My educational training combines cognitive neuroscience, health psychology, and advanced quantitative methods, with a focus on understanding how stress and context influence human decision-making. For over a decade, I studied physiological stress responses and their impact on behavior in high-stakes domains including addiction, drunk driving, health decisions, and aging.
This training emphasized experimental design, causal inference, and computational analysis, including multilevel and longitudinal modeling, psychometrics, and advanced behavioral analytics.
EDUCATION
August 2018 - June 2020
PHD EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY
Dissertation: How early & recent life stress shape cortisol reactivity and decision making in middle-to-older adulthood
Committee: Drs. Buchanan, Rudolph, Waring
Concentrations: cognitive neuroscience and quantitative methodology
Passed with distinction
August 2016 - May 2018
MS EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY
Concentration: Cognitive neuroscience
Thesis: The role of risk information and cortisol in risk-taking behavior in gambling disorder: A conjoint analysis
Committee: Drs. Buchanan, Rudolph, Weinstock
August 2011 - May 2014
BA PSYCHOLOGY
WEBSTER UNIVERSITY
Minor: Biology
Senior Thesis: The psychological and physiological stress response to stigmatizing obesity public health campaigns among overweight and obese adults.