Scientific Advisory Board

Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, PhD, Research Professor of Psychology, Clark University, http://jeffreyarnett.com

Gerd Gigerenzer, PhD, Director Emeritus, Center for Adaptive Behavior and Cognition, and Harding Center for Risk Literacy, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin

Sigrid S. Glenn, PhD, Regents Professor Emeritus, University of North Texas

Steven C. Hayes, PhD, Foundation Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno

Melbourne F. Hovell, PhD, MPH, Distinguished Professor of Public Health, Graduate School of Public Health, San Diego State University; Director, Center for Behavioral Epidemiology and Community Health

Kennon A. Lattal, PhD, Centennial Professor of Psychology, University of West Virginia

Lewis P. Lipsitt, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, Medical Science and Human Development, Brown University

Elizabeth Loftus, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Social Behavior, University of California, Irvine

Stephen W. Porges, PhD, Distinguished University Scientist, Kinsey Institute, Indiana University Bloomington; Research Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, http://stephenporges.com

J. E. R. Staddon, PhD, James B. Duke Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University 

Bruce A. Thyer, PhD, LCSW, BCBA-D, Distinguished Research Professor, College of Social Work, Florida State University

Philip G. Zimbardo, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, Stanford University, http://zimbardo.com

Institutional Review Board

Daniel Moriarty, PhD, IRB Chair; Professor of Psychology, University of San Diego

Steven Cesare, PhD; Industrial Psychologist, The Harvest Group

Kenneth D. Keith, PhD; Professor Emeritus, Department of Psychological Sciences, University of San Diego

Stephanie Stolarz-Fantino, PhD; Research Psychologist, American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology

Rebekah Wanic, PhD; Senior Lecturer, National University of Singapore

Distinguished Research Fellows

P. Scott Richards, PhD., retired in 2019 as professor of counseling psychology at Brigham Young University and is the Director of Research for the Center for Change in Orem, Utah. His research encompasses spirituality, eating disorders, online assessment, and mental health, and his many publications include authored and edited books published by the American Psychological Association. 

Mark A. Runco, PhD, Torrance Professor of Creative Studies, University of Georgia; Founder and Editor, Creativity Research Journal; co-editor, Encyclopedia of Creativity.

Research Psychologists

Teresa Buccheri, PhD
Beth Coke, PhD
Ayanna Cummings, PhD, MBA
Harris L. Friedman, PhD
Gerald S. Graham, PsyD, MBA
Victor N. Karandashev, PhD
Sébastien Montel, PhD
Stephanie Stolarz-Fantino, PhD
N. Bruce Walton, PhD, MBA
Brooke Wilken, PhD
Ping Zheng, MD, PhD

Research Associates

Jeana Arter-Passy, MA
Victoria S. Brown, MA
Joseph Dorri, MA
Hossein Fattahi, MD
Josh Klein, MPS
Cathryn L. Leff, LMFT
Holly Stead, MSc
Hongyu (Olivia) Wang, MS

Staff

Vanessa Zankich, Research Director. Vanessa is a graduate of the University of California San Diego, where she majored in psychology. Since joining AIBRT’s staff, she has co-authored multiple research publications and scientific presentations, investigating topics such as online manipulation, stress management, and human sexuality. Vanessa is passionate about promoting positive social change through the education and empowerment of the public, and she believes that her work at AIBRT is central to fulfilling this desire. She plans to pursue a PhD in social psychology and eventually to develop her own research lab.

Haley Rubin, Director of Development. Haley has an extensive background in grant writing and nonprofit work. Prior to joining AIBRT in May of 2021, she worked on the Development Team at the Jewish United Fund where she wrote grants to support their critical programming. Haley graduated from Emory University with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Politics, and Law. During her time at Emory, she conducted research on policing, which received recognition by Emory faculty, was Vice President of the Emory Mock Trial Team, and was on the executive board of a social impact organization. She was also part of the teaching staff for a summer program on law and advocacy at Yale University. Haley is committed to advancing her passion for nonprofit and advocacy work. She strives to instill others with an agency in solving pressing problems alongside AIBRT. In her free time, Haley enjoys teaching youth advocacy programs and creating social impact business ventures.

Robert Epstein, PhD, Senior Research Psychologist. Epstein is a research scientist and media professional, as well as the author of 15 books and more than 300 articles on psychology-related topics, including empirical studies in Science, Nature, Psychological Science, and The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. A PhD of Harvard University under B. F. Skinner, Dr. Epstein is the former editor-in-chief of Psychology Today and is the founder and Director Emeritus of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies. He has also hosted several national radio programs, most recently "Psyched!" on Sirius/XM between 2005 and 2008. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here: @DrREpstein. His c.v. can be downloaded here (PDF). For further information, visit https://drrobertepstein.com.  

Amanda Newland, Assistant Director. Amanda is a graduate of the University of California San Diego with a bachelor’s degree in social psychology and a minor in computational social science. During her time at UCSD, she was in the Psychology Honors Program where she conducted research on sexual literacy and its impact on relationship satisfaction. She hopes that she can have a positive impact on society through her work at AIBRT and plans on attending graduate school so she can continue pursuing her passions in social psychology.

Recent and current interns: Jessica Aceret, University of California San Diego; Nataly Acosta, San Diego State University; Seham Albalawi, University of Massachusetts Amherst; Savannah Aries, University of California Los Angeles; Emma Arroyo, University of Southern California; Vatche Bahudian, University of California San Diego; Sebastian Barajas, St. John's College; Tom Bate, Arizona State University; Sara Bock, Point Loma Nazarene University; Maria Bordyug, University of California San Diego; Rebecca Carter, Grinnell University; Ya-Han Chen, University of California San Diego; Yijing Chen, Rice University; Philip Cheung, University of California Irvine; Khadizhat Dakaeva, University of California Los Angeles; Miki Ding, University of California Berkeley; Matea Djokic, University of California San Diego; Aurora Dolorfino, Point Loma Nazarene University; Megan Drew, Missouri State University; Nicole Edmonds, University of California San Diego; Jenelle Epstein, Mira Costa College; Nicole FitzGerald, Pepperdine University; Wendy Gao, University of Chicago; Anna Ginther, University of California Berkeley; Ciara Giordani, University of California Santa Barbara; Sofia Godoy, University of California San Diego; Kelly Grebbien, California Baptist University; Megan Elan Ho, Scripps College; Yuxiang Hou, University of Southern California; Connan Houser, University of Richmond; Yunyi Huang, University of California San Diego; Justin Huynh, University of California San Diego; Timothy Hwang, University of California San Diego; Seojin Hyun, University of California San Diego; Samiya Ijaz, University of California Riverside; Arriell Jackson, Point Loma Nazarene University; Minsung Kang, University of California San Diego; Hannah Kim, University of California San Diego; Jane Kim, Loyola Marymount University; Moonjung Kim, University of California San Diego; Gina Kirkish, University of California San Diego; Sophia Knappertz, University of Vermont; Jordan Krikorian, University of California San Diego; Arnaud Laprais, University of California Santa Barbara; Megan Lao, University of California San Diego; Christopher Le, University of California Irvine; Natalie Le, University of California San Diego; Lee R. Lee, University of California San Diego; Vivian Lee, University of California Santa Cruz; Lauren N. Lewark, University of California San Diego; Hanna Liao, University of California San Diego; Mhairi London, University of California San Diego; Michael Lothringer, California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo; Jeremy Martinez, Point Loma Nazarene University; Martha Martinez, University of California San Diego; Megan McNamara, University of San Diego; Paul McKinney, University of California San Diego; Miyako McLaughlin, University of California Los Angeles; Xiaowen Mei, University of California San Diego; Jonathan Mejia, University of California San Diego; Roger Mohr, University of California San Diego; Christine Mourani, Columbia University; Eldar Nabi, San Diego State University; Priyanka Nanayakkara, University of California Los Angeles; Patricia Natalie, University of California Los Angeles; Amanda Newland, University of California San Diego; Agelique Nguyen, San Diego State University; Emily Olson, Wellesley College; Mayuri Pandit, Loma Linda University; Daniel Hyun Gyu Park, University of California Santa Cruz; Lauren Peirson, University of California San Diego; Adam Peng, University of California San Diego; Victoria Phan, University of California San Diego; Camille Reid, University of the South Pacific; Haley Rubin, Emory University; Lucy Ryall, Loyola University; Alyssa Salcedo, California Baptist University; Zoë Scandalis, University of Southern California; Marie Sckocheva, University of California San Diego;  Sandi Shaner, San Diego State University; Rachel Smith, Chapman University; Chelsea Song, University of California Berkeley; Holly Stead, King's College London; Kendyl Stewart, University of Southern California; Dayna Stout, University of California Berkeley; Cong Sun, University of California San Diego; Chloe Sutlick, University of California San Diego; Li Yu Tang, University of California San Diego; Xin Tong, University of California San Diego; Felix Tran, University of California San Diego; Christina Tyagi, University of California San Diego; Rachel Uda, University of California San Diego; Tyler Vasconcellos, University of California San Diego; Rebecca Vered, California State University, San Marcos; Sanika Walimbe, University of California San Diego; Ning Wang, Pepperdine University; Ruixiao Wang, University of California Los Angeles; Makena Westbrook, University of California Santa Cruz; Ivy Wong, University of California San Diego; Wi Wu, University of California San Diego; Vanessa Zankich, University of California San Diego; Hanwen Zhang, University of California San Diego

Recent and current research assistants: Prateek Bonsal; Katherine Huynh, University of California San Diego; Santiago Palacios, University of California San Diego; Vishaarad Sharan