George Mason University

Psychology Department News (updated June 23, 2008)

Christianne Esposito-Smythers joins Clinical Faculty.

Dr. Esposito-Smythers joined the Clinical program at GMU in summer 2008. She received her Ph.D. from Virginia Tech in 2000 and has worked as a research assistant professor at the Brown University Medical School. Dr. Esposito-Smythers’s research interests include the study of social cognitive processes associated with the development of adolescent suicidality, depression, and substance abuse. She is also interested in the design and application of cognitive behavioral treatment and prevention protocols for adolescent psychopathology and high risk behaviors. Dr. Esposito-Smythers’s research has been funded by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS. Her papers have appeared in the Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Journal of Traumatic Stress, Suicide and Life Threatening Behavior, American Journal on Addictions, Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, and others. She is currently on the editorial board for the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.

Tim Curby joins ADP Faculty.

Dr. Curby joined the Applied Developmental Psychology program at GMU in summer 2008. He received his Ph.D. in Educational Psychology - Learning and Development from the University of Virginia in 2008. His research focuses on teacher-child interactions, social competence, and academic achievement in the early years of school. One of his papers is in press at Early Education and Development.

Craig McDonald joins Biopsychology Faculty.

Dr. McDonald joined the Biopsychology Psychology program at GMU in summer 2008. He received his Ph.D. in Neurobiology from the University of Victoria in 2001. Dr. McDonald's research focuses on how adolescent nicotine exposure affects brain circuitry and behavior using an animal model. One aspect of his work has involved the study of how nicotine affects dendritic morphology of neurons from regions of the dopamine reward pathway. He has shown that nicotine exposure during adolescence can produce persisting increases in dendritic length of medium spiny neurons from nucleus accumbens, a key component of the reward pathway. His papers have appeared in Brain Research, Clinical Neurophysiology, Neurotoxicology and Teratology, Pharmacology, Biochemistry, & Behavior, and other journals.