Achievements and Awards

• Alexandra Stone, College of Health and Human Development Student Marshal
• Hannah Supplee, BBH Student Marshal
• Laura Guay, Edith Pitt Chace Award
• Henry Defeskey, College of Health and Human Development Student Service Award
• Jocelyn Dialectos, Alumni Recognition of Student Excellence Award
• Jessica Walton, Helen Skade Hintz Biobehavioral Health Scholarship
• Jocelyn Dialectos, Rachel E. Abraham Award

• Jocelyn Dialectos
• Grace Harris
• Ellie Manca
• Alexandra Stone
• Nataliya Perkhalyuk

• San Juana Mendez Aranda
• Connor Buerk
• Lyzberthe Chery
• Katilin Cole
• Madison Evans
• Dagny Gould
• Jamie Kennedy
• Kathryn Leite
• Alexandra Marcel
• Joseph McDoal
• Maya Mosier
• Brooke Nartey
• Johanna Nasman
• Skyler Nordmeyer
• Eric Petroski
• Mackenzie Sheetz
• Allyson Stump
• Hannah Supplee
• Alexandra Wagner
• Scott Wagner
• Abbygail Ward
• Jillian Zablocki

• Abigail Dunay
• Jess Baryluk
• Carly Belko
• Madi Burns
• Alexis Crawford
• Jocelyn Dialectos
• Sam Etkins
• DeLaney Hyatt
• Reilly Johnston-Walsh
• Erin Lis
• Tori Malloy
• Marca Miller
• Andrea Moenkemoeller
• MacKenzie Sheetz
• Chrissie Shin
• Sara Soliman
• Rachel Spanitz
• Janine Whalen
• Corrine Winters
• Sophie Zientek

• Sarah Gioia (J. Rosenberger) 2020-21 Elizabeth J. Susman Enhancement Fund Award
• Dana Zeid (T. Gould) 2020-21 Elizabeth J. Susman Enhancement Fund Award
• Dana Zeid (T. Gould) 2020-21 Gerald E. McClearn Student Award
• Katja Waldron (T. Turrisi) 2020-21 Biobehavioral Health Graduate Student Scientific Achievement Award
• Sarah Gioia (J. Rosenberger) 2020-21 BBH Graduate Student Teaching Award
• Emily Jones (H. Schreier) 2020 Gerald E. McClearn Graduate Student Award
• David Reichenberger (A. Chang) 2020 Graduate Student Scientific Achievement Research Award
• Laural Mayer-Etzel (I. Shalev) 2019-20 Elizabeth J. Susman Enhancement Fund Award

• Maggie Bedillion (E. Ansell) received Prevention and Methodology (PAMT) T32 Training Grant Award YR 1 of 2 (Penn State)
• David Reichenberger (A. Chang) received Prevention and Methodology (PAMT) T32 Training Grant Award YR 1 of 2 (Penn State)
• Prescilla Garcia-Trevizo (T. Gould) received Prevention and Methodology (PAMT) T32 Training Grant Award YR 1 of 2 (Penn State)
• Katja Waldron (R. Turrisi) 2021 F31 Training Grant (NIH)
• Hridya Rao (L. Fernandez-Rhodes) received Clinical and Translational Science Institute Research Training Award, TL1 (Penn State)
• Samuel Stull (S. Lanza) National Science Foundation (NSF) Award for his research titled, "Positive mood: Dynamic changes and hidden subgroups in real time and context" YR 2
• Abner Apsley, IGDP graduate student (I. Shalev) received T32 Pathways Fellowship Award (Penn State)
• Elyse McMahon, IGDP graduate student (S. Cavigelli) received 2020-21 Alumni Associate Graduate Fellowship/Graduate School Endowed Fellowship Award (Penn State).
• Leslie Ford (A. Rosinger) received funding from the NIH Social Environments and Populations Health T32 Award (Population Research Institute YR 2 of 2 (Penn State)
• Gabriel Cruz (M. Russell) received 2020-21 University Graduate Fellowship Award (Penn State)
• Sarah Lipitz (J. Graham-Engeland) received 2021-22 Joseph and Jean Britton Distinguished Graduate Fellowship (Penn State)
• Qiaofeng Ye (I. Shalev) received 2020-21 University Graduate Fellowship Award (Penn State)
• Dana Zeid (T. Gould) received an NIH F31 fellowship award for her research titled, "Effects of paternal nicotine exposure on sncRNA expression in sire sperm and offspring hippocampus"
• Katja Waldron (R. Turrisi) received a fellowship from the Prevention and Methodology Training (PAMT) T32 training grant.
• Constanza Silva Gallardo (H. Kamens) received a second year of fellowship funding from the Prevention and Methodology Training (PAMT) T32 training grant.
• Samuel Stull (S. Lanza) received an NSF award for his research titled, "Positive mood: Dynamic changes and hidden subgroups in real time and context"
• Emily Jones (M. Russell) received funding from the NIH Biomedical Big Data to Knowledge (B2D2K) T32 Award (Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Penn State)
• Elyse McMahon, IGDP graduate student (S. Cavigelli) received funding from the NIH Biomedical Big Data to Knowledge (B2D2K) T32 Award (Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Penn State).
• Leslie Ford (A. Rosinger) received funding from the NIH Social Environments and Populations Health T32 Award (Population Research Institute, Penn State)
• Laurel Seemiller, IDGP graduate student (T. Gould) received an NIH/NIGMS-sponsored Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Institutional Research Training (T32) program entitled “Research Training in Physiological Adaptations to Stress”.
• Marzieh Majd and Jasmine Caulfield (Neuroscience IGDP) received the 2020 Alumni Association Dissertation Award

This past academic year, BBH celebrated the spring and summer graduations of eleven of its cohort:

• Marina Armendariz (L. Wray) – Marina accepted the Provost Diversity Postdoctoral Fellowship at University of Texas at San Antonio.
• Waylon Hastings (I. Shalev) – Waylon accepted a Postdoctoral Fellowship position in the Department of Biobehavioral Health at Penn State with Idan Shalev.
• Emily Jones (H. Schreier) – Emily accepted a post-doctoral fellow in the Cardiovascular Behavioral Medicine training program at the University of Pittsburgh under the mentorship of Dr. Anna Marsland and Dr. Pete Gianaro.
• Gina Mathew (A. Chang) – Gina accepted a T32 post-doctoral fellowship in Population Health Science at NYU Langone Medicine with Dr. Azizi Seixas.
• Constanza Silva-Gallardo (H. Kamens) – Constanza accepted a postdoctoral position at the Criminal and Justice Research Center (CJRC) at Penn State with Dr. Jeremy Staff (Sociology) and Dr. Jennifer Maggs (HDFS).
• Dana Zeid (T. Gould) – Dana accepted a postdoctoral position at Temple University working with Dr. Mathieu Wimmer.
• Dusti Jones (J. Graham-Engeland) - Dusti Jones accepted a Postdoctoral Fellowship position in the Department of Biobehavioral Health at Penn State with Josh Smyth.
• Bradley Trager (R. Turrisi) - Trager accepted a Postdoctoral Fellowship position at Loyola Marymount University, Psychology Research Lab with Joe LaBrie.
• Marzieh Majd (C. Engeland) - Majd accepted a Rice Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship position at Rice University, Psychological Sciences, with Christopher Fagundes.
• Frank Materia (J. Smyth) - Materia accepted a Postdoctoral Research Scholarship position in the Department of Health Services and Outcomes Research at Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, Missouri.  Materia will work with Kathy Goggin and Delwyn Catley.
• Jessica Salas-Brooks, (J. Graham-Engeland) - Salas-Brooks is planning to pursue a career in the field of public health.

2020-21 IGDP-PhD graduates:

• Jasmine Caulfield (S. Cavigelli) – Jasmine accepted a postdoc position with Dr. Harriet Kluger at Yale University.

2021 cohort:

• Gabriel Cruz, (M. Russell)
• Cate Givens, (H. Schreier)
• Sarah Lipitz, (J. Graham-Engeland)
• Seyedeh Leila Mousavi, (H. Kamens)
• Carlos Novoa, (T. Gould)
• Gabriela Revi, (D. Spangler)
• Taylor Turrisi, (J. Smyth)
• Molly Wright, (C. Engeland)
• Qiaofeng Ye, (I. Shalev)

2020 cohort: 

• Lauren Chu, (K. Murdock)
• Aishwarya Ganguli, (H. Schreier)
• Shannon Glenn, (R. Turrisi)
• Lourdes Perez, (A. Snipes)
• Shannon White, (J. Smyth)
• Qiaofeng Ye, (I. Shalev)

• Dana Naughton, Associate Teaching Professor
• JoAnn Foley-DeFiore, Associate Teaching Professor
• Melina Czymoniewicz-Klippel, Associate Teaching Professor
• Anne-Marie Chang, Associate Professor
• Helen Kamens, Associate Professor
• Elizabeth Lasher, Associate Teaching Professor
• Idan Shalev, Associate Professor

• Stephanie Lanza co-authored a book that guides readers on how to use Time-varying effect modeling, an easy-to-use statistical tool for behavioral, social, & health sciences researchers.
• Asher Rosinger made the cover of the July issue of the Scientific American. The feature story discusses the evolution of human water needs.
• Steve Kodish has been named a finalist in the American Society for Nutrition’s Nutrition Translation Award Program, which recognizes outstanding early-career scientists and clinicians interested in translating their research to a defined audience to improve public health and/or health outcomes.
• Asher Rosinger received a Center for Security and Education Research Seed grant for his project titled, "Water (In)Security: Health Impacts and Drinking Water Wells in Pennsylvania."
• Orfeu Buxton received funding from the National Institute on Aging for his project titled, "A non-pharmacological multi-modal therapy to improve sleep and cognition and reduce mild cognitive impairment risk." This project is a team effort that also involves BBH faculty Margeaux Gray (project leader), Mike Russell and Chris Engeland.
• Josh Smyth and Jill Johnson received a collaborative grant from the National Institute of Mental Health for their project titled, “Study of a PST-Trained Voice-Enabled Artificial Intelligence Counselor (SPEAC) for Adults with Emotional Distress.”
• Stephanie Lanza and Courtney Whetzel, former mentee of Laura Klein, presented on the Penn State CORE (College Relationships and Experiences) project to help PSU alums learn about how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting the lives of Penn State undergraduates.

• Thomas Gould was elected President, Division 28 on Psychopharmacology and Substance Use of the American Psychological Association. His term as President-elect will start in 2022 and his presidency in 2023. 
• Julie States tried something different to liven up class following spring break ― bring your parent or roommate/friend to class day!  Creative ideas like this are probably one reason she received a HHD Teaching Excellence Award in 2018-2019.
• Marie Cross and Beth Edwards received grants from the Schreyer Institute of Teaching Excellence to support their residential and World Campus teaching respectively.
• Melina Czymoniewicz-Klippel received an award from the Student Engagement Network to develop a series of immersive virtual tours to support undergraduate students in developing empathy towards the health experiences of populations globally.
• Elizabeth Lasher supported Dean Craig Newschaffer in preparing to teach a section of the BBH first year seminar in fall 2020.
• Emma Domico, a BBH senior working with David Vandenbergh, won an honorable mention in the Information Literacy category for her Undergraduate Research Day poster. Upon graduation, Emma was accepted into the Teach for America program.
• Anna Wickenheisser and Aidan Peat, undergraduate students working with Helen Kamens, were awarded Student Engagement Network grants to support their summer research. A news story about Aidan’s project is here.

• David Vandenbergh and Chris Engeland organized the collection of more than 500 protective masks and 1,200 pairs of gloves for essential workers; Idan Shalev helped with their delivery. 
• Amy Snipes has undertaken an advisory role for farmworkers during the COVID-19 outbreak. 
• Laura Klein formed a "BBH Stay Connected" book and movie club for members of the department.
• Lori Francis participated in a thought-provoking and inspiring video interview with Eric Foley on health disparities and COVID-19.
• Dana Naughton and Liz Lasher worked with the PA Department of Health to create a new fieldwork internship for students to train and serve as contact tracers for the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
• JoAnn Foley-DeFiore taught several webinars for the US Forest Service on "Understanding Racism and Creating Institutional Pathways to Allyship." JoAnn is currently serving as interim Director of Penn State’s Sustainability Minor. 
• Marc Dingman was asked by the College of Health and Human Development to co-lead the Committee on Remote First-Year Engagement.
• Dana Naughton created an alliance with the Penn State Center in Philadelphia leading to new opportunities for student engagement, training and work on symposia, issues and other events relating to social justice issues, as well as research opportunities in food insecurity issues in Philadelphia.
• Orfeu Buxton has taken over the reigns as Editor in Chief of the Journal Sleep Health.
• Shelli Stine served on the Faculty Senate task force to develop COVID related academic policies including alternative grading, as well as the Academic Policies and Procedures team charged by the Provost to develop implementation guidelines for the COVID-related policies for Spring 2020 and Summer 2020. Shelli also served on the university wide Policies and Procedures for the Transition to Remote Learning this fall and is currently serving on the Continuity of Learning team for Spring 2021.

• Emily Ansell was featured in a piece in the Wall Street Journal on the benefit of small acts of kindness during these challenging times.
• Orfeu Buxton was interviewed for an interesting article in the Washington Post on sleep in the age of the pandemic.
• Asher Rosinger had a press release on his recent publication on health implications of and coping with water scarcity. 

• Erik Knight, former postdoctoral scholar mentored by Chris Engeland (and co-mentored by Jennifer Graham-Engeland), accepted a tenure track position in the Social Psychology Program at the University of Colorado.
• Michelle Martin Romero, former mentee of Lori Francis, accepted a position as a tenure-track, Assistant Professor of Public Health Education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. 
• Jerod Stapleton, former mentee of Rob Turrisi, has been appointed Assistant Dean for Research at the University of Kentucky.
• Brian Saltsman, former mentee of Steve Petrill, has been appointed interim Chief Diversity Officer of Alfred University.
• Donaldson Conserve, former mentee of Gary King, received a 2020 Emerging Professional – Graduate Degree Award. This award is given by the HHD Alumni Society Board to recent HHD graduates who demonstrate professional excellence and/or exemplary voluntary community involvement in HHD professions. 

• The philanthropic generosity of Emeritus Faculty, Liz Susman, and her husband, Gerry, continues to make BBH better. 
• Keith Whitfield, former BBH faculty member from 1993 through 2007, has been named President of University of Nevada, Las Vegas.