Lab Members
EMOTION, HEALTH, AND PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY LAB AT YALE UNIVERSITY
Wendy Berry Mendes
Lab Director
Dr. Mendes is the Charles and Dorathea Dilley Professor at Yale University. Her research questions sit at the intersection of social, personality, and biological psychology and primarily concerns questions regarding embodiment: how emotions, thoughts, and intentions are experienced in the body and how bodily responses shape and influence thoughts, behaviors, and emotions. Some current research areas include coping with stigma and discrimination, dyadic intergroup interactions, affect contagion, mind-body relations across the life course, effects of stress on decision-making, and stress management interventions.
Kimberly J. Martin
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Kimberly J. Martin is a Postdoctoral Associate in the Department of Psychology at Yale University. She was previously a UC President’s Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco. She earned her Ph.D. in Social Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles. She graduated with honors and high distinction from the University of California, Berkeley, with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Dance and Performance Studies. Her research investigates the impact of injustice and the importance of history to the experiences, perceptions, and health of members of minoritized groups, particularly in the healthcare system. Additionally, her research aims to increase the recognition of and action toward dismantling systemic and individual injustice. You can learn more about her work at drkimjmartin.com.
Kim’s CV: Google Docs
Maria Monroy
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Maria Monroy is a Postdoctoral Associate in the Department of Psychology at Yale University. She was previously a Ford Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco. She completed her Ph.D. in Social/Personality Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. She also received her B.A. from UC Berkeley as the top undergraduate in psychology— with highest honors in psychology and high distinction in general scholarship. Maria’s research covers multiple facets of emotion science, such as expression, experience, and culture. A large portion of her attention is devoted to investigating the beneficial effects of discrete positive emotions, such as awe, on stress, social connection, health, and well-being.
Maria’s CV: Google Docs
Val Wongsomboon
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Val Wongsomboon is a Susan Nolen-Hoeksema Postdoctoral Associate at Yale Psychology Department. She got her Ph.D. in social psychology at the University of Florida. Her research focuses on sexual health and well-being, sexual well-being disparities, and close relationships among historically marginalized and stigmatized populations as well as those underrepresented in sex and relationship research, such as LGBTQ+ and single (unpartnered) individuals. You can learn more about her work at https://valwongsomboon.weebly.com/.
Riley Hoffman
Lab Manager
Riley Hoffman is the Lab Manager for the Emotion, Health, and Psychophysiology Lab at Yale University. She graduated from Harvard University in May 2023 with a B.A. in Psychology. In the future, Riley plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Psychology and/or law school. Her research interests lie at the intersection of psychology, health, and society.
Contact Riley at riley.hoffman@yale.edu
STRESS LAB AT UC SAN FRANCISCO
Darwin Guevarra
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Darwin A. Guevarra is currently a post-doctoral fellow at the University of California, San Francisco. Before coming to UCSF, he completed a postdoc in the Clinical Science area at Michigan State University. He completed his Ph.D. in social psychology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Darwin is broadly interested in affect and affect regulation processes and their implications for health and well-being. His research questions revolve around what makes affect regulation difficult and how to make it easier. You can read more about Darwin’s research at https://www.darwinguevarra.com/
Darwin’s CV: PDF
Yoobin Park
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Yoobin Park is a post-doctoral fellow at the University of California, San Francisco, working with the Network for Emotional Well-being team. Before coming to UCSF, she completed her PhD in Psychology at the University of Toronto. Her research has focused on well-being as a partnered individual (e.g., examining factors contributing to a high-quality romantic relationship) and as a single individual (e.g., examining factors contributing to a fulfilling single life). She is broadly interested in understanding processes surrounding changes in well-being and their consequences. You can learn more about her work at https://yoobinpark.weebly.com/
Yoobin’s CV: Google Docs
Julia O’Bryan
Lab Manager
Julia O’Bryan is the Lab Manager for the UCSF Stress Lab. She graduated from Santa Clara University in June 2018 with a B.S. in Psychology. Her research interests broadly include social power, conformity, and emotion regulation, particularly emotion suppression, and their implications on relationships. Julia plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Social Psychology in the future.
Emelly Argueta
PROJECT COORDINATOR
Emelly graduated from San Francisco State University with a B.A in Psychology. Her research interests include personality, psychological disorders, and mental health. She hopes to continue research within this field to reduce the stigma that is associated with mental health within the Latinx community. She plans to attend graduate school while continuing to sharpen her research skills.