Uniformed Services University

Nadine Bekkouche, B.S.

Nadine Bekkouche is a third year student in the Medical and Clinical Psychology research track program. Nadine graduated in 2007 from McGill University with a BSc in Honors Psychology. Nadine worked as a research assistant at the Montreal Heart Institute before beginning graduate school at USUHS. She is currently completing her Masters thesis, which examines the multiple determinants of clinical anginal chest pain in patients with coronary artery disease. Nadine's primary research interest is the relationship between psychological function and cardiac symptom reporting.

Felicia Keith, B.A.

Felicia Keith is a first year graduate student who graduated with a B.A. in Psychology and Social Behavior and Criminology, Law and Society from University of California, Irvine. She has over five years of research experience in psychology and law, with a focus on prediction of violent behavior in individuals with mental illness. She has presented research at the American Psychology and Law Conference in Vancouver, Canada and has been published in Psychiatric Services. After she graduated, she continued her work at UC Irvine and was an integral member on a team who investigated the validity of a major assessment tool used by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation: Division of Juvenile Justice. She commissioned as a 2d Lt in 2012 for the US Air Force and graduated #1 at officer training held in Montgomery, AL. Currently she is working in tandem with a post-doc at the University of South Florida examining the construct validity of the current conceptualization of psychopathy. In addition she is working with Dr. Krantz on the completion of the BETRHEART project and exploring the link between anger, cytokines and adverse heart failure outcomes. She begins her practicum work at Andrews Air Force Base in the summer of 2013.

Catherine Ware, M.A.

Catherine is a first year student in the Military Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Track. She graduated from the US Air Force Academy in 1997 with a B.S. in Astronautical Engineering and served for 10 years as a pilot in the US Air Force. Following separation from active duty, she served in the Air Force Reserve as an Admissions Liaison Officer and pursued her Masters of Psychology at the University of the Rockies in Colorado Springs. While in the master's program, she provided psychotherapy to underinsured members of the community at the Rockies Counseling Center. She also volunteered for 10 months as a crisis counselor on the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Her current research interests include the psychoneuroimmunological processes of disturbed sleep and the effects of shortened sleep duration on cardiovascular risk factors.

Andrea Weiss, B.A.

Andrea Weiss, B.A. Andrea Weiss is a second year student in the Military Clinical Psychology track Ph.D. program. Andrea completed a Bachelors of Fine Arts in 2006 at Loyola Marymount University and a Bachelors in Developmental Psychology in 2011 at Worcester State University. In addition, her undergraduate internships included research at Wright-Patterson AFB and field work at the Department of Children and Families in Massachusetts. Andrea's undergraduate research focused on parental authority styles and academic achievement and currently her research focuses on family structure and heart health risk factors and outcomes. Andrea's clinical rotations include Malcolm Grow Medical Center.

Kerry S. Whittaker, M.S.

Kerry earned her BA in Classics from Colby College in Waterville Maine, where she also minored in psychology and pre-medicine. After working for 2 years as an archivist and research assistant in a developmental and clinical psychology project at Judge Baker Children's Center and Harvard Medical School, Kerry started her graduate education at USUHS in 2006. Her Master's thesis entitled "Psychosocial Factors versus Single Predictors: A Factor Analytic Approach to Cardiovascular Outcomes in The Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation (WISE) Study" was focused on using groupings of psychosocial variables to predict adverse cardiovascular outcomes in women. Kerry's doctoral dissertation is focused on protective psychosocial factors, such as optimism and coping, and their impact of immune inflammatory markers and clinical exacerbations in heart failure patients. After finishing her PhD Kerry hopes to continue to work in the area of cardiovascular behavioral medicine. She is interested in exploring the connection between protective psychological factors and psychoneuroimmunological processes.

Kristie Harris, B.S.

Kristie earned her B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Business from Virginia Tech University. She then went on to complete her M.S. in Clinical Psychology at Loyola University Maryland where she studied the effects of adult attachment dimensions on binge drinking behaviors among college students. An interest in health psychology led her to Dr. Krantz's Cardiology Behavioral Medicine Lab at the Uniformed Services University. She served as a Research Associate and Project Director for the Biobehavioral Triggers in Heart Failure (BETRHEART) Study for four years. She is now completing her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at The Ohio State University but remains actively involved in the BETRHEART Study, studying triggers of symptoms in patients with heart failure. Her primary research interests include the impact of stress and hostility on cardiovascular functioning, gender differences in the treatment of heart failure, and novel ways for assessing functional status in patients with heart failure.

Christina Rush, B.A.

Christina is completing her M.A. in Psychology at American University and graduated from The Ohio State University in 2006 with a B.A. in English and Spanish and a minor in Professional Writing. Under the mentorship of Dr. Deborah Norris at American University her research is examining associations among smoking, neuroticism, impulsivity, self-control, and mindfulness. With an interest in health psychology, Christina is currently serving as the Research Coordinator for the Biobehavioral Triggers in Heart Failure (BETRHEART) Study.