Polina is a first-year Clinical Psychology PhD student from Worcester, MA. She graduated from Wellesley College in 2021 with a B.A. in Psychology. After college, Polina worked with youth with challenging behaviors at the Center for Applied Behavioral Instruction in Worcester. She then took a position as a research coordinator in a developmental psychobiology lab at Boston University, working on a study examining early risk for callous-unemotional traits. Polina’s research interests focus on neurobiological and family influences on emotion regulation in youth with externalizing problems.

Riya Patel

Riya Patel is a senior from Dothan, Alabama. She is majoring in Psychology and minoring in communications. She is in the Honors college, and plays for the UA women’s rugby team. She intends to attend Physicians Assistant school after graduation to work in Obstetrics and Gynecology. She is currently researching depression in women in relation to self-referential processing with Dr. Castagna.

Katelyn Krafick

Katelyn is a senior from Palos Verdes, California. She is majoring in Psychology with a minor in neuroscience. After undergrad at UA, she hopes to get her PhD in clinical child psychology. She is passionate about understanding how certain events in childhood can shape how people are in adulthood, as well as ways to prevent negative consequences that can arise from these events. She is currently working on an undergraduate thesis on the relationships between adverse childhood experiences, negative self-referential processing, and depression. 

Kiki Onyeagocha

Kiki Onyeagocha is a junior from Germantown, Tennessee. She is also a part of the UA Lacrosse Team. She is majoring in Neuroscience and minoring in General Business. She is involved with the University’s Honors College, and she is a part of the STEM path to MBA program. After she graduates college with her MBA, she plans to attend Medical school. Her tentative plans are to become a dermatologist or surgeon with her own practice and later her own cosmetics/eczema medicine line. By working in Dr. Castagna’s lab, she is excited to gain research experience and new knowledge.

Ryan Quinlan

Ryan Quinlan is a sophomore at the University of Alabama from Omaha, Nebraska. He is majoring in neuroscience with a minor in chemistry. After graduation, he plans to go to medical school and his long-term goal is to practice family medicine. He is very excited to be working in Dr. Castagna’s lab with the goal of gaining more experience with the research process as well as learn about data collection and analysis.

Dakota Alexander

Dakota Alexander is a sophomore from Warrior, Alabama majoring in psychology. Her tentative plan is to become a physician assistant with a focus in psychiatry or oncology. At UA, she is a member of the Pre-PA Society and Legacy Scholars Community. She enjoys working in Dr. Castagna’s lab because it allows her to expand her understanding of emotional processing and build professional relationships with her fellow research assistants.

Andrew Molargik

Andrew Molargik is an undergraduate from northeast Indiana. He is in his second year at the University of Alabama but will be graduating in the spring with a major in psychology and a minor in mathematics. Afterwards, he plans to complete a transitional research internship or enter directly into a doctoral program in clinical psychology. His goal is to operate a part-time therapeutic practice while teaching at the postsecondary level and continually improve through research. As a member of Dr. Castagna’s lab, he has had the pleasure of gaining experience in research facilitation, obtaining insight into emotional processing, and interacting with participants and peers on a daily basis. Additionally, he serves as a research assistant for two studies on the topics of wisdom and interpretive filters and is enrolled in the Emerging Scholars Program at UA.

Jake Dueland

Jake is a junior from Cullman, AL. He is majoring in Biology and minoring in Spanish. After undergrad Jake plans on attending medical school with the goal of working in Emergency Medicine. He is passionate about human-to-human connections and interactions. Jake also is excited to get some hands-on research experience and learn more about brain-behavior relationships in the DIY Lab.

Myka Roethel

Myka Roethel is a junior from Sheboygan, Wisconsin. She is majoring in Psychology with a minor in Neuroscience. After undergrad at UA, she plans to attend Graduate school for Clinical Child Psychology. She is passionate about research in youth, and being a part of Dr. Castagna’s Lab allows her to expand her knowledge and research experience on computational modeling to examine task-based behavior correlating with EEG to learn more about brain-behavior relationships. Additionally, she serves as a research assistant in Dr. Hart’s social cognition lab.