Postdoc Fellow/Post-Bac Associate Award 2022: Heather Kissel (Brumback lab)

Institution: Northern Kentucky University

Department: Psychological Science

Rank: Postdoctoral Fellow (Ty Brumback, Developmental Autonomic Psychophysiology lab)

Project Title: Autonomic Nervous System Functioning in Heavy Drinking Adolescents: Interactions with sleep, circadian functioning, and health

About the project: Under the guidance of Dr. Ty Brumback, research in the DAP lab focuses on mechanisms related to alcohol use and abuse in young adults. The lab uses a variety of methods including structured clinical interviews, surveys, neurocognitive tests, and psychophysiological assessments to better understand risks factors for drinking escalation and determine potential therapeutic targets for reducing related health effects.

Dr. Heather Kissel is a new postdoctoral fellow in the DAP lab and is excited to return to her home state of Kentucky after graduating from Virginia Tech. In the DAP lab, she is applying her psychophysiological expertise concerning heart rate variability and autonomic nervous system functioning to examine risk and resilience related to alcohol use in young adults.