We specialize in pediatric and young adult health research exploring psychosocial adjustment and coping with chronic medical conditions.
Anissa Barnes
Psychology Graduate Student in the Child Clinical Program
Anissa is in her final year of the Child Clinical Psychology PhD program at the University of Windsor. She is currently completing her pre-doctoral residency at the University of Manitoba’s Clinical Health Psychology Residency Program in the Child & Adolescent stream. She completed her bachelor’s degree in Psychology at the University of Winnipeg, and her master’s degree in Child Clinical Psychology at the University of Windsor. Her research and clinical interests broadly surround psychological interventions for children, adolescents, and youth with comorbid medical and mental health conditions. Her dissertation is entitled “Effectiveness of a co-designed pilot support group for students with type 1 diabetes in a post-secondary education setting.”
Krista Lucier
Psychology Graduate Student in the Applied Social Psychology Program
Krista is a PhD-level graduate student in the Applied Social Psychology program. She completed her MA in Applied Social Psychology at the University of Windsor, and her undergraduate degree in Psychology and Family Studies at Western University. Her research interests include self-compassion and illness identity in individuals with chronic health concerns, specifically type 1 diabetes. She is passionate about knowledge translation (i.e., taking research on a subject and turning it into something palatable for those outside the field of psychology) and the role of lived experience in research (i.e., involving individuals with lived experience with a health condition in the research process).
Alana Gyemi
Psychology Graduate Student in the Child Clinical Program
Alana is a PhD-level graduate student in Clinical Psychology at the University of Windsor in the Child Clinical track. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Western in biology and a bachelor’s degree in Developmental Psychology at the University of Windsor. She is interested in studying pain and the effects of post-traumatic growth on pediatric patients’ health. She completed her Master’s Thesis entitled “Factors Influencing Post-traumatic Growth in Young Adults with Chronic Medical Illness.” Her dissertation research focuses on chronic pain, resilience, and other factors contributing to post-traumatic growth in emerging adults within the Windsor-Essex community.
Melissa Miljanovski
Psychology Graduate Student in the Child Clinical Program
Melissa is a PhD-level graduate student in Child Clinical Psychology at the University of Windsor. She received her bachelor’s degree from York University in Psychology and her Master’s degree from the University of Toronto in Medical Science, where she specialized in palliative and supportive care across the life course. For her Master’s Thesis at the University of Windsor, Melissa explored post-traumatic stress and coping in young adults with chronic pain. She plans to continue to study the lived experiences of adolescents and young adults with chronic and life-threatening conditions during her doctoral studies.
Lauren Wan-Sai-Cheong
Psychology Graduate Student in the Child Clinical Program
Lauren is a Master’s-level graduate student in Child Clinical Psychology at the University of Windsor. She received her BSc (Hons) degree in Psychology from the University of Calgary, where her honours thesis examined the benefits of brief cognitive reappraisal training in a daily life setting. Prior to her studies at the University of Windsor, Lauren worked in the non-profit sector, contributing to projects such as launching one of the first 24/7 text and chat crisis services in Canada. Currently, Lauren’s research interests lie at the intersection of emotion regulation, technology and coping with type 1 diabetes (T1D). She is especially interested in the utilization of digital tools to gamify T1D management, education and transition supports. Her master’s thesis focuses on identifying differential psychosocial trajectories within the Keeping in Touch (KiT) Intervention Study, conducted in collaboration with SickKids. The aim is to explore for whom the digital components of KiT are more effective for (and for whom they may not be as effective for) with the ultimate goal of understanding how we can further tailor digital T1D transition supports for emerging adults with T1D. Lauren is passionate about advocating for the needs of individuals with T1D in digital health spaces and looks forward to exploring this work in future research and practice.
Erin Firlotte
Psychology Graduate Student in the Child Clinical Program
Erin is a Masters-level graduate student in Child Clinical Psychology at the University of Windsor. She received her BSc (Hons) degree in Psychology from Dalhousie University, which explored the meaning of goal weight for people living with obesity. She is interested in the role that weight bias and stigma plays in healthcare for those living with obesity, and in the processes of accepting a diagnosis of a chronic condition.
Kylie Pazner
Undergraduate Behaviour, Cognition, and Neuroscience Honour’s Thesis Student
Kylie Pazner is an Honour’s Thesis undergraduate student in the Behaviour, Cognition, and Neuroscience program at the University of Windsor. Her academic and research interests center on pediatric health psychology and the broader domains of children’s health and well-being. She is particularly passionate about topics related to health, mental health, trauma, learning disabilities, and neurodivergence. Following the completion of her undergraduate studies, she plans to pursue a Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology.
Cristian Iannicello
Graduate Student (Translational Science) Research Assistant and Undergraduate Honour’s Thesis Liaison
Cristian received his Bachelor of Science degree in Behaviour, Cognition, and Neuroscience (BCN) and is currently a master’s student in the Translational Science program at the University of Windsor. Cristian completed his undergraduate honours thesis titled “The Prospect of Support Scrolling” with the supervision of Dr. Kichler. This year, Cristian will be taking on the role of Honours Thesis Student Liaison in the lab. His research interests include understanding the intersection of biological and psychological factors in chronic health conditions, with a particular focus on how individuals cope with diagnoses and manage the impact of their condition.
Kenzie Tapp
Graduate Research Assistant (Psychology Graduate Student in the Child Clinical Psychology Program)
Kenzie is a PhD-level graduate student currently studying child clinical psychology at the University of Windsor. Her research interests broadly include resilience and post-traumatic growth in individuals with chronic illnesses, healthcare experiences of marginalized populations, and body image, through the use of feminist frameworks and qualitative methodology. Kenzie is also a graduate research assistant for the “Group Education Trial to Improve Transition for Parents of Adolescents with T1D: A pilot randomized controlled, superiority trial (GET-IT for Parents)” study in the lab.
Jasmine Kobrosli
Graduate Research Assistant (Psychology Graduate Student in the Child Clinical Psychology Program)
Jasmine is a Masters-level graduate student in the Clinical Psychology program at the University of Windsor. Her research interests broadly include post-traumatic growth, resilience, identity, and meaning-making in those with chronic health conditions, as well as the effects of psychological interventions on chronic health conditions, with a focus on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). She will be assisting Anissa Barnes in the qualitative analysis of her dissertation examining the experiences of college/university students living with type 1 diabetes in Canada.
Mayah Huggins
Post-Bacc Research Assistant
Mayah is a post-baccalaureate student who returned to the University of Windsor after earning her undergraduate degree in Behaviour, Cognition, and Neuroscience this past spring. She is interested in a variety of research topics, including developmental psychology and the ways chronic illnesses impact children’s mental health. In the future, Mayah hopes to pursue a master’s degree in developmental psychology and become a psychologist.
Ayowale Olorunsola
Undergraduate Research Assistant (Biochemistry and Biomedical Science)
Ayowale is an undergraduate student in Biochemistry and Biomedical Science at the University of Windsor. He is interested in studying the psychosocial impacts of chronic disease, as well as illness experience in young individuals with type 1 diabetes. After completing his undergraduate degree, Ayowale plans on entering the medical field.
Jana Abi Karam
Undergraduate Outstanding Scholars Student
Jana is an undergraduate Outstanding Scholars student in Biochemistry and Biomedical Science at the University of Windsor. She is interested in studying how to raise awareness about diabetes and improving the transition to adult care processes for both medical practitioners and young people navigating their type 1 diabetes diagnosis. After completing her undergraduate degree, Jana plans to pursue post-secondary education in the healthcare, public health and/or research field.
Jana Awada
Undergraduate Research Assistant (Developmental Psychology)
Jana is an undergraduate Honour’s student in Developmental Psychology at the University of Windsor. She is interested in understanding how chronic health conditions impact mental well-being during developmental years, and how early experiences shape identity development. After completing her undergraduate degree, she plans to pursue a Master’s degree in the healthcare field.
Jessica C. Kichler, CDCES, PhD, CPsych 