Lab Members
Lab Director: Evan Kleiman, Ph.D.
Evan Kleiman is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Rutgers University, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Health Behavior, Society, and Policy in the School of Public Health. Prior to coming to Rutgers, Dr. Kleiman was a Postdoctoral Fellow (2014-2017) and Research Associate at Harvard University. He received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at George Mason University (2014), completed his clinical psychology internship at Temple University (2014), and received his BA in Psychology from Temple University (2008).
Dr. Kleiman’s work focuses on understanding the everyday occurrence of factors of interest to clinical psychological scientists. He has a specific focus on the everyday lives of individuals at risk for suicide using smartphone and wearable monitoring technology. His work has been published in over 140 peer-reviewed manuscripts and is currently funded by several NIMH grants. | CV | Research Gate | Google Scholar
Postdoctoral Research Fellows
Elizabeth Edershile
Elizabeth Edershile (Betsy) is an assistant professor who joined the lab in summer 2023. Betsy is interested in better capturing and understanding interpersonal and affective dynamic patterns that give rise to expressions of psychopathology. For example, some of her work has explored the affective and interpersonal processes associated with narcissistic symptom expression. She is also interested in understanding how affective variability associates with risk for suicide. Betsy leverages multiple techniques in her research, including ecological momentary assessment and experimental methods.
Mariah Hawes-Sousa
Mariah joined the lab in Fall 2023 as a psychology intern in the Rutgers UBHC doctoral internship program. She stepped into her current role as a postdoctoral fellow upon graduating from Stony Brook University with a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. Mariah is passionate about increasing access to evidence-based care in acute treatment settings, which she approaches through staff training initiatives and research on brief, scalable interventions that combine in-person and digital delivery formats.
Thomas O'Kane
Thomas (Tom) O’Kane is a postdoctoral research associate who joined the lab in Fall 2024, having received his PhD in clinical psychology from Rowan University. Dr. O’Kane’s research interests include the psychosis-spectrum, having developed and published a novel psychosis-spectrum risk measure, the Inclusive Psychosis Risk Inventory (IPRI). His research also examines health behaviors, the integration of psychological services within medical settings, and mechanisms for improving the psychological services provided within inpatient settings. Additionally, Dr. O’Kane is involved in the development and delivery of clinical trainings, as well as the provision of clinical supervision. | CV |
Clinical Psychology Residents
Annabelle Mournet
Annabelle is a clinical psychology resident at Rutgers University Behavioral Healthcare (UBHC). Her primary research interests focus on the use of ecological momentary assessment to investigate suicide risk and protective factors (e.g., social connection, sleep) among autistic adults. In addition to research, Annabelle provides inpatient care at Rutgers UBHC and sees clients at the Rutgers New Brunswick Outpatient clinic. | CV |
Graduate Students
Ellen Wittler
Roscoe Garner
Roscoe is a fourth-year graduate student in the clinical psychology program. His primary research interests focus on the use of technology-based interventions for suicide risk among adults, specifically mechanisms of change within these interventions. Additionally, he is interested in investigating why certain individuals experience suicidal ideation, while others go on to ultimately attempt suicide.
Molly Ball
Molly is a third-year graduate student in the clinical psychology program. Her primary research interests focus on optimizing real-time mobile interventions for individuals at high risk for suicide. Additionally, she is interested in the use of mobile tools to predict and improve social-support seeking and disclosure behaviors in moments of elevated risk for suicide.
Alma Bitran
Alma is a fourth-year graduate student in the clinical psychology program. Her research aims to characterize how suicidal individuals ask for help in direct and indirect ways, as well as how loved ones respond to help-seeking. |CV|
Research Coordinators
Emma Yoon
Emma received her B.S. in Psychology and Sociology from the University of Pittsburgh in 2024. Her research interests focus on understanding how real time intervention tools (EMA/EMI apps) can be used to improve mental health care. She is particularly interested in identifying which types of treatments are most effective for different individuals and contexts, and in using these insights to make interventions more personalized and accessible. Emma aims to pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical or Counseling Psychology.
Allison Pereira
Allison received her B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Portuguese from Rutgers University – New Brunswick in 2025. She began in the Kleiman Lab as an undergraduate research assistant in the Spring of her Junior year and was pleased to be offered the opportunity to continue her work in the lab as a full time Project Coordinator. Her research interests include using technological interventions and assessments (e.g., EMA/EMI) to assess and address risk, particularly in underserved populations, as well as the impact suicide has on communities. She hopes to purse a Ph.D. in Clinical or Counseling Psychology.
Research Assistants
Shriya Joshi
Shriya graduated from Rutgers University in May 2026 with her Bachelors in Psychology and Health Administration. She is interested in suicide prevention and behavioral health research, particularly the use of ecological momentary assessment (EMA). She looks forward to continuing to gain research experience and hopes to pursue a doctorate in the future.
Hannah Graham
Hannah graduated from Rutgers University in May 2026 with a Master’s in Applied Psychology and a B.A. in Psychology from the Rutgers University Honors College. Hannah hopes to continue on to medical school to become a child psychiatrist. Her research interests focus on the onset and development of youth mental ailments, with particular attention towards how these factors contribute to suicide risk. She looks forward to gaining more experience in ecological momentary assessment (EMA) methods to evaluate contributors to suicide risk.
Undergraduate Research Assistants
Mia Furio
Mia is a senior at Rutgers University, majoring in Psychology and minoring in Education as a Social Science. She is working towards a Clinical Psy.D. after completing her B.A. later this year. Mia is interested in mental health diagnostic procedures to improve treatment, and is looking forward to further exposure in the research field.
Kaitlyn Eckhart
Kaitlyn received her A.A. in Liberal Arts–Social Sciences from Raritan Valley Community College Honors College and is now a senior at Rutgers University, majoring in Psychology and minoring in Sociology. She is also enrolled in the Master of Applied Psychology 4+1 program at Rutgers. Kaitlyn is eager to contribute to the lab and hopes to pursue a doctorate in Clinical or School Psychology to provide treatment to children and adolescents.
Jessica Kamboj
Jessica is a senior majoring in Psychology & minoring in Biology on a Pre-Med/Pre-Health track. Jess is ready to help in the lab & to gain knowledge about using technological advancements to improve mental health treatments.
Lab Alumni
Jeremy Grove (Post Doc) – Assistant Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University
April Yeager (Project Coordinator) – Clinical Psychology PsyD Student at Rutgers University
Madison Taylor (Project Coordinator) – Clinical Psychology PhD Student at The University of California – Irvine
Olivia Lozy (Project Coordinator) – Brand Program Manager at X (Twitter)
Kaileigh Conti (Project Coordinator) – Applied Development Science PhD Student at Colorado State University
Dana Steinberg (Project Coordinator) – Clinical Psychology PhD Student at SUNY Binghamton
Hannah Krall (Project Coordinator) – Clinical Psychology PhD Student at Florida State University
Kai Kellerman (Graduate Student) – Clinical intern at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital
Gavin Rackoff (Clinical Resident) – Post Doc at Boston University
Vansh Bansal (Clinical Resident)-Post Doc at Rutgers University
Lab Collaborators
Kate Bentley – Massachusetts General Hospital
Paul Duberstein – Rutgers University
Cassie Glenn – Old Dominion University
Jessica Hamilton – Rutgers University
Richard Liu – Massachusetts General Hospital
Matthew Nock – Harvard University
Shireen Rizvi – Rutgers University