LAB MEMBERS
DR. ERIN KAUFMAN
Principal Investigator
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
University of Utah
Dr. Kaufman received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Utah, where she specialized in the department's Clinical Child and Family Track. She completed her clinical internship and post-doctoral training years at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Dr. Kaufman is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Utah and an adjunct faculty member in the department of psychology at the University of Western Ontario.
Dr. Kaufman's research focuses on interrupting pathogenic factors that contribute to self-inflicted injury (SII), borderline personality disorder (BPD), and suicide. She uses the developmental psychopathology perspective as a framework for conceptualizing and studying these complex problems. Dr. Kaufman studies SII and BPD conjointly because they share many phenotypic features, potentiating factors, and often co-occur along a common developmental trajectory. Her work builds on existing research that identifies both (a) markers of biological vulnerability to SII and BPD, and (b) environmental risk factors (e.g., coercive family processes, emotion invalidation) that shape vulnerabilities into more advanced and difficult-to-treat patterns of stress reactivity over time. Dr. Kaufman incorporates biological, self- and informant-report, behavioral, and ecological momentary assessment methods into her research designs.
MYAH PAZDERA, M.S.
Research Coordinator
Myah is a Research Associate at the University of Utah. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a M.S. in Cognitive and Developmental Science. Her research interests include the involvement of trauma exposure or prolonged adversity during childhood and adolescence. She aims to embrace the concepts and strategies from prevention science.
BRIANNA MEDDAOUI, M.S.
Graduate Student
Brianna is a Ph.D. student in the Clinical Science and Psychopathology program at Western University. Her research interests include characterizing developmental changes (e.g., cognitive, social, and affective) that confer risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviours during adolescence and identifying targets for intervention and prevention among individuals at risk of developing Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). She is also generally interested in the role that research methodology plays in improving the prediction of acute suicide risk.
CARMEN WONG
Research Assistant
Carmen Wong graduated from UWO with an Honours Specialization in Psychology. She is interested in developmental and behavioural psychology, as well as psychopathology. She hopes to further her education in clinical psychology and strives to end the stigma surrounding psychological disorders. She aspires to pursue a career in which she can help improve the health and well-being of others, especially amongst adolescents.
VANIT SHAH
Research Assistant
Vanit is a 4th year honors specialization student in psychology at Western University. He is interested in the development of scales used to measure various psychopathologies. He is also interested in the application of psychology to education and looking at programs to help newcomer children better learn and adjust in the community. He hopes to pursue an applied career in school or clinical psychology.
ALIYA TOVA SALAMON
Research Assistant
Jason Chung
Le Li
Biancca Iddiols
Cici Guo
Kelly Chiu
Abitha Suthakaran
Catherine Taian-Jiao Li
Sarah Smith
Veronica Kim
Carly Biderman
Ragini Singh
Alvira Khurram
Fatima Zahra
Soha Khorsand
