Principal Investigator
Jessie Borelli, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology
jessica.borelli@uci.edu
Faculty Bio
Graduate Students
Daniela Arcos
danielaarcosh@gmail.com
I am broadly interested in understanding how social connections influence well-being. I also aim to explore how connection-based interventions can enhance psychological and physical health across diverse populations, particularly in minoritized communities.
Juelle Ford
juellef@uci.edu
I am interested in exploring how aspects of the early caregiving environment (such as family size and structure) shape attachment, emotion regulation, and stress reactivity, particularly within marginalized communities. I aspire to design interventions that improve mental health outcomes within family systems and increase help-seeking behaviors among those at risk.
Frances Li
haofeil1@uci.edu
I am interested in understanding the intergenerational transmission of childhood adversity through parent-child relationships, such as attachment and parenting practices. Why are some people resilient to childhood adversity while others pass it down to the next generation? How can we intervene to break this cycle?
Katie Lord
klord1@uci.edu
I am interested in examining the interconnected relationships between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), emotion regulatory mechanisms, interpersonal relationships, and emotional well-being and depression in sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth. Further, I aim to explore the effectiveness of interventions that bolster the well-being of SGM youth by strengthening interpersonal relationships, such as parent-child relationships
Elayne Zhou
elaynezh@usc.edu
I work alongside communities of color to understand individual, relational, and structural influences on mental health outcomes and treatment access. I want to develop and test interventions that leverage the existing strengths of marginalized groups and are responsive to their contexts and identities. My ultimate goal is to promote flourishing for historically oppressed communities, with a focus on dismantling barriers to quality care.
Post-doctoral Fellow
Christina Rowley, Ph.D.
crowley@uci.edu
I am interested in the effects of racial and economic disparities on the family system, with the aim of how that, in turn, impacts children’s socioemotional development and to conduct intervention research designed to reduce these disparate effects. I aspire to conduct community-based research that addresses challenges facing families in marginalized communities at-risk of mental and physical health disparities while providing mentorship to underrepresented students facing disadvantage.
Lab Management Team
Lab Manager
Christina Xia
chrisx2@hs.uci.edu
Assistant Lab Managers
Izabella Guzek iguzek@uci.edu Melanie Garcia melang8@uci.edu
Collaborators
Patricia Smiley, Ph.D.
Collaborator
patricia.smiley@pomona.edu
Alumni
Abby Rozenberg, Ph.D.
abbyrozenberg@gmail.com
Lyric Russo, Ph.D.
russol@uci.edu
Jennica Rogers
jennicsr@uci.edu
Jose Arreola, Ph.D.
arreolj2@uci.edu
Gerin Gaskin, Ph.D.
gerin@compass-therapy.com
Psychologist, Compass Therapy
Marta Tironi
marta.tironi@edu.unige.it
Faculty, University of Genoa
Jianmin Shao, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, University of Colorado, Boulder
jianmis@uci.edu
Silvia Perzolli
Assistant Professor, University of Trento
silvia.perzolli@unitn.it
Nicole Froidevaux, Ph.D.
Postdoc, U of Oregon
nfroidev@uci.edu
Jocelyn Lai, Ph.D.
Post-doc Wash U
jocelyn.lai@uci.edu
Desiree Delgadillo-Chase, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, UC Irvine
desichase79@gmail.com
Angela Boatwright
Former Lab Manager
Social worker
aboatwri@uci.edu
Ken Yamashita
Former Lab Manager
ksyamash@uci.edu
Kyle Bond, Ph.D.
Therapist
d.kyle.bond@gmail.com
Debbie Chung
Graduate Student, Kean University (Clinical/School Psy.D. Program)
Former Lab Manager
debbiec2@uci.edu
John K. Coffey II, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, University of South (Sewanee)
jkcoffey@sewanee.edu
Maggie Kerr, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison
margaret.kerr@wisc.edu
Kathy Buttitta
Project Director, Senior Data Analyst, Brazelton Touchpoints Institute
kvharder@gmail.com
Adrianna Holness, Ph.D.
Therapist
yannaholness@gmail.com
Betsy Blackard
Parent Educator
betsyblackard@gmail.com
Melissa Pedroza
Psychologist
Former Coordinator, YEA-MADRES (Confía en mi, Confío en ti) Study
Former Pomona CARE Lab Manager
Former Coordinator, PARENT Study
Jordan Stead
Graduate Program, Pacific University Psy. D.
jstead@uci.edu
