OUR TEAM

Deborah Drabick, Ph.D.

Dr. Drabick is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Temple University. Dr. Drabick’s expertise is broadly in developmental psychopathology, and more specifically in youth externalizing problems. Her work includes such areas as risk and resilience, co-occurring psychological conditions, contextual influences, and intervention. She has published articles related to most childhood conditions, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, autism spectrum disorder, anxiety, and depression. Dr. Drabick is particularly interested in assessment of neurodevelopmental processes that may predict intervention outcomes and using advanced statistical techniques to understand the development of co-occurring psychological conditions. Her work has been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, American Psychological Foundation, PA Department of Health, and Temple University (e.g., Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Office of the Vice Provost for Research). Dr. Drabick teaches a range of foundational and upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses related to clinical and developmental psychology. She has mentored many graduate and undergraduate students, who present their work at important conferences, publish empirical and conceptual papers, procure external funding, and obtain outstanding positions in a variety of medical and university settings. Dr. Drabick has served on more than 200 student defenses and has received numerous awards for her teaching and mentoring (e.g., Temple University’s Lindback Award, College of Liberal Arts Distinguished Teaching Award, Dept. of Psychology Excellence in Mentoring Award). Dr. Drabick has been a reviewer for DSM-5 Work groups, NIH grant review panels, numerous journals, and various conferences, and is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology. Dr. Drabick also chairs the Department’s Statistics Curriculum Committee and serves on the College of Liberal Arts Graduate Committee. She is on the executive committee of Temple’s Phi Beta Kappa Honors Society where she has led initiatives to provide books and other resources to children in the North Philadelphia community, which reflects her deep interest in supporting community partnerships.

Current Graduate Students

May is a fifth-year doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program. She graduated from the University of Vermont in 2019 with a B.S. in Psychological Sciences. During her time at UVM, May was an undergraduate research assistant in Dr. Timothy Stickle’s Developmental Psychopathology Lab studying gender differences in primary and secondary psychopathy. Upon graduating, May worked as a research coordinator for three years in The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Cancer Center under the direction of Dr. Matthew Hocking. She coordinated studies examining brain mechanisms in youth with Neurofibromatosis Type I and social connectedness in survivors of pediatric brain and solid tumors. May’s current research interests include modifiable risk factors for externalizing disorders in youth and examining outcomes of the integration of behavioral health services in pediatric primary care. In her free time, May enjoys knitting, hiking, and exploring Philadelphia with friends.

Jocelynn is a third-year graduate student in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program. She graduated from Duke University in 2022 with a B.A. in Psychology and a double minor in Chemistry and African & African American Studies. While at Duke, Jocelynn served as an undergraduate research assistant in Dr. Michael Tomasello’s Developmental Psychology lab studying young children’s development of social and cognitive skills related to cooperation. Upon graduating, Jocelynn worked as a research assistant for two years at the Durham VA Medical Center Integrative Mental Health Program, where she investigated novel clinical interventions for moral injury through a multi-site quality improvement implementation trial. Jocelynn’s research interests include the influence of adversity, particularly traumatic events and racism, on risk and resilience in racial minority youth. In her free time, Jocelynn enjoys reading, playing board games, and spending time with family and friends.

Brianna is a fourth-year clinical psychology student who is working with Dr. Mike McCloskey in the Mechanisms of Affective Dysregulation Lab. She graduated from the University of California, Irvine in 2020 with a B.A. in Psychology and minor in Biological Sciences. Upon graduating from UCI, Brianna attended Yale University as a post-baccalaureate student for the Emerging Scholars Initiative program where she researched the effects of exposure to violence on decision-making. Brianna’s current research interests include developmental predictors of and protective factors against youth aggression. In her free time, Brianna enjoys baking and spending time with her dog, Pork Chop.

Sophie Martel is a fourth-year graduate student working with Dr. Philip Kendall in the Child and Adolescent Anxiety Disorders Clinic. Sophie graduated in 2021 with a BA in psychology from The University of Michigan. Following graduation, she worked as a Postgraduate Research Associate at the Yale Child Study Center in the Anxiety & Mood Disorders Lab researching parent-based treatments to reduce accommodation and a computer-based treatment to reduce social anxiety in adolescents. Sophie is interested in how school-based accommodations can better support students with anxiety disorders, as well as how parent-child and peer relationships impact anxiety in children and adolescents.

Medina is a Phi Theta Kappa member, a Catto Scholar and graduated from Community College of Philadelphia Summa Cum Laude with an Associate Degree in Psychology. Medina is currently pursuing her bachelor’s degree at Temple University, majoring in Psychology, and minoring in Cognitive Neuroscience. Her interests lie at the intersections of psychology, neuroscience, and cognition and she hopes to specialize her focus through research. She is passionate about investigating and understanding the neurobiological processes that underpin grief and how these processes influence human behavior. Knowing biology is the basis of behavior, Medina’s goal is to gain a deeper understanding about the effects of grief by investigating the experience at its most rudimentary level. Outside of Medina’s research and psych/neuro interests, she loves traveling, anything labeled “adventure”, and football. GO BIRDS!

Anushka is a senior at Temple University with a major in psychology and minors in chemistry and classical languages and literature on the pre-med track . She is part of Temple’s Honors Psychology Program in which she will complete her senior thesis before graduating. She hopes to learn more about community based participatory research and working with/facilitating interventions for children with emotional or behavioral difficulties. In the future, Anushka hopes to pursue a career in child psychiatry or pediatrics. Currently, she is also an intern at Temple’s Psychological Services Center and a math and organic chemistry tutor for Temple undergraduates. In her downtime, Anushka loves to cook, read, and try new restaurants/cuisines.

Jahliah is a senior psychology major in the College of Liberal Arts at Temple University. She aspires to become a school psychologist and work closely with K–12 students in Black and Brown communities. As an undergraduate, she currently serves as a peer advisor in the College of Liberal Arts and also works as a tutor and mentor, supporting high school students from similar backgrounds in Philadelphia. Outside of academics and work, Jahliah enjoys reading and spending time with her family. 

Val graduated from the clinical psychology Ph.D. program in 2025. She completed her clinical internship at Boston Children’s Hospital in Health Service Psychology in the Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Department in Summer 2024.

Rafi graduated from the clinical psychology Ph.D. program in 2024. After completing internship at the New York University Bellevue Hospital, she began a post-doctoral fellowship at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Lindsay graduated from the clinical psychology Ph.D. program in 2022. After completing internship at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, she began a post-doctoral fellowship at Alvord, Baker, and Associates, LLC, a private psychotherapy practice in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

Jenika graduated from the clinical psychology Ph.D. program in 2022. After completing internship at the University of Minnesota Medical School, she began a post-doctoral fellowship at Duke University.

Ijeoma completed graduated from the clinical psychology Ph.D. program and completed internship at Texas Children’s Hospital in 2021. She currently works as a psychologist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.