Distinguished Scholars

The title “OIBR Distinguished Scholar” is reserved for faculty with current or past grant projects run through the Institute, who seek to be actively involved, and wish to take full advantage of OIBR’s services. Nomination by an active Distinguished Scholar and approval of the OIBR executive committee is required to be granted Distinguished Scholar status.

Abney, Drew

Assistant Professor, Psychology
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
2023 OIBR Rising Star Recipient
OIBR Grant Development Program Participant 2020-2022 | drew.abney@uga.edu

Research Interests include Sensorimotor development; Human interaction; Emotion regulation; Time series analysis; Language development

Abraham, Amanda

Michael and Caroline Fierman Professor, Public and International Affairs
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
OIBR Grant Development Program Participant 2014-2015
website | aabraham@uga.edu

Research Interests include Health Policy, Substance Use Disorder Treatment, Accessibility/Quality of SUD Treatment, Organizational Change, Maternal Health

Ahn, Sun Joo (Grace)

Professor, Advertising
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
OIBR Grant Development Program Participant 2012-2013
website | sjahn@uga.edu

Research Interests include Virtual reality; Persuasion/Behavior change; Risk communication; Media psychology

Aletraris, Lydia

Associate Research Scientist, Social Work
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
website | lydia@uga.edu

Research Interests: Substance use treatment; Cannabis legalization; Opioid use disorder; Human trafficking; Hidden populations

Andrews, Tessa

Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor, Genetics
Director, Scientists Engaged in Educational Research (SEER) Center
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
website | tandrews@uga.edu

Research Interests include STEM Education, Organizational change

Ardoin, Scott

Associate Dean of Research & Graduate Education, Early College of Education
Professor, Educational Psychology
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
OIBR Grant Development Program Participant 2009-2010
website | spardoin@uga.edu

Research Interests include Reading comprehension; Eye tracking; Classroom behavior management; Academic intervention; Applied behavior analysis

Beach, Steven R. H.

Regents’ Professor, Psychology
Co-Director, Center for Family Research
Co-Director, Center on Biological Embedding of Social Events & Relationships
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
2023 OIBR Service Legacy Award Recipient
website | srhbeach@uga.edu

Research Interests include Family, Epigenetics, Inflammation, Obesity, Substance Abuse

Brody, Gene

Regents’ Professor Emeritus
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
website | gbrody@uga.edu

Research Interests include Social determinants of health

Brosius, J. Peter

Distinguished Research Professor, Anthropology
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
website | pbrosius@uga.edu

Research Interests include environmental anthropology, cultural politics of conversation, political ecology, hunter-gatherers, transnational environmental movements and institutions and human ecology in SE Asia

Brown, Anita

Associate Director, Center for Family Research
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
website | anitab@uga.edu

Research Interests include gene-environment interaction and engagement/informed consent issues with regard to collection of genetic material from community samples

Brown, Geoffrey

Associate Professor, Human Development and Family Science
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
OIBR Grant Development Program Participant 2014-2015
website | glbrown@uga.edu

Research Interests include fatherhood, parenting, attachment, socio-emotional development, infancy, African American families

Campbell, W. Keith

Professor, Psychology
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
website | wkc@uga.edu

Research Interests include Personality; Psychedelics; Self

Caughy, Margaret O.

Georgia Athletic Association Professor, Human Development and Family Science
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
website | margaret.caughy@uga.edu

Research Interests include Parenting; Latinx families; Racism; Academic achievement; Mental Health

Clay-Warner, Jody

Director, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
Meigs Professor, Sociology
OIBR Grant Development Program Participant 2000-2001
website | jclayw@uga.edu

Research Interests include Justice, Violence, Victimization, Experimental Methods, and Gender

Clementz, Brett

Distinguished Research Professor, Psychology
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
website | clementz@uga.edu

Research Interests include Psychosis, Classification, Neuroimaging, and Genetics

Dolan, Erin

Meigs Professor, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
2023 OIBR Lillian Eby Mentoring Award Recipient
website | eldolan@uga.edu

Research Interests include Research training; Career decision-making; Career development; Mentorship; STEM workforce

Eby, Lillian

Distinguished Research Professor, Psychology
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
website | leby@uga.edu

Research Interests include Occupational Health, Mentoring, Careers

Ehrlich, Katherine

Associate Professor, Psychology
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
OIBR Grant Development Program Participant 2016-2018
website | kehrlich@uga.edu

Research Interests include stress, inflammation, resilience, social determinants of health

Fiorella, Logan

Associate Professor, Educational Psychology
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
2020 OIBR Rising Star Award Recipient
OIBR Grant Development Program Participant 2016-2018
website | lfiorella@uga.edu

Research Interests include: Instructional design; Learning strategies; Metacognition; Learning from visualizations

Goodie, Adam

Professor and Department Head, Psychology
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
website | goodie@uga.edu

Research Interests include gambling, decision making, psychology, recognition and addictive behaviors

Holmes, Philip

Professor, Psychology
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
website | pvholmes@uga.edu

Research Interests include psychopharmacology, neurobiological mechanisms responsible for stress resilience, brain noradrenergic systems and neurobiological basis of motivation and emotion

Kogan, Steve

Athletic Association Professor, Human Development and Family Science
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
2021 OIBR Mentoring Legacy Award Recipient
website | smkogan@uga.edu

Research Interests include family centered substance abuse prevention, alcohol and drug abuse, adolescent risk behavior, and African American men

Lavner, Justin

Associate Professor, Psychology
Co-Director, Center for Family Research
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
2022 OIBR Rising Star Award Recipient
OIBR Grant Development Program Participant 2015-2017
website | lavner@uga.edu

Research Interests includes Couples and family relationships; Prevention/Intervention; Therapy; Health inequities; Minority and contextual stress; LGBTQ issues

Lemons, Paula

Associate Dean, Franklin College
Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Director, Scientists Engaged in Educational Research Center
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
website | plemons@uga.edu

Research Interests includes Learning; Instruction; Problem solving; Institutional change

Luft, Julie

Athletic Association Professor, Science Education
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
website | jaluft@uga.edu

Research Interests include Science Teacher Education; Science Teacher Learning; Newly hired science teachers

McDowell, Jennifer

Associate Director, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
Professor, Psychology
website | jemcd@uga.edu

Research Interests include Psychotic disorders; Neuroimaging; Eye movements; Cognition

Miller, Joshua

Distinguished Research Professor, Psychology
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
OIBR Grant Development Program Participant 2007-2008
website | jdmiller@uga.edu

Research Interests include personality assessment and disorders, and antisocial behavior

Nesbit, Rebecca

Professor, Public Administration & Policy
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
OIBR Grant Development Program Participant 2015-2017
website | nesbit7@uga.edu

Research Interests include Management of volunteers and how organizations can sustain volunteer commitment over time.

Neuharth-Pritchett, Stacey

Senior Associate Dean for Academic Programs, College of Education
Professor, Educational Psychology
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
OIBR Grant Development Program Participant 1998-1999
website | sneuhart@uga.edu

Research Interests include head start, pre-kindergarten, poverty, early childhood, teacher-child relationships, and asthma

Okech, David

Endowed Professor, Social Work
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
OIBR Grant Development Program Participant 2014-2016
website | dokech@uga.edu

Research Interests include Human Trafficking, Evidence informed policies and programs, Asset development, Community development, Social welfare policy

O’Neal, Catherine Walker

Assistant Professor, Human Development and Family Science
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
website | cwalker1@uga.edu

Research Interests include military families; risk and resilience; couples; health

Orpinas, Pamela

Professor, Health Promotion and Behavior
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
OIBR Grant Development Program Participant 1997-1998
website | porpinas@uga.edu

Research Interests include preventing family violence, dating aggression, and bullying; improving the lives of immigrant and underserved populations; identifying developmental trajectories of children and youth.

Oshri, Assaf

Research Interests include Child Maltreatment, Resilience, Neuroscience, Risk Behaviors

Phillips, Bradley

Professor, Clinical and Administrative Pharmacy
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
website | bgp@uga.edu

Research Interests include Translational Sciences, Sleep Apnea, Cardiovascular, Obesity

Robinson, Dawn

Director of Faculty Development, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
Professor, Sociology
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
2021 OIBR Service Legacy Award Recipient
website | sodawn@uga.edu

Research Interests include Group processes; Social networks

Roman, Paul

Emeritus Professor, Sociology
Director, Center for Research on Behavioral Health and Human Services Delivery
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
website | proman@uga.edu

Research Interests include Alcohol; Addiction; Treatment; Workplace; Health services

Shaffer, Anne

Associate Dean of the Graduate School
Professor, Psychology
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
OIBR Grant Development Program Participant 2009-2010
website | ashaffer@uga.edu

Research Interests include Emotion communication & socialization; childhood maltreatment; predictors of parenting

Simons, Leslie Gordon

Meigs Professor, Sociology
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
OIBR Grant Development Program Participant 2003-2004
website | lgsimons@uga.edu

Research Interests include family, life course, aging, crime and law

Simons, Ron

Regents’ Professor, Sociology
Co-Director, Center on Biological Embedding of Social Events and Relationships
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
website | rsimons@uga.edu

Research Interests include social determinants of aging, social context and inflammation, social support and health, and health disparities

Stanton, Julie

Meigs Associate Professor, Cellular Biology
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
website | stantonj@uga.edu

Research Interests include Metacognition; Reasoning; Community cultural wealth; Social change; Qualitative methods

Strauss, Gregory P.

Associate Professor, Psychology
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
website | gstrauss@uga.edu

Research Interests include Schizophrenia, Psychosis, Neuroscience, Emotion, Reward, EEG, Eye-tracking, and Social Cognition

Suveg, Cynthia

Professor, Psychology
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
OIBR Grant Development Program Participant 2006-2007
website | csuveg@uga.edu

Research Interests include Family processes; Child anxiety; Developmental Psychopathology

Sweet, Lawrence

Gary R. Sperduto Professor, Psychology
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
2022 OIBR Lillian Eby Mentoring Award Recipient
website | sweet@uga.edu

Research Interests include Neuropsychological Assessment, Neuroimaging, Addiction and Disorders of Aging (Cognitive)

vanDellen, Michelle

Professor, Psychology
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
OIBR Grant Development Program Participant 2013-2014
website | mvd@uga.edu

Research Interests include Motivation; Health behavior change

Wickrama, Kandauda A.

Emeritus Professor, Human Development and Family Science
Distinguished Scholar, Owens Institute for Behavioral Research
website | wickrama@uga.edu

Research Interests include life course, health outcomes, marriage and work