Members of the Mental Health Research Lab
Lauren Reynolds
Mila Popovic
Mila is a current 2nd year master’s student in the clinical psychology program at Lakehead University. As a stigma researcher, her thesis is investigating the intersectionality of stigma derived from mental illness and nonsuicidal self-injury. Mila graduated with a major in Psychology & Neuroscience and a minor in Biology (with high distinction) from Wilfrid Laurier University in 2021. In addition to her honours thesis work on self-compassion and social anxiety, her other research has focused on developmental psychology in the elderly, psycho-oncology, and neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders. In her free time, Mila enjoys spending time with family, friends, and her pets.
Grishma Dabas
Grishma started the clinical psychology PhD program in 2021. Her research interests broadly include processes underlying mental health stigma and interventions, social anxiety disorder, as well as mental health policy and mental healthcare systems. She completed her undergraduate HBSc degree in Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour at McMaster University in 2018. Her undergrad thesis looked at how individuals with social anxiety disorder are perceived in social interactions. Grishma’s M.A. thesis, supervised by Dr. Maranzan at LU, examined how public stigma, in the form of stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination, differs across depression, social anxiety disorder, and schizophrenia. Her doctoral research will look at the outcomes of an anti-stigma intervention, known as Honest, Open, Proud-College, in Canadian post-secondary students. Grishma’s doctoral work is supported by the Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship (CGS) Doctoral Award, and her master’s work was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council - Canada Graduate Scholarship. In her free time, Grishma likes to spend time with her dog, hike, and dance.
Christiania Fidler
Christiana is from State College, Pennsylvania and Liverpool, New York and is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. Clinical Psychology Program at LU. Her research interests include mental health self-stigma, psychological resilience, and positive psychology. Christiana completed an undergraduate B.S. degree in Psychology with an Honors Diploma at Roberts Wesleyan College (Rochester, NY) in 2015. Her honours thesis replicated and adapted positive psychology exercises among undergraduate students. Christiana completed her M.A. at LU, where she examined self-concept integration (i.e., authenticity and consistency among the self-concept) and how it relates to psychological resilience and well-being. She is currently changing the direction of her research to enhance the literature on mental health self-stigma and self-compassion. Christiana is passionate about helping individuals in need with mental health problems. In her free time, she loves spending time with her husband (David) and puppy (Daisy), being outdoors, and acting in community theatre.
Melissa Pye
Melissa is completing her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. She completed her internship with the Northern Ontario Psychology Internship Consortium (Thunder Bay, ON). Melissa's dissertation is focused on understanding the roles of positive and negative empathy in stigma reduction.
Graduates of the Mental Health Research Lab:
Lauren Reynolds (HBA Psychology 2022)
Erika Portt (MA Clinical Psychology 2014; PhD Clinical Psychology 2020)
Brooke Bigelow (MA Clinical Psychology 2020)
Victoria Pitura (MA Clinical Psychology 2015; PhD Clinical Psychology 2019)
Emily Payne (HBA Psychology 2019)
Flavia Spiroiu (MA Clinical Psychology 2018)
Charlotte Foster (HBA Psychology 2018)
Tegan Tsubouchi (HBA Psychology 2016)
Gregory Tippin (MA Clinical Psychology 2012; PhD Clinical Psychology 2016)
Kaitlin Stefanovich (MA Clinical Psychology 2012)
Vanessa Strachan (HBA Psychology 2011)
Mark Donylyk (HBA Psychology 2011)
Erin Lovis (HBA Psychology 2010)
Reilly Ten Have (HBA Psychology 2010)