TRIP LAB ALUMNI

Many of the students who have worked in the TRIP Laboratory have secured top-positions in graduate and professional programs across the country. Below are a few stellar examples of where the alumni are now.

Ayushi Amin

Ayushi graduated from University of Alabama at Birmingham in May 2012, and is currently a first year optometry student at the Southern College of Optometry in Memphis, TN.

Kathryn Bates

Kathryn is pursuing graduate work at the American University in Washington DC as a part of a Ph.D. program for Behavior, Cognition, and Neuroscience.

“Working with the TRIP lab gave me a real-world opportunity to apply the research processes we learned and practiced so often during undergrad. Graduate schools were also thrilled to hear I had research experience and would be able to enter their labs, ready to work!"

Mili Boozer

Mili is in her first year of graduate school at the Florida Institute of Technology, pursuing her Psy.D in Clinical Psychology.

Erica Britton

Erica is currently a freshman at Auburn University majoring in Psychology. She is planning to pursue graduate work in the future.

“Being at the TRIP Lab in general introduced me to a plethora of opportunities. I was still unsure whether Psychology was the direction I wanted to take before I volunteered at the lab. I was given the chance to explore many aspects of Psychology thanks to Dessie and the staff and these experiences really put me in the mind set to take on Psychology in the future.”

JoShea Carson

JoShea is currently an undergraduate Engineering student at Auburn University and is excited about the co-op he will be doing with Google in California in January.

James Chenoweth

After graduating University of Alabama at Birmingham with a B.S in Psychology, James is currently pursuing a Masters of Public Administration at UAB. He works as a full time employee at UAB at T.A.S.C. program via the Dept. of Psychiatry since March 2012. He works with individuals who are involved in both the Juvenile and Adult court system of Jeff. County. James began his graduate school career summer 2013, and is hoping to obtain his Masters of Public Administration at UAB. He is expecting to graduate in 2015.

Molly K. Cox

Molly is currently enrolled in a M.S. program for Clinical Psychology at Georgia Regents University (formerly Augusta State University). She is expecting to graduate in May 2014. Molly is interning at Neurobehavioral Associates, LLC under the supervision of Jeremy Hertza, PsyD. Her responsibilities include administering cognitive assessments, scoring protocols, assisting in forensic cases, observing presurgical spinal cord evaluations, and providing therapeutic services to clients. The general population they work with includes traumatic brain injury patients, stroke victims, Alzheimer’s and Dementia patients, individuals suffering from chronic pain, as well as clients with a variety of mental disorders and substance abuse problems. After graduation she is planning on participating in a 7 week internship at Island Dolphin Care located in Key Largo, Florida. The facility is a not-for-profit organization that provides children with special needs, children at risk, and wounded veterans a unique opportunity to participate in activities centered around dolphin human therapy. Additionally, guests can participate in marine science education programs and educational sessions with an Island Dolphin Care therapist.

“The Translational Research Injury Prevention Laboratory (TRIP) provided an unparalleled internship opportunity. The TRIP Lab offered a variety of outlets to become familiar with writing protocols, developing surveys, collecting data, analyzing output, and managing SPSS databases. Lab director, Despina Stavrinos, Ph.D., fostered a conductive working environment for both student research assistants and UAB faculty. Dr. Stavrinos also aided me throughout the graduate school application process and provided ample advice concerning future research.”

John Decker

John is a sophomore Neuroscience major, with an expected graduation of May 2016. He is now working in the lab of Dr. Paul Gamlin in the Department of Ophthalmology, UAB School of Medicine, and using electroencephalography to study the neural activity associated with perceiving some simple optical illusions. John worked in the TRIP Lab from August 2012 to May 2013, during which time he assisted Dr. Stavrinos and other lab members with planning the DIALS and SANDS projects and also began an individual research project under Dr. Stavrinos' guidance. He is still working with Dr. Stavrinos on a journal article that resulted from that work that will soon be submitted for publication.

Shannon Denny

Shannon graduated from UAB with a degree in Psychology. She is currently applying for the Masters in Public Health program at UAB for Spring 2014 entry. She is currently a legal secretary at Simms & Associates.

“TRIP Lab has helped to develop my research skills and prepare me for a successful academic & professional career.”

Jonathan Feng

Jonathan is currently in his second year of medical school at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC). He will be graduating in 2016 and wishes to specialize in surgery or radiology. Having gotten back from a trip to China this past summer, he had been busy hoping to establish an international volunteer program to China this semester to benefit an orphanage in Shanghai and hopefully in Beijing.

Annie Garner

Annie completed the first year of her postdoctoral fellowship at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. She is a National Research Service Award (NRSA) T-32 Postdoctoral Fellow. Her fellowship is primarily research-based focusing on examining functional impairments associated with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder including driving related impairments. In addition, her research has focused on developing interventions to improve the driving outcomes of adolescent drivers with ADHD.

Kathleen Hamrick

Kathleen works full time in the Operations division of the Birmingham-based correctional healthcare company, NaphCare, Inc. She is also pursuing a graduate degree from UAB: an MBA with healthcare focus, and obtaining a Certificate in Technology & Entrepreneurship. She interns with a company called Blondin Biosciences, Inc. Blondin Biosciences is improving treatment and diagnosis of cancer and other age related diseases. She is the Event Director for TEDx Birmingham 2014 and do volunteer fundraising and advocacy work for A Center for Eating Disorders, which is a Birmingham-based eating disorders treatment center. She is also currently obtaining her private pilot's license and regularly attending Birmingham Rotaract meetings, Birmingham Venture Club meetings, and Start Up Drinks.

“Working in the TRIP Lab was one of the most rewarding experiences of my undergraduate career”. I learned various programs that are useful in many different fields of research and am more familiar with following experimental protocols involved in research studies.”

Lindsay Harrison

Lindsay Harrison is currently obtaining a Master of Education in Clinical Mental Health Counseling/LPC. She expects to graduate in August of 2013 from the University of Montevallo.

“The TRIP Lab deeppened my understanding of conducting psychological research studies, especially in the areas of proper implementation, following protocols, and gathering/compiling statistical data. The TRIP Lab was discussed during my graduate entrance interview and I feel the inclusion of this experience on my resume assisted entrance into further graduate study within the related field of Clinical Mental Health Counseling."

Lakeshia Hyndman

Lakeshia is currently in medical school at University of Alabama at Birmingham, and expecting to graduate in May 2016.

Khushboo Jhala

Khushboo is in her second year as a medical student at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth in Hanover, NH. She is interested in pursuing Pathology or Interventional Neuroradiology, with a focus on oncology or immunology. She expects to obtain her medical degree in 2016.

"What made the TRIP lab experience different from most was that I was the driver of my own research interests (no pun intended). While I was contributing part to the unique projects for my previous labs, I was the primary creator and director of TRIP research, just like all of my other colleagues. Our lead Principal Investigator, Dr. Despina Stavrinos, created an environment where we were able to implement our own ideas and research inquiries."

Jennifer Jones

Jennifer is in her 3rd year of the PhD Epidemiology program at UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. She is concentrating on injury and pharmacoepidemiology. For her dissertation, she plans to look at the association between prescription opioids and falls among older adults. She plans to graduate in 2015. She works at the UNC Injury Prevention Research Center as a research assistant on an older adult falls prevention study and a ED opioid study.

“TRIP Lab helped me gain valuable skills in data management and qualitative research that have been very beneficial at my current job at the UNC IPRC.”

Parul Kapoor

Parul is working as a programmer analyst for an IT consulting company.

Aref Motamedi Lamouki

Aref is currently pursuing his Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering with a focus in Transportation engineering. His expected graduation date is May 10, 2014.

Meetesh Mahajan

Meetesh Mahajan has completed Master of Public Health Program with a major in Healthcare Organization & Policy in December of 2011. He is on different research projects as a research scholar.

“It was my pleasure to get an opportunity to work in TRIP lab. I learnt how to implement various concepts, which I learnt during my master's program in the research and how to work in the with team members of different backgrounds. My work experience in TRIP lab helped to find internship of my choice during MPH and current projects."

Sabrina Mangieri

Sabrina is currently in her 3rd semester of the UAB Department of Physical Therapy Program.

Abigail Martin

Abigail is currently working at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage as a Loan Document Specialist. She plans to go back to UAB in the fall of 2014 to possibly pursue a Masters Degree in Public Health with a focus in Health Behavior.

Benjamin McManus

Benjamin graduated with a BS in Biology and Psychology. He is currently a 2^nd year graduate student in the Lifespan Developmental Psychology Program at University of Alabama at Birmingham. He hopes to expand upon his experience gained here and advance his research in the area of human factors and cognitive engineering. He is expecting to obtain a PhD in Spring 2017.

Madhuri Patel

Madhuri graduated from UAB Summer 2013, and she is currently attending medical school at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine - Georgia Campus. She is expecting to graduate in 2017.

“I absolutely loved working at TRIP Laboratory! This was my first research position, and a great experience overall. I was able to enhance my computer skills and learn a lot about the research process in general. Dessie and Crystal were always very sweet and made the working environment enjoyable.”

Hollie Parrish

Hollie is expecting to graduate from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in Fall 2014, and is planning to pursue graduate studies or employment in scientific journalism.

“The TRIP lab was an amazing experience that massively improved my critical analysis skills. A huge hurdle of journalism involves having to sift through large amounts of information, and figuring what to cut out for the reader. Dr. Stavrinos and my other mentors in the lab took a personal interest in my progress. As a result, both my scientific literacy and my ability to communicate difficult concepts grew exponentially.”

Michael Schwartz

Michael Schwartz just graduated with a Master in General Psychology from Stephen F. Austin University and will be starting a PhD program at University of Central Florida's Applied Experimental and Human Factors Psychology program this August. Dr. Clint Bowers will be his supervisor. He expects to graduate in 3-4 years (May 2015 or May 2016).

“Working in the TRIP lab helped me to further develop my research skills and gave me experience working with simulation equipment (which I'll be doing with Dr. Bowers at UCF)!”

Sarah Stannard

Sarah is pursuing graduate work at UAB's School of Public Health. She is earning her Masters of Public Health in Health Behavior and a certificate in Global Health. She is expected to graduate in December of 2014.

Melissa Walters

Melissa is currently pursuing her master’s degree at Alabama Agriculture and Mechanics in Clinical Psychology. She plans to continue being a motivational speaker to young adolescents and young adults. She began speaking to groups during her senior year as an undergraduate. Her first audience was a freshmen undergraduate class at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, in which she talked about 'The Tools Needed to Surviving College'. Once Melissa finishes her master’s program- she plans to either work in the field of Psychology with the military or pursue her PhD in Clinical Neuro Psychology.

Cherell Washington

Upon graduating, Cherell served as an AmeriCorps member for the Birmingham READS program. She is currently making preparation to apply to the Occupational Therapy program for Fall 2014. She is earning observation hours for the program and preparing to take a prerequisite course in October for the program.

Sharon Welburn

Sharon is currently pursuing her MPH in Epidemiology with plans to graduate from the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh in December 2013. She is currently interning at Magee-Women’s Research Institute in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. Her latest research has looked at changes in biomarkers, quality of life, depression, and overall health on endometrial cancer risk in obese women pre-/post-bariatric surgery. Post-graduation, she plans to apply to PhD programs in Epidemiology with a focus on injury, particularly surveillance and prevention.

“The TRIP Lab taught me the bare essentials on study design--from developing the question, to writing grants and proposals, to implementation of the study, and finally to data analysis of the study. Without the TRIP lab, I never would have learned about how engineers, epidemiologists, and psychologists can all come together to work on solving a problem, such as distracted driving. The UAB PhD epidemiology program is my#1 choice for next move in career."

Leslie Williams

Lesile is currently applying to medical schools and osteopathic schools, and serves as the volunteer coordinator for Alpha Epsilon Delta Pre-Health Society. She is a Resident Assistant for the third year in a row at Blount Hall. She will be graduating from UAB on April 26th in Spring 2014.

“As an undergraduate pre-med student, research is a necessity in order to gain admission to medical school. The work I did in the TRIP laboratory allowed me to gain my first insights into research and the opportunity to compete and in the UAB expo. The exposure to the research and the scientific community has made an immeasurable impact in my journey to higher education.”

Erica Young

She is in her third year as a medical student at Uasom University of Alabama School of Medicine and is currently, doing clinical rotations in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

“TRIP lab gave me insight to research, data collection, data analysis, and survey writing.”