sciences faculty at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH. Her appointment is in the Clinical Psychology program. In addition, she teaches a graduate course on Social Psychology. Her research focuses on the psychology of religion and spirituality, often focusing on the struggles and challenges that people face around religion and spirituality. Current profile: http://psychsciences.case.edu/faculty/julie-exline/
