PhD Alumni:
Dr. Lindsay Bodell
Dr. Lindsay Bodell received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Florida State University in 2015 under the mentorship of Drs. Pamela Keel and Thomas Joiner. She completed postdoctoral training at the University of Pittsburgh (Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic) and the University of Chicago. Dr. Bodell is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada where she continues to research psychological and biological factors that contribute to eating disorders.
Dr. Tiffany Brown
Dr. Tiffany Brown's research interests focus on sociocultural factors influencing body image and eating pathology between genders, factors affecting eating disorder treatment outcome, and the development and evaluation of targeted eating disorder interventions, particularly in underrepresented populations. Her current intervention research focuses on cognitive dissonance-based interventions reducing eating disorder and muscle dysmorphia risk in sexual minority men and men more broadly, evaluating two novel eating disorder treatments for sexual minority men, and examining the factors affecting eating disorder treatment outcome at higher levels of care. She is currently an assistant professor of psychology at Auburn University where she directs the Appearance Concerns, Eating, Prevention, and Treatment (ACCEPT) laboratory. You can read more about Dr. Brown's research here:
Dr. Jean Forney
Dr. K. Jean Forney graduated with her doctorate from Florida State in 2018 under the mentorship of Dr. Pamela Keel. Dr. Forney is a licensed psychologist and assistant professor of psychology at Ohio University, in Athens, Ohio, where she directs the Body Image, Weight, and Eating Laboratory (B-WEL). Dr. Forney studies risk and maintenance factors for eating disorders across psychological, social, and physiological domains. You can read more about Dr. Forney's research here:
Dr. Kelly Klein
Dr. Kelly Klein graduated from FSU and the Keel lab in 2018. Following graduation, she completed a clinical postdoctoral fellowship at the Edith Nourse Rogers VA, specializing in psychosocial rehabilitation for severe mental illness. She now works at the VA Boston Healthcare System, serving as a staff psychologist on the inpatient mental health units.
Dr. Lauren Carter
Dr. Lauren Carter is an Assistant Professor and licensed clinical psychologist at the Medical University of South Carolina in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Division of Bio-Behavioral Medicine. Dr. Carter specializes in working with eating and weight disorders, metabolic and bariatric surgery, and women’s reproductive behavioral health populations as well as integrated/interdisciplinary approaches to patient care. Dr. Carter enjoys serving as a supervisor and preceptor within MUSC's pre-doctoral clinical internship training program.
Dr. Grace Kennedy
Dr. Grace Kennedy completed her PhD in Clinical Psychology from FSU in 2021. Before attending FSU, she graduated from Assumption College with a B.A in psychology, sociology, and music. As a research assistant at Boston Children's Hospital, she developed her interest in the bi-directional relationship between psychology and public health as it relates to eating pathology and weight. Her dissertation examined how public health messaging about weight may have the unintended effects of promoting weight stigma and eliciting binge eating. Her other research interests include studying underlying mechanisms that may explain comorbidity and be potential targets for intervention efforts. Dr. Kennedy completed her internship at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, MD, currently serves as a Captain in the US Navy and is stationed at the Naval Hospital in Guam.
Dr. Charlotte Grillot
Dr. Charlotte Grillot completed her PhD in Clinical Psychology from FSU in Fall 2023. She graduated from Goucher College with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Sociology. She also received an M.A. in Psychology in Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. Her Master's thesis examined the role of gender in self-recognition of an eating disorder and treatment-seeking behavior. Her research interests broadly include the social and developmental influences of eating behavior, weight, and body image, with a particular interest in interpersonal relationships and eating pathology. She completed her internship at the VAMC in Atlanta and her dissertation examined associations between eating pathology and relational factors in adulthood.
Dr. Madeline Dougherty (Wick)
Dr. Madeline Dougherty received her PhD in clinical psychology in 2024 from Florida State University. Before attending FSU, she received her BA in psychology from Pepperdine University. Dr. Dougherty's program of research investigates how specific aspects of social media usage affect eating disorder risk, with the goal of informing how social media can be used in a healthy manner. She is currently a teaching professor in the Department of Psychology at FSU and teaches courses on Eating Disorders, General Psychology, and Abnormal Psychology.
Elizabeth Fitzgerald
Elizabeth is a sixth year graduate student in the Keel Lab. She graduated from Bard College with a BA in psychology and obtained her MS in Clinical Psychology from FSU. Her research interests include emotional and personality risk and maintenance factors for eating pathology. Her Master's thesis examined the predictive ability of psychological factors, including perfectionism and maturity fears, on eating pathology at 10-, 20-, and 30-year follow-up. Currently she is working on her dissertation which focuses on the role of regulating negative and positive emotion on eating behavior. She is also completing her clinical internship in the CBT track at UT Health at San Antonio.
Former Lab Personnel:
Samantha Strickland
Samantha Strickland graduated from FSU in the Spring of 2024 with a B.S. in Psychology with Honors, minor in Law & Philosophy, and Global Citizenship Certificate. Driven by a desire to better understand the implications of up-and-coming social media trends in relation to eating disorders, Samantha conducted an Honors in the Major thesis exploring associations between TikTok and disordered eating under the direction of Dr. Keel. Samantha will be attending the University of North Texas’ Clinical Psychology PhD program in August 2024 as a doctoral student in Dr. Richard Roger’s lab. She will be on forensics and neuroscience tracks to become a clinical-forensic psychologist. Samantha is passionate to conduct research that better reforms the criminal justice system and amplifies underrepresented minority voices.
Kamryn Reynolds
Kamryn graduated from Florida State University in Spring 2024 with a B.S. in Behavioral Neuroscience and a minor in Chemistry. She joined the Eating Behaviors Research Clinic as a DIS student in Summer 2023 after searching for a captivating lab to jump-start her career in research. She then received a job in the lab through the InternFSU program in Spring 2024 as a way to be more involved in prominent research that fascinates her. Kamryn is currently attending Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine’s Clinical Psychology MA program under Dr.Heather Risser. Upon graduation, she plans to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology, focusing her research on developmental disorders in youth, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and how their affiliated diagnostics can be relieved through therapeutic interventions.
Kaleb Long
Kaleb graduated from Florida State University with a B.S. in Psychology and a minor in Biological Science in Fall 2023. He joined the Eating Behaviors Research Clinic in the Summer of 2023 as an undergraduate research assistant to work on Dr. Keel's study, Eating Disorders Across Genders, Generations, and Adult Development Stages (AGGA). Following Kaleb's graduation, he advanced from his undergraduate role to a research assistant position as a Clinical Interviewer for the AGGA study through the Spring and Summer of 2024. He hopes to advance his expertise in clinical psychology by pursuing further education and training.
Gunnar Budzyn
Gunnar graduated from Virginia Tech cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. While in undergrad Gunnar was an undergraduate research assistant in the Mind Body Lab working on the Psychophysiology of Stress and Trauma project’s (POST) 3rd wave, overseen by Dr. Bruce Friedman. He also acted as the undergraduate leader of the Recovery Effort After Adult and Child Trauma Field Study (REAACT), overseen by Dr. Russell Jones. While acting as Project Coordinator in the Eating Behaviors Research Lab, Gunnar oversaw the NIMH funded study: Eating Disorders Across Genders, Generations, and Adult Developmental Stage (AGGA), also known as the Harvard Health and Eating Patterns Study. Gunnar is currently a student at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College studying Clinical Mental Health Counseling and has been awarded a Scholastic Achievement Scholarship.
Woody Luxama
Woody graduated from Florida A&M University summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in chemistry. During his undergraduate years, he conducted cardiovascular research at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), where he analyzed the prevalence of hypertension in Haiti. He was able to implement some of the study findings in the rural parts of Haiti by distributing more than 10,000 booklets on the risk factors of hypertension to increase awareness. Woody also conducted biochemical research in Guadeloupe after Hurricane Irma to analyze the effect of the hurricane on the island. Woody is currently pursuing an MD at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine. Woody aspires to one day become a medical doctor, and as a survivor of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Woody’s ultimate goal is to build a medical center in Haiti to help resolve some of the medical challenges in the country.
Austin Starkey
Austin graduated from Florida State University in 2018 and earned a Bachelor's with a double major in psychology and sociology. Following this, he served as the project coordinator in the Keel Lab from 2018-2021. Austin is interested in researching how social media impacts emotional dysregulation, suicide, and non-suicidal self-injury in adolescents and young adults. Currently, he is working as Research Associate working with Dr. Craig Bryan at Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center.
Chloé Halfhide
Chloé graduated from Florida State University in 2017 and earned a Bachelor's in psychology. She worked as a full-time research assistant here for two years. Chloe is interested in looking at how stressors can impact Parkinson's Disease. She is currently attending graduate school for a Master's in Neuroscience at the University of Central Michigan where she is actively completing research on Parkinson's.
Heather Davis
Heather Davis was a research assistant (2010-2012) and project
coordinator (2012-2013) in the Keel lab. She completed her predoctoral internship at the University of Chicago, and earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Kentucky in May 2020. Following this, she completed a T32 postdoctoral fellowship in eating disorders research at the University of Chicago. She is currently an assistant professor of psychology at Virginia Tech, where she directs the Study of Emotions and Eating Disorders (SEED) laboratory. You can read more about Dr. Davis's research here:
Naomi Hill
Naomi graduated from North Central College in 2021 with a Bachelor of Science in psychology and behavioral neuroscience. She then worked as a project coordinator in the Keel lab from 2021-2022. She is now earning her PhD in clinical psychology at Ohio University under the mentorship of Dr. Jean Forney. Naomi is broadly interested in researching psychological and biological risk and maintenance factors for eating disorders.
Dr. Britny Hildebrandt
Dr. Hildebrandt was the project coordinator for Dr. Keel from 2009 – 2011. She received her PhD in clinical psychology from Michigan State University in 2017. Dr. Hildebrandt is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pittsburgh where she utilizes pre-clinical approaches to investigate neural mechanisms underlying chronic binge eating behaviors in the prefrontal cortex and striatum.
