Prospective PhD students
I will be reviewing applications for the upcoming 2025-26 academic 
year.
Are you interested in health psychology, or psychophysiological approaches to understanding interpersonal trauma and health? Do you have advanced quantitative skills? If so, you may be a good match for the lab.
Our lab follows the principles of Deep Work (2016) and Slow Productivity (2024), as articulated in the books by Dr. Cal Newport, a computer science professor at Georgetown University. Among other things, this means that we prioritize high levels of focus and concentration—far beyond levels that most people use in their daily lives—because they are essential to our core values: making progress on difficult problems, actualizing each person’s unique scholarly talents, and producing original work of high quality.
Although the structure of the lab varies year to year, I typically hold weekly individual research meetings with graduate students and, as needed, lengthier deep dives where we tackle problems that require more sustained focus. Recently, these deep dives were described to me as both social and nerdy! We also have monthly or bi-weekly lab meetings where we discuss broader topics related to stress and health as a group. Examples include research methods for whole person health, and integrative review articles about the psychophysiology of stress.
If you answer "yes" to the questions below, you may be a good match for the University of Louisville Stress & Health Lab.
Are you...
interested in health psychology, or mind-body health, from the perspective of psychological trauma, stress, and emotion?
curious about how people and things work?
analytical and attentive to detail?
self-reflective?
Do you...
have laboratory research experience?
have programming or coding experience, and strong skills in math and quantitative reasoning?
enjoy pursuing challenges in order to identify and overcome limits and maximize your potential?
