Medical & Clinical Psychology: Sbrocco Lab

Graduate Students

Rob Clark Photo

Rob Clark

Rob Clark is a senior graduate student in the Medical and Clinical Psychology dual-track program. Rob earned his bachelor's degree in Psychology (2001; minor in Biology) from Loyola College in Baltimore, Maryland. After Loyola, Rob worked at the National Institute on Drug Abuse - Clinical Psychopharmacology Branch examining the effects of drugs of abuse, particularly MDMA (ecstasy) and MDMA analogues, on neurotransmitter release in a rodent model. His current research interests broadly include health/medical psychology, particularly in the areas of subjective and objective measures of male and female sexual functioning, cultural aspects of sexual functioning, and obesity, exercise, and nutrition. Clinically, Rob has worked with individuals with a variety of concerns including depression, PTSD, anxiety, sexual functioning, and couples issues. He also served as the MPS graduate school representative and has been a summer intern mentor for the past 4 years. He can be contacted at rclark@usuhs.mil.


Captain Laurel Cofell

Captain Laurel Cofell is a fifth year student (U.S. Army officer) working towards a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. In 2004, Laurel received her bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Southern California (USC), with a minor in East Asian Languages and Cultures. Laurel received her commission as a U.S. Army Medical Service Corps officer in 2004 and worked as a military medical logistician. Laurel has focused her research on eating and weight control behaviors, military culture, and women's health issues. Her Master's thesis focused on the psychological and military factors as well as individual differences that are associated with short-term and long-term unhealthy weight loss behaviors in Army soldiers. Her clinical interests include health behavior change, trauma and trauma therapy, and existential therapy. She currently is working on her dissertation using a sample of postpartum military women to determine the influence of social support on postpartum mental and physical health, and is on internship at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. She looks forward to continuing to serve as a military psychologist, and helping service members and their families develop resilience. She can be contacted at lcofell@usuhs.mil.


Elena Spieker Photo

Elena Spieker

Elena Spieker is a fourth year student working towards a Ph.D. in Medical Psychology. Elena earned her Bachelor's of Science degree in Psychology and a minor in History from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) in 2006 where she completed an undergraduate thesis evaluating factors that influence satiety in rodents. While at UMBC, Elena worked in the behavioral analysis of ingestion lab of Dr. Zoe Warwick, Ph.D., studying eating and satiety in rodents (2004-2006) and in the Functional Neuroimaging Laboratory (FNL) of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center (MPRC) studying learning and memory in schizophrenia (2005-2006). Following graduation, Elena worked full-time at the MPRC as Clinical Coordinator of several neuroimaging research studies in the FNL (2006-2007). Her research interests include obesity and weight management, factors that enhance successful behavior change and the neural correlates of overeating in obese populations. More broadly, her interests extend to several areas of health psychology, including exercise, nutrition, and emotional eating. Elena's master's thesis (M.S. in Medical Psychology, 2010) was an examination of eating behaviors in African American and Caucasian women. Her doctoral dissertation will examine the relationship between cognitive, affective, behavioral, and physiological measures as a means of determining factors that are related to behavior change in women. She also served as the MPS graduate school representative and has been a summer intern mentor for the past 2 years. She can be contacted at elena.spieker@usuhs.mil.


Captain Jennifer Henderson Photo

Captain Jennifer Henderson

Captain Jennifer Henderson, M.S.I.R. (2009) is a second year student (U.S. Air Force officer) working towards a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. Jennifer received her Bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of West Florida in 2002. Jennifer received her commission as an U.S. Air Force Intelligence Officer in 2002. Jennifer also received a Master's of Science in International Relations from Troy University in 2009 where her primary research focus was Russian international politics. Prior to attending USUHS, she served at the 609th Air Intelligence Squadron and deployed to Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar in 2005. Jennifer's research at USUHS has focused on weight control behaviors and women's health issues. She is beginning her thesis research examining maternal biopsychosocial risk factors associated with infant mortality. Her clinical interests include women's and children's health, secondary traumatic stress, and cognitive behavioral therapy. She can be contacted at Jennifer.Henderson@usuhs.mil.


Current and Recent Lab Activities:

  • The Sbrocco lab runs on-going weight loss groups for overweight and obese African-American women. Over the past fifteen years the Sbrocco lab has developed Behavior Choice Treatment (BCT), a group-based cognitive-behavioral weight loss treatment which helps individuals make moderate and sustainable healthy lifestyle changes. BCT has been shown to promote sustained weight loss over the course of a twelve-month post-treatment follow-up. Most recently, the lab has conducted BCT weight loss groups in predominantly African-American church settings as part of a community-based participatory research model. In addition, family members are included in the current study to help determine if changing the eating patterns of a woman in the household influences the eating behaviors of other household members. Over 15 BCT groups have been conducted over the years and the Sbrocco lab has recently started a BCT group at Reid Temple AME Church in Glenn Dale, Maryland.
  • The Sbrocco lab completed a focus group study in June 2009 which was intended to help understand factors associated with exercise behavior in African-American women. A total of six focus groups were conducted with women from a wide range of demographic variables including age and exercise frequency. A number of significant factors were found to influence exercise tendencies, including concepts of "exercise," lifestyle changes over the course of the lifespan, and issues specific to African-American women, such as concerns about ruining expensive hair treatments. The findings of these focus groups will be used to implement an exercise component into the existing BCT protocol.