Laura Simonelli was born and raised in the Northeastern United States. In 2000, she earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the Schreyer Honors College at the Pennsylvania State University, where she majored in psychology with quantitative focus, including a statistics minor. While at Penn State, she began doing research with Dr. Jeffrey G. Parker exploring jealousy in friendships. Later, Laura worked in Dr. William J. Ray's psychophysiology lab doing research on adult attachment, anxiety, worry, and depression. She also worked with Dr. Aaron L. Pincus exploring personality variables in similar research. In 2000, under the direction of Dr. Ray, Laura completed her senior honors thesis entitled Anxiety, Worry, and Depression: Do Attachment Styles Make a Difference?
In September 2001, Laura began her graduate work in the Ph.D. program in Clinical Psychology at The Ohio State University. During graduate school she has pursued research interests in the topics of stress and coping and clinical opportunities with adult psychopathology, weight management, and chronically ill patients. During her first three years of graduate study, Laura worked with Dr. Catherine M. Stoney in the Cardiovascular Behavioral Medicine Laboratory. Her first year project examined the influence of sex and task differences in the association between repressive coping and cardiovascular reactivity. Laura's Masters thesis explored the physiological responses of the cardiovascular system and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis to an interpersonal stressor among adults with distinct attachment styles. She joined the Stress and Immunity Cancer Project in 2004 and continues to investigate issues of stress and coping.
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Department of Psychology
The Ohio State University
Rm.159 Psychology Building
1835 Neil Avenue Mall
Columbus, Ohio 43210-1222
(614) 292-5170
E-mail: simonelli.5@osu.edu