Lab Founder & Principal Investigator
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EDUCATION, Training and Credentials
Dr. Victorson received his Bachelor's Degree in English Literature and Psychology from Augustana College in 1994 (Rock Island, IL). After college he lived and worked in Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Spain for nearly 3 years teaching English, learning to speak Spanish, surfing (and writing about it), and doing public health-focused community development work before getting his Master's Degree in Mental Health Counseling from Indiana University in 1999 (Bloomington, IN). During this time he assisted the international medical humanitarian organization Doctor's Without Borders in conducing a program evaluation of their HIV/AIDS prevention campaign with men who have sex with men and female commercial sex workers in Havana, Cuba. In 2003 he received his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, FL, where he completed an APA-accredited Internship in Clinical Psychology (Behavioral Medicine & Rehabilitation - Hispanic Track) at the University of Miami Jackson Memorial Medical Center (Miami, FL). In 2005 he completed a 2-year Clinical/Research Postdoctoral Fellowship in Psychosocial Oncology and Health Outcomes under the supervision of Drs. Amy Peterman and David Cella at Evanston Northwestern Healthcare (Evanston, IL). Apart from his doctoral and post-doctoral training, additional credentials and professional training includes: 1) Licensed Clinical Psychologist in the state of Illinois (071.007103) since August 23, 2006; 2) Advanced supervised medical hypnosis training (American Society of Clinical Hypnosis); 3) Foundational training in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) for healthcare professionals (Omega Institute, instructed by Jon Kabat-Zinn and Saki Santorelli); 4) Advanced teacher training in mindfulness inquiry (UCSD, instructed by Susan Woods and Char Wilkins); and 5) Training in the application of minimally invasive biomarker collection procedures (NIH Summer Biomarker Institute, instructed by Thom McDade and Emma Adam). Professional Positions
Dr. Victorson is a licensed clinical psychologist in the state of Illinois (071.007103) and a Professor of Medical Social Sciences in the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. He is Director of the Flourishing in Society and Health Lab at Northwestern University, as well as Research Associate Director of the Cancer Survivorship Institute at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center (RHLCCC) at Northwestern University. He is a principal founder and Executive Director of a nonprofit organization that supports young adults and caregivers affected by cancer called TRUE NORTH TREKS. He is also a Steering Committee Member of the Nature, Culture, and Human Health (NCH2) Network and Founding Chair of the Nature and Health Special Interest Group of the Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine and Health. He is also a healthcare advisor on nature and health for the Take Care Campaign. He has previously served as Research Co-Chair of the Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology Working Group at RHLCCC, Interim Director of Cancer Control and Survivorship at RHLCCC, Associate Director and Director of Research at the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at Northwestern Medicine, Chair of the Research Working Group in the Academic Consortium of Integrative Medicine and Health and Conference Co-Chair for the 2017 Society of Integrative Oncology's Annual Meeting in Chicago. Research Interests
The FISH Lab's research currently focuses on: 1) Advancing the evidence base of mindfulness-based emotion regulation and related processes (e.g., self-compassion, gratitude, awe, resilience, deep social connection) through contemplative awareness practices like meditation, yoga, and exposure to nature. ,This work is primarily being done in cancer survivor populations, as well as health care professionals. 2) Developing and applying novel digital health solutions to increase mindful awareness, self-management, engagement in positive health behaviors,, and social connection in cancer survivor and rehabilitation populations. 3) Improving measurement precision and utility of self-reported outcomes using qualitative and item response theory (IRT) approaches. Woven throughout is a focus on community-engaged health equity health and assessment of biological and physiological outcomes (e.g., cortisol, inflammation, heart rate variability) using minimally invasive approaches and wearable technologies. Commitment to community engaged health equity
Dr. Victorson has been active in community engaged health equity research throughout his research career. He served on the Alliance for Research in Chicagoland Communities (ARCC) Steering Committee at Northwestern University for over 5 years, where he helped advise on NU’s CBPR efforts between university researchers and community stakeholders. He also served as a grant reviewer on several CBPR research proposals through ARCC’s pilot funding mechanism. His first CBPR experience was conducting IRB-approved focus groups in collaboration with a social services organization called Project Brotherhood, located in the Woodlawn neighborhood on Chicago’s South side. Project Brotherhood serves black men through preventive education and capacity building, such as training barbers in prostate and colorectal cancer education and provision of screening kits and resources. He received a 3-year NCHID R13 grant to create a CBPR-based community-academic incubator called INTERCAMBIO (exchange) between NU researchers and community partners focusing on ways to address overweight and obesity among the Chicago area Latinx community. From this incubator his team engaged in a partnership with the nonprofit Alas-Wings, a Chicago area Latina Breast Cancer support organization. They used CBPR methods to develop and implement an IRB-approved Spanish language 12-week yoga curriculum for overweight and obese breast cancer survivors. They also established a partnership with Universidad Popular, a nonprofit located in Little Village in Chicago’s Southwest side to help evaluate their Spanish language yoga classes to community members. Dr. Victorson and his team have been funded by the NCI on multiple mechanisms through the Chicago CHEC, where they have utilized community engaged research principles to develop a digital health tool to support cancer survivors with known disabilities. They established a formal partnership with Access Living, a Chicago area center of service, advocacy, and social change for people with disabilities. As a part of this project they have also enlisted “survivor scientists” from the community to serve as research team members throughout the app creation process. Dr. Victorson’s team has received partnership development and implementation pilot funding from ARCC in collaboration with the nonprofit Above & Beyond, a substance abuse treatment center in Chicago’s Garfield Park to work together in evaluating their healing garden. Dr. Victorson's team has also received funding to pilot test the Spanish version of their mindfulness app "Wakeful" with young adult cancer survivors in Bogota, Colombia, and adult survivors from the Greater Chicago area. In all of these partnerships, CBPR principles have been followed, including creating formal MOUs, developing stakeholder advisory boards, engaging in co-leadership, co-education, and capacity building, establishing conflict resolution and joint leadership plans, and engaging in partnership evaluation processes. Headshots & BIO
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Dr. Victorson is a psychologist, Professor of Medical Social Sciences, and Director of the Flourishing in Society and Health Research Lab in the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. He is also Director of Integrative Oncology Research at the Cancer Survivorship Institute at the Robert H Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center and is a principal co-founder and director of a nonprofit for young adults and caregivers affected by cancer called True North Treks. His research program focuses on the role of mindfulness-based emotion regulation, deep social connection, nature contact, and positive health behavior engagement in promoting health, wellbeing, and flourishing in people, our population, and the planet. |
Research Team Personnel
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EDUCATION & Training
Bruriah holds a Master’s Degree in Counseling from the University of Houston and has over 25 years of experience in research, counseling, teaching, and outreach. Professional Positions
In the Consciousness in Health Research Lab Bruriah manages and oversees day-to-day operations for research projects; implements and monitors project plans; tracks and ensures timelines milestones and goal attainment; oversees and manages data collection and maintenance; ensures study protocol compliance with regulatory guidelines; and assists in preparing materials for grant submissions, progress reports, presentations, and publications. Research Interests
Bruriah's research interests include bereavement (particularly, coping strategies and complicated grief), trauma and resilience, drug effects and abuse liability, personality measurement, research ethics, and health-related quality of life in underserved populations. |
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EDUCATION & tRAINING
Christina earned B.A. in Psychology from DePaul University, M.S. in Clinical Psychology from Loyola University in Maryland and a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study (CAGS) in Expressive Therapies at Lesley University. As part of her master’s degree coursework, she trained in neuropsychological testing at Johns Hopkins Hospital Division of Medical Psychology. During her master’s program, Christina also facilitated psychotherapeutic interventions on an inpatient unit at Sheppard Pratt Hospital (University of Maryland Medical School). While completing her CAGS, Christina worked in outpatient mental health at The Edinburg Center to deliver psychotherapeutic interventions to clients in the community. After completing her CAGS, Christina became involved in research at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary where she contributed to research studies of tinnitus utilizing psychophysical measures, auditory event-related potentials, and functional neuroimaging in the Harvard-MIT Eaton Peabody Laboratory. At Northwestern University, Christina contributed to clinical trials involving telemedicine and internet-delivered interventions for symptoms of anxiety and depression at the Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies. Also at Northwestern University, she contributed to research studies of Primary Progressive Aphasia and Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration utilizing neuropsychological testing and structural neuroimaging at the Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology. PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS
Christina is a Clinical Research Associate in the Consciousness in Health Lab where she works on Integrative Medicine and Measurement Science projects. She contributes to grant proposals, study planning, development and implementation of study interventions, quantitative and qualitative data analysis, conference presentations, and manuscript writing. Christina's personal interest in health and fitness led her to become a Mad Dogg Athletics certified Spinning Instructor; she teaches group cycling classes at HealthTrack Sports Wellness. rESEARCH INTERESTS
Christina’s research interests lie in the areas where biological and psychological health and wellbeing overlap. |
Current Trainees and Mentored Professionals
High School Research Interns
Arin Budhiraja
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Arin Budhiraja is a high school senior at Harvard-Westlake School. He hosts a seasonal podcast called What Lies Ahead, which centers around simplifying upcoming innovations in science and technology. His interests include exploring Artificial Intelligence in medicine and genetics, oncology, and the use of digital therapeutics to promote well-being and prevent disease.
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Undergraduate Research Interns
Yashoswini Chakraborty
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Yashoswini Chakraborty is an undergraduate student at Northwestern University majoring in Neuroscience and minoring in Global Health. She currently has a podcast, titled the ABCD podcast, which explores the intersection between the South Asian identity and health. Through which, she has developed interests in researching the accessibility to mental health resources among South Asian young adults in the U.S.
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Timothy Chen
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Timothy Chen is an undergraduate student at Northwestern University majoring in interdisciplinary biology and science in human context. Tim has previously researched Traditional Chinese Medicine’s role in expertise and government, culminating in a paper titled, “Making Medicine in Modern China; Herbs, Drugs, and Government” at the University of California Santa Barbara. Tim is passionate about putting Traditional Chinese Medicine in conversation with Western Medicine and researching the mutual benefits they could have in improving health care and expanding access to Asian-American communities in the context of mindfulness, wellbeing, and cultural understanding.
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Varsha Ganesh
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Varsha Ganesh is currently an undergraduate student at New York University planning to major in biology with two minors in psychology and dance. She has previously collaborated on papers regarding cleft palate syndrome and the epigenetic markers of adolescent suicide. Her current interest areas include integrative and alternative medicine.
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Peyton Meyer
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Peyton is an undergraduate student at Yale University and plans to pursue a major in ecology and evolutionary biology or environmental science. He has done previous work in a community garden and created the Gardening to Restore our World (G.R.O.W.) Club at Waunakee High School in Waunakee, Wisconsin. Through these projects, along with his membership in the Yale Student Mental Health Association, he has developed interests in how gardening and nature affect health, specifically in those who are recovering from drug addictions or cancer.
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Shruti Parthasarathy
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Shruti Parthasarathy is a previous 2 year high school intern of the CIH lab and is now an undergraduate student at Yale University, where she plans to major in Cognitive Science. At the Flourishing in Health Lab, Shruti conducts psychosocial analysis about the effects of interdisciplinary movements on the mind-body relationship, with a particular focus on the social and psychological effects of Indian Classical dance. Shruti is the founder of Mindful Kala LLC and Mindful Kala Initiatives (Non-profit), which seek to raise awareness on the ways in which Indian Classical dance can help alleviate mental health and create a cross-pollination of cultural understanding.
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Graduate Students and Post-Doctoral Fellows
Karen Llave, PhD
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Karen Llave is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the NCI-funded T32 Cancer Prevention and Control training program in the Department of Medical Social Sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Karen obtained a BS in Health Science from California State University, Fullerton and an MPH from California State University, Northridge. Most recently, she earned her PhD in Public Health at University of California, Irvine. Throughout her training, Karen gained experience working on various NIH-funded projects focused on ethnic minority health, immigrant health, and cancer survivorship. The primary focus of Karen’s research is to understand the cognitive and emotional predictors of readiness for transition to adult care among AYA cancer survivors.
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Jean Reading, PhD
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Cailin is a behavioral health counselor for the Father Inclusive Prenatal Care (FIPC) program at Rush University. She began her academic career at the University of Pennsylvania, where she received her BA in Communication and minor in Legal Studies. Soon after receiving a diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease in 2016, she decided to pursue her master’s in public health. A graduate from the Yale School of Public Health, Cailin’s research interests include understanding how exposure to adversity in childhood and adolescence influence the onset of chronic disease later in life. In the future, she hopes to help children in Hispanic communities who are affected by anxiety and trauma.
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Cailin Arechiga, MPH
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Cailin is a behavioral health counselor for the Father Inclusive Prenatal Care (FIPC) program at Rush University. She began her academic career at the University of Pennsylvania, where she received her BA in Communication and minor in Legal Studies. Soon after receiving a diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease in 2016, she decided to pursue her master’s in public health. A graduate from the Yale School of Public Health, Cailin’s research interests include understanding how exposure to adversity in childhood and adolescence influence the onset of chronic disease later in life. In the future, she hopes to help children in Hispanic communities who are affected by anxiety and trauma.
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Medical Student Research Fellows
Danish Majid, BA
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Danish is a MD candidate who plans to graduate in summer 2023. Their Area of Scholarly Concentration project aims to examine medical students’ experiences of discrimination and their well-being from an intersectional perspective. Their interests include medical staff/trainee mistreatment, medical community organizing, and medical-legal partnerships in context of supporting and advocating for displaced populations
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Opeyemi "Yemi" Obiwumi
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Opeyemi "Yemi" Obiwumi is a second-year MD candidate at Rush Medical College. Her interests include equity in medical education, the mitigating the unique challenges faced by underrepresented in medicine (URM) students and understanding and properly treating the social determinants of health. At Rush, she has led a committee to implement a pilot orientation for URM preclinical students and is currently working with a team to pilot a summer course focused on providing appropriate care to older adults. Yemi is currently conducting research focused on understanding the challenges faced by medical students of a lower socio-economic status. She will graduate from RUSH Medical College in May of 2025.
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MD & PhD-Trained Clinician Scientists
Karly Murphy, Ph.D.
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During her time at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Karly was an NIH T32 post-doctoral fellow in the Behavioral and Psychosocial Research Training Program in Cancer Prevention and Control.
Karly returned to collaborate with the lab, this time in her current role as an Instructor in the department of Social Sciences and Health Policy at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Her research focuses on the development, evaluation, and implementation of interventions that improve psychosocial wellbeing and health outcomes among adolescent and young adult cancer survivors (AYAs). She is currently the PI of an NCI K99 award (CA248701) focused on developing an engaging and evidence-based digital tool to help AYAs cope with depressive symptoms. |
Joseph Sauer, MS, JD, MD
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Joseph is a visiting research fellow in the Flourishing in Health Lab and a psychiatry resident at Carle Hospital. He is also a registered patent attorney with inactive memberships with the Illinois and District of Columbia bars. Joseph graduated from Wheaton College with B.A. in psychology and B.S. in Biology. He earned J.D. at Marquette University Law School and M.S. in Biotechnology at Johns Hopkins University. Before enrolling in medical school, Joseph worked as a psychiatric counselor at MedStar Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore, MD. He also held teaching assistantships at the Harvard University Extension School and served as a senior laboratory teaching fellow at Harvard College. Joseph received a Certificate of Distinction in Teaching from the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning in 2015 and 2016. He is interested in medical innovation and serving patients directly in clinical practice.
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Helen Neema Siril, MD, PhD, MPH
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Hellen is a medical doctor Muhimbilli University for Heath and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) in Tanzania where she is supported by a D43 HIV research training grant that supports capacity building for patient centered outcomes research in HIV in Tanzania. Her work with the CIH Lab
involves adapting PROMS measures in HIV and mental health in a study to measure self-care empowerment and its role in increasing adherence to HIV care and treatment in adolescents in Tanzania. |
Lab Alumni
Our lab alumni are listed below according to the roles and with the credentials they held during their tenure at the Flourishing in Health Lab.
High School Research Interns
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As a high school intern in the lab, Sydney contributed to projects regarding medical cannabis and medical students’ stress levels. Sidney is now an undergraduate Wake Forest University where she intends to double major in physics and international relations with a minor in neuroscience. Sydney is also heavily involved in high school and collegiate debate.
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Rayann Yao
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As a high school intern in the lab, Rayann contributed to projects for bio-behavioral mechanisms in relation to mindfulness. She went on to the University of California at Berkeley. In university, where she plans to double major in business and biology. Rayann also actively participates in community service and competes in HOSA- Future Health Professionals at the national level. In university, she plans to double major in business and biology.
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Jamison Post
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As a high school intern in the lab, Jamison assisted in ongoing projects and research including data entry and organization. He went on to undergraduate studies at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, where he majored in Psychology.
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Undergraduate Research Interns
Riley Dow
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As an undergraduate intern in the lab, Riley's interests included understanding how mindfulness meditation and other wakeful practices can be utilized in practical settings to improve wellbeing. During this time, Riley was a 4th year undergraduate student at Northwestern University studying Learning and Organizational Change and Global Health on the pre-med track. Before joining the lab, Riley developed a research project in Nepal aimed at studying the integration of Allopathic and Ayurveda medical practitioners knowledge, attitudes, and practice.
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Thomas Kalapurakal
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As an undergraduate intern in the lab, Thomas' research interests include the impact of mindfulness-based therapies on the physical and psychosocial symptoms of cancer patients as well as healthy populations. Before joining the Flourishing in Health Lab, he was involved interpersonal human research in the Human Factors Lab at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. Thomas went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and pursue his master’s degree in Clinical Psychology at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology.
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Sarina Kao
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Sarina was an undergraduate at Villanova University when she was an intern in the Flourishing in Health Lab. She was part of a five-year master's program at Villanova and plans to get a PhD and become a biological researcher. As an undergraduate student intern in the Flourishing and Health Lab, she worked on a project that looked on the effects of mindfulness and yoga on cancer treatments, performed data entry and patient recruitment.
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Sebastien Nacher
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As an undergraduate intern in the lab, Sebastien translated scripts for a mindfulness training application. At this time he was an undergraduate student at Northwestern University double majoring in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology and in Psychology. Before joining the lab, Sebastien participated in several research-focused field experiences, including collecting rain forest disturbance data at the Paracou Research Station in French Guiana. Sebastien is interested in integrating concepts from his areas of study into his future work and is excited to further explore the topics of mindfulness, behavioral ecology, and biophilia as they relate to physical and mental wellbeing.
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Klaire Rial
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During the time she worked with the lab, Klaire earned her bachelor's degree in Architecture and Design from the School of the Chicago Art Institute. As an undergraduate student intern in the Flourishing in Health Lab, she worked on a project that looks at the relationship between architectural design and health.
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Kate Slosburg
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After her work with the lab, Kate earned her master's degree in counseling from the Northwestern University affiliated Family Institute. As an undergraduate student intern in the Flourishing in Health Lab, she worked on studies related to mindfulness meditation and recruited eligible study participants (cancer patients and their caregivers).
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Lauren Wolters
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During her time with the Flourishing in Health Lab, Lauren was a senior at Skidmore College where she double majored in History and Psychology. As a summer research intern, Lauren helped write and analyze data for a meta-analysis for technology-enabled mindfulness applications.
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Louisa Zheng, BA
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During her time with the lab, Louisa earned her bachelor's degree in Architecture and Design from the School of the Chicago Art Institute. As an undergraduate student intern in the Flourishing in Health Lab, she worked on a project that looks at the relationship between architectural design and health.
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Post-Baccalaureate Research Interns
Grace Langford, BA
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As a post-baccalaureate research intern in the Flourishing in Health Lab, Grace's research interests included mindfulness practices and psychotherapy strategies for adolescents. She graduated from Butler University in 2020 with a Bachelor of Arts in Actuarial Science and Spanish. During her time with the lab, Grace also worked as a Consulting Analyst at Huron Consulting Group in Chicago, IL and is the CEO and founder of her SAT preparatory company, Launch. Grace intends to pursue a Ph.D. in clinical psychology.
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Graduate Students and Post-Doctoral Fellows
Elizabeth Addington, Ph.D.
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Elizabeth was an NIH T32 post-doctoral fellow in the Behavioral and Psychosocial Research Training Program in Cancer Prevention and Control at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Elizabeth earned her doctorate in Health Psychology from UNC Charlotte and completed her clinical internship at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System in 2016. She is currently a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Social Sciences at Northwestern University.
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Vered Hankin, Ph.D.
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Vered received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from City University of New York. She did a 2-year clinical/research postdoctoral fellowship under the supervision of Dr. Victorson. Vered served as the lead MBSR instructor on a pilot randomized clinical trial of MBSR with men diagnosed with prostate cancer on active surveillance and their spouses. After her fellowship she was promoted and worked as a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Social Sciences at Northwestern University until she left academia to focus on her career as a professional actor.
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Karly Murphy, PhD
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Karly received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Seattle Pacific University. As an NIH T32 post-doctoral fellow in the Behavioral and Psychosocial Research Training Program in Cancer Prevention and Control at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Karly supervised instructors of the healthy behavior arm of a randomized clinical trial of MBSR for men diagnosed with prostate cancer on active surveillance and their spouses. She also helped to develop and implement technology-based interventions for cancer survivors. Upon completing her fellowship at Northwestern, Karly accepted a post-doctoral fellowship position at Wake Forest University.
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Joseph Walton, MA
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Joe began his professional life as an officer in the U.S. Air Force after graduating from the United States Air Force Academy. After serving eight years on active duty as a contracting officer/program manager, he left the service for academia. He completed a Master of Arts in religious studies down the road at The University of Chicago in 2022. There, he studied the intersection of philosophy of science and religion as well as Chinese meditative and monastic traditions. Joe joined the 2022-2023 Northwestern Clinical Psychology MA cohort with an interest in psychometrics, the philosophical underpinnings of mental health and health interventions, and the effect of meditative/mindfulness practices on health.
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Medical Student Research Fellows
Sarah Cohen, BS
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Sara earned her MD at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in 2020 and matched at Loyola University Medical Center's residency program in Internal Medicine. Her interests include mindfulness practices, communication strategies, student wellness, medical education, and art therapy. For her Area of Scholarly Concentration research, Sara examined the role of nonverbal contextual factors and individual differences within the context of a single mindfulness meditation intervention in order to better understand how healthcare communications and messaging may be optimally framed and tailored. Ultimately, Sara hopes that this pilot study can be expanded to better understand effective modes of communication between physicians and patients
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Sara Diaz, BA, MS
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Sara earned her MD at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and matched at the University of Illinois' residency program in Family Medicine. For her Area of Scholarly Concentration research, Sara explored how primary care providers, as well as complementary and integrative health care providers of all educational and training backgrounds can work together to address the current obesity epidemic. She is particularly interested in how we can increase the frequency and effectiveness of obesity counseling using techniques such as motivational interviewing.
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Ellie Fishbein, BS
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Ellie earned her MD at the Rush Medical College in 2020 and matched at the University of Iowa's residency program in Internal Medicine. In her role with the Flourishing in Health lab, she worked on projects dealing with mindfulness measurement and applications to different patient populations, such as idiopathic chest pain.
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Richard Greendyk, BA
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Richard earned his MD at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in 2017 and matched at Columbia University's residency program in Internal Medicine. During his tenure with the Flourishing in Health lab, Richard worked on projects dealing with utilization of integrative medicine services by patients with cancer, as well as the effect of these services on health-related quality of life.
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Max Kazar, BS
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Max earned his MD at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in 2017 and matched at the University of California in San Diego's residency program in Neurology. His interests include mental health, medical education, and student wellness. The primary goal of Max's Area of Scholarly Concentration research was to examine the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a single, brief session of mindfulness training to help medical students address the many difficulties they experience (i.e. stressful workload, time management, high self-expectations). The experiment was designed to measure the efficacy of mindfulness training to reduce physiological measures of stress and improve measures of empathy and well-being for medical students in the clinical environment.
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Matt Mosquera, BS
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Matt earned his MD at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in 2017 and matched at the Harvard Medical School Brigham and Women's Hospital residency program in Psychiatry. During his tenure with the Flourishing in Health lab, Matt worked on the development and validation of a new scale of medical student stress and burnout.
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MD & PhD-Trained Clinician Scientists
David Burnstein, MD
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David is board certified in Internal Medicine and practices short-term primary care at Northwestern's Transitional Care Clinic. He is also a health services researcher with interest in patient-reported outcomes in serious chronic progressive illness, physician burnout, physician-patient relationships, care transitions, quality measures, self-report measure development, and economic and social drivers of change in health care systems. In his work the the CIH Lab, David led a scoping review on the state of the science on Physician Caring.
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Rina Fox, PhD
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Rina is a clinical health psychologist and a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Social Sciences at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of medicine. Her research is broadly focused on delineating how psychosocial processes impact adjustment to and coping with chronic illness, with an emphasis on symptom management and health related quality of life (HRQOL) in cancer and scleroderma. Her work with the CIH Lab focused on her American Cancer Society Internal Research Grant Award to develop and pre-test an eHealth group intervention for young adult cancer survivors.
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Christina Luberto, PhD
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Christina is a clinical health psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School (MGH/HMS). Her research and clinical work focus on integrating meditation training with cognitive-behavioral therapy to treat emotional and behavioral problems, and increase pro-social outcomes, particularly among people with chronic medical conditions. She is especially interested in electronic health approaches to delivering mindfulness interventions. Her work with the CIH Lab focused on her NCCIH K23 award, which explored the feasibility of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy delivered via group videoconferencing for patients with depression and cardiovascular disease.
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Alicia Morgans, MD, MPH
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Alicia is an Associate Professor of Medicine (Hematology and Oncology) at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, where she provides clinical care and does research in genitourinary malignancies. Her work with the CIH Lab focuses on a Department of Defense T37 Physician Research Training Award.
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Inger Burnett-Zeigler, PhD
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Inger is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. She was a previous NU-Patient K12 Faculty Scholar to examine the role of mindfulness training for depressed women in a federally qualified health center.
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Research Team Personnel
Evelyn Cordero, MS
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Evelyn worked in the Flourishing in Health Lab as a Research Assistant on mindfulness-focused randomized clinical trials involving cancer patients. She earned her M.S. in Health Communication from Northwestern University and her B.A. in Community Health and Wellness from Northeastern Illinois University. Before joining the Flourishing in Health Lab, Evelyn worked in community health education, wellness and fitness coaching, and nonprofit management. She accepted a position as a Wellness Coordinator at Northwestern University in the Office of Human Resources.
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Rafael Escobar, BA
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Rafael was a Research Project Coordinator at Northshore University HealthSystem working in collaboration with the Flourishing in Health Lab as a recruiter for various studies in which Dr. Victorson is Principal Investigator. Rafael earned his master’s degree in Public Health and Policy from Northeastern Illinois University.
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Carly Maletich, MA, LCPC
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Carly worked as a Research Associate in Mind Body Medicine in the Flourishing in Health Lab, where she engaged in mindfulness and yoga instruction on intervention studies, as well as curriculum and content development on other mindfulness-related projects. She is currently in private practice in Vancouver, Washington.
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Stephanie Schuette
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Stephanie worked as a Research Study Coordinator in the Department of Medical Social Sciences at Northwestern, and for the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine for 2 years. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Duke University.
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Nat Sufrin, BA
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Nat was a Research Coordinator in the Flourishing in Health Lab, working on several mindfulness-focused randomized clinical trials involving prostate cancer patients. He went on to pursue doctoral studies in clinical psychology at The Graduate Center, City University of New York, where he works as a Clinic Fellow at The Psychological Center. He is interested in mindfulness, psychotherapy, and psychoanalysis.
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Join Our Team!
If you're interested in learning more about volunteer intern, training and employment opportunities please send an email to Ms. Bruriah Horowitz at [email protected].
