Current Trainees

Emily Bilenduke, PhD is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the NCI-funded T32 Behavioral and Psychosocial Research Training Program in Cancer Prevention and Control in the Department of Medical Social Sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Her research interests include the implementation of health behavior and behavioral health interventions across health populations in order to reduce barriers to care, improve health outcomes, and improve quality of life. Currently, Emily is working with Betina Yanez, PhD (primary mentor) and Namratha Kandula, MD, MPH (secondary mentor). Her recent projects include examining effectiveness of interventions to improve both cancer and cardiovascular health outcomes.  Dr. Bilenduke earned her BA in Psychology from the University of Redlands and her MA in Clinical Psychology from the University of Colorado Denver. She completed her Pre-Doctoral Clinical Internship at Rush University Medical Center (Health Psychology Track) and earned her PhD in Clinical Health Psychology from the University of Colorado Denver in 2024.

Kristina Hasanaj is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the NCI-funded T32 Behavioral and Psychosocial Research Training Program in Cancer Prevention and Control in the Department of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Kristina’s research areas of interest include: 1) better understanding the interrelatedness among behaviors in the 24-hour day, which includes recreational sedentary screen time, sedentary time, physical activity, and sleep, and how time spent among these behaviors is associated with cardiometabolic and cancer-related health outcomes; and 2) the use of mHealth approaches in intervention work to promote healthy lifestyles. Kristina is working with Siobhan Phillips (primary mentor) and Elizabeth Hibler (secondary mentor) on projects related to promoting healthy lifestyles and the use of mhealth interventions in cancer survivors. Kristina completed a PhD in Nursing and Healthcare Innovation at Arizona State University.

Karen Llave is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the NCI-funded T32 Cancer Prevention and Control Training Program in the Department of Medical Social Sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Her research focuses on understanding the cognitive and emotional factors that influence transition readiness, with the goal of developing interventions to improve transition outcomes for adolescent and young adult cancer survivors. She currently works with Judith Moskowitz, PhD (primary mentor), and David Victorson, PhD (secondary mentor), on psychosocial and behavioral intervention projects aimed at enhancing well-being across various populations. Karen holds a BS in Health Science from California State University, Fullerton, an MPH from California State University, Northridge, and a PhD in Public Health from the University of California, Irvine, which she earned in 2024.

Jessica Powers, PhD is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the NCI-funded T32 Behavioral and Psychosocial Research Training Program in Cancer Prevention and Control in the Department of Medical Social Sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Dr. Powers’ research is broadly focused on pain, substance use (e.g., nicotine/tobacco, alcohol, opioids), and other health behavior in the context of cancer or chronic/serious illness. Her research program utilizes a multi-method approach to identify pain-related psychological mechanisms to ultimately inform development of tailored and accessible intervention approaches. Dr. Powers is currently working with Christine Rini, PhD (primary mentor) and Brian Hitsman, PhD (secondary mentor) on several projects related to pain, substance use, and cancer survivorship, including evaluating an internet-based pain coping skills training program for breast cancer survivors. Dr. Powers earned her BA in Psychology from Northwestern University and MS in Clinical Psychology from Syracuse University. She completed her Pre-Doctoral Clinical Internship at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University in the Health Psychology/Behavioral Medicine Track and earned her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Syracuse University in 2023.

Raymond A. Ruiz, PhD is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine as part of the NCI-funded T32 Behavioral and Psychosocial Research Training Program in Cancer Prevention and Control. Dr. Ruiz’s research focuses on tobacco use disparities and smoking cessation efforts among individuals with minoritized sexual orientation identities and minoritized gender identities. During his fellowship, he will work with Brian L. Hitsman, PhD in the Department of Preventive Medicine and Betina R. Yanez, PhD in the Department of Medical Social Sciences. Dr. Ruiz holds a BA from The Johns Hopkins University, a MA from Columbia University in the City of New York, and a PhD from the University of Washington, Seattle.

Shirlene Wang, PhD is a a Postdoctoral Fellow in the NCI-funded T32 Behavioral and Psychosocial Research Training Program in Cancer Prevention and Control in the Department of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Her research focuses on studying response patterns in longitudinal health behavior data. She is currently working with Siobhan Phillips, PhD and Juned Siddique, DrPH focusing on symptom monitoring among adults with cancer and using analysis methods to understand variability in physical activity. Dr. Wang earned her BA in Psychology and Medicine, Health, and Behavior from Vanderbilt University.  She completed a PhD in Preventive Medicine (Health Behavior Research) from the University of Southern California in 2023.