SBSB trainees contribute to all aspects of our research. Our fellows, many of them Intramural Research Training Award (IRTA) recipients, have experience and interests across a range of social and behavioral science areas, from health disparities to eating and diet-related outcomes to mental health and suicide.
Aleah Brown is a postbaccalaureate fellow working with Dr. Bobby Cheon to investigate socioeconomic and psychological influences on eating behavior. Her current research interests are internalizing behavior and mood disorders and family/parenting psychology in minority populations. Previous research experiences include work in psychology and art, nutritional neuroscience, sleep, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and social anxiety. She graduated from Spelman College with a degree in psychology and a concentration in neuroscience. Following her fellowship, she hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in clinical or counseling psychology.
Zoe Chang is a postbaccalaureate fellow working with Dr. Stephen Gilman. Her research interests include investigating the etiology of internalizing disorders in disadvantaged populations and health disparities in mental health. She graduated from Hunter College - City University of New York with a B.A. in clinical psychology and is looking to pursue a Ph.D. in clinical psychology.
Allison Choe is a postbaccalaureate fellow working with Dr. Tonja Nansel on research examining dietary behavior in pregnancy and early childhood. She is interested in child and adolescent mental health, addressing health disparities, and behavioral interventions in health care. She graduated from the University of Michigan in 2023 with a major in biopsychology, cognition, and neuroscience and a minor in community action and social change. After her fellowship, she hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in clinical psychology.
Amara Channell Doig, Ph.D., M.P.H., is a postdoctoral fellow working with Dr. Tonja Nansel on examining dietary behavior in pregnancy and early childhood. Her research examines parenting practices and child diet quality. Her previous work includes research on health disparities and culture in infant feeding. She earned an M.P.H. from The George Washington University in 2015 and a Ph.D. in behavioral and community health from the University of Maryland in 2023.
Julia M.P. Bittner, Ph.D., M.P.H., is a postdoctoral fellow working with Dr. Bobby Cheon. Her research investigates the ways in which objective and subjective social disadvantages impact health behaviors (e.g., eating practices) and produce inequitable health outcomes in women and children. She also focuses on identifying interventions to diminish the influence of these disadvantages and promote positive health practices. She studied epidemiologic science at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, earning an M.P.H. in 2017 and a Ph.D. in 2021.
Matt Siroty is a postbaccalaureate fellow working with Dr. Bobby Cheon, examining psychological influences on eating behaviors. His previous research focused on disparities and attitudes affecting eating behaviors and factors contributing to suicidal ideation in sexual minority populations. Following his fellowship, he hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in clinical or counseling psychology. He graduated from the College of William & Mary with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in kinesiology and health sciences.
Andre Tulloch is a postbaccalaureate fellow working with Dr. Stephen Gilman, investigating the effects of social and environmental factors during the prenatal period on children’s neurodevelopment. His research examines eating and other health trajectories among Black adolescents. Other research interests include carceral health and the school-to-prison pipeline. He has prior experience studying adolescent development and friendship as well as the implications of heavy policing for adolescents, specifically regarding the likelihood of experiencing of trauma. He earned his bachelor’s degree, with distinction, in social justice studies from the University of Rochester in 2023. After his fellowship, he hopes to attain his M.D. or M.P.H.
Alumni
Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow and National Academy Enrichment Program Scholar, 2021-2023
Diana Augustin’s research focused on the associations between maternal inflammation and birth outcomes in relation to racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities. After their fellowship, Diana went to the University of Minnesota to pursue an M.P.H. in maternal and child health.
Postdoctoral Fellow, 2020-2022
Jenna Cummings’ research focused on identifying biopsychosocial causes and effects of low diet quality, particularly early in the lifespan. After her fellowship, Jenna went to the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom for a teaching and research lecturer position.
Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow, 2020-2023
Theemeshni Govender’s research interests included adolescent psychosocial development, mental health disparities, and social determinants of mental health and how they are transmitted generationally. Specifically, she examined early life risk factors for suicide and substance-related mortality in middle adulthood and adolescent substance use patterns as a risk factor for suicidal thoughts and behaviors in young adulthood. After her fellowship, Theemeshni went to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to complete her doctoral degree in clinical-community psychology.
Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow, 2022-2023
Mia Kwan’s research interests included health disparities, nutrition, and pediatric health. After her fellowship, Mia went to Georgetown University for an M.S. in physiology.
Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow, 2021-2023
Meegan Smith’s research focused on the effects of perceived socioeconomic status on adiposity and eating behaviors in children, particularly how children with low status tend to have higher adiposity and engage in maladaptive eating behaviors (e.g., eating in the absence of hunger). After her fellowship, Meegan began working with at-risk adolescents who exhibit behavioral and mental health issues at Teaching Family Homes in Marquette, Michigan.
Postdoctoral Fellow, 2019-2022
Pablo Vidal-Ribas’s research focused on examining early life factors that increase vulnerability to suicide mortality and behaviors using data from the National Collaborative Perinatal Project pregnancy cohort. After his fellowship, Pablo joined the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Research Group at the Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu in Barcelona, Spain, as a Ramón y Cajal Investigator.
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