Former Research Mentees

“We had a really good relationship, especially in the film room and talking football and all that, that I’ll always treasure and I learned so much from…. nobody sees the game better than Tom Brady sees it or saw it, and I was so lucky to learn from him and his vision. No other coach will get that experience. I mean, it was incredible.”

-Bill Belichek

“…to be successful at anything, the truth is, you don’t have to be special, you just have to be what most people aren’t, consistent, determined, and willing to work for it, no short cuts….”

-Tom Brady

Dr. Janine Vlaar Olthuis

Dr. Janine Vlaar Olthuis

Associate Professor at the University of New Brunswick

Dr. Janine Olthuis is an Associate Professor at the University of New Brunswick (Canada). She received her undergraduate degree from Smith College under the supervision of Dr. Byron Zamboanga and her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Dalhousie University under the mentorship of Dr. Margo Watt and Dr. Sherry Stewart. Dr. Olthuis’ research focuses primarily on ways to increase access to psychological interventions with a focus on anxiety, posttraumatic stress, and related disorders via: (1) the development and evaluation of distance-delivered interventions, (2) the exploration of transdiagnostic interventions, and (3) the use of physical exercise in mental health treatment. She also researches psychosocial risk factors for alcohol use among adolescents and young adults, with a particular focus on athletes. Dr. Olthuis is active in advocacy for the profession of psychology in her role as the Chair of the Professional Affairs Committee of the College of Psychologists of New Brunswick.

Dr. Kasey Van Hedger

Dr. Kasey Van Hedger

Postdoctoral Fellow at Western University in London

Dr. Kasey Van Hedger is a postdoctoral fellow in psychology and neuroscience at Western University in London, Ontario (Canada). She was a research mentee and honor’s thesis student with Dr. Byron Zamboanga as an undergraduate at Smith College. Dr. Van Hedger earned her PhD at the University of Chicago working with Drs. Kimberly Rios (social psychology) and Greg Norman (social neuroscience/psychophysiology) and completed a previous postdoctoral fellowship in the Human Behavioral Pharmacology Lab of Dr. Harriet de Wit. As a current postdoctoral fellow with BrainsCAN, Dr. Van Hedger conducts studies examining the structure and function of the striatum using 3T and 7T MRI. Her daily activities involve interacting with patients with Parkinson’s disease and patients with psychiatric disorders like alcohol use disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder.