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Our Team

Staff

Leslie Horton, PhD

Director/ PI - YETI Lab
Assistant Professor - Department of Psychiatry

Dr. Leslie Horton is the Lab Director/ PI of the YETI Lab. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh. She is also Director of the HOPE TEAM, a UPMC treatment clinic serving young people at risk for psychosis, and a licensed clinical psychologist. She completed her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2010 and completed a pre-doctoral clinical internship at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. After completing a post-doctoral fellowship, Dr. Horton joined the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh in 2013. She is the recipient of research grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to study risk for psychosis in adolescents. Specifically, her work examines affective, social, and psychophysiological contributors to risk for psychosis.

 

Megan Deam, MA

Research Coordinator

Megan Deam serves as Research Staff for the YETI Lab. She earned a bachelor's degree at the Pennsylvania State University in Psychology and recently obtained a Master’s in Psychology at Chatham University. Prior to this position, Megan served as a Behavioral Health Technician at Matilda Theiss Therapeutic Nursery and Preschool, where she worked with infants, toddlers, and young children who have experienced trauma and adverse events. Megan one day plans to pursue a career in Clinical Psychology and Research.

 

Emma Headley, BS

Research Staff

Emma Headley is a Research Staff for the YETI Lab, primarily on the YETI Phone Study. They earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University. Prior to this position, they worked as a Research Assistant in a sleep lab focusing on the impact of sleep and inflammation, particularly in people with HIV at the University of Pittsburgh. Emma plans to one day pursue a career in psychometrics.

 

 

Tina Gupta, PhD

Postdoctoral Scholar

Tina graduated with a B.A. in Sociology and Psychology from the University of Colorado Boulder. After working as a research coordinator for several years, she went on to attend a PhD Program in Clinical Psychology at Northwestern University studying vulnerability markers contributing to the onset of psychotic disorders. While in graduate school, Tina’s research focused on emotional processes in those at risk for psychosis. Tina is now a Postdoctoral Scholar working with both the YETI lab and the ANDP Lab (PI: Dr. Erika Forbes) continuing her research on emotional processes across psychiatric illnesses.

 

 

Charise Peters, MA

Research Staff

Charise serves as Research Staff for the ProNET study. She recently graduated from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and earned her Masters in Forensic Psychology. Prior to this position at John Jay, she served as a research assistant for the Youth Law & Psychology lab, bridging policy work and the integration of psychological research to assist legal actors in making decisions for youth. As a part of her program, she completed her Masters thesis examining how juvenile defense attorneys make decisions for traumatized youth clients and if their decisions differed based on youth race. In the future, she plans on obtaining a doctoral degree in clinical psychology, ideally with a forensic concentration. 

Rebecca McIlhenny, MS

Research Staff

Rebecca McIlhenny works as a Research Staff for the YETI Lab’s ProNET study. She recently graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a Master’s in Clinical Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling. As a part of her program, Rebecca completed clinical internship experiences at Carnegie Mellon University and the Sally and Howard Levin Clubhouse. After gaining some additional experience in the research field, Rebecca intends to pursue a doctoral degree in either psychology or sociology.

 

"Hannah"

Hannah Kirsch, BPhil

Research Staff

Hannah Kirsch is a research coordinator for the YETI Lab’s ProNET study. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a Bachelor of Philosophy degree in Psychology in 2022 and is currently applying to master's programs for Speech-Language Pathology. Hannah has worked on a variety of research projects including studies about aphasia and verb retrieval, women's cardiovascular health and cognition, and her thesis study about the processing of they/them pronouns.

 

"Sara"Sara McNemar, BS

Research Staff

Sara McNemar works as a Research Staff for the YETI Lab’s ProNET Study. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and minors in Neuroscience and Social Work. Recently, she worked as a research assistant on longitudinal maternal-fetal medicine research studies examining environmental influences on childhood health outcomes as well as on a PCORI-funded project. Sara is currently working on expanding her knowledge base within the intersections of research, collective action and activism, and meaningful stakeholder leadership in areas of disability, economic, and transformative justice. She is taking time to consider graduate programs in fields such as Social Work and Psychology as possible paths to pursue her pursuits.

 

Undergraduate Research Assistants

Haiden Edminson

Undergraduate Research Assistant 

Haiden Edminson is an undergraduate research assistant at the YETI Lab. Haiden joined the YETI Lab in Fall 2021 and will be continuing for the upcoming 2022-2023 school year. He is a junior at the University of Pittsburgh double majoring in Psychology and Classics. After graduating, Haiden plans to pursue his education at the doctoral level.

 




Elizabeth Haudrich

Undergraduate Research Assistant 

Elizabeth Haudrich joined the YETI Lab in Fall 2022 as an undergraduate research assistant. She is a junior at the University of Pittsburgh who is pursuing a double major in Psychology and Statistics as well as a Joint Honors Degree with the Fredrick Honors College. After graduating, Elizabeth plans to continue her education at the doctoral level and become a professor.






Sabrina Messineo

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Sabrina Messineo joined the YETI Lab as an undergraduate research assistant in Spring 2022. She is currently a junior at the University of Pittsburgh, double majoring in Psychology and English Writing, with a certificate in Public and Professional Writing (PPW). She is also an undergraduate research assistant in the Alcohol and Smoking Lab and a Student Behavioral Associate at Western Psychiatric Hospital. After graduating, Sabrina would like to pursue a doctoral-level degree in Clinical Psychology.

 


 

"Anya"Anya Benedict

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Anya Benedict joined the YETI lab as an undergraduate research assistant in Spring 2023. She is currently a junior Neuroscience major at the University of Pittsburgh. Along with her studies and working for the YETI lab, she is the captain of the Pitt Women’s Ice Hockey team.

 

 

"Jasmine"

Jasmine Forrest

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Jasmine joined the YETI Lab in Fall 2023 as an undergraduate research assistant. She currently is a senior at the University of Pittsburgh majoring in Psychology and minoring in Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies. After graduation, Jasmine plans to pursue a degree at the doctoral level

 

 

"Bingyan"

Bingyan Wang

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Bingyan Wang is an undergraduate research assistant at the YETI Lab. Bingyan joined the YETI Lab in Fall 2023. She is a senior at the University of Pittsburgh majoring in Psychology

 

Collaborating Faculty


Lab Alumni

Christian Porter, MSW, Research Staff

Christian is currently a doctoral student at the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work.

Cristina Rodriguez, BA, Undergraduate Research Assistant

Cristina is currently pursuing a Master's in School Counseling at DePaul University in Chicago.

Salsabil Gehan, MS, Research Staff

Salsabil is currently a medical student at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Sydney Barlow, BS, Research Staff

Sydney recently worked at the National Institute of Health (NIH) as a recipient of a Postbaccalaureate Intramural Research Training Award (Postbac IRTA).

John “Gus” Falbo, Undergraduate Research Assistant