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Christine Vinci, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellowship: The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center; Rice University |
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Min-Jeong Yang, Ph.D.
Dr. Yang received her PhD in Clinical Psychology in 2020 from Rutgers University, The State University of New Jersey. Dr. Yang’s research interests are primarily in promoting health behaviors in special populations with a focus on mindfulness- and exposure-based interventions for smoking cessation and relapse prevention. Since she joined Moffitt as a T32 behavioral oncology postdoctoral fellow, under the mentorship of Drs. Christine Vinci and Vani Simmons at Tobacco Research and Intervention Program (TRIP), she has been working on multiple projects specific to smoking cessation treatments based on mindfulness and cue exposure, which utilize various research methodologies including ecological momentary assessment, wearable sensors, augmented reality, and low nicotine content cigarettes. She also has been leading multiple projects on the evaluation of the implementation of an e-referral system for smoking cessation at Moffitt and on the quality of life among sexual and gender minority cancer patients. Dr. Yang was recently awarded a K99 grant from the National Cancer Institute to develop an mHealth mindfulness-based smoking cessation intervention for cancer survivors.
Ranjita Poudel, Ph.D.
Dr. Poudel is a T32 Behavioral Oncology fellow at the Tobacco Research and Intervention Program (TRIP) under the mentorship of Drs. Christine Vinci and Vani Simmons. She completed her PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience from Florida International University. Her primary research interest focuses on tailoring mindfulness and mHealth interventions for the treatment and prevention of cancer. She is currently involved in projects examining the efficacy of mindfulness in managing stress among cancer caregivers and the utility of mHealth to aid smoking cessation.
Research Staff
Karen Obremski Brandon, Ph.D.
Karen Obremski Brandon, Ph.D., is a Research Scientist III at the Tobacco Research and Intervention Program. She currently contributes to projects on self-help for smoking cessation, health disparities in smoking cessation treatments, and interventions to decrease stress in caregivers of cancer patients.
Skye Dougan, M.P.H.
Skye is a Research Services Project Coordinator I at Moffitt’s Cancer Center’s Tobacco Research and Intervention Program. She graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor’s of Health Science and a Master’s in Public Health for Epidemiology. Her research interests include cancer epidemiology and disparities, as well as data science and health technology. Skye is currently contributing to a study focused on an additional smoking cessation treatment utilizing an Augmented Reality app in partnership with Tobacco Free Florida at Moffitt Cancer Center.
Sierra Washington, M.P.H.
Sierra is a Research Coordinator III at Moffitt’s Cancer Center’s Tobacco Research and Intervention Program. She graduated from Florida State University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Social Work and the University of South Florida with a Master’s in Public Health. Her research interest includes behavioral and communication interventions for equitable health outcomes.
Helen Yates, M.P.H.
Helen is a Research Coordinator III at Moffitt’s Cancer Center’s Tobacco Research and Intervention Program. She graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Natural Science Biology and a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology. Her research interests include public health education and communication, as well as working with minority populations. Helen is currently contributing to a study focused on an additional smoking cessation treatment utilizing an Augmented Reality app in partnership with Tobacco Free Florida at Moffitt Cancer Center.
Sofia Fonseca, B.A.
Sofia is a Research Coordinator I at Moffitt’s Cancer Center’s Tobacco Research and Intervention Program. She graduated from the University of South Florida with a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in forensic behavioral health. Her research interests include childhood trauma and adult psychopathology. She plans to pursue her doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology.
Sarah Jones, B.A.
Sarah is a Research Applications and Data Coordinator at Moffitt Cancer Center, working within the Tobacco Research and Intervention Program. She graduated from the University of North Texas with a degree in Psychology. Her research interests include data science and cognitive science, and she plans to pursue a graduate degree in the future.
Research Interns
Aarya Satardekar
Aarya Satardekar is a research intern at Dr. Vinci’s lab at Moffitt Cancer Center’s Tobacco Research and Intervention program. She is currently a third year undergraduate student at the University of South Florida, majoring in Public Health. Aarya plans to pursue a PhD in public health in the future.
Ishwarya Maganti
Ishwarya Maganti is a research intern at Dr. Vinci’s lab at Moffitt Cancer Center’s Tobacco Research and Intervention program. She is a second year student here at the University of South Florida, pursing a degree in Biomedical Sciences. Ishwarya plans to attend Medical School in the future, after finishing her undergraduate degree.
Sanskruti Patel
Sanskruti Patel is a research intern at Dr. Vinci’s lab at Moffitt Cancer Center’s Tobacco Research and Intervention Program. She is currently a second year undergraduate student at the University of South Florida majoring in Biomedical Sciences. She plans to pursue medicine in the future.
Jorge Romero-Salgado
Jorge Romero Salgado is a Research Intern in Dr. Vinci's lab at Moffitt Cancer Center's Tobacco Research and Intervention Program (TRIP). He is in his second year on the 7-year accelerated B.S./M.D. track, majoring in Biomedical Sciences with a minor in Business. Jorge plans to attend medical school, become a physician, and go on to work in corporate healthcare.
Administrative Staff
Samantha Diaz-McGimsey - Division Coordinator
Yanid Grullon - Grants Administrator Associate
External Collaborators
David Wetter, Ph.D. – University of Utah
Amy Copeland, Ph.D. – Louisiana State University
Cho Lam, Ph.D. – University of Utah
Claire Spears, Ph.D. – Georgia State University
Santosh Kumar, Ph.D. – University of Memphis
Virmarie Correa-Fernandez, Ph.D. – University of Houston
David Evans, Ph.D. - Ponce Health Sciences University
Katie Witkiewitz, Ph.D. - University of New Mexico
Michelle Kelley, Ph.D. - Old Dominion University
Andrea Enzinger, MD - Dana Farber Cancer Institute
Lee Ritterband, Ph.D. - University of Virginia
Kara Wiseman, Ph.D. - University of Virginia
Katrina Vickerman, Ph.D. - Optum Center for Wellbeing Research
Former Staff and Interns
Research Coordinators: Emily Cutolo, Amanda Farris, Laura Hernandez, Mikaela Hemenway, Laura Casas, Sana Baban, Rashmi Gupta, Valerie Yepez
Research Assistants: Lorena Ruiz, Rachel Seng, Rachel Sauls
Interns: Catherine McInnes, Lauren Kenney, Siham Palliagath, Jake Silverman, Kaylee Aszman, Javier Pinilla-Baquero, Haley Kantarjian, Muniba Rehman, Jennifer Ming Yin Su, Uswa Khan, Danielle Simon, Antony Boghdadi, Nithin Kanumuri, Syed Faris Hasan, Sravani Gopaluni, Jonathan Henning, Alexandra Rivera, Kerri Murphy, Jared Zulueta, Noorah Baban, Safia Slimane, Abhinav Langala, Asmee Shitoley, Steven Assad, Rahim Miller