Dr. Stephen Wilson – Associate Professor of Psychology

sjw42@psu.edu // (814) 865-6219

Dr. Wilson received his Ph.D. in clinical and biological/health psychology from the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Wilson also completed the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition program in cognitive neuroscience, a joint venture of the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Wilson’s research reflects this training and combines theories and methods from psychology and neuroscience. Dr. Wilson studies addiction and other forms of behavior that negatively affect health. Much of his work focuses on cigarette smoking, a form of addictive behavior that is particularly harmful and costly. A goal of Dr. Wilson’s research is to provide new insights into why it is so difficult for people to quit using cigarettes and use that knowledge to advance the treatment of smoking.

Outside of the lab, Dr. Wilson loves spending time with his family.

Dr. Wilson’s CV

Walter Dyer, M.S. – Graduate Student

Walter is a sixth-year graduate student in the adult clinical psychology doctoral program at Penn State. After graduating from Westmont College with degrees in Kinesiology and Biology, Walter worked as a project assistant at the University of Southern California on a laboratory study examining tobacco dependence and obsessive-compulsive symptom comorbidity. This formative experience paved the way for his current interests in how activity in the brain and body are involved in the onset and maintenance of appetitive risk behaviors, including substance use. Relatedly, he is also interested in understanding how methodologies to study substance use experiences can be improved to increase their validity and translational value. Outside of his graduate work, he enjoys spending time with his partner, playing sports, and chasing after his dog in the woods.

Tae Hun Cho, M.A. – Graduate Student

Tae Hun is a third-year student in the adult clinical psychology doctoral program at Penn State. He graduated from Yonsei University with a B.A. in English Language/Literature and Psychology. He also received his master’s degree in the clinical psychology program at Yonsei University, where he utilized the fNIRS to observe real-time neural activations of individuals at risk of internet gaming disorder while they played the games they were addicted to. His work also involved analyzing resting-state functional connectivity alterations in emotional laborers and individuals with high social anxiety. Tae Hun is broadly interested in using various methods including neuroimaging and physiological measures to investigate how addiction is experienced in the real world. Outside of doing research, he likes to play the electric guitar and watch movies in his spare time.

Jaimie Barr, B.S. – Graduate Student

Jaimie is a first-year graduate student in the adult clinical psychology doctoral program at Penn State. She previously attended Eastern Michigan University, where she received a B.S. in Psychology and Neuroscience Interdisciplinary Studies. Following graduation, she worked as a clinical research coordinator at the University of Michigan in a laboratory that utilized neuroimaging techniques to study neurodegenerative diseases. This included work on studies that aimed to examine the effects of dietary supplementation and lifestyle interventions in individuals with Parkinson’s disease and bipolar disorder. Jaimie’s current research interests focus on the relationship between diet and neurological functions, such as cognition. She is also interested in understanding factors that influence health-related behaviors, with the goal of developing effective interventions. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, reading, and trying new recipes.

Chloe Hessler, B.A. – Graduate Student

Dr. Young In Chung – Postdoctoral Fellow at Yale School of Medicine

Dr. Chung defended her dissertation (“Characterizing the associations among transdiagnostic vulnerabilities, motivational processes, and smoking lapses in those with comorbid anxiety/depressive disorders and nicotine dependence”) in October, 2024. Her dissertation applied a transdiagnostic vulnerability framework to examine how emotional factors such as anhedonia, anxiety sensitivity, and distress tolerance shape motivational processes that contribute to lapses during smoking cessation among adults with nicotine dependence and emotional disorders Dr. Chung completed a predoctoral internship in clinical psychology at Yale School of Medicine, where she is currently a postdoctoral fellow.

Dr. Siyuan (Josie) Huang – Principal Research Analyst in the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare

Dr. Huang defended her dissertation (“Sex differences in dorsal striatal volume and interest in quitting smoking”) in May, 2020. Her project used voxel-based morphometry to examine associations between sex differences in brain structure and interest in discontinuing cigarette use among adults who smoked on a daily basis. Dr. Huang completed a predoctoral internship in clinical psychology at the Medical University of South Carolina. She is currently a Principal Research Analyst in the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.

Dr. Melinda Furer – Assistant Professor of Psychology at Penn State Altoona

Dr. Furer defended her dissertation (“The impact of construal level manipulation on real [non-hypothetical] snack food choice”) in July, 2020. Her project tested whether thinking broadly (i.e., seeing the forest through the trees) helps people make healthier choices regarding what foods they eat. Dr. Furer completed a predoctoral internship in clinical psychology at the Counseling & Psychological Services center at Penn State University. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Penn State Altoona.

Dr. Shannon Henry – Licensed Psychologist at the Eugene Center for Anxiety and Stress

Dr. Henry defended her dissertation (“Examining associations between peer context, social anxiety, and alcohol expectancies in undergraduate students”) in June, 2019. Her project used a novel laboratory-based approach to investigate the various ways in which the reduction of social anxiety may serve as an important source of motivation for alcohol use in young adults. Dr. Henry completed a predoctoral internship in clinical psychology at the Counseling Center at Bowling Green State University and a postdoctoral fellowship at Stony Brook University’s Counseling and Psychological Services. Dr. Henry is currently a licensed clinical psychologist at the Eugene Center for Anxiety and Stress in Eugene, Oregon.

Dr. Ross MacLean – Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine

Dr. Travis Nichols – Clinical Psychologist in the Phoenix VA Health Care System

Dr. Nichols defended his dissertation (“Changes in brain networks involved in reward processing in cigarette smokers”) in May, 2016. His thesis used cutting-edge analytic methods to examine factors that influence functional connectivity (defined as the degree to which the activation of spatially distinct brain regions correlate) among areas of the brain linked to reward and motivation. Dr. Nichols completed a predoctoral internship in clinical psychology at the George E. Wahlen VA Medical Center (Salt Lake City), followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the VA North Texas (Dallas) Health Care System. Currently, Dr. Nichols is a clinical psychologist in the Phoenix VA Health Care System.