Officers
Kayla Knopp (Co-Leader)
Kayla C. Knopp, Ph.D., is a Research Psychologist at the VA San Diego Healthcare System and a clinical psychologist in private practice in San Diego, CA. She earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Denver and completed her predoctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship (Advanced Fellowship for Women’s Health) at the VA San Diego / University of California San Diego consortium. She is currently completing a VA Career Development Award under mentorship of Dr. Leslie Morland studying the OurRelationship program for veterans and their partners, and together with her colleague Dr. Chandra Khalifian, she directs the INTREPID Lab (Innovative and Novel Treatments for Relationship and Individual Distress) at VA San Diego. Her research and clinical interests center around understanding the reciprocal associations between intimate relationship functioning and mental health, supporting diverse relationship types and structures, and using novel and creative methods to improve both access to and impacts of interventions for couples. Her current projects include technology-supported interventions for couples and psychedelic-assisted couple therapies. She also has a part-time couple therapy private practice and is passionate about disseminating evidence-based relationship education to the public.
Shelby Scott (Co-Leader)
Dr. Shelby Scott is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Denver in 2016. Before her current position, she served as the LGBT Veteran Care Coordinator and Women’s Mental Health Psychologist at the Denver VA. Dr. Scott has extensive clinical experience working with LGBTQ+ Veterans, same-gender couples, and couples with transgender/non-binary partners. Dr. Scott directs her PRIDE Family Studies Lab that focuses on building the basic science of sexual and gender minority families and integrating these findings into relationship interventions. Her research on female same-gender couples has contributed to understanding communication processes, sexual satisfaction, minority stress, and longitudinal predictors of relationship dissolution in this population. She is currently completing research projects on transgender and non-binary individuals who have gone through gender transitions while in romantic relationships. See the PRIDE Family Studies website for more information about Dr. Scott and her team’s work!
Melissa Gates (Student Co-Leader)
Melissa Gates, M.S. (she/her) is a fourth-year clinical psychology doctoral student at Binghamton University under the supervision of Dr. Christina Balderrama-Durbin. Her research interests include examining how acute and chronic stressors, and trauma influence romantic relationship functioning, particularly within the context of marginalized couples (e.g., LGBQ+). She is also interested in individual and dyadic emotion regulation, psychophysiological reactivity and recovery, and qualitative analysis. Melissa earned her BA in Psychology from the University of Arizona. She also worked as a clinical research coordinator for at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School for prior to joining the graduate program at Binghamton University.
Kaitlin Brunett (Student Co-Leader)
Kaitlin Brunett is a Ph.D. student in Psychology at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Kaitlin earned her B.S. in Psychology from Abilene Christian University and her M.A. in Psychological Research from Texas State University. She is an instructor of record for undergraduate Psychology classes at UTSA and is the Project Director of the PRIDE Family Studies Lab. Her research interests include intimate relationships with a focus in intimate partner violence, sexual assault, and rape myths. She also has interest in expanding this research into racial and sexual minority populations.
McKenzie Roddy (Treasurer)
McKenzie Roddy, Ph.D. is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine and Public Health at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She received her M.S. in Psychology and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Miami. She completed her clinical internship at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX and fellowship in Quality Improvement from the VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System in Nashville, TN. Dr. Roddy is a licensed clinical psychologist and conducts research on the optimization of behavioral interventions to improve health for patients within the context of their relationships.
Jacinda Lee (Media Co-Coordinator)
Jacinda Lee, M.S., ALMFT (she/her) is a third year clinical psychology PhD candidate at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, where she works with Dr. Tamara Sher. She is interested in research on shared decision-making factors, relationship satisfaction, and health outcomes among long-distance couples and in East/Southeast Asian countries. Jacinda obtained her B.S. in secondary education and English from Vanderbilt University and her M.S. in marriage and family therapy from Northwestern University. She is now focusing her clinical training on health psychology at the doctoral level. Prior to graduate school, she taught primary through secondary school in several countries. She hopes to further her clinical practice in Asia and develop relational interventions within healthcare settings (e.g., transition to parenthood, adjustment to illness).
Triston Li (Media Co-Coordinator)
Triston is a prospective graduate student and SUNY Binghamton alumni (B.A. in Psychology). He is a former undergraduate research assistant in the CTROIR/Marriage & Family Lab headed by Drs. Richard Mattson and Matthew Johnson. His research interests include developing our understanding the impact of social identity, minority stress, and bias on the development and outcomes of various relationship configurations (e.g., romantic, patient-provider, etc.). He's also interested in the impacts of stigmatizing experiences and one's close relationships on our mental and physical health outcomes.
Alyssa Miville (Newsletter Co-Editor)
Alyssa Miville, M.S. (she/her), is a third-year doctoral student in the Clinical Science program at Binghamton University, where she works with Dr. Richard Mattson in the Center for Transdisciplinary Research on Intimate Relationships. Her research interests include the impacts that one's own or shared religiosity and spirituality have on satisfaction, stability, and commitment in relationships, and the implications these impacts have for cohabiting, dating or married individuals. She has also recently been interested in examining the intersections between faith, LGBTQ+ identities, and non-monogamous relationship structures. Alyssa earned her bachelor's degree in Psychology from Susquehanna University and worked across various research labs and faith-based settings prior to graduate school in order to broaden her capacity and knowledge for working with individuals and partnerships from various faith- and non-faith backgrounds.
Quinn Hendershot (Newsletter Co-Editor)
Quinn (she/her) is a PhD candidate in the Clinical Psychology program at Binghamton University, working under Dr. Matthew D. Johnson. Her research work centers on understanding the role of cultural competence in shaping relationship quality for bicultural couples and investigating cross-cultural measurement equivalence. Quinn earned her bachelor's degree in Psychology from Lake Forest College. She worked as a research assistant in the Couple and Family Development Lab under Dr. Erika Lawrence at The Family Institute at Northwestern University for a year and a half prior to graduate school.
Nick Perry (DEI Committee Member)
Nick is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Denver. He completed his Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the University of Utah in 2018 and his clinical psychology internship and postdoctoral research fellowship at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University. His program of research focuses on sexual and gender minority health through a couple and family lens, as well as the implementation of programs designed to reduce health disparities within those populations.
Michelle Ramos (DEI Committee Member)
Michelle Ramos, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Child and Adolescent Studies at California State University, Fullerton (CSUF). She received her M.A. in Psychology from CSUF and her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Southern California. She completed her clinical internship at the UC San Diego School of Medicine/VA Medical Center - Children's Hospital and is a licensed psychologist. Dr. Ramos conducts research on the intergenerational transmission of couple and family aggression. She is particularly interested in youths’ romantic relationships, conflict via electronic/social media, and health outcomes.
Jasara Hogan (DEI Committee Member)
Dr. Jasara Hogan is a clinical psychologist and Assistant Research Scientist with the Family Translational Research Group at New York University. She studies the role of romantic partners and relationship conflict in alcohol use behavior among emerging adults. Dr. Hogan is a first-generation college student and identifies as Hispanic.
Colin Adamo (DEI Committee Member)
Colin Adamo, Ph.D is a Postdoctoral Fellow at The Penn Collaborative for CBT and Implementation Science at the University of Pennsylvania. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Utah in 2022. Adamo completed his APA internship at the Department of Psychiatry in the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania. Adamo’s clinical research interests include digital mental health interventions and improving access to and outcomes of interventions for couples and close relationships. He hopes to continue his career supporting systems, communities, providers, and individuals engage with innovative tools and approaches that promote well-being.
Jessica Hill (DEI Committee Member)
Jessica Hill is a second-year clinical science doctoral student at Binghamton University under the supervision of Dr. Christina Balderrama-Durbin. Her research interests include: trauma and adversity, mechanisms of resilience (e.g., social support, biological mechanisms), and relationship functioning. Jessica earned her B.A. degree in Social Justice Outreach from Concordia University-St. Paul, and her M.A. in Counseling Psychology at St. Mary's University of Minnesota. Prior to joining the graduate program at Binghamton University, she received a NIH diversity supplement and worked as a research assistant for two years at the Minneapolis VAHCS on studies focused on resilience trajectories of new military service members, and veterans with chronic PTSD.