Sara Norton, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Scholar at Washington University, St. Louis
- Email: s.norton@nospam.wustl.edu
Dr. Sara Norton is a postdoctoral researcher specializing in psychoneuroimmunology, a field that explores how the immune system influences the brain, and how this affects behavior, cognition, and mood.
Sara’s current project focuses on understanding immune activation in older adults. She studies the immune system’s response to an inflammatory challenge (an endotoxin called LPS), which triggers a strong immune reaction. Additionally, she examines how this reaction is controlled by dexamethasone, a synthetic glucocorticoid similar to the body’s stress hormone cortisol. Sara’s research aims to uncover how these immune responses and their regulation are linked to physical and mental health changes as people age.
Sara earned her PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience from Rutgers University and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from American University.
Outside of the lab, Sara enjoys crafting and she is currently learning how to crochet and make chainmail. She loves gardening, swimming, and reading cozy mysteries.
Megan Wolk, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Scholar at Washington University, St. Louis
- Email: meganwilson@nospam.wustl.edu
Megan’s (she/her) research centers around her broader goal of furthering issues related to diversity and inclusion. Megan is broadly interested in the relationship between discrimination and purpose in life, as well as identifying the personal and situational factors that lead an individual to engage in activism as their purpose in life. In addition, Megan’s research focuses on the relationships between discrimination, sense of purpose, and health, including how sense of purpose may serve as a tool to reduce health disparities.
Michael Boudreaux, PhD
Research Scientist at Hogan Assessment Systems, Tulsa, OK
Michael Boudreaux joined the SPAN Study shortly after receiving his Ph.D. in Personality Psychology from the University of California, Riverside. He worked with us for 5 years and was responsible for data management and statistical analyses, while also playing a key role in a large number of our published papers. He currently works in Product Innovation at Hogan Assessment Systems where he develops tools for personnel selection and development.
Marci Gleason, PhD
Associate Professor of Human Development at the University of Texas in Austin
Marci Gleason was a post-doc at WU when she and Tom Oltmanns worked together to write the original proposal for funding for the SPAN Study. She then served as a post-doc for two additional years at Wayne State University before accepting her current faculty position at the University of Texas in Austin. Her substantive research interests center on the influence of major life transitions on adults’ mental, physical, and relationship health. The focus of her research program is on the fundamental question of how close relationships, as social contexts, influence individuals’ ability to cope with both big and small stressors associated with major life transitions.
Gitanjali Narayanan, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Clinical Psychology, NIMHANS
- Email: gitanjali_n@nospam.yahoo.com
Gitanjali Narayanan worked closely with members of the SPAN Study while she was supported by a Fulbright Post-Doctoral Fellowship sponsored by Dr. Cottler in Psychiatry. She is a currently a faculty member in the Department of Clinical Psychology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bengalore, India. She is also a Consultant at the Centre for Addiction Medicine at NIMHANS and has initiated the establishment of a personality and emotions division in her department. Gitanjali does research in addictive and personality disorders, dialectical behavior therapy, schema therapy and qualitative methods.