Lab Alumni
Tanya Tran, Ph.D., 2022 [website]
Tanya received her Ph.D. (2022) in clinical psychology from Queen’s University. Her graduate research focused on understanding the mechanisms underlying motivation and pleasure dysfunctions of psychotic and mood disorders. She developed performance-based and self-report measures to address the assessment gap of “cognitive effort motivation”, an important functional correlate in severe mental illness. Her work in this area was awarded the Ontario Graduate Scholarship, Joseph Bombardier Canadian Graduate Scholarship (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council), and the Canadian Psychological Association Certificate of Academic Excellence. Currently, Tanya is a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Rochester Medical Center. She is primarily situated at the INTERCEPT clinic, a clinical high risk for psychosis service affiliated with the Strong Memorial Hospital. During her fellowship at URMC, she aims to develop and evaluate psychological interventions that better meet the mental health needs of psychosis vulnerable youth. Specifically, she is keen to translate affective neuroscience research findings on negative symptom mechanisms into targeted psychological interventions.
Melissa Milanovic, Ph.D., 2021
Melissa graduated from the University of Guelph with a B.Sc. (Hon.) in Psychology and a minor in Neuroscience. During her undergraduate studies, she conducted a thesis using an animal model to investigate the role of the nicotinic cholinergic system in learning and memory. Melissa then completed her Master’s and Doctoral degrees at Queen’s University in the Cognition in Psychological Disorders Lab. Her Master’s research examined the role of self-efficacy in the deployment of functional skills in everyday life for individuals experiencing major depressive disorder. In her Ph.D. thesis, Melissa investigated factors involved in the motivation to engage in cognitive remediation. Melissa completed her Clinical Psychology Residency at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton in the Anxiety Treatment and Research Clinic, Mood Disorders Program, and Borderline Personality Disorder Service. Currently, she is a Psychologist (Supervised Practice) at the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Psychosis (CBTp) Service at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, as well as at Remedy Centre in Toronto, ON. Melissa is eager to apply her skillset across the provision of client-centred care, investigating factors related to recovery, program development and evaluation, teaching, and advocacy initiatives.
Melinda Kinney, M.Sc., 2019
Melinda completed her B.Sc. (Hon.) studying psychology at the University of Toronto and was drawn to the work of the CPD lab through serving as a clinical interventionist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. There, she facilitated cognitive remediation as part of a randomized clinical trial for Alzheimer's prevention. Melinda's Master's thesis focused on the relationship between childhood adversity and cognitive impairment among adults with Major Depressive Disorder, as well as the link between adversity and response to cognitive remediation. She is currently working as a Psychoeducational Consultant with the York Region District School Board, with an ever-growing passion for clinical practice and research with children and adolescents. Particularly, she aspires to contribute to knowledge and deliver services in ways that optimize resilience, connection, and well-being at this pivotal stage in life.
Mike Best, Ph.D., 2018 [website]
Mike graduated with a B.Sc. (Hon.) in the Department of Psychology at Queen’s University and is interested in understanding and improving social functioning for people with psychosis. Mike’s Master’s research examined neurophysiological biases to hearing the speech of someone with schizophrenia and uncovered an early processing bias that may be related to the social exclusion that many people with schizophrenia face. In addition to his Master’s research, Mike has been involved in research to improve the understanding and measurement of stigmatizing attitudes towards schizophrenia, and he developed a mental health stigma reduction program for student leaders at Queen’s. Currently, Mike is using electroencephalographic (EEG) techniques for two lines of research: 1) to examine neurophysiological changes that occur after people with mental illness engage in a cognitive training program, and 2) to examine the neurophysiological effects that being socially excluded has on people with psychosis.
Michael Grossman, Ph.D., 2018 [website]
Michael is a graduate of the Clinical Psychology program. Prior to completing his Ph.D., Michael pursued a Master’s degree at the University of Toronto in Developmental Psychology and Education. His clinical and research interests are broadly focused on early intervention in severe mental illness. For his Ph.D. thesis, Michael examined factors underlying social cognition in first-episode psychosis to identify relevant treatment targets for improving functional outcomes in the early stages of illness. Michael is currently completing a postdoctoral fellowship in the CBT for Psychosis (CBTp) Service at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, where he is studying mechanisms of change in CBTp to better understand who benefits most from this treatment and why.
Katherine Holshausen, Ph.D., 2017 [website]
Katherine is a recent graduate student from the Clinical Psychology program. For her Master’s thesis, Katherine and Dr. Bowie developed and evaluated a treatment for thought disorder entitled Structured Therapy for the Enhancement of Purposeful Speech (STEPS). For her doctoral thesis, Katherine focused on humour appreciation and its relation to depressive symptomatology among individuals with unipolar depression. She completed her post-doctoral residency at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton. Katherine is now a clinical psychologist (in supervised practice) at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton working in the Borderline Personality Disorders Clinic where she works as a clinician providing Standard Dialectical Behavioural Therapy, engages in program evaluation, and does research in trauma, emotion dysregulation, and psychosis.
Maya Gupta, Ph.D., 2016
[website]
Maya completed her Ph.D. in the CPD lab while examining the role of family functioning on recovery in early psychosis. Maya completed her doctoral residency program at St. Joseph's Healthcare in Hamilton completing rotations across the psychosis, mood, and youth wellness programs. After completing her residency, she worked as a psychologist with the Prevention and Early Intervention Program for Psychoses (PEPP) in London, ON. She currently works as a psychologist for a Family Health Team and also runs her own private practice.
Former Undergraduate Thesis Students
Allison Carney, Andrew Whiteman, Caitlin Heino, Chelsea Wood-Ross, Emma Bassett, Erin Meiklejohn, Jennifer Rigby, Jessie Eriksen, Laura Stefanik, Lauren David, Lillian Laferriere, Lindsay Simourd, Lisa Gou, Mandy Hagen, Mara Dempsey, Mariana Borsuk-Gudz, Michael Levi, Natasha Barisch, Sarah Ouellette, Shannon Xavier, Stephanie Woolridge, Theresa Bernard, Maya McGregor, Ian Doel, Maddie Allington, and Noa Shram.
Former Research Assistants
Alex Martin, Alex Wolfer, Allison Carney, Andrea Santalla Escobar, Andrew Whiteman, Bailey Stewart, Brenna Hartleib, Caroline Uchida, Cindy Law, Claire Michaud, Clare Cullen, Dan Gale, Devyn Whitaker, Ella van Beers, Emilie Brent, Emma Bassett, Emma Keshen, Erica Zilli, Erin Meiklejohn, Gabriel Elias, Garret Cree, Garret Duncan, Gillian MacFarlane, Graham Hutchings, Haley Mucz, Hanneke Smallenbroek, Heather Brooks, Isabelle Hau, Jazmin Eadie, Jenn Thunem, Jenny Rigby, Jessica Barr, Jessie Eriksen, Jordana Waserman, Kaela Amorim, Kaely Boyd, Kaitlin Wood, Kasley Killam, Kate Jackson, Kaylynn Brant, Kirsten Poole, Kirstin Carlisle, Kyra McGovern, Laura Edelstein, Laura Peters, Laura Stefanik, Lauren Bawks, Lauren David, Lauren Harper, Lexy Schimmel, Lilian Laferriere, Lindsay Simourd, Lisa Gou, Maeve Wickham, Mandy Hagen, Mara Dempsey, Mariana Borsuk-Gudz, Marnie Cornett, Mayah Palmer, McCowan, Melissa Rajala, Mike Levi, Minha Haque, Morgan Sherrer, Morgan Todd, Natasha Barich, Nathalie Cote, Rebecca Ferguson, Rebecca Hansford, Reem Toubache, Sage Hartmann, Samantha Irwin, Sam Yoon, Sandra Krause, Sarah Bacon, Sarah Bahrenian, Sarah Crowe, Sarah Oullette, Sasha Usyatynsky, Savie Edirisinghe, Shannon Xavier, Shelley Grady, Sidney Lichtenstein, Stephanie Taillefer, Susan Tang, Talia Leibovitz, Talya Wollner, Tarindi Welikala, Teal Mackintosh, Tessa Rootenberg, Theresa Russell, and Vanessa Montemarano
Former Psychometrists
Kenzie Bender