Featured Professor
Daniel McNeil, Ph.D.
Daniel McNeil, Ph.D., an Eberly Professor of Public Service and a member of the Clinical Psychology doctoral training program, has received a Fulbright Senior Scholar Award to conduct research in New Zealand during his sabbatical leave in Spring, 2010. Dan plans to study the psychological and social impact of cross cultural exchanges by focusing on the indigenous people of New Zealand called the Maori, and compare how communication and other interactions impact both indigenous cultural groups and those who visit them. Dan’s Award was recently acknowledged by President Clements, who noted that Dan’s research is an example of the excellent work being performed by WVU faculty.
Welcome
Here you will find detailed information about our graduate and undergraduate programs and our many research, teaching, and service activities. The Department consists of approximately 25 faculty, 80 graduate students, 600 undergraduate majors and pre-majors, and 5 support staff, housed in the state-of-the-art Life Sciences Building. Both our undergraduate and doctoral programs have been designated Programs of Excellence by the West Virginia University Board of Governors, and our graduate program recently received the Award for Innovation in Graduate Education from the American Psychological Association. We invite you to learn more about us by exploring these pages.
Featured Items
Psychology News & Events
What’s social support got to do with it? In terms of dealing with chronic illnesses, maybe a lot. A recent review of the social support and health literature by Lauren Penwell, a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology Program, examined the link between social support and inflammation in cardiovascular disease and cancer. Previous research has indicated that better social support is associated with more favorable health outcomes, but just how that happens remains unanswered. There is now some evidence that the immune system’s response, particularly with respect to markers of inflammation, may be affected by the social support received by patients, leading to a better or worse prognosis. These results should be interpreted cautiously, though, as there are many limitations in the studies in this area of research (Nov. 2009).
Dr. Dan McNeil has been awarded a Fulbright Senior Scholar Award for research in New Zealand during his sabbatical leave in Spring 2010. The Psychology department congratulates Dr. McNeil on this important recognition of his scholarship (Sept. 2009).
Hawley Montgomery-Downs and Megan Clegg-Kraynok are featured in an article based on their research presented at the conference for Associated Professionals for Sleep Research in Seattle, WA. Click to view article (July 2009)
