Dr. Camilo Ruggero
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Camilo.Ruggero@utdallas.edu
Dr. Camilo Ruggero (lab leader) 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).
Project Coordinator
Catherine Gantt
Catherine Gantt is a research coordinator in Dr. Camilo Ruggero’s COMPASS Lab. She received her B.S. in Child Learning and Development from UT Dallas in 2025. Catherine is interested in researching personality disorders, specifically ASPD, and how these disorders may interact with parenting style and attachment. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. in clinical psychology to further research these topics. In her free time, Catherine enjoys country dancing, reading, and drawing.
Graduate Students
Deisy Gonzalez Zapata
Deisy Gonzalez Zapata M.S. is a doctoral candidate in Clinical Psychology at the University of North Texas (UNT). Her research, supported by a diversity supplement grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), focuses on culturally inclusive mental health care for Latino communities. Specifically, she is dedicated to adapting mental health assessment tools for Spanish-speaking populations to bridge cultural and linguistic gaps in care. Through her work, Deisy strives to address health disparities and advance a more equitable mental health care system.
Nick Brewster
Nick Brewster is a 2nd year clinical psychology Ph.D. student at the University of North Texas working jointly with Dr. Ruggero and Dr. Holly Levin-Aspenson. He holds an MA in psychological research and BA in psychology from California State University, Long Beach. Nick is broadly interested in mental health-related stigma, improving measurement of stigma constructs, and the implications of HiTOP for stigma reduction efforts. In his spare time, Nick is a passionate enjoyer of video games and Irish/Scottish folk music.
Research Assistants
Summer 2025
Pranav Soma
Madison Muravez
Erin Battenfield
Dua Babar
Nedret Sen Cavus
Lab Alumni
Mia Vasquez
Mia Vasquez was a research coordinator in Dr. Camilo Ruggero’s COMPASS Lab. She received her B.A. in psychology from Texas A&M University in College Station. She is interested in researching personality disorders, the development of psychological assessments, and HiTOP. She is pursuing her Ph.D. in clinical psychology at UNT to further research these topics. In her free time, Mia enjoys watching movies, reading, listening to music, and yoga.