Lab Members
Juliana D. Rodriguez, MD
Senior Research
Coordinator
Juliana graduated in 2006 with a Doctor of Medicine degree from the Universidad Tecnológica de Santiago in the Dominican Republic and obtained her medical license in the Dominican Republic. She was appointed as the General Director of a rural community hospital in Santiago and also worked as an Emergency Room physician in a private clinic. Currently, she is pursuing residency in the United States to obtain a US medical license.
Juliana is the senior coordinator for several research projects focusing on older adults with asthma. These studies include "A Randomized Trial of Perception of Airflow Limitation Training to Improve Outcomes for Older Adults with Asthma," "A novel patient-facing mobile platform to collect and implement patient-reported outcomes and voice biomarkers in underserved adult patients with asthma," and "Depression in Older Asthmatics: Understanding Inflammatory and Behavioral Pathways." She provides continuous support to graduate students, volunteers, and research assistants involved in the projects. She assists them in various areas, including data collection and entry, scheduling participant appointments, and training on different lab tools. Juliana has played a significant role in the many research projects conducted in the lab.
Through her contribution to these projects, Juliana has developed her research interests in behavioral medicine. She hopes to continue increasing her knowledge in this area and use it as a tool in future clinical applications to improve the quality of treatment for her patients.
Gabriella Emanuele is a senior at Baruch College pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. She has volunteered at Ferkauf’s asthma lab, where she examines the interplay between inflammatory markers, behavioral pathways, and asthma outcomes, with the goal of understanding how psychosocial factors influence chronic illness. In addition to her work at Ferkauf, Gabriella is an intern at NYSPI’s Center for Intergenerational Psychiatry, contributing to a longitudinal study that investigates the transmission of psychiatric risk and resilience across generations, with a particular focus on environmental and social determinants of mental health. She is also completing her senior honors thesis, which explores how in-group perceptions within the Latinx community shape memory retention and credibility judgments, contributing to a broader understanding of social identity and cognition. Gabriella’s broader research interests focus on creating tailored health interventions to reduce health disparities and improve outcomes for marginalized communities.