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The Social Environment Neurobiology & Emotion Lab at UNCG researches pathways from life stress to depression. We use a variety of lenses—neurobiology (biomarkers such as cortisol, and genetics), personality, and interpersonal theory—and a variety of tools—gold standard life stress interviews, assessment measure development, sleep and activity actigraphy, lab-based stress inductions, and daily diary/ ESM. Further, we are interested in an array of types of life stress, including stressful life events, interpersonal stress, chronic stress, discrimination as a stressor, and, to a lesser extent, early life adversity. We have special interests in first generation college student success, and in discrimination measurement.

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We are also interested in helping the field improve stress measurement by creating and validating accessible measures of stress exposure, and by better documenting the flaws in existing measures with poor validity.

 

Join our highly collaborative group; we value inclusiveness, positive teamwork, and work-life balance. Dr. Vrshek-Schallhorn anticipates accepting a graduate student into UNCG's MA/PhD program in Clinical Psychology to begin in Fall 2027.