David Cicero, PhD
Professor & DCT (View CV)
David.Cicero@unt.edu
Dr. David Cicero is a professor, Director of Clinical Training, and Director of the Center for Psychosocial Health Disparities Research in the Department of Psychology at the University of North Texas. Originally from Louisville, KY, he completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Virginia and his graduate degrees at the University of Missouri. Prior to joining the faculty at UNT, Dr. Cicero was an associate professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where he founded and directed the OnTrack Hawaii First Episode Psychosis clinic. His research focuses on improving the assessment of psychotic spectrum disorders and understanding the social-cognitive mechanisms of psychosis risk. In his free time, Dr. Cicero enjoys spending time with his wife (Anne), three daughters (Lucia, Ella, and MJ), and dog (Hoku).
Affiliated Faculty
Dr. Camilo Ruggero, Affiliated Faculty (View CV)
Dr. Camilo Ruggero is a clinical psychologist and professor in psychology at UT-Dallas. He grew up in Corpus Christi and Austin, Texas and graduated from the Plan II Honors program at UT-Austin. He earned his PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Miami and completed a clinical internship and NIMH-sponsored post-doc in psychiatry at Brown University’s medical school. His research has focused on assessment of mood and related disorders and he has played a major role in a new empirically-based approach to classifying and describing mental illness called HiTOP. He served for many years as a director of a Center at the University of North Texas focused on combating behavioral health disparities in the North Texas region. He is a prolific researcher (>120 peer-reviewed publications) with support from a host of federal and state agencies (i.e., NIMH, NIAID, HRSA, SAMSHA, NASA, THECB and NIOSH).
Jennifer Callahan, Affiliated Faculty
Dr. Callahan, an affiliated faculty member from The University of Texas at Dallas, centers her professional activities in research, teaching, and service on a belief that the path to redressing disparities and improving psychological services among disadvantaged populations must be grounded in science and consistently oriented towards the best available evidence. You can visit her faculty page to learn more information.
Affiliated Members
Danica Slavish, Affiliated Member (View CV)
Dr. Danica Slavish is a health psychologist interested in examining the associations between sleep, stress, and health across time. Her work leverages a biopsychosocial framework, exploring the sociocultural, biological, and behavioral correlates of sleep, health, and well-being. Dr. Slavish’s research program employs a variety of methodologies both in and outside the laboratory, and she is particularly interested in novel statistical approaches to analyzing intensive longitudinal data. In 2017, she received her PhD from The Pennsylvania State University in the Department of Biobehavioral Health, where she was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research fellow. She holds a B.A. in psychology from Beloit College in Beloit, WI. Dr. Slavish has been involved in the implementation of numerous federally-funded grants from NSF, NIH, and DoD, and is the recipient of awards from the American Psychological Association, the American Psychosomatic Society, and the Penn State Alumni Association. She teaches undergraduate courses in health psychology and graduate courses in research methods and advanced statistics.
Ateka Contractor, Affiliated Member (View CV)
I obtained my doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from University of Toledo; completed my pre-doctoral internship at Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University; and a post-doctoral fellowship at the Boston VA Healthcare System. My research is in the area of Trauma and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Specifically, I research (1) transdiagnostic symptoms/constructs implicated in PTSD’s comorbidity with well-being indicators, specifically depression (including sleep disturbances) and reckless behaviors, (2) heterogeneity in PTSD’s symptomatology and traumatic experiences, and (3) the role of cultural influences on PTSD’s symptomatology. In this area, I have 112 published articles in high-impact journals. I serve on the Editorial Board of 4 Trauma journals and as a consultant on a SAMHSA-funded grant on family trauma treatments/assessments.
Graduate Students
Maren Garcia, BA
Maren received her BA in Media Arts with a minor in Theater at UNT. Prior to her time in the Center for Health Disparities, she worked in the Division of Enrollment, assisting with Admissions, Financial Aid, and Student Accounting calls. Maren has a deep passion for helping at-risk populations, as is evident by her many years of service at summer camps and hospitals for children with disabilities and special needs.
Jacquline Bolden, BA
Jacquline has a Bachelor of Business Administration in Human Resources Management from Texas Woman's University. She worked 7 years as an Administrative Coordinator in the G. Brint Ryan College of Business where she supported the department chair, over 40 faculty and 20 doctoral students. She has experience in budget planning, records management and asset management. She has spent the last 10 months working for UNT System as an HR Assistant and Benefits Coordinator, where she was responsible for tracking benefits eligibility and providing assistance for employees at UNT, UNT System, Dallas, and HSC campuses.