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Meet the team

Primary Investigator

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Jennifer M. Taber, PhD

she/her/hers

Graduate Students

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Ivy Cheng, B.S.S

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Jeremy Foust, MA

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Abigail O'Brien, BA

Undergraduate Research Assistants

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Charlie Coward

Dr. Jennifer Taber

Jennifer M. Taber, PhD

Jennifer Taber (she/her/hers) is an Associate Professor at Kent State University in the Department of Psychological Sciences. She received her BA in Psychology at American University and her MS and PhD in Social Psychology from the University of Utah. Dr. Taber was a postdoctoral cancer research training award (CRTA) fellow for 2 years in the Behavioral Research Program of the National Cancer Institute. Her research lies at the intersection of social and health psychology and centers on promoting health behavior change across multiple domains. One of her major research interests is understanding when and why risk perceptions predict behavior and how to intervene to increase the likelihood that providing risk information will lead to behavior change. In her free time, she enjoys running, hiking, and cooking. 

Contact Info:

Email: jtaber1@kent.edu

Office: Kent Hall Annex 309

Phone: (330) 672-3783

Pronouns: She/her/hers

Courses Taught:

Health Psychology (41581)

Psychology of Risk Communication (Seminar, 41495/81591)

Social Psychology (61580/71580)

Emotions, Culture, & Health (Florence Summer Institute)

Jeremy Foust, MA

Jeremy is a fifth year PhD student in the Psychological Sciences program at Kent State University. He is interested in studying how people understand their health risk information, including instances in which people chose not to learn their health information—health information avoidance. He is also interested in learning about different research methodologies and statistical techniques that can be leveraged to understand health information engagement. Jeremy received his Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Baldwin Wallace University and his Master's degree from Kent State University. In his free time, Jeremy likes to spend time with his partner, friends, and family. He also enjoys all things soccer related: watching soccer, reading about soccer, and playing soccer video games.

Website: https://sites.google.com/view/jeremy-foust

Contact Info:

jfoust2@kent.edu

Office: Kent Hall 390

Phone: (440) 554-8045

Pronouns: He/him/his

Courses Taught:

Quantitative Methods in Psychology II

Research Methods

Health Psychology

Social Psychology

Jeremy Foust

Abigail O'Brien, MA

Abigail is a fourth year PhD student in the Psychological Sciences program at Kent State University. She is interested in utilizing social psychological theory to understand how people think about their health. Particularly, Abigail is interested in defensive responses to health information and how that subsequently influences engagement in health behaviors.  Abigail received her Bachelor's degree from Kent State University. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, listening to podcasts, and spending time with her friends and family. 

Contact Info:

Aobrie10@kent.edu

Office: Kent Hall 390

Phone: (330) 410-4497

Pronouns: She/her/hers

Courses Taught:

Research Methods in Psychology

Health Psychology

Abigail O'Brien

Ivy Cheng, BSS

Ivy is a second year PhD student in the Psychological Sciences program at Kent State University. She is broadly interested in the psychosocial influences of health behaviors. Currently, Ivy is interested in the ways people engage in and act on health risk information. She is also interested in risk communication, and interventions to encourage people's engagement in preventive and protective health behaviors. Ivy received her Bachelor's degree from the National University of Singapore. In her free time, she enjoys listening to music and playing world building games. 

Contact Info:

Icheng1@kent.edu

Office: Kent Hall 390

Pronouns: She/her/hers

Ivy Cheng
Undergraduate RAs
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Kaitlyn Warakomski
She/her/hers

Kaitlyn is currently a senior majoring in Psychology with a Counseling Careers concentration and minoring in Anthropology. After graduating, she plans on getting her Master’s in School Psychology. Kaitlyn is especially interested in social and cognitive psychology, and archeology. In her free time, she likes to read, make art, travel, and spend time with her friends and family.

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Shannon Aber
She/her/hers

Shannon is a senior majoring in psychology and minoring in human sexuality. After she graduates, she will go onto graduate school to pursue her goal of becoming a clinical or counseling psychologist. Her research interests include health psychology, assessment, discrimination in health care, and chronic illness. She is also a RA in Dr. Himmelstein’s SWAG Lab. In her free time she likes to travel, play cozy games like Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing, and work on her family tree.

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Charlie Coward They/them/theirs

Charlie is a senior majoring in psychology with a minor in biology. After graduating, they plan to attend graduate school and get their Ph.D. in Health Psychology. Specifically, they are interested in the various reasons why people choose to avoid healthcare information and what strategies they may use to cope with learning their risk. Outside the lab, they love to travel, play Dungeons and Dragons, and complete paint-by-numbers of their favorite game concept art.

Lab Alumni

Lab Alumni

Nicolle Simonovic, PhD
Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Haifa, Israel


 

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