Graduate Students
Gabriella is a sixth-year student in the Asthma lab at Ferkauf. Her primary research interests include attentional disorders, anxiety, depression, and medication adherence. She intends to explore the relationship between ADHD and medication adherence in children with Asthma as her pre-doctoral research. She is looking forward to gaining a deeper understanding of the impact of chronic health conditions in diverse pediatric populations through her work on CAPS and her research with Dr. Feldman.
Gabriella Sobol
Sixth Year
Naomi is a fifth-year student in Ferkauf’s Health Emphasis Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program. She is interested in investigating the role of social support and control beliefs on asthma outcomes in the geriatric population. Before graduate school, Naomi volunteered with hospice patients and geriatric individuals. In the future, she looks forward to returning to these populations with clinical training and an informed understanding of the bidirectional relationship between physical and mental health.
Naomi Greenfield
Fifth Year
Natalie is a fifth-year student in the Asthma Lab at Ferkauf. She is interested in exploring the role of eating and weight patterns on asthma outcomes in pediatric populations. Before graduate school, Natalie volunteered at an inpatient eating disorder unit, as well as at an outpatient clinic for mood and anxiety disorders. In the future, she would like to focus on working with adolescents to deepen her understanding of the biobehavioral model as it relates to development.
Natalie Dicker
Fifth Year
Sarah Styke earned her bachelor of arts degree at the University of Chicago, with a double major in Biological Sciences and Psychology. After graduation, she worked in the Conzen Cancer Biology Laboratory at the University of Chicago. She went on to earn her master’s degree in Forensic Psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, where she greatly enjoyed learning current theory, research, and practice in the areas of forensic and clinical psychology. After earning her master’s degree, she worked as a research assistant at New York State Psychiatric Institute in an NIMH-funded research center: Operationalizing and Personalizing Interventions for People with Schizophrenia Across the Lifespan (OPAL). She gained proficiency in neurocognitive and psychosocial assessments including the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS), SCI-PANSS, SLOF, and QLS, in addition to carrying out and coding qualitative interviews to develop meaning from client and clinician experiences with the intervention. Sarah has joined the Feldman laboratory at Yeshiva University, where she is working on a study centered on depression in older asthmatics. Sarah’s clinical interests include cognitive-behavioral interventions, psychological and neurocognitive assessments, suicide prevention, and forensic assessment.
Sarah Styke
Fifth Year
Allyana is a fifth-year in the Asthma Lab at Ferkauf. She is interested in exploring how research enhances the accessibility of equitable, high-quality interventions to reinforce positive social and physiological outcomes across the lifespan. Her doctoral research focuses on cultural considerations among children diagnosed with comorbid asthma and anxiety or depression. Prior to graduate school, Allyana worked as an elementary school educator in Title I schools where she noticed health disparities among students diagnosed with asthma. Allyana also has experience working as a community mental health psychotherapist on an integrated behavioral/physical health services team. Allyana looks forward to enhancing her ability to serve children and families as a researcher and clinician under the mentorship of Dr. Feldman and the Asthma Lab.
Allyana Wiviott
Fifth Year
Bassit is a fourth-year student in the Clinical Psychology Health Emphasis Ph.D. program at Ferkauf. He graduated with a B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Chemistry from The City College of New York. While he was an undergrad, he led projects investigating the genetics and neurobiology of autism spectrum disorder in Drosophila and performed social behavior assays and Circadian Rhythm Analysis on autistic fruit flies. After he graduated, he worked as a research assistant at The Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University Medical Center, where he investigated the mechanisms of epithelial morphogenesis and maintenance. He was interested in how stem cell abnormalities lead to esophagus and lung diseases. He used human embryonic stem cells to model some of these diseases and searched for novel drugs to treat them. Later, he began working on a project that focused on the expression of Nerve Growth Factors in the myenteric plexuses of the esophagus, ultimately utilizing the use of neuronal stem cells in the development of esophageal cancers. He intends to explore the different types of neurological diseases that play a role in asthma adherence in low-income populations.
Bassit Malam
Fourth Year
Nicole is a second-year student in the Clinical Psychology Health Emphasis Ph.D. Program at Ferkauf. She earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Pace University where she worked in trauma and resilience research. Prior to graduate school, Nicole interned at NYSPI’s Global Psychiatric Epidemiology Group (GPEG) studying the post-traumatic effects of 9/11, the pulmonary effects of toxin exposure, and conducted psycho-social assessments. Additionally, Nicole interned at Nathan Kline Institute in the Brain Aging and Mental Health Lab and gained experience with neuropsychology assessments and EEG’s. Nicole currently works at a residential treatment center for individuals with a dual diagnosis of an addictive disorder as well as Schizophrenia or Bipolar disorder. Her broad research interests include trauma and resilience, pediatrics, and asthma in marginalized populations.
Nicole Maewsky
Second Year
Shari is a first-year student in the Clinical Psychology with a Health Emphasis Ph.D. program. Her general interests are in pediatrics, asthma perception, and trauma, specifically in underserved populations. Before graduate school, Shari worked in a memory and cognition lab with older adults, as well as in nicotine dependency research.
Shari Glass
Second Year
Carly is a second-year student in the Clinical Psychology Health Emphasis Ph.D. program at Ferkauf. She earned her bachelor's degree in psychology with a minor in cognitive science from Rutgers University. Prior to graduate school, she worked as a research assistant at a cognitive rehabilitation center for adults with brain injuries. Her broad research interests are neuropsychological functioning in older adults and using mobile health technologies to promote healthy behaviors.
Carly Tannura
Second Year
Talia earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a concentration in neuroscience from Yeshiva University's Stern College. She has volunteered as an undergraduate in Ferkauf's asthma lab examining inflammatory and behavioral pathways in depression among older asthmatics and has continued this work after graduation. Alongside her work involving asthma, she also serves as a research assistant at an epilepsy center studying PNES (psychogenic non-epileptic seizures) and the impact of trauma on alexithymia and dissociation in this population. Past research experience also includes studying sensory characteristics in people with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome and analyzing social cognition skills in people with Turner Syndrome. Talia's broader research interests center around the intersection between mental health and physical health- particularly how psychological factors can exacerbate or cause medical symptoms, and she would love to contribute to further research in this area.