Biobehavioral Heath Newsletter 2019

BBHNews

NEWS FOR ALUMNI AND FRIENDS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF BIOBEHAVIORAL HEALTH

SPRING 2019

The Department of Biobehavioral Health is committed to advancing health through integrative understanding of the biological, behavioral, environmental, and societal influences on health in our research laboratories, in our classrooms, and in our service.

In this issue, a sampling of the research across the department, from effects of mood and anxiety on inflammation and inflammatory disease, to addressing addiction, to how best practices in sleep can improve mental and physical health, is highlighted but a broader theme of this issue is innovation in education.

As Biobehavioral Health continues to be one of the largest majors at Penn State, the department looks for creative ways to face the challenges associated with the growth to provide opportunities for transformative experiences that transcend the classroom.

One example of this is how the Biomarker Core Laboratory has been transformed from a core facility to support research to a core facility that also provides hands-on classroom experiences and opportunities for emersion through the internship program, as discussed in the story about alumnus James Wilburne.

The Global Health Minor in the department continues to impact career trajectories of students across the university.

In this issue, we learn how the Global Health Minor shaped Penn State alumnus Awele Ajufo’s career path. The establishment of the Biobehavioral Health World Campus major is another way in which the department is meeting Penn State’s land grant mission of expanding the availability of higher education. Faculty such as Melina Czymoniewicz-Klippel are working to develop creative ways to transform online learning into immersive experiences.

This issue also celebrates the career pathways and amazing accomplishments of our alums such as Brittany Hawkins and the many other alums featured in our Biobehavioral Health alumni career experience videos. The commitment, drive and passion of our faculty, students, staff, and alumni impact the world and advance healthcare and education for all.

If you are interested in becoming engaged with the department, please contact me at thomas.gould@psu.edu.

Sincerely,

Thomas J. Gould Jean Phillips Shibley Professor of Biobehavioral Health and Department Head

Biobehavioral Health student serves as college marshal Mariana Espinosa received a bachelor of science degree in biobehavioral health at the Spring 2019 College of Health and Human Development commencement ceremony, where she served as college marshal. Espinosa served as a resident assistant for the Schreyer Honors College GLOBE Special Living Option, was involved with the Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon(THON) from 2016–19, a research assistant for in the Stress, Health, and Daily Experiences Laboratory in the Department of Biobehavioral Health, and was a recipient of The President’s Freshman Award, The President Sparks Award, The Evan Pugh Scholar Junior Award, and The Evan Pugh Scholar Senior Award.

Biobehavioral Health

Biobehavioral Health

Internships provide relevant learning opportunities for Biobehavioral Health students Some students have stressful internships. Other students have fun internships in which they analyze the results of stress.

The latter was true for Penn State alumnus James Wilburne’s internship last summer in the College of Health and Human Development’s Biomarker Core Lab (BCL).

Primarily, Wilburne performed Polymerase Chain Reactions (PCRs), taking DNA samples, mostly saliva, and amplifying them for telomere research. He also learned how to use a diverse range of laboratory equipment, such as single- and multi-channel pipettes, a table-top centrifuge, and a robotic PCR machine that pipettes automatically.

Internship experience was not a requirement for Wilburne, who graduated in August 2018. Instead, he sought it due to the BBH internship program.

Elizabeth Lasher, the internship coordinator for BBH undergraduate programs, can help students find internships anywhere based on their goals.

“I want to be a scientist,” Wilburne explained, and exposure to a real-world lab helped support his goal. In addition to running PCRs, he attended Monday lab meetings with the faculty team to go over the coming week’s activities.

The most special aspect of the BCL, according to Wilburne, is its non-profit nature.

Wilburne believes that an internship in the BCL would benefit many students. “It’s a great opportunity to get some lab experience,” Wilburne says, adding that the BCL is great for developing wet lab skills such as pipetting.

“Summer internship opportunities in the Biomarker Core Lab, in conjunction with the Biobehavioral Health internship program, allows individuals to experience a wet lab setting for those wanting future careers in a clinical, diagnostic, or general research lab environment,” said lab director Sue Rutherford Siegel.

Help a BBH student — host an intern As part of the Biobehavioral Health undergraduate curriculum, students have the opportunity to complete an internship where they can apply the skills and knowledge that they have acquired in the classroom to real world settings. As aspiring healthcare professionals and educators, an internship allows students to see healthcare professionals working and solving real life issues and are able to observe how multidisciplinary professionals work together to achieve common goals.

We are looking for organizations willing to host student interns for paid or unpaid placements during the summer where students can develop their knowledge and skills in a healthcare, research, education, or management position.

If you have opportunities available for hosting an intern, or any questions, please contact Elizabeth Lasher at ejl155@psu.edu.

Online Biobehavioral Health degree program sees continued growth While individual Biobehavioral Health courses offered online have been popular among Penn State students for years, the launch of the fully-online program in Fall 2017 marked a significant milestone in addressing the needs of non-traditional students seeking a bachelor’s degree in Biobehavioral Health.

Degree requirements can be completed entirely online through Penn State’s World Campus, which was recently ranked in the top five best online bachelor’s programs by U.S. News and World Report.

Enrollments in the online major have grown steadily, and students consistently praise the program’s reputation, flexibility, and relevance to their career goals. Over 130 students from across Pennsylvania, the nation, and beyond are currently majoring in the online program, which has awarded over 30 degrees to date.

2016

The program recently hired three new full-time faculty members with expertise in online education to support ongoing growth. Faculty teaching courses in the online major work closely with instructional design and multimedia specialists in the College of Health and Human Development’s Outreach office to ensure that courses incorporate best practices, integrate innovative technologies, and are accessible to all learners.

Marc Dingman, director of the online program, notes that offering the Biobehavioral Health degree program online helps advance the University’s land grant mission of expanding the reach of higher education while also addressing increasing demand for rigorous, high quality online education. The modern, accessible platform allows students who are not able to attend classes on campus or in a traditional program the opportunity to earn a Penn State degree in one of the University’s most popular majors.

2019

Global Health Minor continues to impact the lives, careers of its participants Students receive awards Kayla Letscher, who graduated in December 2018 with a degree in Biobehavioral Health, received the Rachel E. Abraham Award. The award recognizes an undergraduate student in the College of Health and Human Development who demonstrates outstanding academic success and leadership and responsibility in University and community organizations. Letscher also completed the Global Health Minor, conducting her fieldwork in Tanzania in summer 2018. She is currently employed as an emergency medical technician (EMT) at Penn State University Ambulance Service, and as a volunteer EMT at Centre Lifelink Emergency Medical Services.

“I am interested in the betterment of the community,” said Ajufo, who graduated in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in Health Policy and Administration (HPA) and a minor in Global Health.

It was through her coursework, and her trip to Limpopo, South Africa as part of the Global Health minor fieldwork experience, that Ajufo became interested in studying health from a global perspective.

The 21-credit Global Health Minor includes a six-credit summer fieldwork experience as its capstone, which takes place in African countries or a variety of locations in the U.S. and around the world. The fieldwork experience engages students in medical and public health rotations and activities with physicians, nurses and health care professionals, who teach them about diseases and patients’ needs in their communities, as well as health care systems.

Ajufo and her cohort of fellow students worked with the University of Limpopo public health faculty and Mankweny Hospital, where they observed different wings and services in the hospital, including a primary care physician and outpatient services, psychology services, and community and traditional medicine services. Her cohort was tasked with observing and gathering data on the local health system. The group then presented their comprehensive findings and comparisons with U.S. health systems, as well as recommendations on improvement of health systems.

Perspective was an impactful outcome of the experience for Ajufo, and reinforces the benefit of exposure to different cultures for all students participating in the Global Health Minor.

Photo: Penn State Athletics

Alexa N. Parrish, senior Biobehavioral Health major, received the Helen Skade Hintz Biobehavioral Health Scholarship in recognition of her high academic achievement and demonstrated leadership ability in the Department of Biobehavioral Health.

Parrish was also a recipient of President’s Freshman Award and made the Dean’s List multiple semesters.

She is a member of Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society, Alpha Epsilon Delta National Health PreProfessional Honor Society, the Biobehavioral Health Society, and the Health and Human Development Honors Society, among a variety of other boards and committees. After expected graduation in 2020, Parrish plans to pursue a career in dentistry.

Awele Ajufo’s experience in South Africa as a Penn State student opened her eyes to the importance of policy when it comes to health care. Now, after working in the corporate sector for a few years as a management consultant, she plans to earn her master’s degree in international development public policy and management, and start a career in that field.

Allyson McHugh, senior Biobehavioral Health major, was one of five students who received the University’s John W. Oswald Award, which recognizes graduating seniors who have provided outstanding leadership in at least one of several areas of activity at the University. McHugh was recognized for her leadership in athletics, where she has spent the past four years honing her talents on the Penn State Women’s Swim Team in preparation for the Olympic Games and is the team captain. In 2018, McHugh won the USA Swimming National Championship in the 400-meter individual medley at the U.S. Open, where she continues to represent the U.S. and Penn State.

Consider supporting students in the field Established in 2016 by Penn Staters familiar with the program, the For the Field, For the Future Endowment supports the overall mission of the Global Health Minor, including making travel funds available to assist students with the cost of the minor’s required field work experience.

The field work component typically takes place during the summer in countries such as Tanzania, South Africa, and Ecuador. It is an essential and often transformative experience for students, but it can be costly which may prevent some students from completing the minor. To address this financial concern, friends and supporters of the program are invited to contribute to the endowment.

Your contribution to the For the Field, For the Future Endowment fund will make a difference for our students exploring global health issues. To make a gift please contact Kathleen Rider, Director of Development, at kmr8@psu.edu or 814-865-1064. hhd.psu.edu/bbh | 3

Graduate Program Updates Training and developing the next leaders in basic, mechanistic, and applied research that addresses fundamental issues in health and prevention throughout the lifespan.

The Biobehavioral Health Ph.D. program continues to train graduate students how to examine health from an interdisciplinary perspective at the intersection of biological, psychological, social, environmental, and cultural influences on health and disease.

The program is centered on the belief that an integrative approach to health research and health care holds the greatest potential to advance health.

The department welcomed eight new graduate students in 2018. Seven students are in the Biobehavioral Health Ph.D. program and one is part of Penn State’s Intercollege Graduate Degree Programs (IDGP). Members of the cohort have diverse backgrounds and expertise and the graduate faculty have enjoyed working with them during their first year of Ph.D.-level training.

The department also added a new dual-title Ph.D. training option for graduate students in 2018. The dual-title Ph.D. in Biobehavioral Health and Social Behavioral Neuroscience

Elizabeth J. Susman Enhancement Fund supports graduate student research In 2018, Ph.D. candidate Russel Nye was awarded funding to support his research in understanding the daily antecedents of health behaviors associated with smoking cessation. In 2019, fourth year graduate student Constanza Silva Gallardo received the award to support her dissertation research on the biological consequences of reduced nicotine-content cigarettes. This annual award was made possible by from Gerald Susman and Elizabeth Susman, Emeritus Professor of Biobehavioral Health, with the purpose of supporting excellence in scholarly activities of graduate students.

McClearn Endowment continues to support student training The department has awarded a total of four Gerald E. McClearn Graduate Student Endowment Awards, which provide support to graduate students who have achieved excellence in their research accomplishments and demonstrate a commitment to interdisciplinary research. The first recipient of the award, Danica Slavish, has just accepted a faculty position at the University of North Texas. In addition to Slavish in 2015, other students who have received the award include Mike Caruso (2016), Lindsey Potter (2017), Marzieh Majd (2018), and Gina Mathew (2019).

The award was made possible by Elana Pyle in honor of McClearn, a pioneer in the field and long-serving faculty member in the Department of Biobehavioral Health and College of Health and Human Development, who died in 2017.

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Left to Right: Laurel Seemiller, Emily Fair, Brooke Mattern, Rodney Jones, Natasha DeMeo, Katja Waldron, Lan-Nhi Phung, David Reichenberger

program provides a cohesive curriculum for in-depth training in biobehavioral health processes that incorporate a neurobiological perspective. This innovative option should enable interested students to be even more competitive within this increasingly interdisciplinary domain. This new option has been added to two existing dual-title Ph.D. options of Biobehavioral Health and Bioethics and Biobehavioral Health and Clinical and Translational Science.

Faculty Recognition Tom Gould, professor and head of the department, recently received the Evan G. and Helen G. Pattishall Outstanding Research Achievement Award from the College of Health and Human Development. The award recognizes a faculty member for outstanding research contributions occurring or culminating within the past several years. He presented the lecture “Nicotine Addiction Across the Ages: A Biobehavioral Perspective” in March.

PATTISHALL RESEARCH LECTURE A lecture by the recipient of the Evan G. and Helen G. Pattishall Outstanding Research Achievement Award of the College of Health and Human Development

NICOTINE ADDICTION

ACROSS THE AGES A B I O B E H AV I O R A L P E R S P E C T I V E

Thomas J. Gould, Ph.D.

Jean Phillips Shibley Professor and Head Department of Biobehavioral Health

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Bennett Pierce Living Center, 110 Henderson Building 3:30 p.m. – Reception • 4:00 p.m. – Lecture The public is cordially invited.

Melina Czymoniewicz-Klippel, assistant teaching professor, is a recipient of a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning grant from the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence.

Her project will involve analysis of online written assignments of students, to examine the impact of immersive experiences on student engagement and learning.

Faculty and Staff Member Updates Nicole Crowley, assistant research professor, works at the intersection of ex vivo electrophysiology, systems neuroscience and behavioral health. Broadly, she studies the cellular basis of alcohol addiction and it’s comorbidity with neuropsychiatric disorders between sexes and across the lifespan.

Diana Poorman, administrative support assistant, serves as department facilities manager, the financial coordinator, and leads the faculty member activity reporting system/annual review process.

Melina Czymoniewicz-Klippel, assistant teaching professor, focuses on understanding and addressing the determinants of health and health risks and resilience of vulnerable children and families, including refugees and asylum seekers, trafficked persons, families in poverty, and children with disabilities.

Asher Rosinger, assistant professor, examines human response to changing nutritional and economic environments through water-dietary intake and the significance of mismatches in these relationships for short/long-term health, nutrition, and disease.

Jen DiNallo, assistant teaching professor, researches the impact of health promotion behaviors on obesity outcomes, with a concentration on parent-focused health promotion interventions.

Mike Russell, assistant professor, focuses on understanding the connections between stress, affect, and health behaviors in the day-to-day lives of adolescents and young adults, using advanced statistical modeling and ambulatory assessment methods.

Beth Edwards, assistant teaching professor, researches the use of harm reduction approaches to health interventions, particularly tobacco use, and sexual health.

Colby Sinclair, undergraduate staff assistant, is responsible for course scheduling, teaching assignments, organizing undergraduate teaching interns, processing enrollment forms/grade changes, exams, course substitutions, classroom reservations, degree audits, transcripts, and securing textbooks.

Lindsay Fernandez-Rhodes, assistant professor, uses interdisciplinary research seeking to elucidate the complex etiology of chronic diseases, and identify key drivers of health disparities in the United States, both across the life course and across generations.

Emily Slimak, administrative support assistant, performs human resources related tasks, supports the promotion and tenure process, and aids with department communications functions.

Steve Kodish, assistant professor, investigates the design, implementation, and evaluation of interventions aimed to improve the health and nutrition of vulnerable populations globally, addressing chronic and acute malnutrition in low- and middle-income settings where humanitarian food assistance programs are implemented.

Advisers support student success

Kari Kugler, assistant teaching professor, researches development of effective and efficient behavioral interventions targeting health behaviors among various populations and contexts, in particular the intersection of sexual and reproductive health, alcohol use, and obesity among adolescents and young adults.

Kyle Murdock, assistant professor, focuses on the neurological, biological, and behavioral pathways through which emotions and interpersonal relationships may impact health outcomes using innovative/multidisciplinary research methods.

Undergraduate advisers Heather Low and Teresa McGowan, along with newly hired lead adviser Caressa Olivo and adviser Chad Eline support the success of all students majoring in Biobehavioral Health. The advising team aids students with course planning and registration, career/graduate school exploration, and help them progress toward meeting graduation requirements. hhd.psu.edu/bbh | 5

Biomarker Core Lab offers cutting-edge research analysis, handson student experience

The Biomarker Core Laboratory (BCL) is one of many core facilities across Penn State, but what makes it unique is its hands-on, collaborative approach to research and learning.

The lab, located in the Health and Human Development Building at Penn State University Park, is a fee-forservice facility offering biomarker research support, including preparation and analysis of samples, data analysis, and consultation on study designs.

Why the biomarker matters A biomarker, a biological marker that is measurable in an individual, can be examined from any sample including saliva, serum, plasma, urine, blood and hair, from both humans and animals.

“Testing biological markers in research is a measurable indicator of some state or condition in an individual to offer better understanding of diseases and diagnosis,” said Sue Rutherford Siegel, research professor of biobehavioral health in the BCL. “Researchers may choose to test biomarkers in an individual to quantify the severity of the disease or diagnosis with the long-term plan to help tailor therapies to match the disease or diagnosis severity.”

While housed in the College of Health and Human Development’s Department of Biobehavioral Health, the BCL is open for use by students and researchers across the college, University, and most recently other institutions around the country via iLab, an online portal where researchers across the country and overseas can request BCL services. It is also available to for-profit companies.

“We are the local source site for the department, college and University, and now available to others outside of the University,” said Sheree Logue, director of the BCL and associate teaching professor of biobehavioral health.

The BCL is smaller than other core labs at Penn State with only two full-time staff members—Rutherford Siegel, and Matthew Ulrich, multiplex specialist. Logue said this small size enables the staff to work closely with researchers as well as mentor student scientists.

The Biomarker Core Laboratory is a fee-for-service facility offering biomarker research support. The lab is directed by Sheree Logue, associate teaching professor of biobehavioral health.

is the only lab in the country with validated results. The method was validated by performing a “Spike Recovery” test and a “Precision” test, Ulrich said.

The Spike Recovery test is performed by adding cortisol to the beginning steps of the extraction method.

“If we get the same amount of cortisol back, that tells us the method did not have an effect on the amount of cortisol present,” Ulrich said.

“The Precision test involves taking multiple samples from one person and running our extraction method on each sample.”

“We do this on both the same person and multiple people. All of this allows us to have the highest amount of accuracy (getting the right answer, and precision), and getting the same answer—from the same sample—over and over again,” he said.

These tests differ from other labs in that they may not have performed any validation, which can’t guarantee the right result, Ulrich said.

Another unique element of the BCL is its cutting-edge research. This is made possible by the lab’s ability to acquire new state-of-the-art equipment to make sure investigators are using the highest quality products for their experiments to get the most precise results.

One such area of research is telomeres, a rapidly growing discipline, and the BCL is at the forefront of providing services to study them.

Rutherford Siegel, who studies telomeres in the BCL, describes telomeres as protective caps at the end of each DNA strand that keep the strand from unraveling.

Though the majority of the time the staff at the BCL conducts experiments for outside researchers, it does offer the option, if a researcher or research team is local, to physically come to the lab to conduct their experiments. This is both time- and cost-effective, Logue said. Researchers can use the space on their own schedule without needing to purchase expensive equipment and don’t have to wait as long for results.

“We’re more than just a facility that will grind through samples,” Logue said. “We want that teaching and collaborative component.

I like keeping us smaller so we interact more with the people we’re running samples for.”

Unique offerings in cutting-edge research The BCL recently added hair cortisol assays, which have been validated by third parties, to their list of services. Currently, the BCL

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Sue Rutherford Siegel manages DNA samples for the telomere length analysis.

Each analysis involves many steps and can take up to a few days to complete.

Matthew Ulrich places a hair sample into a test tube to examine its cortisol levels.

Hair cortisol assays is one of the many tests conducted at the BCL.

Sue Rutherford Siegel studies telomeres, protective caps at the end of DNA strands.

Here she places samples into a large centrifuge.

With each cell division, telomeres become progressively shorter, limiting the number of times a cell can divide. When the length of telomeres reaches a critically short length, the cells stop dividing and enter a state of cell arrest, which is one of the hallmarks of aging, she said.

One experiment tasks them with providing their own saliva samples to measure their cortisol levels—an indicator of stress. They can then compare cortisol levels from different extraction periods—maybe preand post-exams. Students must also determine if the analysis they run is well-controlled.

The rate of telomere shortening can be dependent on stress associated with adverse life experiences and can impact one’s health in later years.

Her focus includes examining interactions between the genetic and genomic basis of variation, the environmental interactions and the resulting behavioral and health outcomes of an individual.

“Telomeres are the longest when we are born and with age and stress exposure, gradually shorten when new cells are made until the cell cannot replicate anymore,” Rutherford Siegel said. “Studies show that longer telomeres are associated with healthy aging while shorter telomeres are associated with chronic diseases and early mortality. The lab offers researchers an opportunity to measure telomere length and track the cellular age in their samples.”

Hands-on lab experience for students Another unique element of the BCL is its offering of a lab class for undergraduate students, the only core lab at the University to do so.

The lab class, Special Topics: Biomarkers in Biobehavioral Health Research, which was started by Logue teaches basic lab training skills and hands-on techniques, different types of assays and the types of experiments they’re used for, and critical thinking approaches to science.

“Students in the class get to design their own experiments,” Logue said.

“This class teaches students to understand what they’re measuring and quality control, and to make sure the data they are providing is wellcontrolled,” Logue said. “Students first think of a research idea and carry the idea from beginning to end. They determine what samples to test, what assays to use, and how to troubleshoot when something goes wrong. It’s a good experience to help students decide if lab work is for them.”

The class is limited to ten students to facilitate intense interaction, Logue said.

“With a small class, everybody gets to do their own hands-on work,” Logue said. “I can interact with students both individually and as a group, and make sure all questions are being answered.”

Most Biobehavioral Health majors go into health-related fields involving treatment and research, Logue said; however, this course is for any student in the College of Health and Human Development.

“This class provides a learning approach to research science,” Logue said, “and it’s beneficial for any student who is interested.”

The course, entering its second year, will be offered again in spring 2020.

For more information visit hhd.psu.edu/bbh/BCL.

Biomarker Core Lab services and offerings The BCL has plate readers, robots, centrifuges, refrigerators, pipetting machines, multiplex platforms, and a variety of other equipment, tools and technology to conduct a variety of experiments.

Services include Enzyme immunoassays (ELISA), electrochemoluminescence and kinetic reaction assays targeting; multiplexed assays using magnetic beads, polystyrene beads, or MSD platform; sample processing—aliquoting, transfers, DNA extraction, PBMC Isolation; sample storage; and training, including pipetting methods, study design, sample collection and preparation, and running assays.

Siegel uses a pipetting method to dispense liquid into a plate as part of the telomere length analysis.

Hawkins receives Alumni Achievement Award Brittany Hawkins, a 2008 graduate with a degree in Biobehavioral Health, is a 2019 recipient of the Penn State Alumni Association’s Alumni Achievement Award.

This honor recognizes outstanding career accomplishments of prominent alumni age 35 and younger.

“Being chosen as an Alumni Achievement Award recipient was delightful to hear,” Hawkins said. “I was truly surprised and humbled by the fact that the University feels that my work is deserving of an award of this magnitude. There is a lot of meaning behind receiving this award, but most importantly this is a moment I will always cherish.”

Hawkins is co-founder and CEO of Pathways Community Living, an agency in Pittsburgh that provides support for adults with intellectual disabilities. Pathways offers residential and behavioral support, culinary programs, therapy, 24-hour assistance, and a variety of other services.

“Brittany is a wonderful example of how our alumni are making a real impact in their communities,” said Abby Diehl, assistant dean for alumni relations and special projects in the College of Health and Human Development. “We were fortunate to have her share her experiences with students this past spring when she came back to campus to receive the Alumni Achievement Award.”

Last year Hawkins established the Brittany R. Hawkins Open Doors Scholarship in the College of Health and Human Development to support students who are nearing graduation but face unexpected financial hardships.

In addition to her work at Pathways, Hawkins serves on the Western Pennsylvania Montessori School Board and is currently working toward a master’s degree in public policy and management from the University of Pittsburgh. n

BBH alumni share their experiences A number of different Biobehavioral Health alumni participated in sharing their career experiences during a recent video shoot. View their stories at hhd.psu.edu/bbh/alumni-videos Sharing your story helps current students, fellow alumni Sharing your own story and journey is a great way to show students the variety of career paths a degree in Biobehavioral Health can lead to and also a good way to network with fellow alumni. Be sure to keep us informed about your professional growth. Also, consider the opportunity to give back by mentoring a student, hosting an intern, and getting involved with the Biobehavioral Health Affiliate Program Group. hhd.psu.edu/alumni-bbh

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BBH

BIOBEHAVIORAL HEALTH AFFILIATE PROGRAM GROUP

BBH APG hosts a “Careers in BBH” virtual event for BBH Society

BBH

The Biobehavioral Health Affiliate Program Group hosted a “Careers in BBH” virtual event with the BBH Society in March. The goal of this event was for BBH students to have the opportunity to connect with BBH alumni and get an understanding of career paths after graduation.

BIOBEHAVIORAL HEALTH PROGRAM GROUP The Biobehavioral Health Affiliate Program Group serves AFFILIATE students, alumni, and the department.

The Penn State alumni network can benefit students and fellow alumni alike. The BBH APG’s goal is to unite alumni of the Department of Biobehavioral Health; to provide a means whereby alumni may network to achieve closer alliance among alumni, faculty and students; and to enhance the stature and effectiveness of the department.

BBH

Get involved, keep connected, keep in touch

BIOBEHAVIORAL HEALTH AFFILIATE PROGRAM GROUP

If you are interested in participating in these events or learning more about the Biobehavioral Health Affiliate Program Group, email BBH APG president Brittney Hawkins at bjohnson@pathways.com.

hhd.psu.edu/alumni-bbh

BBH BIOBEHAVIORAL HEALTH AFFILIATE PROGRAM GROUP

Build your network.

Add Penn State College of Health and Human Development to your education on LinkedIn. linkedin.com/school/pennstatehhd

@pennstateBBH

Research Updates

Shorter sleep can lead to dehydration Adults who sleep six hours per night as opposed to eight may have a higher chance of being dehydrated. The study, led by Asher Rosinger, assistant professor of biobehavioral health and anthropology, looked at how sleep affected hydration status and risk of dehydration in U.S. and Chinese adults.

In both populations, adults who reported sleeping six hours had significantly more concentrated urine and 16–59 percent higher odds of being inadequately hydrated compared to adults who slept eight hours on a regular basis at night.

These findings, which are published in the journal SLEEP, suggest that those who don’t feel well after a night of poor sleep may want to consider dehydration—not simply poor sleep—as a cause, and drink more water.

Regular bedtimes and sufficient sleep for children may lead to healthier teens Having a regular, age-appropriate bedtime and sufficient sleep from early childhood may be important for healthy weight in adolescence, according to co-author Orfeu Buxton, professor of biobehavioral health.

Kids’ sleep may suffer from moms’ tight work schedules After studying the sleep habits of children from ages five to nine, researchers found that when mothers reported less flexibility in their work schedules, their children got less sleep. When they gained flexibility in their work schedules, their children slept more.

Buxton and colleagues identified groups of children by bedtime and sleep routines and tested longitudinal associations for each group with adolescent body mass index (BMI).

However, this link diminished when the researchers accounted for whether the children were given regular bedtime routines, suggesting consistent bedtimes may be the key to offsetting damage done by tight work schedules.

The findings, published in the journal SLEEP, suggest that childhood bedtime and sleep routine groups predict adolescent sleep patterns and BMI.

Orfeu Buxton, professor of biobehavioral health, said the results give clues into how and why a parent’s work schedule may affect their children’s sleep.

The study was led by Soomi Lee, assistant professor of aging studies in the College of Behavioral and Community Sciences at the University of South Florida. Lee was a postdoctoral scholar in biobehavioral health at Penn State at the time of the study.

The researchers said the findings—published in the Journal of Child and Family Studies—also suggest that it could be helpful for employers to create policies that give employees more flexibility, both for the health of the employees and their children.

Smokers may opt for lower nicotine cigarettes if offered at lower prices Reducing nicotine intake, a step towards helping smokers reduce—or break—the habit, can be influenced by the price and availability of reduced-nicotine cigarettes, according to lead author Steven Branstetter, associate professor of biobehavioral health.

Branstetter and researchers found that smokers were more likely to choose lower-cost, lower-nicotine cigarettes if given a choice when compared to higher-cost, standard nicotine cigarettes.

Subjects were 20 male and female smokers between the ages of 21 and 46 from central Pennsylvania who had smoked a minimum of five cigarettes per day over the previous 30 days.

Subjects had smoked on average for about 11 years.

Overall, smokers rated low-nicotine cigarettes less satisfying than standard nicotine cigarettes. However, those selecting lowernicotine cigarettes after abstinence were more likely to smoke more cigarettes per day and to be more highly addicted to nicotine than those selecting standard nicotine cigarettes. The results are published in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research.

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Emotions like anger and sadness may cause pain as well as being a result of it While emotions such as anger or sadness are often thought of as being a result of stress or pain, findings recently published by Penn State researchers suggest that negative or mixed emotions could function as stressors themselves.

The manuscript, published in the journal Psychological Reports, examines the relationship between emotion and pain among women with rheumatoid arthritis.

Lung inflammation from childhood asthma linked with later anxiety Persistent lung inflammation may be one possible explanation for why having asthma during childhood increases your risk for developing anxiety later in life, according to a study by Sonia Cavigelli, associate professor of biobehavioral health, and other researchers.

In a study with mice, researchers found that childhood exposure to allergens was linked with persistent lung inflammation. It was also connected to changes in gene expression related to stress and serotonin function.

Jennifer Graham-Engeland, associate professor of biobehavioral health and lead author of the manuscript, said the findings suggest that under certain circumstances negative emotion or complex, mixed emotion can function as a stressor itself, and one which can promote inflammation.

Researchers in the study also found that when negative emotion was experienced in the context of a manipulation for a different emotion—for example, if participants felt sadness when researchers were trying to get them to focus on angry feelings—they showed elevated levels of both inflammation and the stress hormone cortisol.

Additionally, the study—published in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience—found that episodes of labored breathing were associated with short-term anxiety. Additionally, it found that the mice that were exposed to the allergen and developed these changes in lung function also had changes in gene expression in brain areas that help regulate stress and serotonin.

How teens deal with stress may affect their blood pressure, immune system Most teens get stressed out by their families from time to time, but whether they bottle those emotions up or put a positive spin on things may affect certain processes in the body, including blood pressure and how immune cells respond to bacterial invaders, according to researchers.

Hannah Schreier, assistant professor of biobehavioral health, and researchers explored whether the strategies adolescents used to deal with chronic family stress affected various metabolic and immune processes in the body. Strategies could include cognitive reappraisal—trying to think of the stressor in a more positive way— and suppression, or inhibiting the expression of emotions in reaction to a stressor. Results were published in the Phychosomatic Medicine.

The team found that when faced with greater chronic family stress, teens who used cognitive reappraisal had better metabolic measures, like blood pressure and waist-to-hip ratio. Teens who were more likely to use suppression tended to have more inflammation when their immune cells were exposed to a bacterial stimulus in the lab, even in the presence of anti-inflammatory signals.

Inflammation and mood Negative mood—such as sadness and anger—is associated with higher levels of inflammation and may be a signal of poor health, according to researchers.

The investigators found that negative mood measured multiple times a day over time is associated with higher levels of inflammatory biomarkers.

This study published in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, is what the researchers believe is the first examination of associations between both momentary and recalled measures of mood or affect with measures of inflammation, according to principal investigator Jennifer Graham-Engeland, associate professor of biobehavioral health.

Inflammation is part of the body’s immune response to such things as infections, wounds, and damage to tissues. Chronic inflammation can contribute to numerous diseases and conditions, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes and some cancers. hhd.psu.edu/bbh | 11

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2019 BBH Founder’s Endowment for Excellence and Innovation Research Day The 2019 BBH Founders Endowment for Excellence and Innovation Research Day was held on April 4, 2019. The event brought together students, faculty, and staff members from across campus to showcase research from graduate students and the department at large. It also featured keynote speaker Linda Watkins, a world-renowned chronic pain scientist, who delivered the address “Listening’ and ‘Talking’ to Neurons: Non-Neuronal Cells Amplify Pain and Drug Reward.”