Psychology

My program of research, grounded in attachment theory and guided by social information processing theories, addresses the following: 1) the impact of caregivers’ emotions and cognitions on caregiving behaviors and emotional development, 2) the role of caregivers’ own developmental experiences in caregiving behaviors and child development, and 3) how characteristics of children directly and indirectly contribute to their own developmental processes. My work has an overarching goal of identifying mechanisms that can be targeted to inform prevention and education efforts. My work primarily focuses on parent–child interactions in early childhood, though the models and theories I test are also relevant to older developmental phases. I employ complex statistical modeling and use longitudinal data using parent-report, physiological assessments, wearable technology, and observational coding to assist in answering research questions and testing theories of developmental change. 

I am interested in accepting a graduate student for the upcoming cycle (starting Fall 2027). Please review my profile here and the lab website below to determine if your interests line up with the work we are doing. I would be happy to answer specific questions over email! 

See my lab's website: https://familyanddevelopmentlabosu.weebly.com/

Dr. Lucia Ciciolla is an Associate Professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology at Oklahoma State University. Dr. Ciciolla earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in child and family science and quantitative science from Arizona State University (ASU), and completed an APA-accredited internship at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill School of Medicine in the Child-Community track. Dr. Ciciolla was trained as a clinical scientist with specializations in infancy and early childhood, perinatal and maternal mental health, parenting, trauma, and longitudinal methodology. She has extensive training in reproductive and perinatal health, the mother-infant relationship, infant mental health and development, processes of attachment, parenting, and clinical intervention.

Dr. Ciciolla is passionate about the health and well-being of women, children, and families. She is an advocate for research, education, and treatment promoting family well-being through several organizations, including Postpartum Support International, Oklahoma Association for Infant Mental Health, and OSU-CHS ECHO.

https://www.camplab-ok.com/

Research Interests:

My research interests include maternal mental health, motherhood, reproductive health disparities, parenting and attachment, infant and early child development, adverse/traumatic experiences, and the transmission of risk/trauma/psychopathology from mothers to children in the context of the primary caregiving relationship. My studies have utilized a range of methodologies, including observational methods, surveys, clinical interviews, psychological testing, and a variety of longitudinal and other data analytic techniques. Recently, my research interests have broadened to include biological markers of stress and health (e.g., inflammation, cortisol, sleep), adverse reproductive experiences, and other mechanisms that shape the context of the mother-child relationship and contribute to the intergenerational transmission of trauma/psychopathology, including systemic racial and ethnic discrimination, and historical trauma.

Christina Duncan, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Oklahoma State University. Dr. Duncan previously served two consecutive terms as secretary for the Society of Pediatric Psychology (SPP; APA Division 554) and has served on editorial boards for multiple journals. Dr. Duncan also has a long-standing record of serving on NIH grant review panels. She currently is the Editor for Clinical Practice in Pediatric Psychology, one of SPP's two flagship journals. She also is active in the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, serving on the its Clinical Research Committee and its Data Safety and Monitoring Board. Dr. Duncan has received several awards for her scholarly productivity as well as her clinical and professional service as a pediatric psychologist.

Research Interests:

Dr. Duncan's research program centers on adherence to medical treatment, disease self-management, transition from pediatric to adult health care, cystic fibrosis, and asthma. She particularly enjoys conducting family-centered and clinically impactful research, including using a stakeholder-informed approach to create and validate new questionnaires for pediatric health populations, and to develop and test behavioral interventions through clinical trials. Her research has been funded by grants from NIH, HRSA, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and the American Lung Association. Dr. Duncan's lab conducts similar pediatric psychology research across a variety of health conditions - diabetes, epilepsy, inflammatory bowel disease, oncology, etc.

Speech Communication Course Coordinator & Teaching Instructor--
I get to wake up everyday and go to a job I LOVE. Teaching young adults about the importance of human communication is a fulfilling and rewarding job. I've taught at the collegiate level for over 25 years now. I work as the speech area coordinator and am hoping to grow and improve our speech communication minor and course offerings for students at Oklahoma State University. In 2024, I was honored to be selected as the recepient of the 2024 OSU Online Teaching Excellence Award.

Research Interests:

Pedagogical Research utilizing Critical Whiteness Studies, Anti-racism in Communication, Integrating communication/public speaking for assessment across disciplines, Promoting Student engagement, and OER promotion.

Honors and Awards

OSU Excellence in Undergraduate Mentoring Award

Faculty Phoenix Award for Graduate Student Mentoring

APA, Fellow

Psychonomics Society, Fellow

Fulbright Specialist Program

Psi Chi Faculty Advisor Research Award

APA Committee on Women Leadership Institute

Regents Distinguished Teaching Award, College of Arts and Sciences

Junior Faculty Award for Scholarly Excellence, Arts and Sciences, OSU

Oklahoma Psychological Society Outstanding Faculty Award

Outstanding Faculty Member in Psychology.

Research Interests:

Cognitive Science, Cybersecurity, Psycholinguistics, Bilingualism, Individual Differences, Humor, Brain Science

Jen earned her PhD in social psychology from the University of Southern California, focusing on consumer and health behavior change and habits. At OSU, Jen regularly teaches courses in Social Psychology, Applied Psychology, Positive Psychology, and Motivation Science. She received the Outstanding Faculty Member for Undergraduate Instruction in Psychology Award in 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.

Jen has worked with collaborators from both academia and industry in a variety of fields (e.g., technology, law, computer science) to address behavioral science questions. Her work has been published in psychology, consumer, and health journals, and she has been invited to present her research broadly to audiences throughout the US and in Europe. Her research has received media attention from a variety of outlets including the Huffington Post.

Research Interests:

Behavior change, habits, self-regulation, self-control

I am a clinical health psychologist and Professor in the Department of Psychology at Oklahoma State University. I completed my graduate training at the University of Washington and pre-doctoral internship at the Puget Sound VA Healthcare System – Seattle. I am a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT), having completed intensive training in how to train others in the approach. My research interests include brief motivational interventions for health behavior change and motivational predictors of self-directed and assisted behavior change. I have worked on numerous federal, state and privately funded intervention projects that investigated adaptations of motivational interviewing.

Research Interests:

health, health behavior, substance use, addictions, HIV, sport psychology, motivational interviewing, brief interventions, electronic interventions

PORTFOLIO OF RESPONSIBILITIES AS OSU VICE PRESIDENT FOR RESEARCH:

As OSU's Chief Research Officer, I am responsible for promoting the research, scholarship, and artistic creativity in support of the entire mission of the institution. This role includes oversight of constituent units that include research services, intramural funding programs, technology transfer, intellectual property management, commercialization efforts, and economic development, as well as research integrity and compliance. It also includes responsibility for several core facilities, including Animal Resources, High Performance Computing, and Microscopy, and several interdisciplinary research institutes: Oklahoma Aerospace Institute for Research and Education (OAIRE), Hamm Institute for American Energy (HIAE), and Human Performance and Nutrition Research Institute.

I report directly to the President of OSU, and work closely with the President and Provost (as well as with other vice presidential units) to ensure that research, scholarship, and artistic activities are facilitated and infused throughout the entire mission of the university.

The various components and functions of the research enterprise at OSU are elaborated in the following sections. As Vice President, I bare ultimate authority and responsibility for all of these components and functions, including the management of the overall strategic, operational, budgetary, policy and personnel activities of the Research Division.

Strategic and Operational Leadership

As VPR, I work directly with the President, Provost, and with the other vice presidents to establish priorities, set strategic goals, and implement the tactical operations related to research at OSU.

Areas of direct leadership and supervision of the research function include:

Intramural Research Funding Programs. The OSU research office administers a variety of regular and periodic internal grant programs to seed and stimulate research accomplishments of faculty and students. Annual programs include the Niblack Research Scholars Program, President's Fellows Distinguished Research Awards, Humanities-, Arts-, and Design-Based Disciplines Grant Program, Research Infrastructure Improvement Program, Core Facilities Program, startup packages for new hires in science and technology disciplines, and required monetary and in-kind matches on external grants. Periodic programs include the Swinging for the Fences Grant Program, and the Mentor-Mentee Grant Program.

Cross-Cutting, Interdisciplinary Research Institutes: To stimulate interdisciplinary collaboration and better link OSU expertise to corporate and community partners. The Oklahoma Aerospace Institute for Research and Education (OAIRE) conducts applied research, outreach, and testing services for partners in the defense, pubic, and private aerospace sectors, The Hamm Institute for American Energy (HIAE) combines focused research capabilities with policy expertise in the energy sector. Our Human Performance and Nutrition Research Institute focuses on research and translation on health constructs (eat better, rest better, and move better) through a performance lens.

Research Integrity and Compliance. I have direct supervisory responsibility of the compliance and research integrity components of the OSU research operation. My office coordinates research compliance in all facets, such as human subjects (IRB), animal use (IACUC and animal facilities), biohazards, radiation safety, export controls, research misconduct, responsible conduct of research, and financial conflict of interest.

Research Policy. For policies directly related to research, I am the policy "owner" and thus responsible for drafting new policies and revising old policies as needed. For policies owned by other OSU offices, I review and provide input on policies as they are created or revised so that the interests of OSU research and researchers are included and protected.

Central Sponsored Programs Administration (CSPA). Our CSPA team facilitates the seeking, obtaining, and effectively expending external funds for central units as well as research campuswide. This includes working directly with faculty to improve grant-writing skills, identify funding opportunities, develop quality proposals to seek funding, and manage the fiscal compliance aspects inherent in seeking funds on behalf of the institution. In addition to assisting faculty, this team also liaises with college-level grants personnel and the central accounting arm of the university.

Limited Submissions. The research office handles OSU's decision-making regarding what proposals may be submitted when the sponsor has institutional limits. When faced with multiple entrants for a limited submission opportunity, the research offices receives pre-proposals to allow the competing projects to be reviewed.

Research Strategic Budgeting. I work with the CFO to structure the budget for the Research Division.

Government Relations. I worked closely with the OSU President, other vice presidents, and OSU's State-based and Washington-based lobbyists to execute both planned and ad hoc research-related agenda items relevant to OSU's state and federal delegations.

Research Publications and Public Relations. OSU publicizes the research accomplishments of faculty and student researchers in a number of ways. The research office has its own monthly e-newsletter, distributes frequent updates regarding funding opportunities and research-related workshops, and produces periodic print- and web-based publications related to OSU research. The communications staff works actively with OSU's central communications office to ensure that university publications and news releases are including the most compelling and current stories of OSU research. I also host a regular outreach event, OSU Research on Tap, to connect OSU researchers directly to members of the local community.

High Performance Computing Center (HPCC). I oversee OSU's High Performance Computing Center, which offers state-of-the-art supercomputing access to the campus community and beyond. The HPCC also has staff bioinformaticists who consult directly with system users to elevate their research.

University Microscopy Facility. I oversee OSU's core facility that provides high-level microscopy services to researchers.

Technology-Based Economic Development. I oversee both the Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) and the Cowboy Innovation Accelerator. The OTC team facilitates and manages OSU intellectual property and technology transfer/commercialization efforts. The Cowboy Innovation Accelerator provides support for startup companies based on OSU technologies.

Synergistic Roles within OSU

Research Strategic Planning. I meet monthly with the Associate Deans for Research from all colleges and schools on campus. This group serves as the primary advisory council to my office. As such, these meetings provide the initial context for strategic planning specific to research. Articulation of the university's signature interdisciplinary strengths and cross-cutting themes has been a signature product of this planning group during my first year in the position, thus laying the foundation for campus-wide coordination of action plan in pursuit of growing these critical strengths.

University-Level Planning. Since joining OSU, I have taken an active role in the university's on-going strategic planning processes, including serving on the 2026 OSU Strategic Plan Steering Committee as well as leading its Research and Extension for Public Impact working group. I was a member of a planning team previously known as the "Big Ideas" group, led a Research Subcommittee within that group, and served on the Research and National Rankings Subcommittees. I have regularly served alongside the Provost, CFO, and their senior staff members on the budget review team that considers annual budgetary requests from the deans.

Partnerships with the Provost and the Academic Affairs Office. I actively engage with the Provost on issues related to faculty research, graduate research and education, and undergraduate research involvement. I regularly consult (and partner, when appropriate) with Academic Affairs leadership on matters such as faculty hiring, faculty retention, tenure and promotion, startup packages, undergraduate research, policy matters, and program changes/additions.

Faculty Council Interaction. As a firm believer in shared governance, I meet regularly with the officers of the OSU Faculty Council to ensure that research issues are being communicated effectively in both directions, and to seek their input on matters under consideration. The OSU Faculty Council also has a standing Faculty Research Committee with whom I or members of my staff periodically meet as agenda items warrant.

Institutional Friend-/Fund-Raising

In my current role at OSU, I work closely with our foundation president and with development staff to nurture and secure support from philanthropic donors with a passion for student research apprenticeships (such as the Niblack Research Scholars Program) and specific topical fields of study (such as rural development research). I also partner with academic deans to assist in college-based donor development efforts. As VPR, my fundraising role more often entails working closely with our federal and state elected leaders to secure support for specific areas of research programs. Much like donor development, successful federal fundraising begins by nurturing a relationship through active listening and communicating institutional vision, alignment of the partner's passions with the capabilities and aspirations of the institution, then closing on an ask for resources that will impact the institution in a way that satisfies the passions of the partner. And just as with donor development, successes are sustained and repeated by proper stewardship communication.

Synergistic Roles on Behalf of OSU to the Broader Community

Crisis Response. At the onset of the pandemic, I and many laboratory researchers at OSU recognized a dearth of diagnostic testing capabilities within the state of Oklahoma. After inventorying OSU's expertise, equipment, and access to diagnostic assay supplies, I ascertained that we had capacity to expand animal diagnostic testing within our College of Veterinary Medicine to conduct SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic testing if appropriate regulatory controls could be put in place (CLIA certification, HIPAA compliance, etc.). So, I brought the leadership of the OSU Center for Health Sciences, our medical campus in Tulsa, into the collaboration to provide human medicine credentials and HIPAA compliance experience into the collaboration. In less than two weeks from the date of initiating the collaboration, we stood up a campus-based CLIA-certified SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic laboratory at OSU that immediately doubled Oklahoma's diagnostic testing capabilities. Eventually spinning it out into a stand-alone human laboratory to allow our animal diagnostic facility to resume normal operation, we operated the ad hoc COVID-specific laboratory until private sector testing and hospital-based testing within Oklahoma could build adequate capacity. This achievement led to the Governor of Oklahoma moving the state’s Public Health Laboratory to Stillwater and asking OSU to oversee its management, which we did for several months via a not-for-profit company within the OSU Research Foundation.

State Engagement. As one of only three VPs of comprehensive research universities statewide, my service on the Oklahoma EPSCoR Advisory Committee constitutes a high-priority role. Given that the NSF EPSCoR program is based at OSU, my commitment to this state priority is particularly critical. Coordinating across all of the research universities, regional institutions, and technical schools to create a seamless state-level approach to the EPSCoR programs is fundamental to the on-going success of Oklahoma's EPSCoR infrastructure. I also serve as a gubernatorial appointee on the Oklahoma State Research and Development (OSTRAD) Board, which operates the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST), and liaise with various cabinet secretaries, with the office of the Oklahoma State Regents of Higher Education, and with the legislative liaison staff of the Oklahoma State University A&M Board of Regents regarding matters of statewide import.

National Engagement. I maintain involvement with a number of national organizations and groups that allow me to have a finger on the pulse of public higher education and of research excellence nationally. A particularly important group in which I am active is the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU). Within APLU, I maintain involvement with the Council on Research (COR), and serve on their Executive Committee. I am a member of the EPSCoR Coalition Board. I maintain active communications with Oklahoma's federal delegation, and with the lobbyists who represents OSU in Washington DC.

Signature Accomplishments at OSU

In my decade-plus at OSU, I consider my primary accomplishments to be in raising the profile of OSU as a top-tier research institution by:
• Doubling NSF-reported research expenditures since FY2015, with a corresponding Carnegie classification elevation to R1 in 2018 where we solidly remain.
• Establishing a set of high-profile, community-engaged research areas under the Tier 1 Research Initiatives program, a program aligned with APLU's Public Impact Research (PIR) efforts.
• Overseeing OSU’s interdisciplinary research institutes.
• Enfranchising the breadth of research and scholarly disciplines into the research ethos of the university, in part by establishing an internal grant program for humanities, arts, and design-based disciplines.
• Creating greater community and alumni awareness of the important contributions to society being made by OSU's research enterprise through enhanced publications, outreach events, televised interviews, podcasts, speaking engagements, etc.
• Improving the national presence of OSU through engagement and leadership within key organizations such as APLU's Council on Research and the EPSCoR Coalition
• Expanding key areas of research impact through state and federal appropriation processes (earmarks/plus-ups, community project funding), key funding streams through which we have ramped aerospace, semiconductor, 6G, biomedical, and STEM education research efforts
• Rapidly standing up a campus-based CLIA-certified SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic laboratory at OSU that played a key role (described more fully above) in Oklahoma's overall pandemic response.
• Facilitating the Governor of Oklahoma's decision to move the state's Public Health Laboratory to Stillwater, and--for its initial phase of operation (through January 2023)—overseeing management of the lab via a not-for-profit company within the OSU Research Foundation.
• Hiring highly effective leaders within the division who can multiply any accomplishments that may be attributed to me; in many ways, I view this as the most lasting impact I could ever have on the institution.

Signature Roles/Accomplishments at Prior Institutions

In my roles as Vice President for Research and Economic Development and as Executive Director of the Graduate School at the University of New Orleans, and as Interim Vice President for Research and Economic Development at the University of North Texas, I had roles similar to my current one at OSU. However those responsibilities differed somewhat, and the primary accomplishments were likewise varied. Full descriptions of those roles, responsibilities, and accomplishments are available upon request.