George Washington University Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences

10/12/2026

Here to continue our first year introductions is Emily! Emily Lombardo is a first year student in the Applied Psychology masters program. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology at The Pennsylvania State University. While at Penn State she was a research assistant in the Empathy and Moral Psychology Lab where she worked with participants for the lab’s study. Her research experience continued as an assistant for the Pitch Exploration Lab which had a focus on music and well-being. In this lab she assisted in writing a literature review and contributed to the development of a research study, specifically working on sections involving group-based musical activities and their social benefits. She is interested in deepening her understanding of social psychology, especially pertaining to cohesion or empathy between or within social groups. She hopes to understand social problems in ways that can inform potential solutions. Having recently moved to the DMV, she’s been enjoying exploring the area and also spends her time reading or practicing yoga.

10/07/2026

Next up, Emma Lehman! Emma is a first year MS Applied Psychology student at George Washington University. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from the University of Mary Washington. During her time at UMW, she was a Division 3 Field Hockey athlete, participating in all 4 years and serving on the leadership team her junior and senior year. Emma was also a statistics tutor for her psychology department her junior and senior year, helping first year students navigate introductory statistics. Additionally, she was an active member of a year-long research team in her psychology department, led by Dr. Jennifer Mailloux, focusing on the influences of sexual assertiveness on sexual satisfaction. Under Dr. Mailloux, she gained experience handling survey research, building questionnaires via Qualtrics, analyzing data in SPSS, and presenting at both a poster presentation on UMW’s campus and an oral presentation at the Virginia Association for Psychological Science. Her current research interests include burnout and motivation in student athletes, and body consciousness as an athlete. During her time at GW, she hopes to work in a lab that equally shares her passion for collaboration, and learning about her community. In her spare time, Emma enjoys travelling, watching live sports events, and cooking.

10/07/2026

Everyone, please welcome Michael! Michael Rodriguez is a first-year in the M.S. Applied Psychology program. He received a B.S. in Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience with a minor in American Studies from George Washington University in 2021. During this time, Michael explored human behavior across many disciplines and ultimately gravitated towards industrial-organizational psychology. He helped run a study on virtual reality workplace training in the WAVE lab, and helped lead a new project with Dr. Katina Sawyer on studying LGBTQ+ identity expression in gig work. His career has been heavily influenced by his dedication to service which led him to his current role at GW’s Honey W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service. In this role, Michael manages civic programs that build reciprocal partnerships between GW and DC community members and address community needs. He is excited to see how this program will elevate this work and help him explore new ways to combine psychology and community engagement in his career. Outside of his professional work, Michael has been taking drawing and painting classes and he enjoys spending time in nature.

10/07/2026

PBS and the Psi Chi International Honor Society co-hosted the annual Applying to Graduate School panel. Undergraduates were able to hear from several faculty members about what they look for in applications, while graduate students shared how they gained experiences as an undergraduate and postbac to be competitive for graduate school. Thanks to Denny Schell for being our MC!

10/06/2026

Here to kick off our first year MS Applied students introductions is Sara Giray! She graduated from the University of Mississippi with a bachelors in Psychology, minoring in Gender Studies and American Sign Language (ASL) Interpreting. At her previous institution, she worked in a lab focused on Social Psychology, in part, running participants through studies. Outside of this, she also worked as a Residential Assistant for the majority of her time as an Undergraduate. Currently, she is working as a Teaching Assistant for Dr. Roblyn Lewter in a Developmental Psychology course. Her primary area of interest is broadly Social Psychology, but more specifically wanting to expand research on topics pertaining to women and Q***r populations. Outside of the University, Sara has interests in practicing ASL, crocheting, and frequently visiting the Smithsonians.

10/01/2026

Everyone, meet Sam Rosenthal! Sam is a first-year Cognitive Neuroscience Doctoral student primarily working with Dr. Dwight Kravitz. He graduated from the University of Chicago in 2025 with a Bachelors of Arts in Psychology, East Asian History, and Comparative Human Development. At his previous institution, he worked in Dr. Wilma Bainbridge’s Brain Bridge Lab, a lab focused on cognition and memory. There, he was a research assistant for a year before running his own project analyzing the effect (or lack thereof) of sleep on memory. His research interests involve naturalistic scene perception in relation to objects within those scenes, and investigating how those objects impact subjective scene judgements. In his free time, he enjoys playing roleplaying games, cooking, and reading fantasy novels.

09/25/2026

Take us out to the ballgame! Students and faculty enjoyed a beautiful night at the annual Nats game department outing!

09/24/2026

See this piece in GW Today about GW Votes that highlights the work of Michael Rodriguez! Michael is an alum of our undergraduate program and is one of our current 1st year MS students! Great work, Michael!

Help with registering, voting by mail and other topics is available.

09/23/2026

Congrats to our Undergraduate Psychology program, which is tied at #50 for national universities (out of a pool of 425 departments) on the latest US News & World Report rankings. This is a testament to our hardworking and devoted faculty and staff, and our terrific students!

The institution ranked 59th in the 2027 report recognizing the top colleges and universities in the United States, with undergraduate nursing and business programs ranking in the top 20.

09/23/2026

Please join us in congratulating Clinical Psychology PhD student Justino Flores on his recent first-authored publication:

Flores, J. J., Kalwicz, D. A., del Río-González, A. M., Hernandez, J. I., Rendina, H. J., Onochie, K. C., & Calabrese, S. K. (2026). HIV educational video content and presentation style preferences among English- and Spanish-speaking US sexual and gender minorities. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2026.2724023

Clinical Psychology PhD students David Kalwicz and Kosy Onochie, Clinical psychology faculty Dr. Sarah Calabrese, and Applied social psychology PhD alumna (and Milken Institute School of Public Health faculty) Dr. Ana Maria del Río-González also contributed as co-authors.

Congratulations to all!

Sexual and gender minorities in the USA are disproportionately impacted by HIV, highlighting the need for tailored prevention and treatment interventions. Video-based tools have emerged as promisin...