CHANGE Lab at the University of Memphis
Challenging Health disparities in Adolescents and Nurturing Global Empowerment
Kudos to the CHANGE Lab members!
April 2019:
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Congratulations to Caroline Kaufman who defended her midpoint project and Jess Mandell who defended her thesis!
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The CHANGE lab attended the Society for Pediatric Psychology Annual Conference in New Orleans! Kristina presented a poster, and Dr. Thurston gave talks on sleep among teens of size and using technology to bridge health disparities.
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October 2018:
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Caroline Kaufman, Dr. Idia Thurston, Courtney Maclin-Akinyemi, Robin Hardin, Kristina Decker, and Dr. Rebecca Kamody had a manuscript accepted to the Journal of American College Health !
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Kristina Decker, Dr. Idia Thurston, and Dr. Rebecca Kamody had a manuscript accepted to Body Image !
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March 2019:
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The CHANGE and REACH labs
hosted the 2nd Annual Forum on
Adversity and Resilience: Building
Bridges Over Breakfast. Members
of the university and the Memphis
community came together to discuss
maternal child health equity.
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The CHANGE lab presented posters at the National HIV Prevention Conference in Atlanta, GA!
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February 2019:
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Caroline Kaufman received a student grant from the Association for Psychological Science!
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Jordan Taylor and Abigail Soefker presented 1st author
posters at the MidSouth Psychology Conference!
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Our advanced students matched for internship at fantastic locations!
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Kristina Decker: Cincinnati Children's Hospital
Robin Hardin: Emory University/ Grady Health System
Courtney Maclin-Akinyemi: Atlanta VA Health Care System
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January 2019:
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Caroline Kaufman and Dr. Idia Thurston, had a manuscript accepted to the Psychology of Religion and Spiritual Health !
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The CHANGE Lab and our community partners from the Memphis Police Department and Playback Memphis kicked off the new year with a poster presentation and panel discussion at the National Multicultural Conference and Summit in Denver, Colorado!
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December 2018:
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Michael Higgins graduated with his Bachelor's degree in Psychology!
The CHANGE lab is excited that Michael will continue working in the
lab as a post-bachelor's research assistant.
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Congratulations to CHANGE lab alum, Dr. Rebecca Kamody, who was awarded
the SPPAC diversity grant for her postdoctoral research project entitled:
“Examining Disordered Eating and Weight Disparities Among Transgender
and Gender Nonconforming Youth.”
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November 2018:
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CHANGE Lab undergraduate students, Michael Higgins and
Sascha Young, presented posters at the Tennessee Psychological
Association annual conference!
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Congratulations to Caroline Kaufman who won 1st place in the
Tennessee Psychological Association's Graduate Student Talk
Competition for her talk on antisemitism at their annual conference!
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Congratulations to several students who successfully proposed and defended departmental milestones!
Caroline Kaufman proposed her midpoint milestone project titled Examination of Spirituality Measurement in a Sample of University Students.
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Jess Mandell proposed her thesis titled Social Support Among Mothers Living with HIV: An Adaptation of the Bioecological Model.
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Whitney Howie defended her thesis titled Nutritional beliefs and intentions among food pantry clients in an urban setting.
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September 2018:
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Dr. Thurston and Dr. Kathryn Howell were awarded an NIH grant (grant number: R21DK113344) from National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) for the Stress in Obese Adolescents and their Resilience (SOAR) study! Congratulations Drs. Thurston and Howell!
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Congratulations to Kristina Decker, Robin Hardin, and Courtney Maclin who all proposed their dissertations!
Summer 2018:
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Dr. Idia Thurston received the Bisola Marignay Award: Reproductive Justice at the Intersections from Sister Reach, a community organization focused on reproductive justice. Congratulations, Dr. Thurston!
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Dr. Idia Thurston received the Early Career Research Award from the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Memphis! Congratulations, Dr. Thurston!
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Caroline Kaufman was accepted as a member of the Psychology of Women's Quarterly (PWQ) Student Advisory Board! Congratulations, Caroline!
Rebecca (officially Rebecca Kamody, PhD!!) received her doctoral degree
from the University of Memphis! Congratulations, Dr. K.!
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Dr. Idia Thurston was elected to the board for APA Division 54, Society of Pediatric
Psychology in the position of Member-At-Large, Student-Trainee Development!
Congratulations, Dr. Thurston!
May 2018:
The CHANGE Lab had a fun spring lab outing at Las Delicias! We were even joined by Courtney's sons, Tahj and Tahir!
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Andrew Paladino received the Dr. Craig Brown Program Director's award in the Masters in General Psychology Program at the University of Memphis. Congratulations, Andrew!
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Andrew Paladino also won the Association for Psychological Science's RISE Award and presented his talk entitled Internalized Weight Stigma and Drug Use Among Diverse Young Adults: Sexual Orientation as a Moderator at the 30th APS Annual Convention in San Francisco, CA! Congratulations again, Andrew!
April 2018:
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The CHANGE Lab surprised Danielle Porter, Jazmyne Burton, and Jordan Taylor (our Undergraduate Research Assistants) with a potluck party to thank them for all their work in the lab this past year. Best of luck to you all!
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Dr. Idia Thurston and all 6 CHANGE Lab graduate students attended the Society of Behavioral Medicine‘s 39th Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions held in New Orleans, Louisiana! Courtney Maclin-Akinyemi, Robin Hardin, and Caroline Kaufman presented posters, and Kristina Decker presented her talk entitled Weight Based Stigma is Associated with Sleep Quality Among Emerging Adults! The Lab had a wonderful time!
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Kristina Decker presented a poster at the Society of Pediatric Psychology’s Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida!
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Andrew Paladino successfully defended his thesis! The beloved Zoya Thurston attended and approved!
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Caroline Kaufman successfully defended her thesis!
March 2018:
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Dr. Idia Thurston presented a poster at the Association for Women in Psychology’s Annual Conference in Philadelphia, PA. While there, she met many amazing women, and even took a selfie with the first female APA President, Dr. Florence Denmark!
February 2018:
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Congratulations to Dr. Idia Thurston, who is now on the Editorial Board of Body Image!
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Congratulations to Caroline Kaufman, who is now the Student Representative for the Spirituality and Health Special Interest Group of the Society of Behavioral Medicine!
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Dr. Idia Thurston, Rebecca Kamody, Jessica Mandell, and Courtney Maclin-Akinyemi had a manuscript accepted to the journal AIDS Care!
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Winter 2017-2018:
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Dr. Idia Thurston, Courtney Maclin-Akinyemi, Kristina Decker, Robin Hardin, Caroline Kaufman, and Andrew Paladino all prepared their posters and talks for upcoming Spring conferences!
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Every member of the CHANGE Lab took (at least a little) time off this month for mindfulness and time with loved ones — which was very well deserved 🙂
October 2017:
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The Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change’s policy papers, Bending the Arc Toward Justice: Including the Excluded, published Dr. Idia Thurston’s research and recommendations regarding the LGBT community in the current political climate. Her article is titled Prioritizing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Lives in the Era of Resistance and Prejudicial Rhetoric. Congratulations, Dr. Thurston!
September 2017:
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The CHANGE Lab took a knee in solidarity to protest police brutality, the unfair treatment of minorities, and injustice.
#PsychologistsTakeAKnee
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Dr. Idia Thurston and CHANGE Lab member Jessica Mandell began working with Playback Memphis to evaluate their school-based anti-violence program, titled Be the Peace!
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Robin Hardin had a first author manuscript accepted to the journal of Fertility and Sterility!
Summer 2017:
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Dr. Idia Thurston and CHANGE Lab members Kristina Decker, Robin Hardin, Rebecca Kamody, and Caroline Kaufman had a symposium presentation entitled Multilevel Predictors of Resilience in Diverse Communities of High Risk Youth and Adults at the Pathways to Resilience IV: Global South Perspectives conference in Cape Town, South Africa. Dr. Thurston, Kristina, and Robin were each first authors on talks in the symposium, and Rebecca and Caroline were co-authors.
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Dr. Thurston, Kristina, Robin and REACH Lab collaborator, Dr. Howell spent several inspiring and exciting days attending the conference and exploring South Africa!
May 2017:
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Harvard Public Health, the magazine of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, has published an article featuring Dr. Thurston’s research on the protective role of weight misperception, entitled The Scarlet F: Why Fat Shaming Harms Health, and How We can Change the Conversation. Congratulations Dr. Thurston!
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Congratulations to Dr. Idia Thurston, who along with Dr. Kathryn Howell as Co-PI’s have received a MAJOR Academic Research Enhancement Award from NIH. This R15 Grant in the amount of $416,009, entitled Examining Resilience in Youth Exposed to Adversity, will be used to fund the PaTH Kids Study for the next 3 years.
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Rebecca Kamody received the 2016-2017 Clinical Ph.D. Program Director’s Outstanding Student Award.
Rebecca also successfully defended her dissertation, entitled Evaluating the Pilot Implementation of a
Culturally Responsive Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Intervention for Binge Eating Behaviors Among Adolescents. Congratulations Rebecca!
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Caroline Kaufman received a competitive scholarship to attend a 5 day research workshop on religion,
spirituality and health, at Duke University in August 2017. Congrats Caroline!
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The CHANGE Lab is excited to welcome Jessica Mandell to the CHANGE Lab. Jessica will be joining the lab
as a first year doctoral student in the clinical psychology Ph.D. program, under the mentorship of Dr. Idia Thurston in the Fall of 2017. Welcome Jessica!
March 2017:
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Dr. Idia Thurston has received a $10,000 Faculty Research Grant from the University
of Memphis to fund her Impact of Stress and Resilience on Obesity-Related Metabolic
Complications in Adolescents Study at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital.
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Dr. Thurston had a co-authored manuscript accepted to Eating Behaviors.
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Rebecca Kamody had a first author publication accepted to The Primary Care Companion for CNS Disorders.
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Courtney Maclin had a first author manuscript accepted for publication in Military Medicine.
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February 2017:
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Rebecca Kamody had a first author manuscript accepted for publication in Behavioral Medicine.
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Kristina Decker received a Distinguished Student Travel Scholarship from the Society of Behavioral Medicine to present her symposium talk, Profiles of Weight Stigma and Mental Health: Association with Health Outcomes Among Emerging Adults with Overweight/Obesity, at their annual conference in March in San Diego.
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Rebecca Kamody received a research travel award from the Society of Pediatric Psychology to present her symposium talk, Developing a Culturally Responsive Behavioral Health Intervention for Disordered Eating and Obesity Among Adolescent: From Theoretical Conceptualization to Implementation, at their annual conference in March in Portland.
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Robin Hardin successfully defended her thesis.
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Courtney Maclin successfully defended her Mid-Point Project as her second research milestone.
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Rebecca Kamody matched at the Yale Child Study Center for her predoctoral internship year. Rebecca will be taking a two year position as a Fellow at Yale School of Medicine, as she will be completing both her predoctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship at the Child Study Center.
December 2016:
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Dr. Idia Thurston and CHANGE Lab members Kristina Decker, Robin Hardin, Rebecca Kamody, and Caroline Kaufman had a symposium, Multilevel Predictors of Resilience in Diverse Communities of High Risk Youth and Adults, accepted for presentation at the Pathways to Resilience IV: Global South Perspectives conference in Cape Town, South Africa next June. Dr. Thurston, Kristina, and Robin are each first authors on talks in the symposium. Rebecca and Caroline are co-authors.
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Kristina Decker successfully defended her Mid-Point Project as her second research milestone.
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November 2016:
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Dr. Idia Thurston and CHANGE Lab members Rebecca Kamody and Kristina Decker had a symposium, Culturally Responsive Assessments and Interventions to Address Pediatric Obesity: A Collaborative Symposium of the Diversity and Obesity SIGs, accepted for presentation at the 2017 Society of Pediatric Psychology Annual Conference in Portland this March. Dr. Thurston is chair of the symposium, Rebecca is first author on one of the talks, and Kristina is a co-author.
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Dr. Thurston, Rebecca Kamody, and Courtney Maclin-Akinyemi had a symposium, A Strength-Based Approach to Understanding Health Disparities: Risk and Resilience in Mothers Living with Syndemics, accepted for presentation at the 38th Annual Meeting & Scientific Sessions of the Society of Behavioral Medicine in San Diego this March. Dr. Thurston is chair of the symposium and first author on one of the talks, Rebecca is first author on one of the talks, and Courtney is a co-author.
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CHANGE Lab member Kristina Decker had a symposium, Profiles of Weight Stigma and Mental Health: Association with Health Outcomes Among Emerging Adults with Overweight/Obesity, accepted for presentation at the 38th Annual Meeting & Scientific Sessions of the Society of Behavioral Medicine in San Diego this March. Kristina is first author on one of the talks.
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Dr. Thurston received the The Obesity Society’s Diversity Research Poster Award for her poster being presented at ObesityWeek this month in New Orleans.
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October 2016:
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Rebecca Kamody received the $1000 Student Research Award from the International Society for the Improvement and Teaching of Dialectical Behavior Therapy for her project, Preliminary Efficacy, Acceptability, and Feasibility of a Culturally Responsive Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Group for Adolescents. The award will be used to help fund her dissertation research associated with the Emotional Overeating Intervention.
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Dr. Mollie Anderson recently had her manuscript, Condom Carnival: Feasibility of a Novel Group Intervention for Decreasing Sexual Risk accepted for publication in Sex Education. This project served as Mollie’s Mid-Point Project when in her doctoral program at The University of Memphis.
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September 2016:
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CHANGE lab director Dr. Idia Thurston recently had her manuscript Cross-sectional and Prospective Examination of Weight Misperception and Depressive Symptoms among Adolescents with Overweight and Obesity accepted for publication in Prevention Science. CHANGE lab member Rebecca Kamody is a co-author on the paper.
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April 2016:
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Robin Hardin received an honorable mention at SPPAC’s Adolescent and Young Adult SIG poster contest. Robin completed her poster while on a research placement at St. Jude in Memphis.