Dr. Susan Charles
Professor, Principal Investigator/Faculty Advisor
Ph.D. from University of Southern California
scharles@uci.edu
Dr. Charles’ research examines emotional processes across the adult life span. Dr. Charles is interested in how subjective experience varies across the life course, and how differences in subjective experience may be related to differences in cognitive processes. She is also interested in the interplay between health and emotion, including the relationship between physical health factors (both health behavior and health status) and emotional processes, and how these relationships may vary as a function of age.
Joanna Hong
Graduate Student
B.S. from University of Massachusetts, Amherst
joannahh@uci.edu
Research interest: emotional processes across the life span, motivation and health, aging, culture, stress reactivity
I graduated from University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 2012 with B.S. in psychology. After graduating, I worked at the Yale Parenting Center and Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. I am currently a third year graduate student in health psychology at UCI. I am interested in how motivational changes influence emotion reactivity and cognitive processes. I am also interested in how culture and individual differences influence emotional processes across the life span.
Christie Fung
Graduate Student
B.A. from University of California, Los Angeles
kmfung1@uci.edu
I graduated from UCLA in 2013 and have been working in the Stanford Psychophysiology Lab in Stanford University before coming to UCI. I am interested in knowing more about the neural and physiological basis of emotion and emotion regulation. I also plan to investigate on how individual differences and different cognitive reappraisal strategies affect the outcomes of emotion regulation, which further influences our long term mental and physical health.
Kate Leger
Graduate Student
B.A from Carleton College
kleger@uci.edu
Research Interests: Emotions and physical health, affective and physiological reactivity to stressors, self-rated health
About: I received my B.A. in psychology from Carleton College. Upon graduation, I worked as a health advocate for people with developmental disabilities and mental disorders. I am currently a fifth year graduate student in health psychology, and I am interested in how individual differences influence emotional reactivity to and recovery from stressors.
Emily Urban
Graduate Student, ABD
M.A. from UC Irvine; B.A. from Marquette University
eurban@uci.edu
I graduated from Marquette University in 2012 with a B.A. in psychology and a minor in Math. I am currently a fifth year graduate student at UCI. The focus of my research is on how a person’s feeling states, whether they be long-lasting moods (such as those experienced in depression) or fleeting emotional episodes, can shape what is remembered about autobiographical events and how these memories are used to inform future decision making. I currently study how a person’s mood influences their memories of a variety of situations, including experiences of emotional stimuli in the lab, physical pain, social stress, and autobiographical events. In the future I hope to further examine the social and neurobiological mechanisms behind this mood-related memory bias and to investigate its role in the development, maintenance, and treatment of various mood disorders.
Dmitry Tsukerman
Graduate Student
M.S. & B.S. from California State University, Fullerton
dtsukerm@uci.edu
After graduating with my B.S. in psychology from Cal State Fullerton, I worked for 2 years at a residential treatment facility for at-risk youth running a recreational therapy program. I then completed my M.S. in clinical psychology at Cal State Fullerton before teaching courses at this university as well as at Mt. San Antonio College for two years. In 2015, I enrolled at U.C. Irvine where I am currently in my second year of Ph.D. study in Psychology and Social Behavior with an emphasis in affective science and health. I am broadly interested in the relationships among stress, emotion, sleep, and health. More specifically, I am interested in how people adjust to living with a physical disability and chronic illness in terms of emotion regulation strategies and maintenance of a high quality of life.