Meet the Lab

The missions of the Florida Exposure and Anxiety Research (FEAR) Lab are:

1 To enhance our understanding of factors that impact treatment outcome during cognitive-behavioral therapy for children and adults with OCD, anxiety, and related disorders.

2 To improve our understanding of what contributes to different presentations of individuals with OCD, anxiety, and related disorders.

3 To educate the next generation of scientists and clinicians in psychology, medicine, and other health-related fields in research that contributes to evidence-based practice.

The principal investigator of the FEAR Lab is Joe McNamara, PhD. Dr. McNamara is also the co-director of the UF Health OCD Program, a clinical program that offers intensive and weekly cognitive-behavioral therapy with exposure and response prevention for patients with OCD and anxiety disorders. Many of our studies recruit participants from this real-world clinical program and tracks outcomes as they occur to provide ecologically valid research with immediate implications for improving the assessment and treatment of individuals with OCD and anxiety disorders.

Dr. Joseph PH McNamara, PhD

is a licensed psychologist and director of the UF Exposure and Anxiety Research Lab. He conducts clinical research that focuses on factors related to improving treatment outcomes for patients with OCD and related disorders. He has been the research mentor for 10 graduate students and has clinically supervised 120 graduate students, interns, and postdoctoral fellows, as well as 60 psychiatry residents

McNamara Headshot

Dr. Andrea Guastello, PhD

is a licensed psychologist and co-director of the UF Florida Exposure and Anxiety Research Lab. In her role as a clinical faculty member, Dr. Guastello provides clinical supervision to psychology and psychiatry trainees as well as research mentorship to graduate students with areas of specialty in Obsessive Compulsive and Related Disorders and Parent Child Interaction Therapy.

Andrea Headshot

Ryan McCarty, MS

is a sixth-year graduate student primarily mentored by Dr. McNamara in the Florida Exposure and Anxiety Research (FEAR) Lab. Ryan graduated from the University of Florida in 2016 with his Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. He is interested in researching the factors that maintain Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders and anxiety disorders, as well as discovering potential augments to cognitive behavioral therapy and exposure and response prevention. Ryan is also very interested in bettering our understanding of and combating mental illness stigma.

Ryan McCarty, M.S.

Seth Downing, MS

is a fifth-year graduate student primarily mentored by Dr. McNamara in the Florida Exposure and Anxiety Research (FEAR) Lab. He graduated from the University of Florida in 2017 with a Bachelor of Science in Zoology and a minor in Spanish. His research interests include factors impacting treatment for obsessive-compulsive and related disorders and anxiety disorders, trajectories for hoarding symptomatology, and the impacts of parental hoarding on children.

Seth Downing, M.S.

Tannaz Mirhosseini, MS

is a fourth-year graduate student primarily mentored by Dr. McNamara in the Florida Exposure and Anxiety Research (FEAR) Lab. Tannaz graduated from the University of Florida in 2017 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. After graduation, she worked in the Language and Cognitive Development Lab under Dr. Jeff Farrar researching Theory of Mind in preschoolers, and in the Florida Exposure and Anxiety Research lab under Dr. Joseph McNamara working with adolescents with OCD, Anxiety and related disorders. She then continued her research in the Mood and Emotion Regulation Lab in Cleveland OH examining the role of emotion regulation in the transmission of depression risk between parents and their offspring. Her research interests include the effects of parent involvement and practices on OCD and anxiety treatment outcome as well as psychological symptoms impact on quality of life. 

Tannaz Headshot

Dr. Megan Barthle-Herrera, PhD

has extensive training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with Exposure and Response Prevention (CBT-E/RP). She specializes in the treatment of Anxiety, OCD, and related disorders. She has a specific interest in anxiety and OCD related to pregnancy and the postpartum period. Dr. Barthle-Herrera’s research interests include treatment outcomes for CBT-E/RP treatment interventions, as well as topics associated with OCD and related disorders. Dr. Barthle-Herrera is the clinical coordinator for the Division of Psychology OCD Program.

Megan Headshot

Ashley Ordway, MEd/EdS, LMHC

has specialized training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with Exposure Response Prevention to treat patients with OCD, Anxiety, and Related Disorders across the lifespan. She is the clinical coordinator for the Center of OCD, Anxiety, and Related Disorders and is passionate about bridging the gap between clinical practice and research.

Ashley Headshot

Lab Alumni

  • Dr. Danielle Cooke PhD – graduated 2021
  • Dr. Lacie Lazaroe – graduated 2021
  • Dr. Andrew Guzick, PhD – graduated 2020
  • Dr. Adam Reid, PhD – graduated 2016
  • Dr. Amanda Balkhi, PhD – graduated 2016

Our current all-star roster of undergraduate research assistants includes:

  • Alejandra Sanchez-Sarmiento
  • Alexandra Garcia
  • Alexandra Mikhailau
  • Amanda Prem
  • Aqueena Fernandez
  • Avery Scrabis
  • Carina Copley
  • Elianne Rodriguez
  • Emlyn Muska
  • Grace Parker
  • Hannah Scales
  • Isabella Schultz
  • Katlyn Reynolds
  • Kendall Robinson
  • Kortney Gauger
  • Marilyn Shandor
  • Melinda Westfall
  • Morgan Colwell
  • Naomi Youakim
  • Rachel Walton
  • Rayon Uddin
  • Sierra Budd
  • Sophia Leon
  • Valeria Castrol-Ariza