Tanofsky-Kraff Lab
Graduate Students
Camden Elliott is a fifth year student in the Medical and Clinical Psychology dual-track program. Camden graduated in 2006 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.A. major in psychology and minor in French. Camden worked as a research assistant at the Duke Eating Disorders program before beginning graduate school at USUHS. Camden's master's project was a preliminary investigation of the research criteria for Loss of Control Eating Disorder (Tanofsky-Kraff, Marcus, Yanovski, and Yanovski, 2008). She is currently working on her dissertation project, which is a pilot examination of a parent-training intervention for the prevention of excess pediatric weight gain. Her primary research interest is pediatric disordered eating.
Contact: Camden.Elliott@usuhs.mil
Edny "Joey" Joseph is a second year graduate student working towards a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. She earned her bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2006. Prior to receiving her commission in 2010, Joey served as an enlisted Air Force Intelligence and Adversary Tactics Analyst from 1997-2010. She is interested in the effects of parental combat deployments on children and is currently working on a research project investigating the effects of parental combat deployments on the eating behaviors of military adolescent dependents.
Contact: edny.joseph@usuhs.edu
Rachel Miller is a third year student in the Medical and Clinical Psychology dual-track program. Rachel graduated in 2005 from the George Washington University with a B.A. major in psychology and minor in dance, and then received her Master's in clinical psychology from Columbia University. Rachel worked as a research assistant, first in a program evaluation for at-risk youth, then at the Obesity Research Center at Columbia University before beginning graduate school at USUHS. Rachel's research interests include prevention programs for youth at-risk for disordered eating, as well as physiological correlates of binge eating. Her masters thesis will examine the relationship between binge eating, cortisol, and metabolic dysfunction in youth.
Steele
Contact: Rachel.Miller@usuhs.edu
ENS Nicole Steele is a third year Clinical Psychology student who has served in the U.S. Navy for four years. Before beginning the Medical and Clinical Psychology program at USUHS, she was stationed on the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, California, where she worked as the Manpower Division Officer, Central Appointments Supervisor, and Healthcare Operations Officer. As the Command Fitness Leader, ENS Steele managed the Physical Readiness Test Program and Fitness Enhancement Program for the command. Prior to serving in the military, ENS Steele worked in civilian health care as a Planning and Consumer Research Analyst for Sharp HealthCare in San Diego, California, where she facilitated the business planning process for the regional integrated health care system. ENS Steele received her Master of Public Health degree and Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from San Diego State University. As a graduate student, she assisted with the development of the Health Data and Information Management Distance Learning Program.
Contact: nicole.steele@usuhs.edu
Lisa Ranzenhofer is a fifth year graduate student in medical and clinical psychology. Her research interests are child development and eating disorders. Lisa's current research involves examining momentary precipitants of loss of control eating involving relationships and mood, in adolescents' natural environment.
Contact: Lisa.Ranzenhofer@usuhs.edu
Anna Vannucci is a second year student in the Medical and Clinical Psychology dual-track program. Anna graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in 2007 with a B.A. in Psychology and a concentration in Women's and Gender Studies. Anna was the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship and worked as a research assistant at Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine before beginning graduate school at USUHS. Anna's primary research interests include disinhibited eating behaviors in youth and early intervention programs to prevent eating and weight disorders.
Fellows
Lauren B. Shomaker, PhD, is a postdoctoral research scientist and adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology. Dr. Shomaker works jointly at the Uniformed Services University with Marian Tanofsky-Kraff, PhD, and in the Section on Growth and Obesity at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development with Jack A. Yanovski, MD, PhD. Dr. Shomaker's research centers upon understanding eating behaviors in childhood and adolescence that promote the development of obesity and eating disorders. She is currently conducting a number of large-scale, laboratory projects that investigate the genetic, psychological, and social influences on adolescent eating behaviors, excessive weight gain, and metabolic characteristics such as insulin resistance, which lead to type 2 diabetes. A particular interest is how adolescent depressive symptoms may contribute to the onset of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Findings from this program of research are pertinent to informing prevention and intervention efforts targeting adolescent obesity and problematic eating behaviors.
Contact: shomakel@mail.nih.gov
Dr. Sarah Shafer Berger is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology and works jointly in the Section on Growth and Obesity at the NIH. She earned her Ph.D. in Medical & Clinical Psychology in 2010 from USUHS and completed her clinical internship at Children's Hospital Boston/ Harvard Medical School. Her training has had a strong interdisciplinary emphasis that allows for interface between medicine and psychology. Dr. Berger's primary interests are in the area of stress during sensitive periods of development (e.g., prenatal, adolescence, emerging adulthood) and its impact on physical and mental health. She is also interested in psychosocial interventions to reduce stress and associated symptoms. Her current work with Dr. Tanofsky-Kraff focuses on how interpersonal stress affects eating behavior in adolescent girls and the neural correlates of stress and eating.
Research Assistants
Omni Cassidy received her B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Women and Gender Studies from Washington University in St. Louis in 2010. As an undergraduate, Omni volunteered with the Weight Management and Eating Disorders Program. She also worked as an intern at Jackson Heart Study in Jackson, MS, investigating African Americans with Type II diabetes. Omni worked as a research assistant on the on-going study targeting the prevention of weight gain among adolescent girls, and currently works on a pilot study targeting the prevention of weight gain in underserved populations. In Fall 2012, Omni will begin as a graduate student at USUHS working with Drs. Sbrocco and Tanofsky-Kraff.
Contact: omni.cassidy@nih.gov
Sara Field received her B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Anthropology from Colby College in 2011. As an undergraduate, Sara worked in a cognitive psychology lab studying language and memory. Sara is currently a research assistant at USUHS and at the Section on Growth and Obesity at the NIH working with Dr. Tanofsky-Kraff on an obesity prevention trial and on a study examining the connection between the brain and eating behaviors in adolescent girls.