People in the Lab
Top Row (Left to Right): Dustin Washburn, Katrina Bouchard, Stephanie Fraser, Raegan Mazurka, Jeremy Stewart, Jordan Bawks
Middle Row (Left to Right): Arielle Zahavia, Kathleen Xu, Gillian Wilson, Stephanie Yu, Monica Haberl, Mattie Donovan
Bottom Row (Left to Right): Cherie La Rocque, Cynthia Wan, Tanya Lai, Kate Harkness, Alex Reis
Not Shown: Allisha Patterson, Lynita White
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Kate Harkness, PhD
Associate Professor
B.Sc., (Hon.) Toronto, 1993
M.S., Oregon, 1995
Ph.D., Oregon, 1998
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Kate Harkness, Ph.D. Principal Investigator
Area of research: My primary research focus is the role of stress and early trauma in the etiology and ongoing pathology of major depression in adolescence and adulthood.
My current work focuses on gene-environment interactions that increase the biological and psychosocial sensitivity to stress in major depression.
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7mah@queensu.ca
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Monica Haberl, B.A.H.
Lab Coordinator
I am responsible for the organization and maintenance of ongoing projects in the lab. I recently graduated from Queen's with a BAH in Psychology. I love studying psychology in all disciplines, but am most interested in organizational psychology. I'm intending on pursuing graduate studies in the area of Organizational Behaviour.
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Graduate Students
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8rcl2@queensu.ca
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Cherie La Rocque, M.Sc. Area of research: I am interested in the role of early child maltreatment, and specifically physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, in heightening the sensitization to stress in adolescence and adulthood. In my Master's thesis I tested the hypothesis that depressed individuals with a history of maltreatment require a lower level of stress to trigger their onset of major depression than those without. I am further interested in whether this relation depends on when the maltreatment was experienced (childhood versus adolescence), what type of maltreatment it was (physical vs. sexual vs. emotional abuse), and whether the depressive episode is a first-onset or a recurrence. |
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rmazurka@gmail.com
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Raegan Mazurka, B.Sc.H.
Area of Research: I am interested in dysregulation of the biological stress response in depression and how this system may be affected by gene-environment interactions. My master’s thesis will be looking at how polymorphisms of the FKBP5 gene in combination with childhood maltreatment may predict the cortisol response to a psychosocial stress task in depressed versus non-depressed adolescents.
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2js4@queensu.ca
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Jeremy Stewart, Ph.D. Candidate
Area of research: I am interested in the interpersonal factors involved in the development and maintenance of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Specifically, I am examining the interplay between underlying personality vulnerability (i.e., Rejection Sensitivity), maladaptive interpersonal behaviors (e.g., excessive reassurance-seeking) and symptoms of depression in predicting experiences of rejection in romantic relationships. Secondary to this work, I am examining the developmental trajectories that lead to problematic or dysfunctional dating relationships. |
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dustin.washburn
@queensu.ca
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Dustin Washburn, B.Sc.H.
Area of Research: My research interests lie in understanding the underpinnings of social dysfunction in people with depression and social phobia. Theory of mind refers to one’s ability to understand and interpret other people’s intentions and beliefs, and my Master’s thesis seeks to understand the varying theory of mind ability of individuals with major depression, social phobia, and, comorbid theory of mind. What I would like to know how level of theory of mind ability differs between these groups of people, and if so, how it affects their ability to function optimally in their interpersonal relationships.
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Research Associate
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nazanin.alavi
@queensu.ca
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Nazanin Alavi, MD
Area of research: I am interested in the role of stressful life events and child maltreatment on the onset of Major Depressive Disorder. Specifically, I am working on the role of early child maltreatment (physical, sexual, and emotional abuse) and a family history of psychiatric problems on the level of stress that is required to trigger the onset of depression in adolescence and adulthood.
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Honours Students
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8jab1@queensu.ca
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Jordan Bawks
Area of research: I am interested in behavioral neuroscience, physiology and clinical psychology and hope to eventually pursue an MD and do clinical research. I'm doing my Honours thesis on the relationship between BDNF, Serotonin, Childhood Maltreatment and Depression. I like to relax by playing squash, ultimate frisbee and reading just about anything.
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8gw3@queensu.ca
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Gillian Wilson
Area of research: I am interested in the associations between a history of depression, theory of mind, and maladaptive interpersonal behaviours. More specifically, my Honours thesis will focus on the potential moderating effect of past depressive episodes on the relationship between mental state decoding ability and excessive-reassurance seeking.
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8scy@queensu.ca
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Stephanie Yu
Area of research: My research focuses on the cultural differences in the prevalence, magnitude and manifestation of depressive symptoms in university students, specifically between Chinese-Canadians and Caucasian-Canadians. I am also looking into how acculturation and gender interact with ethnicity in impacting the characteristics of students' depressive symptoms. |
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Katrina Bouchard
8kb12@queensu.ca
Mattie Donovan
8md4@queensu.ca
Tasha Hanuschak
7tah@queensu.ca
Stephanie Fraser
8sf3@queensu.ca
Tanya Lai
8ttl1@queensu.ca
Alex Reis
8avr1@queensu.ca
Cynthia Wan
8cyw@queensu.ca
Kathleen Xu
8kx1@queensu.ca
Arielle Zahavia
