Wendy Hadley, PhD
RoAR Lab Director
Julie and Keith Thomson Faculty Chair
HEDCO Clinic Director
Associate Professor
Dr. Hadley received her degree in clinical child psychology and behavioral medicine from the University of Memphis in 2003. She completed her internship and postdoctoral fellowship within the Brown University Clinical Consortium. Dr. Hadley then joined the pediatric psychology faculty at Hasbro Children’s Hospital in 2005. She worked with a variety of pediatric patients and their families, including those affected by cancer, HIV, feeding disorders, cardiac issues, and overweight/obesity prior to coming to the U of O.
Dr. Hadley conducts research on adolescent risk behaviors including the prevention of substance use and sexual risk behaviors, and adolescent weight management. She has published over 40 peer authored papers in this domain and has served as principle Investigator or Co-Investigator on over 20 NIH funded grants. Funding agencies have included the national Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development and the National Institute on Drug Abuse. In her role as a clinician, she has trained over one-hundred pre-doctoral, doctoral, and post-doctoral trainees.
Dr. Hadley joined the faculty in the College of Education at the University of Oregon as the Julie and Keith Thomson Faculty Chair and HEDCO Clinic Director in 2019. She is also an Associated Professor in the Department of Counseling Psychology and Human Services.
Anna Cecilia McWhirter, PhD
Psychologist Resident, David and Nancy Petrone Post-Doctoral Fellow
Anna Cecilia is a psychologist resident in the RoAR Lab and recently graduated from the School Psychology doctoral program at the University of Oregon with a specialization in Spanish Language Psychological Services and Research. Anna Cecilia completed her pre-doctoral internship at Western Youth Services in Southern California. There, she worked with Latinx children, adolescents and families providing individual and family therapy, psychodiagnostic testing, and consultation services in English and Spanish. Anna Cecilia is a “Triple Duck” having also received her Masters of Education in Counseling, Family, and Human Services with a specialization in Prevention Science, and her bachelor’s degree in Ethnic Studies at the University of Oregon.
Anna Cecilia has extensive experience working with children and families. Prior to her doctoral program, she provided teaching and support services for the Lane County Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) nutritional program. During graduate school, Anna Cecilia provided therapy and assessment services, facilitated parenting groups, and conducted home visitations and assessments for various research projects at the University of Oregon’s Child and Family Center, Prevention Science Institute, and HEDCO clinic. Anna Cecilia’s research and clinical interests include promoting family empowerment through effective and culturally appropriate parenting interventions and parent training, child and adolescent behavior management strategies, and enhancing family mental and physical health and wellbeing.
Jaclyn Bogner, MS
Doctoral Candidate, Counseling Psychology
Jaclyn is a fifth-year counseling psychology PhD candidate in the RoAR Lab. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Maine, Jaclyn took time off before graduate school to gain additional clinical and research experience. She worked at a transitional group home for individuals with severe and persistent mental illness and later served as a research coordinator at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center where she conducted a range of research and clinical tasks.
Jaclyn’s research interests broadly focus on emotion regulation and mental health outcomes in adolescents. Her dissertation examines the relationship between resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia (a biological indicator of emotion regulation) and mental health challenges in early adolescents. In her free time, Jaclyn enjoys listening to podcasts, experimenting in the kitchen, and exploring nature with her dog, Copper.
Daschel (Dash) Franz, MEd, MS
Doctoral Candidate, Counseling Psychology
Dash is a fourth-year counseling psychology PhD candidate in the RoAR lab. Dash completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Oregon in Eugene where she majored in Human Physiology and minored in Biochemistry and South Asian Studies. Dash also received her Master of Education in Prevention Science at the University of Oregon. Prior to entering the counseling psychology program, Dash worked as a research assistant at Oregon Health and Science University and the Portland VA Health Care System. She later served as the school-based prevention coordinator for Lane County Public Health.
Broadly, Dash is interested in studying the relationships of substance use and mental health with emotion regulation processes , with particular interest in identifying the mechanisms for substance use and mental health differences in these processes. Apart from her research, Dash enjoys reading, watching soccer, cats, and teaching spin classes.
Hillary Aguilar-Ruano, BA
Doctoral Student, Counseling Psychology
Hillary is a first-generation Latina and second-year counseling psychology doctoral student in the RoAR lab. She completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology with minors in Spanish and Social Work at Saint Xavier University in Chicago, IL. During this time she worked in two research labs and volunteered with community mental health projects.Post graduation she returned to her home state, Minnesota, and worked as a behavior therapist for various companies in the Twin Cities area providing interdisciplinary treatment to clients in home, in clinics, in school, and in community environments. With a focus on ABA and IBI therapy, Hillary worked with clients ages 3 to 25 with varying diagnoses an sociocultural backgrounds.Hillary’s future research and clinical interests include continued work with kids/young adults, trauma, improving family/community knowledge on mental health, behavior management strategies, and emotion regulation. Outside of academic and professional life Hillary enjoys cooking, fitness, training in MMA, movie/vintage item collecting, and adventuring to new places.