Principal Investigator

Jennie Noll, Ph.D. | Faculty Page | Google Scholar
Principal Investigator, Noll Lab
Professor of Psychology, Developmental Area
Executive Director, Mt. Hope Family Center

Dr. Noll is a Professor of Psychology and Executive Director of Mount Hope Family Center at the University of Rochester. For the past three decades, Dr. Noll has been conducting research to strengthen causal inference regarding the developmental and biologic impacts of child abuse and neglect through longitudinal, prospective research and contiguous funding as Principal Investigator from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) totaling over $34,000,000. Her primary research foci include: the bio-psycho-social consequences of childhood sexual abuse, pathways to teen pregnancy and high-risk sexual behaviors for abused and neglected youth, the long-term adverse health outcomes abuse survivors, midlife reversibility of neurocognitive deficits in stress-exposed populations, the impact of high-risk internet and social media behaviors on teen development, and the primary prevention of sexual abuse. She has been the Program Director of two NIH-funded Centers of Excellence in the child maltreatment sciences (P50HD089922 and P50 P50HD096698) as well a T32 training grant (T32HD101390). Results from several of Dr. Noll’s longitudinal studies are published in high-impact journals such as Nature and JAMA series and have informed public policy recommendations for child abuse prevention and treatment by Joint State Government Commissions, the Institute of Medicine, the World Health Summit, and for several U.S. Congressional briefings and hearings. The thrust and aims of Dr. Noll’s research, centers of excellence, and infrastructure grants leverage translational messaging from cutting-edge science to aid evidence-informed policymaking focused on imploring a larger public investment in the primary prevention of child maltreatment and in improving the lives of survivors.

Post Doctoral Research Associates

Hannah Swerbenski, Ph.D. | Personal Website
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Noll Lab

Dr. Swerbenski received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from the University of Rochester, with specializations in developmental psychopathology and advanced quantitative methods. Broadly construed, her research interests concern developmental psychopathology, the intergenerational transmission of adversity, and developmental sequelae of child maltreatment. In particular, Dr. Swerbenski is interested in how early experiences of child abuse and neglect impact parenting in the next generation and disentangling physiological and psychological mediating mechanisms of this association. Her current research program expands this line of work to also focus on mechanisms of biological embedding of stress following exposure to childhood sexual abuse, particularly using advanced longitudinal modeling methods.

Graduate Students

Catherine (Katy) Elliot
Ph.D. Student, Noll Lab
Entry Year: 2024

Katy Elliot is interested in exploring biomarkers that may help elucidate how child maltreatment impacts health across the lifespan, including inflammation markers and various indicators of stress response functioning. In her future research, Katy hopes to integrate psychobiology and developmental psychopathology perspectives to better understand the deleterious effects of child maltreatment. She is also interested in supporting community-engaged research aimed at primary prevention of child abuse.

Undergraduate Research Assistants

 

Alitzah Pacheco
Class of 2028, University of Rochester
Majors: Political Science, Philosophy, Economics
Minors: Health Policy, Legal Studies, & Spanish

 

 

Amaris Asiedu
Class of 2027, University of Rochester
Major: Philosophy, Political Science, Economics
Minor: Creative Writing

 

 

Alyssa Horng
Class of 2026, University of Rochester
Major: Brain & Cognitive Sciences, Environmental Studies
Minor: Computer Science

 

 

Avery Jasudowicz
Class of 2026, University of Rochester
Major: Psychology, Gender Studies

 

Carly Zubrzycki

 

Claire Baim
Class of 2028, University of Rochester
Major: Psychology
Minor: Philosophy

 

Emma VanLuven
Class of 2026, University of Rochester
Major: Political Science, Anthropology
Minor: Film

 

Jack Chen
Class of 2027, University of Rochester
Major: Biochemistry (BS) & Health, Bheavior & Society (BA)

 

 

Jocelin Zhuo
Class of 2029, University of Rochester
Major: Health Policy

 

 

Julia Lantner
Class of 2026, University of Rochester
Major: Molecular Genetics, Brain and Cognitive Sciences

 

 

Julie Durham
Class of 2028, University of Rochester
Major: Psychology, History

 

 

 

Kanishk Shanmugam
Class of 2026, University of Rochester
Major: Political Science (Data & Modeling Track)
Minor: Economics, Psychology, Philosophy

 

 

Kayla Duffy, Class of 2027, University of Rochester
Major: Biological Sciences
Minor: Psychology

 

 

Keira Ritzman
Class of 2027, University of Rochester
Major: Political Science
Minor: Psychology

 

 

Lillian Good
Class of 2028, University of Rochester
Major: Political Science, Creative Writing

 

 

Lynne Pan
Class of 2028, University of Rochester
Major: Math & Statistics

 

 

Mackenzie Halliday
Class of 2025, Nazareth University (Honors)
Major: Psychology
Minors: Clinical Interventions, French

 

 

Mariana Lopez
Class of 2026, University of Rochester
Major: Psychology, American Sign Language

 

 

Marwaan Maxamuud
Class of 2026, University of Rochester
Majors: Psychology and Brain & Cognitive Sciences

 

 

Masha Zvereva
Class of 2027, University of Rochester
Majors: Microbiology (BS) & Psychology (BA)

 

 

Saafa Tahboub, Class of 2027, University of Rochester
Major: Brain & Cognitive Sciences
Minor: Spanish

 

 

Ugo Odom
Class of 2027, University of Rochester
Major: Epidemiology

 

Victoria (Oghomwen) Ighodaro

 

Vivianna Wang
Class of 2027, University of Rochester
Majors: Business Marketing, Psychology

 

 

Ying Zhou
Class of 2027, University of Rochester
Majors: Psychology, Computer Science