Personnel
Graduate Students
Jennifer Bakalar, B.A.
Jen is a second-year civilian student in the Medical/Clinical dual-track Ph.D. program. In 2008, she graduated from Cornell University with a B.A. in Psychology and minor in French. From 2008-2010, she studied the pathogenesis of childhood-onset schizophrenia as a research fellow in Child Psychiatry at the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, MD. At USUHS, Jen's research interests focus on the role of interpersonal stress, relationship conflict, and alcohol misuse in suicide-related behavior. She recently was awarded the American Psychological Association, Military Psychology division's graduate student fellowship for her Master's thesis work on suicide, deployment, and alcohol.
Email: jennifer.bakalar@usuhs.mil
Jessica Bemis, B.S.
Jess is a first-year civilian student in the Medical/Clinical dual-track Ph.D. program. She graduated from Cornell University in 2009 with a B.S. in Human Development. After graduation, she returned to her hometown of D.C., where she studied pediatric anxiety disorders as a post-baccalaureate research fellow at the National Institute of Mental Health. Currently, Jess is focusing her research activities on better understanding the roles of impulsivity and emotional dysregulation in suicide behavior.
Email: Jessica.bemis@usuhs.mil
Shannon Branlund, M.S.
Lt Shannon Branlund is a 7th year doctoral student in Clinical Psychology (Military Track). She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and Sociology with an emphasis in Criminal Justice from the University of Tennessee and an Associate's in Language from the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center. Her Master's research was conducted on the potential role of perceived stress in the relationship between depression and alterations in HPA axis function. Her dissertation study examines the role of deployment-related factors in suicide ideation and death within a sample of United States Air Force and Marine Corps service members. Shannon has completed her internship at the Malcolm Grow Medical Center. She is currently the Mental Health Clinical Chief at the 1st Special Operations Medical Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Florida.
Email: Shannon.Branlund@hurlburt.af.mil
Brianne George, B.S., 1st Lt, USAF
Bri is a 4th year Ph.D. student in Clinical Psychology (Military Track). Prior to her entry into the USUHS graduate program, Brianne served as an Air Force Intelligence Analyst. Bri has clinical experience as a Sexual Assault Victim Advocate - in this capacity, she provided psychoeducation and intervention services to active duty members following a sexual assault incident. She is the proud parent of two children who keep her centered while she completes her doctoral program. Bri's 1st year review paper has focused on the psychological health of military women. Her thesis examined gender differences in inpatients admitted due to suicide ideation to a military psychiatric setting. Currently, Bri is using the same data to explore differences between those admitted for ideation versus suicide attempts.
Email: brianna.george@usuhs.mil
Kristen Kochanski, B.S., LTJG, MSC, USN
Kristen is a 3rd year Ph.D. student in Clinical Psychology (Military Track). Kristen received a B.S. in Psychology with a Quantitative option from the Pennsylvania State University, where she worked on a project examining the effects of verbal and imaginal worry. Upon graduation, Kristen was commissioned in the US Navy as a Surface Warfare Officer. Prior to entry into the USUHS graduate program, she served full-time as the lab coordinator for Dr. Holloway's Lab. Kristen's first year paper was targeted at understanding expressed emotion within a family environment following a suicide attempt and the implications of such communications for recurrent suicide behavior. Currently, her thesis is designed to examine potential differences among service members with single versus multiple suicide attempts - in a sample of psychiatrically hospitalized service members and a sample of USAF suicide decedents.
Email: kristen.kochanski@usuhs.mil
Graham Sterling, B.A., ENS, MSC, USN
Graham is a 3rd year Ph.D. student in Clinical Psychology (Military Track). Graham received his B.A. in Gerontology from Ithaca College where he researched geriatric health care and PTSD in older veterans. While an undergraduate, Graham gained clinical experience as an intern at the McLean Hospital's inpatient geropsychiatric unit in Boston, MA. Following graduation, Graham worked as a mental health specialist for troubled and suicidal children/adolescents at Franciscan Hospital for Children in Boston, MA. Graham is interested in understanding the association between gender role strain and suicide. He has recently developed a measure to assess male gender role strain. His research has implications for minimizing stigma and developing male sensitive psychotherapy practices.
Email: graham.sterling@usuhs.mil
Marcus Vansickle, B.A., ENS, MSC, USN
Marcus is a 1st year Ph.D. student in Clinical Psychology (Military Track). Prior to entering the program at USUHS, Marcus spent several years enlisted as a U.S. Marine serving in a variety of billets at home and overseas, concluding with his final assignment as a Marine Enlisted Commissioning Education Program student and ultimate transfer to the Navy Medical Service Corps. Marcus received his B.A. in Psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago. While there he worked as an intern with the Institute for Disabilities and Human Development and as a research assistant in an anxiety research lab. His experience culminated in a capstone looking at the effects of relaxation on cognitive flexibility. Marcus' current research is targeted at understanding problem solving deficits in suicidal military personnel admitted for inpatient care.
Email: marcus.vansickle@usuhs.mil
Contact Information
Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
4301 Jones Bridge Road
Bethesda, Maryland 20814-4799