Emily Jones is fifth year graduate student in the Department of Biobehavioral Health. She completed undergraduate training in Psychology from the College of New Jersey, graduate training in Professional Counseling from the University of Pennsylvania, and worked as a child trauma therapist in Pittsburgh before coming to Penn State.

Emily broadly studies how chronic psychosocial stress (e.g., poverty, childhood adversity) gets “under the skin” to contribute to chronic disease risk. She is particularly interested in identifying individual and psychosocial protective resources that may buffer the extent to which chronic stress negatively impacts health, such as supportive interpersonal relationships and emotion regulation strategies. For her dissertation project, Emily is examining how being a first-generation college student and experiencing more hardship in childhood influences students’ psychosocial adjustment to college (e.g., sense of belonging) and their chronic disease risk (e.g., resting blood pressure, systemic inflammation, latent virus regulation). Study findings could potentially inform interventions that promote all aspects of students’ success and well-being during the transition to college.

Emily Sellinger works as a Research Technologist for the Schreier Lab. Emily received her B.S. in Biological Sciences from Penn State University. As an undergraduate, she participated in research focused on predicting Lyme disease incidence. Her research interests include public health, disease ecology, and mathematical modeling. In time, Emily plans to continue her education through graduate school.

Fernanda Lugo is an incoming first-year graduate student in the department of Biobehavioral health. She received a Bachelors in Biology with a minor in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Texas in El Paso in 2018. She previously worked in environmental chemistry, analyzing removal and filtration systems for Bisphenol A. Her current research interests are in the areas of public health and interventions, as well as the early detection of biomarkers as precursors to chronic disease. She is particularly interested in how environmental exposures and stress alike can lead to the development of autoimmune and chronic inflammatory diseases.

Meghan Field is a sophomore at The Pennsylvania State University majoring in Biobehavioral Health with minors in Biology and Psychology. After her time at Penn State, she plans to either attend Physician Assistant or Pharmacy school. Her research interests include how each individual’s life experiences mold their overall development in addition to discovering the relationships between our own environments and how we function on a daily basis.

Abby Dugo is a senior at The Pennsylvania State University studying Biobehavioral Health with minors in Neuroscience and Biology. After graduating from Penn State she plans to attend medical school and eventually enter a career in neurology doing both clinical and research-based work. She has a particular interest in neurodegenerative diseases and discovering pathological causes and developing pharmacological treatments for them.

Kristy DiLoreto is a senior at The Pennsylvania State University pursuing a major in Biobehavioral Health and a minor in Psychological Science. She is largely interested in how genetics and the environment contribute to one’s overall health, and is currently gravitating toward a future in genetic counseling because it will allow her to have a clinical aspect as well as a research and public health component in her career.

Kalie is currently a junior at The Pennsylvania State University majoring in Biobhevaioral Health and minoring in Human Development and Family Studies. After graduating, she plans to go to graduate school and conduct more research. Eventually, Kalie hopes to get a job in research, specifically working in oncology and immunology.