Kaleigh Ligus, Ph.D.

Dr. Ligus completed her Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Sciences department at UConn in 2023. She completed her Masters' degree in 2019 at UConn, and entered the PhD program in the same year. Her research focuses on health policy aimed to improve quality of life for older adults living with chronic disease.

Emily Fritzson, M.A.

Dr. Fritzson completed her Ph.D. in the department of Human Development and Family Sciences at UConn in 2024. She entered the program in 2019, specializing in health, well-being, and prevention. Before coming to Connecticut, Emily earned her B.A. in Psychology from Skidmore College in 2017. Her research interests pertain to coping and resiliency in individuals with chronic illness and their loved ones.

Sinead Sinnott, M.A.

Kate E Dibble, Ph.D.

LinkedIn | NIH Bibliography | Research Gate Profile

Dr. Dibble is currently a research scientist and instructor of medical oncology and medicine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, respectively. In 2022, she was selected to a prestigious fellowship, the Helen Gurley Brown Presidential Initiative at Dana-Farber (Helen Gurley Brown Foundation) for her project focused on longitudinal cancer survivorship experiences, concerns, and unmet needs among young metastatic breast cancer patients and survivors. From 2020-2022, she spent two years at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the Department of Epidemiology via the Cancer Epidemiology, Prevention, and Control T32 postdoctoral program (T32CA009314) funded by the National Cancer Institute. During her time at Johns Hopkins, she received the Carol Eliasberg Martin Scholarship to fund her work on providing ongoing prophylactic and survivorship care for BRCA1/2-positive women from disparate backgrounds. She also received awards from the American Society of Preventive Oncology (ASPO) and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) during this time. Previously, Dr. Dibble graduated from UConn with her Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies with a specialization in health and wellbeing and is a former student of Dr. Bellizzi. As a doctoral student, she received a grant co-written by Dr. Bellizzi to highlight and explore the pertinent gaps in genetic counseling for those with BRCA1/2 mutations in the United States.

 Dissertation Topic: Genetic Counseling for BRCA1/2 Mutations: Women’s Experiences, Preferences, and Psychosocial Outcomes of Counseling

Elizabeth Siembida, Ph.D., MPH

Elizabeth was a former doctoral student of Dr. Keith Bellizzi. After graduation, Elizabeth went on to do a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences in Bethesda, MD. She holds an M.P.H. with a concentration in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Elizabeth is currently an Assistant Professor in the Center for Health Innovations and Outcomes Research at Northwell Health. 

Dissertation Topic: A Developmental Examination of Patient Engagement and Quality of Care in Adolescent Oncology

Dalnim Cho, PhD

University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Department of Health Disparities Research

Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences

Dissertation Topic: Health Behavior Changes from Adolescence to Emerging Adulthood: A Multilevel Modeling Perspective

Alison G. Wong, PhD

Marriage and Family Therapist
Research Processes Administrator
Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA

Dissertation Topic: “Couples Coping with Cancer: An Exploratory Study of
Blame, Perceived Control, and Communication Patterns”

Cammy Kiely Froude, PhD

Medical Family Therapy Postdoctoral Fellowship
University of Colorado and St Mary’s Family Medicine Residency Program in Grand Junction, CO

Dissertation Topic: Women’s Healthcare Experiences Across the Breast Cancer Continuum: Retrospective Perceptions of Medical and Social Support Networks”

In the News:  ABC News Interview with Cammy www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttXaKpj8yYE

Jennifer H. Wortmann, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow VA Boston Healthcare System

Publication: Park CL, Wortmann JH, Hale AE, Cho D, Blank TO. Assessing quality of life in young adult cancer survivors: development of the Survivorship-Related Quality of Life scale. Qual Life Res. 2014 Oct; 23(8):2213-24.

Steven Schmidt, PhD

Assistant Professor of Psychology at Wilson College, Chambersburg, PA

Dissertation Topic: Posttraumatic Growth Reported by Emerging Adults: A Multigroup Analysis of the Roles of Attachment, Support, Coping, and Life Satisfaction

Publication: Schmidt, SD, Blank TO, Bellizzi KM, & Park CL. The relationship of coping strategies, social support, and attachment style with posttraumatic growth in cancer survivors. J Health Psychol. 2012 Oct;17(7):1033-40