Meet Our Team
Principal Investigator
Dr. Suzanne Vrshek-Schallhorn
PhD, ABPP, Principal Investigator
Dr. Suzanne Vrshek-Schallhorn (she/her) is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in the Clinical Psychology area. She completed her PhD at the University of Minnesota, followed by postdoctoral training at Northwestern University. Her work probes pathways from life stress to depression, using the lenses of stress interviews, stress measure development, molecular genetics, cortisol diurnal rhythm and reactivity, trait vulnerabilities, and discrimination as a stressor. She is also interested in the impact of stress on first-generation student mental health and college persistence. She has held funding from NSF, NIMH, and the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation (NARSAD), and she was named the 2019 Donald F. Klein Early Career Investigator by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. She is a licensed clinical psychologist and is nationally Board Certified in Behavioral and Cognitive Psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology.
email: smschal2@uncg.edu
Graduate Students
Elli Cole
Graduate Assistant, MS
Elli (She/Her) is a currently on internship at the Boston VA. Elli's research interests lie in investigating the relationship between early adversity, chronic stress, and the development of internalizing disorders such as anxiety and depression. She is interested in exploring the potential biological, psychological, and environmental factors that contribute to the etiology of these disorders. Through her research, she hopes to identify effective prevention and intervention strategies that can help individuals who have experienced early adversity and chronic stress to reduce their risk of developing internalizing disorders.
email: elcole2@uncg.edu
Chelsea Crayton
Graduate Assistant, MA
Chelsea (She/Her) is a third-year doctoral student in the SCENE lab. Before joining the SCENE lab, Chelsea completed her B.S. in psychology and sociology at Virginia Commonwealth University and a two-year IRTA postbac fellowship at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. Her research interests sit at the intersection of psychology, biology, and sociology. She is interested in exploring the relationship between HPA axis functioning, chronic/contextual stressors (i.e., discrimination), and health behaviors (i.e., sleep and caffeine use) as pathways towards physiological dysregulation and depression symptomology. She is also interested in in the psychometrics of stress and identity measurement as well as the influence of the cortisol awakening response on daily life. Through her research, she hopes to identify accessible intervention points that could help practitioners and individuals alike address the impact of stress on physical and mental health.
email: cbcrayton@uncg.edu
Samuel Agbeh
Graduate Assistant, BA
Sam (he/him) is a second-year doctoral student in the SCENE lab. He received a B.A. in psychology and a cognitive science minor at Northwestern University. Since his undergraduate studies, he has worked as a research coordinator in the Psychiatry Department at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC) and the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). Sam's research interests focus on examining how different types of stress exposures as well as environmental and socioeconomic factors impact the development of internalizing disorders (i.e., depression and anxiety) in young adults. Specifically, Sam is interested in investigating the specific risk factors that shape variability in stress severity and expression of symptoms across different internalizing disorders. Further, he is also interested in examining the relationship between chronic stress and substance use. Through his research, Sam hopes to aid in the development of effective prevention strategies, interventions, and treatment plans for individuals facing diverse mental health challenges.
email: agbeh@uncg.edu