Faculty and Staff

Kyle Aune is an environmental epidemiologist focused on understanding and mitigating the harmful health effects of climate change.

Steven Branstetter has research interests in nicotine addiction, smoking behaviors, and individual and contextual influences on tobacco use in adults and adolescents.

Jeff Brown's teaching in undergraduate, graduate, and professional settings has included integrative and clinical neuroscience, neurophysiology, electrophysiological techniques, and drugs, behavior, and health.

Orfeu Buxton directs the Sleep, Health & Society Collaboratory at Penn State.

Mary Campbell manages communications and marketing needs for the College of Health and Human Development, specifically the departments of Biobehavioral Health and Human Development and Family Studies.  This includes website, social media, and writing and press coverage.

Sonia Cavigelli conducts interdisciplinary research on the causes and consequences of individual differences in stress- and fear-related behavior and physiology.

Anne-Marie Chang's research involves the inter-relationships of sleep physiology and behavior, circadian rhythms, cardio-metabolic health, cognitive function and genomics.

Michelle provides oversight in the financial operations of BBH by compiling data for analysis and forecasting, reviewing budget amendments, managing labor distribution functions and communicating financial policies and procedures to the unit.

The goal of Eric Claus' research is to identify neural and cognitive mechanisms that support behavior change in substance use disorders.  In addition, he uses neuromodulation techniques to modify functioning in relevant circuits in order to r

Beth Edwards' research interests focus on the use of harm reduction approaches to health interventions, particularly tobacco use and sexual health. 

Deborah Ehrenthal, MD, MPH, is director of the Social Science Research Institute and professor of biobehavioral health. Her research is focused on the social and healthcare factors that shape the health of women and children over the life course.

Christopher Engeland is interested in how stress, age, gender, and hormones affect immunity, inflammation, and health. He has a particular interest in wound healing and surgical recovery, dementia, depression, and preterm birth.

Lindsay Fernández-Rhodes is a trained epidemiologist with experience in the areas of Genetic, Epigenetic, and Social Epidemiology.

I am interested in the cultural, environmental and social factors that influence individual and societal-level health; particularly how the arts, especially music, nature, social justice and inequality affect the health of individuals and their communities.

The goal of Thomas Gould's research is to use genetic, pharmacological, behavioral, and molecular biological techniques to study the neurobiology of learning and memory and the effects of addiction on it.

Jenn Graham-Engeland, Director of the MESH Lab, investigates the the associations between psychological stress and stress responses with physical health and well-being.

Margeaux Gray's translational sleep research is focused on nonpharmacologic interventions to improve sleep quality and continuity, with topics of emphasis including the interaction among sleep, pain, and attention, and sleep fragmentation's impact on daytime function.

I am a neuropharmacologist with interests in G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling, nutritional neuroscience, neuroendocrine physiology, and preclinical drug discovery. 

Joseph Gyekis teaches undergraduate courses in the department of Biobehavioral Health, with a strong focus on research methods and applications, as well as a variety of topics related to drugs, genetics, and epidemiology.

Will Horton’s primary research interest is understanding the intersection between circadian rhythms and drug abuse, especially nicotine.  He is particularly interested in how molecular/genetic changes lead to differences in behavior and vice versa.

Amy is an undergraduate academic adviser for BBH students.  She helps students with course registration, career/graduate school exploration, and graduation requirements for BBH.

Mary Justis prioritizes social, behavioral, and environmental factors influencing quality of life outcomes with a goal to engage student learning using high-impact teaching practices to assist them with real-world experiences in health fields.

Helen Kamens focuses on identification of genetic and environmental mechanisms that contribute to complex behaviors with a special emphasis on alcohol and tobacco use.

As a social and behavioral scientist, Stephen Kodish is interested in the design, implementation, and evaluation of interventions aimed to improve the health and nutrition of vulnerable populations globally.

Kari Kulger's primary research interest includes the development of effective and efficient behavioral interventions targeting a wide range of health behaviors among various populations and contexts.

Stephanie Lanza's career is devoted to advancing research in behavioral health through the development and application of innovative quantitative methods; much of her work leverages intensive longitudinal methods and focuses on young adult substance use behavior.

The goal of Nina Lauharatanahirun’s research is to use computational modeling, behavioral economic paradigms and functional neuroimaging (fMRI/EEG) to understand the neural and behavioral mechanisms underlying health risk behaviors across the life

Harold Lee is a behavioral and social health scientist trained in genetics. He uses behavioral sciences to improve population health, particularly among those who are socially and genetically predisposed to poor health.

Sheree Logue directs the Biomarker Core Laboratory (BCL) which is a fee-for-service facility offering biomarker research support for all departments in the College of Health and Human Development as well as other researchers at PSU. 

Dr. Losin joined the faculty in March 2023 and is currently seeking graduate students for the 22/23 application cycle. 

Heather Low is an undergraduate academic advisor for BBH students.  She helps students with course registration, career/graduate school exploration, and graduation requirements for BBH.

Jamie is an undergraduate academic adviser for BBH students.  She helps students design holistic academic plans by supporting them in course registration, engagement in co-curricular opportunities, career/graduate school exploration, and fulfilling

Kyle Murdock focuses on the neurological, biological, and behavioral pathways through which emotions and interpersonal relationships may impact health outcomes using innovative/multidisciplinary research methods.

As a long-time clinician, educator and administrator in international and domestic health and social service settings, Dana Naughton is strongly committed to teaching and mentoring the next generation of health and global health practitioners.

Cass is an undergraduate academic adviser for BBH students.  She helps students with course registration, career/graduate school exploration, and graduation requirements for BBH.

Dr. Rauff has been teaching 10 years including courses on Research Methods, Exercise & Mental Health, Exercise Psychology, Sport Psychology, and Health and Wellness. 

Elaina is primarily responsible for promotions and tenure administrative tasks and coordination, facilities coordination, CCURE swipe access and key distribution, social media postings, website updates, job postings and new hire paperwork.

Dr. Rhubart is a rural sociologist and demographer with expertise in the social and structural determinants of health disparities and rural population health.

Joshua Rosenberger’s research focuses on the utilization of technologies as a methodological tool for the promotion of sexual health among men.

Asher's overall research program is designed to understand how humans meet their water needs, how this relates to adaptation, environmental changes, and water insecurity, and the resulting health, hydration, and disease consequences.

Mike Russell's research focuses on connections between stress, affect, and health behaviors in the day-to-day lives of adolescents/young adults, using advanced statistical modeling and ambulatory assessment methods.

Sue Rutherford Siegel is a genetic researcher who examines interactions between the genetic and genomic basis of variation, the environmental interactions and the resulting behavioral and health outcomes of an individual. 

Hannah Schreier’s lab focuses on how experiences during childhood and adolescence (e.g., growing up in poverty; child maltreatment) influence inflammatory and metabolic markers of chronic disease risk.

My research is focused on understanding how biopsychosocial processes across the lifespan, and at multiple time scales, influence variability in systemic dysfunction, aging and disease decades later, through changes in biological aging.

Derek Spangler’s research utilizes mobile sensors to investigate the dynamic physiological (e.g., autonomic nervous system) and behavioral (e.g., body motion, self-report) features of real-world stress and their impacts on health.

Michele Stine's background is in health education and psychopharmacology.  As a member of the undergraduate faculty, her work has focused primarily on course and curriculum development.  She has served as a General Education Faculty Scholar and the

Rob Turrisi's research focus is in the application of behavioral decision-making in brief interventions to reduce underage substance misuse and cancer. This research is primarily funded by NIAAA and NCI.

Dr. Veturi’s research includes integration of high-dimensional data with electronic health records to dissect shared genetics among complex human traits/diseases and to understand sex and ethnic differences in cognitive decline.

Xue Zhang's research focuses on rural health disparity, population health, regional economics, and government policy.