Andrea is a fourth year Biobehavioral Health doctoral candidate who recently received a Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) summer fellowship. She was also a Penn State Tobacco Centers of Regulatory Science (TCORS) pre-doctoral fellow from 2014-2017. Andrea received her B.S. in Biobehavioral Health, with a minor in Psychology, from Penn State University in 2012. She went on to receive her M.P.H. in community and behavioral health from Penn State Hershey College of Medicine in 2014. In spring 2016, Andrea received her M.S. degree while in the BBH Ph.D. program. Building off of a pilot study where she was the primary investigator, she is now conducting her dissertation study comparing acute health outcomes and subjective ratings of traditional and electronic waterpipe use. Andrea’s research interests focus on behavioral and psychological factors related to the use of electronic nicotine delivery systems and waterpipe, in addition to their associated health outcomes.
Russell Nye
Russell is a fourth year Biobehavioral Health doctoral candidate. He received his B.S. in Kinesiology from Penn State University in 2012. Upon graduation from Penn State, Russell spent two years working as a Health and Wellness Assistant at Minitab Inc., where he helped conduct comprehensive health programs for employees. Russell’s research broadly focuses on the influence of behavioral factors, specifically physical activity, on nicotine dependence and health outcomes associated with smoking (i.e., lung function). His previous projects include: (1) assisting in running a National Cancer Institute funded grant examining the effect of price on consumption of cigarettes with high and low nicotine content; (2) conducting his own investigation on sleep, physical activity, lung function and smoking behavior in college-aged individuals.
Jessica Braymiller, M.S.
Jessica is a fourth year doctoral candidate in Biobehavioral Health and a pre-doctoral trainee in Prevention and Methodology. She is being co-advised by Drs. Steven Branstetter and Stephanie Lanza. She received her B.A. in Psychology from Mercyhurst University in 2014, and her M.S. in Biobehavioral Health from Penn State in August 2016. Jessica’s research broadly focuses on integrating innovative statistical methods with the study of alternative nicotine/tobacco product use. More specifically, she is interested in (1) using time-varying effect modeling (TVEM) to better understand trends in alternative product use and the association with combustible cigarette use over time (i.e., historical time, developmental age, etc.), and (2) using latent class analysis (LCA) to better understand underlying patterns of smoking behaviors, as well as patterns of alternative product use/co-use.
Sarah Gioia
After earning her B.A. in Psychology from Penn State in 2014, Sarah has returned to her alma mater as a first-year Biobehavioral Health graduate student. In the years since graduating, she has supported research teams in health care and APA accreditation. Most recently, she worked for the American Psychological Association as a legislative assistant, where her team used psychological science to inform federal policy and legislation. Sarah is interested in studying how culture influences attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors related to smoking.