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Our Alumni

Christine J. Lee, PhD graduated from the Clinical Psychology (Health Emphasis) Ph.D. program in 2018, with a minor in Clinical Neuropsychology. Christine earned her B.A. in Neuroscience and Behavior from Barnard College at Columbia University. She has recieved training in neuropsychological assessment from excellent externship sites including The NYU Comprehensive Epilepsy Center and The Memorial Sloan Ketting Cancer Center where she has the opportunity to serve a diverse patient populations with a range of neurological illnesses and comorbid psychiatric and medical conditions. She is currently at the Department of Rehabilitation at Mount Sinai Hospital where she leads groups for tramatically brain injured patients for transition in the post- acute state.

 

Christine completed her doctoral dissertation, titled "Medication Adherence in Adults with HIV Who Smoke: The Mediating Role of Neurocognitive Imapirment" in 2018. She was also involved with many lab projects and completed a review of 11 years of research on smoking-related variables in veterans with PTSD. She also examined the role of smoking in medication adherence in people living with HIV/AIDS, and examined the role of self-control in the context of smoking.

 

Christine's CV

Email: Christine.Lee@mail.yu.edu

 

 

Danielle M. Shpigel, PhD graduated from the Clinical Psychology (Health Emphasis) Ph.D. program in 2018, with a minor in Neuropyschology. She earned her B.A. in Psychology from Eugene Lang College, The New School for Liberal Arts, and M.A.’s in Psychology from the New School for Social Research and from Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University.  Her clinical interests include neuropsychological assessment across the lifespan for patients with chronic and acute medical conditions that affect cognitive and emotional functioning, smoking cessation, chronic pain management, psycho-oncology, obesity/weight management, trauma focused treatment and working with active duty soldiers and veterans.

 

Danielle was involved in several of the lab’s projects including an experimental study on self-control and smoking, examining smoking beliefs and behaviors among cancer survivors, cancer patients and their caregivers, and a review paper on smoking rates/smoking variables among US veterans with PTSD.  She completed her doctoral dissertation, titled "The Relationship Between Psychosocial Stressors and Smoking among Latino/a and African American Adults with Psychiatric Illness."

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Danielle's CV

Email: danielle.shpigel@mail.yu.edu

Channah (Hannah) Esan, PhD graduated from the Clinical Psychology (Health Emphasis) Ph.D. program in 2019. She is from the beautiful city of Rochester located in Upstate New York.  She earned her B.A  from Stern College for Women in biology and psychology with a concentration in neuroscience.  She loved working in Dr. Weinberger’s lab and concluded her research with the diverse Bronx population specifically people suffering from HIV and Hepatitis C. Her dissertation, titled "Medication Adherence in Adults with HIV: An Examination of Smoking Status, Depression, and Anxiety" was completed in 2019.

 

Email: hannah.esan@gmail.com

 

 

Michelle Ferrer, PhD graduated from the Clinical Psychology (Health Emphasis) Ph.D. program in 2019. Michelle completed her bachelors at the University of Central Florida where she majored in psychology. Her clinical interests include health disparities and trauma among minorities. 

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Michelle was involved in multiple studies in the Smoking and Nicotine Dependence Research lab. She was a study coordinator for an experimental study examining the relationship between self-control and smoking. She was also a research assistant for a study assessing smoking and cancer in women. 

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Michelle completed her dissertation in 2019, titled "Self-Control, Cigarette Use, and Perceived Racism in an Ethnic and Racial Minority Sample of Current Adult Cigarette Smokers."

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Email: michelle.ferrer@mail.yu.edu

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Kate Segal, PhD graduated from the Clinical Psychology (Health Emphasis) Ph.D. Program in 2020. She was a TA for the Smoking and Nicotine Dependence Lab. She earned her B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Speech Communication from Northern Arizona University. Prior to graduate school, Kate worked as a study coordinator at Albert Einstein College of Medicine where she coordinated clinical trials on the efficacy and safety of, as well as adherence to, varenicline (Chantix) in methadone maintained smokers in the Bronx. Additionally, she coordinated a study of the neuropsychological effects of buprenorphine in opioid addicts. She has ongoing training in psychotherapy in a variety of modalities including CBT, DBT, and psychodynamic therapy  and has clinical experience treating children in foster care, adults with substance use disorders, and patients with complex medical issues. She is currently an extern at New York Presbyterian - Westchester Division - Clinical and Research Practicum in Schizophrenia and Related Psychoses, where she conducts evidence-based psychosocial interventions for patients with schizophrenia and related psychosis in an inpatient setting.

 

Kate successfully defended her dissertation in 2020, which explored the relationship between internalized HIV stigma and smoking behaviors in people living with HIV/AIDS in The Bronx, NY. She was also involved with many lab projects including being a study coordinator in a study examining self control and smoking in people living with HIV/AIDS.

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Email: Kate.segal@mail.yu.edu

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Lisa is graduated from the Clinical Psychology (Health Emphasis) Ph.D. Program. With the Smoking & Nicotine Dependence lab, for her Masters project, Lisa is examining executive functioning and depression within smokers who have HIV/AIDS. Additionally, in conjunction with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Cognitive Neurophysiology Lab, Lisa is using EEG and mobile brain-body imaging to investigate cognitive load and sensory-motor ability in autism. The connection among her research work is her broad interest in the brain and behavior; she is interested in what happens to the brain due to substance use and in relation to neuro-developmental issues. 

 

Prior to Yeshiva, Lisa worked on an fMRI study examining cognitive-perceptual ability in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder at Rutgers University. She earned her BA in Psychology from Stony Brook University. There, she was an RA for a longitudinal study investigating depression and temperament in children. Lisa also worked as a Clinical Research Intern at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School, where she had both clinical and research duties involving clinical high risk and first episode psychosis projects. 

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Email: lcruz3@mail.yu.edu

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Silvana Agterberg graduated from the Clinical Psychology (Health Emphasis) PhD program, pursuing a minor in addictions. She completed her BA in Psychology and Sociology from the University of Western Ontario, and her MA in Psychology from Carleton University. Her MA thesis examined gender differences in substance use treatment barriers and stigma among individuals with substance use disorders and co-occurring mental health concerns. During her MA, she worked as a research assistant for a substance use and concurrent disorders treatment program where she assisted in the program evaluation of several inpatient and outpatient services, and as a research assistant for the Correctional Service of Canada, where she researched the mental health needs of incarcerated veterans. She also worked as a TA for courses on the Psychology of Addictions and Health Psychology.

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Currently, Silvana is a lab TA and an admissions TA. Her research and clinical interests include gender differences in substance use and mental health, smoking cessation, psychiatric and medical comorbidities, stigma, and treatment barriers. Her pre-doctoral project examined gender differences in internalized HIV stigma and motivation to quit smoking among smokers and non-smokers with HIV. She is currently working on her dissertation, which will investigate gender differences in HIV-stigma and smoking-stigma among PLWH explore whether gender, HIV-stigma, and smoking-stigma intersect to influence smoking-related outcomes (i.e., nicotine dependence, motivation to quit smoking) and aspects of psychological functioning (i.e.,  depressive symptoms, distress tolerance) among PLWH who smoke. 

 

Silvana trained as a psychology extern at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where she provided cognitive-behavioral individual and group therapy on an adult acute general psychiatric unit for women presenting with psychiatric diagnoses. Currently, Silvana is an extern at the Metropolitan Center for Mental Health (MCMH) Families and Individuals in Recovery (FAIR) program where she provides outpatient psychotherapy to individuals and families with substance use and mental health concerns. 

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Silvana's CV

Email: sagterbe@mail.yu.edu

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Jenn Gittleman graduated from the Clinical Psychology (Health Emphasis) program. She graduated cum laude from The George Washington University with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Health and Wellness. She has previously completed her clinical training at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell, the NYS COVID-19 Emotional Support Helpline, Nassau University Medical Center, and the NYU School of Medicine World Trade Center program. She is currently an adult track psychology intern at Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care.

 

Jenn completed her dissertation on internalized HIV/AIDS stigma (IHAS) and alcohol use behaviors, as well as the potential moderating roles of race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in the Bronx. Jenn is also working at the Albert Einstein Cancer Center where she is qualitatively examining post-traumatic growth among at-risk youth who have had a parent or caregiver with cancer. Lastly, Jenn is working at Harvard Medical School where she is examining smoking cessation medication adherence among patients with cancer.

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Email: jgittlem@mail.yu.edu

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