Meet the researchers

Brandon McDaniel, M.S.
Principal Investigator

Brandon is a Ph.D. candidate, family researcher, and father of 3. He is interested in the development and functioning of couple and coparenting relationships as well as implications of the functioning of these relationships for the well-being of parents and children.

As a father himself, he understands how busy you can be and he appreciates your time and participation in this research study. In the end, YOU are the one who can make a difference in other families' lives by participating in this research.

Maggie Costa
Research Assistant

Maggie is currently a Junior at Penn State majoring in Science with a Pre-Health Option, minoring in HD FS. She would like to further her studies at Medical School and one day specialize in pediatrics. She has consecutively maintained a position on the Dean’s List the past 4 semesters during her career at Penn State. She was also a committee member for the OPPerations committee branch of THON 2015.

Alex Cygan
Research Assistant

Alex is a junior attending Penn State University, majoring in Rehabilitation and Human Services and minoring in Human Development and Family Studies. She plans to further her education in graduate school and become an Occupational Therapist. She has also been an active participant in THON for the past 3 years.

Angelina Smith
Research Assistant

Angelina is a junior attending Penn State University, majoring in Human Development and Family Studies and minoring in Psychology. Her goal is to continue her education in graduate school and become a Child Psychologist. She was on the Dean’s List her first two semesters at her branch campus before her transfer to Penn State University Park campus.

Douglas M. Teti, Ph.D.
Advisor at Penn State University

Dr. Teti is a distinguished faculty member of human development, psychology, and pediatrics with many years of research experience. He was the associate director of the Social Science Research Institute, and is now serving as the department head for the department of Human Development and Family Studies. He has successfully designed and implemented many research studies over the years, as well as received NIH funding for these studies. One of his most recent research projects is Project SIESTA, which examines infant sleep and parenting across the first two years after birth.

Mark E. Feinberg, Ph.D.
Advisor at Penn State University

Dr. Mark Feinberg is a leading researcher and prevention scientist who has published widely on coparenting relationships and family interventions. He has been conducting research on coparenting dynamics for over a decade, utilizing a variety of strategies, measures, and approaches. He has a very successful track record for receiving federal funding. He is currently a Research Professor and Senior Scientist at the Penn State Prevention Research Center.

David Almeida, Ph.D.
Collaborator at Penn State University

Dr. Almeida is a life-span developmental psychologist with a primary focus on stress and coping during middle adulthood and he is a world-renowned daily diary research expert. His research interests center on the general question of how daily experiences within the family and other social contexts, such as work and leisure, influence individual health and well-being.

Jean-Phillipe Laurenceau, Ph.D.
Collaborator at The University of Delaware

Dr. Laurenceau is Professor of Psychology at the University of Delaware and Senior Research Scientist at the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center and Research Institute. His research interests focus on understanding the processes by which partners in marital and romantic relationships develop and maintain intimacy within the context of everyday life. His methodological interests include intensive longitudinal methods for studying close relationship processes and applications of modern methods for the analysis of change in individuals and dyads. He is an appointed member of the Social, Personality, and Interpersonal Processes grant review panel of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Laurenceau has been principal investigator or co-investigator on research projects funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the National Cancer Institute.