HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT LABORATORY
University of Georgia
MEET THE TEAM
Principal Investigator
Dr. Katherine Ehrlich
Dr. Katie Ehrlich is the director of the Health and Development Lab and an associate professor in Psychology and at the Center for Family Research. She received her BA in psychology from Washington & Lee University and her PhD from the University of Maryland, College Park. She completed postdoctoral research training at Northwestern University before joining UGA in 2016.
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Dr. Ehrlich's research takes an interdisciplinary approach to evaluating the ways in which the social world shapes mental and physical health. She is particularly interested in questions about risk and resilience, minority health disparities, and close relationships in adolescence. Her work has been funded by NICHD, NIDA, the NIH Common Fund, the Jacobs Foundation, and the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation.
Graduate Students
Julie Brisson
Julie Brisson is a fourth-year graduate student in the Behavioral and Brain Sciences Ph.D. program at the University of Georgia. She graduated from the University of Connecticut in 2021 with a B.A. in Human Development and Family Sciences and a B.A. in Psychological Sciences.
Julie is interested in how childhood adversity is associated with mental and physical health across the lifespan, as well as the role psychosocial factors have in buffering negative health outcomes.
Elizabeth (Liz) Wiggins
Liz Wiggins is a fourth-year psychology graduate student in the Behavioral and Brain Sciences Ph.D. program at the University of Georgia. She is originally from Washington, D.C. and received her B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Health Studies from Haverford College in 2021.
She has held positions at the National Institutes of Health in the Office of Global Research at NIAID and the Division of Behavioral and Social Research at NIA. She is interested in how social relationships affect health across the lifespan.
Staff
Dee Cole Vodicka
Dee Cole Vodicka is the Project Coordinator for the Health and Development Lab. She received her BA in Sociology from North Park College in Chicago, IL, and her MEd in Special Education from Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus.
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Dee and her husband John have three adult sons; their family lived and worked with people experiencing homelessness and ran a hospitality house for families of women in prison. After obtaining her master’s degree, she taught in special education settings and worked in teacher education for 19 years. Most recently, she has worked in church administration and at the AU-UGA Medical Partnership in curriculum coordination.
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Undergraduate and Graduate Research Assistants
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Joshua Baylor
Human Development
and Family Science, M.S.
(2025)
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Sophie Dunn
Psychology, B.S.
(2025)
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Andra Sirbu
Biochemistry and
Molecular Biology, B.S.
(2027)
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Lab Alumni
Graduate Students
Sarah Lyle, Ph.D. (2017-2022)
Assistant Professor at Eckerd College
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Kelsey Corallo, Ph.D. (2017-2022)
AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow at the National Institutes of Health
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Staff
Vanessa Hardman (Fall 2023)
Anna Langer (Summer 2021 - Summer 2023)
Manuela Celia-Sanchez (Summer 2021 - Summer 2023)
Cristhian Jimenez (Summer 2022 - Spring 2023)
Oreoluwa Badejoh (Summer 2022 - Spring 2023)
Kristin Rabil (Summer 2022 - Spring 2023)
Daisy Gallegos (Fall 2021 - Spring 2023)
Leah Cha (Summer 2021 - Spring 2022)
Sol Moreno (Winter 2020 - Spring 2022)
Jordan Rice (Fall 2021)
Isabel Wasilewski (Summer 2019 - Summer 2021)
Aishat Sadiq (Summer 2019 - Summer 2021)
Anita Minniefield (Spring 2020 - Spring 2021)
Deb Bastien (Spring 2019 - Spring 2020)
Undergraduate Research Assistants
Collin Botteron (Summer 2024 - Spring 2025)
Marcella Joseph (Fall 2022 - Fall 2024)
Malori Haley (Fall 2022 - Spring 2024)
Emma Allen (Fall 2022 - Fall 2023)
Marian Esmeir (Fall 2022 - Spring 2023)​
Celaret Perez (Spring 2022 - Spring 2023)
Loren Wray (Fall 2021 - Fall 2022)
Bronson Lott (Summer 2022 - Fall 2022)
Sheza Merchant (Young Dawgs, 2022)
Tina Aristizabal (Fall 2021 - Spring 2022)
Gabrielle Fontaine (Fall 2021 - Spring 2022)
Amanda Light (Fall 2021 - Spring 2022)
Gabby Ross (Fall 2021 - Spring 2022)
Phuongtin Thi Ta (Fall 2021 - Spring 2022)
Claire Pierce (Summer 2021 - Spring 2022)
Katie Smith (Summer 2021 - Spring 2022)
Isha Naidu (Spring 2021 - Spring 2022)
Tim McCoy (Fall 2020 - Spring 2022)
Morgan Arevalo (Spring 2022)
Julia Eisenberg (Fall 2021)
Sophia Milazzo (Fall 2021)
Isabel Rumsey (Spring 2021)
Jonas Sutphin (Fall 2020 - Spring 2021)
Kayla Tran (Fall 2019 - Spring 2021)
Emma Fairlie (Fall 2019 - Spring 2021)
Ritwika Chakrabarti (Fall 2019 - Spring 2021)​
Tose Akinmola (Fall 2019 - Spring 2021)
Madison Rhodes (Fall 2019 - Spring 2021)
Tiffany Adike (Fall 2019 - Spring 2020)
Chinonso Ani (Fall 2019 - Spring 2020)
Colby Cochran (Fall 2019 - Spring 2020)
Morgan Cox (Fall 2019 - Spring 2020)
Iyanu Daomi (Fall 2019 - Spring 2020)
Payton Eason (Fall 2019 - Spring 2020)
Rashidatu "Tope" Olorunsola (Fall 2019 - Spring 2020)
Isis Owusu (Fall 2019 - Spring 2020)
Dalton Sircy (Fall 2019 - Spring 2020)
Josie Guitton (Fall 2018 - Spring 2020)
Connor Lambert (Fall 2018 - Spring 2020)
Alyssa Moffitt (Fall 2018 - Spring 2020)
Yakia Clark (Fall 2019)
Gabrielle "Bria" Hubinger (Fall 2019)
Anna Brachey (Spring 2019 - Fall 2019)
Fiona Cashin (Spring 2019 - Fall 2019)
Rebecca Guerreso (Fall 2018 - Summer 2019)
Santosh Nimkar (Fall 2018 - Summer 2019)
Stephanie Hayes (Spring 2019 - Summer 2019)
Kamsi Ubezonu (Spring 2019)
Sara Atama (Fall 2018 - Spring 2019)
Orobosa Idehen (Fall 2018 - Spring 2019)
Mackenzie "Blue" Harvill (Fall 2017- Spring 2018)
Hope Skypek (Fall 2017 - Spring 2018)
Mary Mitchell Morris (Summer 2017- Spring 2018)
Lauren Geiser (Summer 2017)
Lab Mascots
Finn
Lucy
