Our Team – Temple Mood and Cognition Lab

TEMPLE MOOD AND COGNITION LAB

Principal Investigator: Lauren B. Alloy, Ph.D.

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Lauren B. Alloy, Ph.D.

Principal Investigator, Temple Mood and Cognition Lab
Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, Temple University

(215) 204-7326
lalloy@temple.edu
Faculty Webpage | Curriculum Vitae

Lauren B. Alloy, Ph.D. is the Laura H. Carnell Professor of Psychology & Neuroscience and Joseph Wolpe Distinguished Faculty in Psychology & Neuroscience at Temple University. Dr. Alloy is an internationally recognized researcher in mood disorders. Her research focuses on cognitive, psychosocial, affective, developmental, and neurobiological processes in the onset and course of depression and bipolar disorder in adolescents and young adults and has been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health for over 30 years.

Along with many colleagues such as Drs. Lyn Abramson and Robin Nusslock, Dr. Alloy is known for research on the “sadder but wiser” effect, the hopelessness theory of depression, the reward hypersensitivity and integrated reward/circadian rhythm theories of bipolar disorder, and an integrated cognitive/inflammation model of depression. She is the author of over 400 scholarly publications and has been in the Top 1% of Most Cited Authors in Psychology. She is a Fellow of APA, APS, ABCT, and APPA. Dr. Alloy has received multiple awards for her research: the 1984 American Psychological Association (APA) Young Psychologist Award, the 2002 APA Master Lecturer Award in Psychopathology, the 2001 Temple University Paul W. Eberman Faculty Research Award, the 2003 APA Division 12 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, the 2003 Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology (SSCP) Distinguished Scientist Award, the 2009 Association for Psychological Science (APS) James McKeen Catell Award for Lifetime Achievement in Applied Psychological Research, the 2014 Society for Research in Psychopathology (SRP) Joseph Zubin Award for Lifetime Achievement in Psychopathology Research, the 2014 Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) Career/Lifetime Achievement Award, and the 2017 Temple University Faculty Research Award. She also has won three major mentorship awards: the 2018 SRP John Neale Outstanding Mentor Award, the 2021 SSCP Lawrence H. Cohen Outstanding Mentor Award, and the 2022 APA Division 12 Toy Caldwell-Colbert Award for Distinguished Educator in Clinical Psychology.

Mentoring and career development is one of Dr. Alloy’s most important and valued professional activities and she devotes large amounts of time to her students. Her success in mentoring is revealed by the stellar achievements and successful careers of her current and former students, colloquially known as “Alloy’s Angels.”

Graduate Students

Iris Ka-Yi Chat, M.A.

PhD Student

kychat@temple.edu | Twitter

Iris joined the Mood and Cognition Lab as a graduate student in the fall of 2018. She received her B.A. in Psychology from UCLA and a M.A. in Psychology from Boston University. After graduation, she spent three years working on a NIMH-funded R01 study examining reward and threat related neurocircuits and dimensions of mood and anxiety symptoms as a lab manger at Northwestern University, where she developed skills in psychoneuroimmunology, neuroimaging, and psychophysiology. Iris’s current research examines the connections between inflammatory biology, stress, and the neurobiology of reward processing, and their implications for the onset and maintenance of mood disorders from a developmental perspective. When not in the lab, Iris can be found traveling, enjoying nature, cooking, and trying new restaurants in Philly.

Mora Grehl, M.A.

PhD Student

mora.grehl@temple.edu

Mora joined the Mood and Cognition lab as a graduate student in the Fall of 2019. Mora received her BA in Psychology from Barnard College in 2015, where her research focused on the development of various cognitive and emotional processes in young children. After graduating, Mora sought to investigate how such processes could impact the development of psychopathology in adulthood, and joined the Depression and Anxiety Center for Discovery and Treatment at Mount Sinai Hospital under the mentorship of James Murrough, MD, PhD. During Mora’s four years at the center, she primarily worked with patients with severe mood disorders, which inspired questions about how early life experiences could confer risk for and influence the course of severe psychopathology. Additionally, through her work on several multimodal neuroimaging studies, Mora became passionate about using neuroimaging and psychoneuroimmunology to investigate such questions. Mora’s current research involves using multiple modalities to understand how cognitive biases impact emotion regulation, and the neurobiological etiology and trajectory of these relationships throughout the lifespan. When not in the lab, Mora can be found playing soccer, going to concerts with friends and eating her way around Philadelphia.

Rachel Walsh, M.A.

PhD Student

rachel_walsh@temple.edu | Twitter

Rachel joined the Mood and Cognition Lab as a graduate student in the fall of 2019. She graduated from Carnegie Mellon in 2015 and then joined the Genetic Epidemiology Branch as a post-baccalaureate Intramural Research Training Awardee where she worked with Dr. Kathleen Merikangas on a family study of mood and anxiety disorders. In particular, she investigated endophenotypes for bipolar disorder, with a specific interest in understanding how activity patterns and circadian rhythms relate to mood episodes. Then she spent two years at Bradley Hospital of Brown University working in the Adolescent Mood and Behavior Lab under the mentorship of Richard Liu on studies examining the underlying mechanisms of teen suicidality, specifically how impulsivity, life stress, neurocognitive indices confer risk for self-injurious thoughts and behaviors (SITB). As a 2019 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, Rachel is interested in using ambulatory assessment methodologies like ecological momentary assessment (EMA) and actigraphy to understand how sleep and circadian rhythms increase risk for mood episodes and help predict SITB in adolescents. In her free time, Rachel enjoys travelling, spending time with friends, and watching Grey’s Anatomy. Catch me on academic twitter!

Logan Smith, M.A.

PhD Student

logan520@temple.edu

Logan is originally from a rural town in North Carolina called Mount Airy and earned an associate’s degree from a local community college in 2016. From 2016-2018, he attended UNC Chapel Hill and earned a degree in psychology and history with a minor in education. It was there that he met his now-wife, Jenny, and developed interests in research and clinical psychology under the mentorship of Dr. Eric Youngstrom. After graduation, Logan worked on several research studies with longitudinal cohorts at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC. Throughout this time Logan also worked with the nonprofit Helping Give Away Psychological Science (HGAPS; hgaps.org), which is an organization focused on dissemination of high-quality information about psychology. Logan’s past research interests and projects have focused on mood/affect and measurement, and he hopes to develop and diversify these interests while in the lab, which he joined in the fall of 2020. In his free time, Logan enjoys spending time with his wife and playing with their kitten, Zuko.

Zoe Adogli, M.A.

PhD Student

zoe.adogli@temple.edu

Zoe joined the Mood and Cognition Lab as a graduate student in the Fall of 2021. She is an international student from France and came to the U.S. to pursue a degree in Clinical Psychology. She is passionate about the neurobiology of mood disorders, particularly about the effects of early life adversity on brain reward processes. Zoe previously worked in two labs at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. She volunteered at the Neural Circuits lab under the direction of Dr. Atsak and investigated the effects of early life stress on anhedonia. In parallel, she volunteered at the Global Psychiatric Epidemiology Group under the direction of Dr. Hoven, which investigated the effects of poor sleep quality on psychopathology. In her free time, she enjoys puzzles and taking long walks with her pup. Zoe is committed to helping further understand how adversity in childhood contributes to the onset of depression and related risk factors.

Auburn Stephenson, M.A.

PhD Student

auburn.stephenson@temple.edu

Auburn joined the Mood and Cognition Lab as a graduate student in the Fall of 2021. Auburn received her B.A. in Psychology from Boston College in 2019, where her research focused on how young children think about and react to life’s challenges. Interested in exploring how various cognitive processes impact the development of emotional disorders, Auburn became the full-time research coordinator of the Boundaries of Anxiety and Depression Lab at the University of Pennsylvania, under the direction of Dr. Ayelet Meron Ruscio. During her work as research coordinator, Auburn cultivated a strong interest in understanding the ways in which transdiagnostic factors, particularly repetitive negative thought, contribute to the onset and maintenance of mood disorders. As a graduate student in the Mood and Cognition Lab, Auburn hopes to further her study of cognition across development and examine cognitive risk factors associated with depression onset during adolescence. In her free time, Auburn enjoys running, cooking, listening to podcasts, and exploring new restaurants with her friends and family.

Mackenzie Maddox, B.S.

PhD Student

mack.maddox@temple.edu

Mackenzie joined the Mood and Cognition lab as a graduate student in the Fall of 2022. She received her B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Biology from Southwestern University in 2019 where she worked in a Health Psychology lab studying the effects of emotion regulation on cortisol levels. Mackenzie then completed her research postbaccalaureate at the University of California, Berkeley in the CALM lab under the direction of Dr. Sheri Johnson where she explored the dynamic relationships between emotion-related impulsivity and internalizing symptoms. Under the additional mentorship of Dr. Lance Kriegsfeld, Mackenzie began to explore the connections between circadian biology and mood disorders, specifically assessing how these rhythms differ between clinical and non-clinical groups. Mackenzie hopes to continue studying these patterns of sleep and activity when predicting high-risk populations for bipolar spectrum disorders. In her free time, she enjoys finding new restaurants to try, drinking too much coffee, and traveling with friends!

Jiana Schnabel, B.S.

PhD Student

jiana.schnabel@temple.edu

Jiana started at Temple as a graduate student in the fall of 2022. She graduated from Tufts University in 2020 with a B.S. in Psychology and Economics. Following graduation, she worked in the Biological Psychiatry Laboratory at McLean Hospital under Drs. James Hudson, Harrison Pope Jr., and Brian Brennan. There, she was the study coordinator of two industry-sponsored drug trials, one for patients with Major Depressive Disorder and the other for those with Binge Eating Disorder. She also assisted in a neuroimaging study that examined whether long-term anabolic-androgenic steroid abuse in males increases their risk for early cognitive decline or dementia. Jiana’s time at McLean sparked her interest in studying the neurobiology of mood and eating disorders; her current research interests include examining the role of neurocognition and reward system processing in the onset and maintenance of mood and eating disorders. In her free time, Jiana enjoys running, spending time outdoors, and checking out all of Philly’s fantastic coffee shops and restaurants!

Felicia Petterway, B.A.

PhD Student

felicia.petterway@temple.edu | Twitter

Felicia joined the Mood and Cognition lab as a graduate student in the Fall of 2023. Felicia received her B.A. in Public Health Studies and Psychology from Johns Hopkins University in 2020, where her research focused on predictors of eating disorder treatment outcomes. She then completed a postbaccalaureate research fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), where she explored neural, endocrine, and immune correlates of psychopathology. While at MGH, she also coordinated a clinical trial investigating the effects of estrogen replacement on cognitive flexibility and reward responsiveness in young women with hypothalamic amenorrhea. Felicia is interested in investigating the link between chronic stress exposure during adolescence and the emergence of psychopathology, with a particular interest in the neurobiological mechanisms involved in these processes. In her free time, Felicia enjoys spending time with her family, baking, mentoring budding research scientists, and catching up on the latest reality TV dramas.

Kayla Baresich, B.S.

PhD Student

kayla.baresich@temple.edu

Kayla joined the Mood and Cognition lab as a graduate student in the fall of 2023. She received her B.S. in Psychology with minors in Neuroscience and Women & Gender Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2021. At UNC, she worked with Drs. Elizabeth Andersen and Susan Girdler to research the effects of stress and sex hormone variability on mood in pubertal girls and perimenopausal women. From 2021-2023, she worked full-time in Dr. Andersen’s NERD Lab as study coordinator for the EVOLVE study, using longitudinal hormone sampling and EEG to investigate the impact of social stress on the neuroendocrinology and mood of girls undergoing puberty. From this work, she cultivated an interest in understanding how adolescents’ developing neurobiology contributes to the risk of mood disorder onset around puberty. As a 2023 Fellow of the National Science Foundation, Kayla is grateful to the foundation and her family and friends for their support of her work. In her free time, Kayla enjoys spending time in nature, making music, rooting on the UNC Tar Heels Men’s Basketball team, and playing with her precious cats, Roy and Carolina.

Shawn Wang, B.S.

PhD Student

shawn.wang@temple.edu

Shawn joined the Mood and Cognition Lab as a graduate student in the fall of 2024. Originally from northern California, he graduated from UCLA in 2021 with a degree in Psychology. While he was there, he worked on substance abuse treatment projects at the UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Programs with Dr Kate Wolitzky-Taylor as well as studied the role of spiritual connection in coping with stress with Dr Ted Robles. After graduation, he began working in the UCLA Anxiety and Depression Research Center with Dr Michelle Craske coordinating treatment projects examining a positive affect intervention targeting anhedonia as well as a decoded neuro-reinforcement treatment for animal phobia. Shawn is interested in taking a multimodal approach to understanding reward and reward dysfunction as a transdiagnostic mechanism as well as improving methods for reward measurement. And when not in the lab, Shawn enjoys spending time at Costco, using his sous vide, and browsing SSENSE.