Researchers

Laurel Sarfan, Ph.D. | Post-Doctoral Scholar

Contact: sarfanld@berkeley.edu

Laurel Sarfan, Ph.D. is a postdoctoral scholar at UC Berkeley mentored by Dr. Allison Harvey in the Golden Bear Sleep and Mood Research Clinic. Laurel received her B.A. in Psychology from Whitman college, followed by her M.A. from the University of Chicago. She completed her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Miami University, where her research focused on transdiagnostic mechanisms of anxiety and related disorders. She completed her APA-accredited clinical internship at VA Northern California Health Care System – East Bay. Broadly, Laurel is interested in testing transdiagnostic mechanisms and treatments for psychopathology, dissemination and implementation of evidence-based treatments, and factors that drive meaningful behavior change.  

Emma Agnew | Clinical Research Manager

Contact: emmagnew@berkeley.edu

Emma Agnew  is a Clinical Research Manager and Supervisor in the Golden Bear Sleep and Mood Research Clinic. She grew up in Los Angeles, CA before earning a BA in psychology, cum laude, from Colorado College.  She went on to graduate with her Masters in Social Welfare from UC Berkeley in 2018. Since then she has served as a clinician for several years in Seneca’s San Francisco Connections Program, working with children and families in crisis, before joining Dr. Harvey’s lab. She is interested in strengthening the relationship between  research and practice in the mental health field. 

Graduate Students

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Catherine Callaway | Graduate student

Contact: ccallaway@berkeley.edu

Catherine Callaway is a doctoral student in Allison Harvey’s lab in the clinical science program. She graduated from Harvard University in 2017 with her B.A. in Cognitive Neuroscience and Evolutionary Psychology. For the following two years, she worked with Kelly Irwin, MD, MPH and her team in the Cancer Outcomes Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Together they worked on multiple projects focused on understanding health disparities and improving outcomes for individuals with serious mental illness and cancer. Under the mentorship of Dr. Harvey, Catherine is interested in researching the dissemination and implementation of transdiagnostic treatments in the community setting for people with serious mental illness, sleep disorders, and other comorbidities.  

Marlen Diaz_BA

Marlen Diaz | Graduate student

Contact: marlen.diaz@berkeley.edu

Marlen Diaz is a doctoral student in Dr. Allison Harvey’s lab in the Clinical Science program. She graduated from UC Berkeley in 2018 with a B.A. in Psychology and Spanish Language & Literature with a minor in Education. Prior to returning to Dr. Harvey’s Lab Marlen worked at a community mental health clinic providing short-term prevention and early intervention services to adolescents and children in a school setting. She then returned to UC Berkeley, as a Project Coordinator with The Golden Bear Sleep and Mood Research Clinic. Under the mentorship of Dr. Harvey, Marlen is interested in researching the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based treatments in the community setting. She is also interested in researching transdiagnostic treatments, mood disorders, behavioral patterns and stigma.

Eli Susman

Eli Susman | Graduate student

Contact: esusman@berkeley.edu 

Eli Susman is a graduate student in Professor Allison Harvey’s Lab in the clinical science program. He graduated from Middlebury in 2018 with a BA in Psychology. Before starting at Berkeley, Eli worked as a research coordinator at Harvard with Professor Kate McLaughlin’s Stress and Development Lab. Eli’s passion for clinical science developed over the course of more than a decade working with high-risk youth and young adults in community, wilderness therapy, in-patient and research settings. Under the mentorship of Professor Harvey, Eli aims to leverage new insights into mechanisms that underlie treatment response and psychopathology to develop more efficient, effective and deployable interventions. He is particularly interested in improving interventions by drawing from the science of habit formation and contemplative practices like mindfulness and yoga. Eli is a Certified Yoga Teacher, Laughter Yoga Leader, and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow. When not in the lab, he enjoys meditation, yoga, skiing, hiking, trail running, and contact improvisation.