Child and Family Experiences Lab

Joseph Bettcher is currently a Ph.D. student in the clinical psychology program at the University at Albany. He obtained his M.A. from San Diego State University and worked as a Neuropsychometrist and Research Assistant at the NeuroCognitive Institute prior to his doctoral studies. Joseph is interested in the development of executive function particularly as it relates to decision-making and youth educational achievement.

Ed is currently a Ph.D. student in the clinical psychology program at the University at Albany. He earned his Master's Degree in Psychology at Stony Brook University in 2016 and worked as a research program coordinator in the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program. Ed is interested in the effects of harsh parenting on psychophysiological changes, aggression, and empathy among adolescents and young adults.

Jesslyn is currently a Ph.D. student in the clinical psychology program at the University at Albany. She graduated from University of Minnesota in 2017 with a B.S. in Psychology and two minors in Neuroscience and Management. She worked as a research assistant in the University of Minnesota Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences for the Cognition and Brain Lab and Adolescent Depression Lab prior to her graduate studies. Jesslyn's research interests include understanding biopsychosocial mechanisms associated with youth’s risk and resiliency processes after experiencing significant adversities and examining how early life adversities and neurobiological systems influence racial/ ethnic health disparities, with an overarching goal of incorporating stress biomarkers as parameters to improve outcomes.

Kate is currently a Ph.D. student in the clinical psychology program at the University at Albany. She graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2014 with a B.S. in Child Psychology. She worked in multiple labs at the University of Minnesota exploring topics including children’s executive functions, parenting interventions and autonomic arousal and coregulation of infants and mothers. Kate’s current research interests focus on the psychophysiological correlates of adverse childhood experiences and how caregivers may serve as risk or protective factors.

Teresa is currently a Ph.D. student in the clinical psychology program at the University at Albany. She graduated from the University of Delaware in 2016 with a B.S double majoring in Psychology and Neuroscience, and a minor in Biology. She then earned her Master’s degree at the Universidad de Alcalá. Teresa worked as a clinical research assistant in the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for the Children in the Pediatric Auditory and Speech Lab prior to her graduate studies. Teresa’s research interests focus on acculturative stress and trauma and their psychophysiological impacts within youth and their families.

Taqwa is currently a Ph.D. student in the clinical psychology program at the University at Albany. She earned her B.S. in Psychology and Child Learning & Development from the University of Texas at Dallas. Following graduation, she worked at Stanford’s Psychophysiology Lab exploring topics including emotion regulation, cognitive reappraisal, and neurodevelopmental disorders. Taqwa is interested in researching the impact of sociocultural factors on youth development, particularly through psychobiology.

Sadena is currently a junior at UAlbany majoring in Psychology and Communications with a minor in business. Her research interests focus on the long-term effects of childhood neglect on brain development, its correlation to psychopathological disorders, and risk for anxiety disorders into adulthood.

Undergraduate Research Assistants

Research Assistant Requirements

Gaining a research assistant (RA) position in our lab is competitive. To be eligible, applicants must be willing to:

1) Commit to at least 1 year of work in the lab (pending satisfactory performance).

2) Have a solid academic performance record (minimum GPA of 3.0) and extracurricular or work experiences that speak to a high level of achievement.

3) Demonstrate a strong work ethic, interpersonal skills, and have begun to plan for a future career in the field of psychology.

4) Computer literacy is required as well as an aptitude for research methods.

5) Be willing to spend 9 hours each week during the semester working on lab projects (297/397 course credit is available and 497 credit can be requested by Honors Program students if mentored by Dr. Gordis).

Most research assistants who work in the lab are highly committed to advanced graduate training in clinical psychology and see their present research experiences in the lab as the beginning of their eventual career as clinical scientists and practitioners. Many assistants work with our lab for more than 1 year and are able to speak with confidence about the processes and outcomes involved in research when writing their personal statement for graduate school. We also offer the opportunity to work closely with graduate students and encourage assistants to seek out mentoring relationships within our lab throughout their undergraduate career.

Expectations of RAs

RAs are expected to behave in a professional, collegial, and respectful manner when interacting with staff, other professionals, and particularly patients, research participants and our collaborating partners. RAs are expected to uphold their commitments to our schedules and activities as well as maintain a level of professional work ethic with regard to all lab obligations. RAs will gain experiences necessary to support their future goals and in return, we expect that they will choose to engage in all aspects of our work with a level of enthusiasm that merits involvement and training beyond the basic administrative tasks that are at the core of all research.

Selection Criteria

All applications will be given careful consideration and potential candidates whose interests and qualifications fit with our program will be contacted by Dr. Gordis or one of her staff to set up an interview. We are always looking for great candidates! If you think you are a match for the CAFE Project, please contact Dr. Gordis via email.