OUR TEAM
BRUNA MARTINS-KLEIN, Ph.D
Principal Investigator
Dr. Bruna Martins-Klein, Ph.D is a Clinical Psychologist and Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her research interests focus on identifying mechanisms that can promote emotional wellbeing and resilience across the lifespan, using cutting-edge neuroscience and evidence based methods. She also teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in health psychology, psychology of aging, adult assessment, and supervises clinicians in training.
In her clinical work, she specializes in providing emotional support to adults and older adults struggling with a variety of problems, including mood disorders, caregiving burden, grief, navigating retirement, sleep difficulties, and chronic illness management. She specializes in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and helps clients learn tools to increase mindfulness, self-compassion, and commitment to goals grounded in personal values.
She received her B.S. from the University of Pittsburgh, her M.A. and and Ph.D. from the University of Southern California, with a specialization in Clinical Aging, and completed her clinical internship and postdoctoral fellowship in Geropsychology at the VA Boston Healthcare System.
IRINA ORLOVSKY
Graduate Student
I received my B.S. in psychology and neuroscience at UMass Amherst and my Masters in Psychology at Brandeis University. I have served as a pre-doctoral research fellow with the US Army and shared a dual role as a research coordinator and psychometrist for the Harvard Aging Brain Study and Center for Alzheimer Research and Treatment. My research interests include the neural, cognitive, and behavioral substrates of memory that support late-life emotion regulation. In my free time, I enjoy powerlifting, eating, and being outdoors.
CLARA DEFONTES
Graduate Student
I received a BA in Brain and Cognitive Sciences, and Psychology, from the University of Rochester. Prior to graduate school, I worked as a research assistant at Yale University's Department of Psychiatry and the West Haven VA studying fear-learning processes and PTSD in veteran and civilian populations. I am interested in using cognitive and physiological methods to understand how mindfulness facilitates emotion regulation abilities across age and how these mechanisms impact psychological resiliency. In my free time I enjoy being outdoors, listening to music, and baking.
KIERSTEN CALLERY
Undergraduate Research Assistant
I am a junior Psychology student on the Neuroscience track and minoring in Microbiology. I will be graduating in Spring 2022. I hope to get into a MD/PhD program and am really interested in cognitive, neurological, and neurodegenerative disorders and diseases.
KAREN HARELI
Undergraduate Research Assistant
I am a junior majoring in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and minoring in Psychology. I am planning to graduate in May 2022. I am currently on a pre-health track and am pursuing a career in either medicine or nursing.
KRISTIN HEIDEMAN
Lab Manager
I recently graduated from UMass Amherst with a B.S. in Psychology on the Neuroscience track and will soon be pursuing a PsyD or PhD in Clinical Psychology! I intend to explore the neuroscientific underpinnings of mental illness—specifically mood, anxiety and trauma- and stressor- related disorders. Additionally, I am fascinated by psychological resilience and the individualized experience of trauma. I hope to gain the full picture (i.e., neurobiology, personality traits, family history/genetics, trauma, attachment/parenting style, cultural background) of each individual with anxiety, depression, and PTSD, so I can build a personalized treatment plan to mirror their unique situation. I am eager to take my next steps toward becoming a neuroscience-informed clinician, and providing precision mental health care within a multidisciplinary team.