Jean Quintero
... YeaR Ph.D. Student
Jean Quintero is a Ph.D. student in the Health Psychology and Clinical Science (HPCS) program at the The Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). Broadly speaking, Jean’s clinical research interests revolve around the etiology, identification, and treatment of affective disorders, as well as the examination of the neural and psychophysiological correlates of emotion dysregulation in anxiety and depression.
Megan Renna
4th Year Ph.D. Student
Megan Renna is a Ph.D. student in the Health Psychology and Clinical Science at The Graduate Center. Megan obtained her B.A. from Simmons College in 2010 and worked as a research assistant in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital prior to joining the READ Lab as a graduate student in August 2013. She received her M.A. from Hunter College in 2016. Her work in the READ Lab has involved co-coordinating the Emotion Regulation Therapy (ERT) trial for the past 3 years. Megan’s primary research interests include the impact of psychotherapy on both psychological and physical processes associated with anxiety and depressive disorders. She is also interested in examining mechanisms underlying the relationship between physical and psychopathology. Her current research involves examining immunological functioning in anxiety disorders through treatment and laboratory-based studies of chronic inflammation.
Research Assistants
Keryn Kleiman
Keryn joined the lab as a postbac research assistant in the summer of 2016. She is also head of dominance process coding at FTRG at NYU, where she co-authored a revised version of an observational coding system. She has a BA in ethnomusicology from Barnard College at Columbia University, where she conducted research on Jewish musical traditions in Moldova under a Tow Scholarship. Keryn is interested in studying how anxiety and mood disorders can be better treated through integrative therapies combining elements of cognitive behavior therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and mindfulness. She plans to pursue a PhD in clinical psychology with a focus on anxiety disorders and depression. When not in the lab, Keryn spends her time working as a recruitment researcher for a hedge fund and performing Eastern European folk violin music.
Hana Lee
Hana Lee earned her BA in Psychology from Hunter College in 2016. She joined the READ Lab as a post-bac RA to understand the onset and development of mood and anxiety disorders. Hana is interested in using psychophysiological measures to identify and examine early risk factors of depression and anxiety and investigate the biological and psychological processes that can be targeted for intervention and prevention. When Hana is not in the Read Lab, she can be found working on her research project on Decision making among pain patients in the ED at the New York Presbyterian-Queens, TA-ing at Hunter College, or binge watching the Travel Channel.
Phillip Spaeth
Phillip joined the READ Lab as a research assistant in the Spring of 2016. Phillip earned his BA from the CUNY Baccalaurete for Unique and Interdisciplinary Studies, with a focus in psychology, philosophy, and Asian wisdom traditions. He graduated summa cum laude and was awarded the Thomas W. Smith Fellowship for academic excellence. His research interests include affective science, clinical interventions for anxiety and mood disorders, emotion regulation, expressive behavior, and the coherence of emotion response systems. Prior to pursuing his academic career, Phillip performed on Broadway for 13 years. Outside of the lab, he works as an assistant teacher in a progressive school and is a freelance portrait photographer.
Karl Wagner
Karl joined the READ lab as a post-bac research assistant in Spring 2017. He graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. in psychology in the Spring of 2016. His undergraduate concentration was in child, adolescent, and family psychology, with a focus on the environmental effects on neurological and cognitive development from preconception to adolescence. In addition to his work at the lab, Karl is the Director of Community Outreach at CBT/DBT Associates, a private-practice psychology group. When not at the lab Karl enjoys exploring the city through food and watching midnight movies. He plans to pursue a doctoral degree in clinical psychology and hopes to work with children and their families.