Meet the Lab

Hailey is a fourth-year clinical and health psychology doctoral student in CHP under the co-mentorship of Drs. David Janicke and Sarah Westen. She graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in psychology in 2020. Following graduation, she completed a post-baccalaureate research position at Children’s National Hospital in Washington DC under the mentorship of Dr. Randi Streisand. There, she coordinated a multi-site R01 intervention for adolescents with type 1 diabetes experiencing elevated levels of diabetes-related distress. Her clinical and research interests lie in family-based interventions, caregiver well-being, and resilience among youth and families navigating pediatric chronic illness or injury. Her dissertation research will focus on exploring factors associated with caregiver willingness to engage their child in islet autoantibody screening to detect increased risk of developing type 1 diabetes. 

Jessica is a third-year clinical psychology doctoral student in the Clinical Health Psychology program under the mentorship of Dr. David Janicke. Prior to joining CHP, Jessica received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from The Ohio State University. Following graduation, she worked as a full-time clinical research coordinator in the Center for Biobehavioral Health’s post-baccalaureate program at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio under the mentorship of Drs. Cynthia Gerhardt and Micah Skeens. There, she coordinated several K and R-level studies examining medication adherence, symptom management and burden, allocation of treatment responsibility, and feasibility and usage of electronic health applications in pediatric cancer using mixed-method, longitudinal, and randomized control trial designs. Jessica’s research interests include exploring the impact of rural residency, dyadic parent-child communication, and internalizing symptomology (i.e., anxiety, depression) on medication adherence in patients and families with childhood chronic illnesses.

Abby is a third-year clinical psychology doctoral student in the Clinical Health Psychology (CHP) program under the mentorship of Dr. David Janicke and Dr. David Fedele. Prior to joining CHP, Abby received a Bachelor of Science in Developmental Psychology with a minor in Family Therapy from the University of Minnesota. There she was a research assistant for the Minnesota Center of Eating Disorder Research and the Gunnar Lab for Developmental Psychobiology Research. Additionally, she worked as a central rater and in-house clinical research associate for SPARK Neuro medical where she helped coordinate a multi-site national study. Abby’s currently research interests include caregiver burden and sibling relationships in families who have a child with a neuromuscular condition. 

Tanvi Verma is a first-year doctoral student in the Clinical Health Psychology (CHP) program under the mentorship of Dr. David Janicke. She graduated with a BS in Psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University, where she participated in multiple longitudinal research studies investigating patterns of medication adherence, family dynamics, psychosocial factors, and health outcomes in patients with pediatric cancer and related blood disorders. Tanvi then earned her MA in Clinical Psychology from Columbia University and subsequently worked in the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology at Columbia University Medical Center. There, she co-created a healthcare transition program for pediatric patients diagnosed with short bowel syndrome and intestinal failure. Her current research interests include self-management of chronic illness in early adolescence, as well as family functioning and the various factors influencing successful self-management.

Lexi is a doctoral student in the Clinical and Health Psychology program. She is excited to be completing her pre-doctoral internship through the O’Grady Residency in Psychology at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Lexi graduated from Florida State University in 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and minors in Biology and Business. Following graduation, Lexi worked as a post-baccalaureate clinical research assistant at Nationwide Children’s Hospital under the mentorship of Dr. Cynthia Gerhardt. There, she coordinated multiple projects assessing the impact of pediatric cancer on children and families at diagnosis, survivorship, and end of life. During her graduate training, she has gained experiencing examining factors related to adherence and systemic barriers to medical and psychosocial care among youth with type 1 diabetes and sickle cell disease. Lexi’s primary research interests are related to better understanding how health inequities impact access to care, care quality, and psychosocial functioning among patients and families with childhood chronic illnesses.

Rebecca Quiñones is wrapping up her fifth year at CHP and will be headed off to Nemours Children’s Hospital in Wilmington Delaware later this summer, where she will be completing her internship year.   Rebecca is co-mentored by Dr. David Janicke and Dr. Erika Cascio.  Rebecca’s research interests include identifying the unique challenges that are faced by adolescents and young adults with cancer (AYA’s), as well as exploring their religious and/or spiritual needs. Rebecca’s goal is to help in the development of tailored psychological interventions for this unique patient population and their caregivers. Rebecca’s dissertation study is entitled: Assessing Religion, Spirituality and Meaning-Making and its associations with resilience, and health related quality of life in an adolescent and young adult oncology sample. 

Graduated with her PhD in August of 2024 after completing her internship at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC) in Cincinnati, OH. She is now completing her 2^nd year as a post-doctoral fellow at CCHMC.

Graduated with her PhD in August of 2025 after completing her internship at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri. She is now completing her post-doctoral fellowship at Children’s Mercy.