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!
Corey Pettit, Student Co-Leader
Corey Pettit, B.A., is a doctoral student with Dr. Joe Allen at UVA and has served in the media co-coordinator role since November 2019. Her research interests center around exploring romantic relationships from a developmental perspective, identifying longitudinal precipitants and outcomes related to maladaptive relationship behaviors. Corey earned her B.A. from the University of Southern California and served as a lab manager in the USC Family Studies Project and UCI THRIVE lab prior to graduate school.
Mollie Shin, Student Co-Leader
Mollie is a third year clinical psychology doctoral student at the University of Colorado Denver, where she is working with Dr. Beth Allen. Her research interests include intimate relationship functioning and marital outcomes in the context of trauma, especially within the military/veteran population, prevention of interpersonal conflict, and maintenance of healthy romantic partnerships. Mollie earned her BA in Psychology from Baylor University in 2017 and worked as project coordinator at the VISN 17 COE for Research on Returning War Veterans for a DoD funded grant. She is also committed to promoting diversity and inclusion in all areas of her work, including research and therapy.
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.
Melissa Gates, Newsletter Co-Editor
Melissa Gates is a second-year clinical science doctoral student at Binghamton University under the supervision of Dr. Christina Balderrama-Durbin. Her research interests include: PTSD and relationship functioning, individual and dyadic emotion regulation, and psychophysiological reactivity and recovery.
Melissa earned her bachelors degree in Psychology from the University of Arizona. She also worked as a clinical research coordinator for several federally-funded grants at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School for two years prior to joining the graduate program at Binghamton University.
Alyssa Miville, Newsletter Co-Editor
Alyssa Miville, B.A. (she/her), is a first-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 of religiosity and spirituality on couples' satisfaction, stability, and commitment, and the implications this has for family structures and dating or married individuals. Alyssa earned her bachelor's degree in Psychology from Susquehanna University and worked across various lab and faith settings prior to graduate school.
Sarah Turk Karan, Media Coordinator
Sarah Turk Karan, B.A. (she/her), is a post-baccalaureate Research Assistant at the University of Denver’s Family Research Center, working under Dr. Galena Rhoades. She studies topics such as relationship education programs, marriage counseling for couples of different backgrounds, and relationship stability. She is also conducting research with Dr. Scott Stanley on the connections between parents’ commitment to their relationship and family stability. Sarah earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Sociology from Brandeis University in 2021. She has worked under Dr. Martin Franklin at the University of Pennsylvania and at Rogers Behavioral Health in Philadelphia serving in both clinical and research assistant positions studying OCD, anxiety, and related disorders. Investigating the relationships between these disorders and couple dynamics is something that Sarah wants to explore. Sarah plans to become a couples therapist and work to disseminate relationship research.
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.