{"id":2256,"date":"2015-05-11T18:20:00","date_gmt":"2015-05-11T22:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/med.sites.unc.edu\/psych\/oasis\/research\/research-staff-1\/former-staff\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T13:51:35","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T18:51:35","slug":"former-staff","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/oasis\/research\/staff\/former-staff\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Staff"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
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Christian Santos, B.S.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Christian earned his Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Penn State University, driven by a longstanding passion for supporting others and a deep commitment to the field of mental health. Following graduation, he gained valuable clinical experience as both an Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapist and a Substance Use Counselor. These roles provided him with firsthand exposure to a range of mental health conditions, including Autism Spectrum Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Substance Use Disorders, and Schizophrenia. His work as a substance use counselor sparked an interest in treatment and research fields. This led him to a research position at the University of Pennsylvania, where he contributed to a clinical drug trial focused on treating individuals with substance use disorders.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

He is enthusiastic about advancing his research career and broadening his expertise in mental health and worked as a Clinical Research Coordinator for PRIME from 2025 – 2026. Christian remains dedicated to deepening his knowledge and contributing meaningfully to the treatment and understanding of mental health conditions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Daphney Bryan, B.S., MBS<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"DaphneyDaphney was born and raised in Miami, Florida. She attended the University of South Florida and received her Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences with a minor in Public Health. During her undergraduate career, Daphney participated in an NIH-funded research program at the University of Florida. Her research study focused on the production of Interleukin-1 Beta in hypoxic gestation fetal sheep. This opportunity deepened her desire for research and medicine. Daphney then attended Duke University to further her education and obtained her Master\u2019s in Biomedical Sciences. Upon graduating, she worked as a Molecular Laboratory Technician at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute. Daphney worked as a Clinical Research Coordinator for PRIME from 2023 – 2024. Currently, Daphney is attending medical school at the University of South Carolina Greenville.<\/p>\n

\n

Cecilia Sousa Pearson, B.S.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Cecilia completed her Bachelors in Neuroscience at Union College in Schenectady, NY. After graduating in the Spring of 2020, she moved to Boston, MA to join the Dana Farber Cancer Institute\/Boston Children\u2019s Hospital Pediatric Neuro-Oncology research team. There, she spent two years running their research biobank and working on a number of clinical trials. Cecilia moved to North Carolina with her husband, Dan, and Labrador retriever, Buddy, after living in the New England area for her entire life. After coming to realize she wanted to pursue a career in psychology and mental health counseling, she worked with PRIME from 2022 – 2023 as a Clinical Research Coordinator.<\/p>\n

In terms of her career path, she plans to earn her master\u2019s degree in a field such as social work, mental health counseling, or public health within the near future while continuing to work in research and then, hopefully, pursue her doctorate later on in life. Currently, Cecilia works as a Research Specialist with UNC’s Center for Women’s Mood Disorders.<\/p>\n

\n

Jenna Barbee, B.A.<\/strong>\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Jenna was an integral part of the PRIME Research Program from 2015 to 2022. She joined the UNC Department of Psychiatry in January of 2015, after receiving her bachelor’s in Psychology and Cultural Anthropology from Duke University. She worked as the manager of the PRIME Research Program, tasked with coordinating studies such as the ProNET study, and the data manager for the Early Psychosis Intervention Advisors of North Carolina. Jenna now works as a Research Specialist in the Collaborative Studies Coordinating Center of UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Karen Graham, MD<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"KarenDr. Graham\u2019s expertise is in the areas of early identification and treatment of psychotic illnesses, and her clinical work, research and teaching all focus on this. Psychotic disorders are common, often debilitating, illnesses. Her belief is that with early recognition and appropriate intervention the degree of disability can be substantially lessened. Complimenting her clinical work as psychiatrist with Outreach And Support Intervention Services (OASIS), a multidisciplinary team program treating those at risk for psychosis and those in the early years, is research centering on early recognition of at risk individuals. Currently she is a co-investigator on the North American Prodrome Longitudinal Study, a large multisite observational study investigating predictors of conversion to psychosis in those at risk for developing psychotic illness. She is also involved in studies of the mechanism of weight gain with antipsychotics and interventions to curb this. Recently she has completed an investigation of the efficacy of a cognitive remediation program to aid those with schizophrenia and significant problems with cognition.<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Kees Frelinger, B.A.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kees worked with the PRIME Research Program from 2009-2019. He joined the UNC Department of Psychiatry after working at Central Regional Hospital in Butner, NC, for two years after graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill with his BA in Psychology. He is the former study coordinator of studies such as the GeneS study and served as the lab manager for the NAPLS 3 study.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
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Dylan Grewen, MFA, CPT<\/strong>\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Dylan worked with the Perkins lab from Jan 2015 through Jan 2019 as the project manager and study coordinator of the NAPLS 3 study. He now works as a Regulatory Coordinator at the Duke Office of Clinical Research.<\/span><\/div>\n
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\n<\/div>\n
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\"\"<\/a>Nina Fierro, MSW, LCSW<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Nina Fierro worked with the UNC Department of Psychiatry as a Research Instructor from July of 2014 through 2018. Her prior work includes hospital social work, outpatient mental health care and teaching behavior modification for weight loss. Nina worked on the research teams for the DUP: Pathways to Care and NAPLS3 studies and co-runs a health and wellness class, STRIDE, at the OASIS Clinic. She was also instrumental in the implementation of Horyzons.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Andrea Pelletier-Baldelli, B.A.<\/strong>
\nAndrea graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2007 after receiving bachelor degrees in English and Psychology. After spending one year at Duke University working with children and adolescents suffering from trauma and substance abuse, she made her way back to UNC to work with individuals at high-risk for the development of psychosis. She is the former study coordinator for several of the PRIME Program research studies. Under the mentorship of Dr. Diana Perkins and Dr. Penn, Andrea spent three years coordinating and being involved in multiple research projects investigating the etiology and treatment of the prodromal period of schizophrenia. In 2011, Andrea left North Carolina to attend the University of Colorado Boulder to work with Dr. Vijay Mittal and pursue a dual Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and Neuroscience. Currently, Andrea’s interests focus on understanding social processes in individuals at risk for psychosis, with a particular emphasis on using neuroimaging modalities. In her free time, Andrea likes to read, go wine tasting, and take full advantage of sunny Colorado through hiking, running, and camping.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Joanna Regan, MD, MPH, FAAP<\/strong>
\nJoanna was a study coordinator from 1996-2000 and worked on numerous pharmaceutical and basic science studies, such as the First Episode Study and stress response study. She earned a B.S. in Psychology in 1996, her MD in 2004 and MPH in 2005 all from UNC, and attended residency in Pediatrics at ECU, graduating in 2008. She worked for a brief time in rural eastern NC as a pediatrician, then accepted a position at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta in 2009. She worked for 5 years in the Rickettsial Zoonoses Branch with a focus on preventing Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and other rickettsial diseases. She now works in the Quarantine and Border Health Services Branch, working to prevent the spread through travel of diseases of public health concern (ex: MERS-CoV, Ebola, etc.).<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Elizabeth Cook Thomas, PhD<\/strong><\/p>\n

Liz is a former study coordinator for several of the PRIME Program Research studies. She also helped coordinate the Graduated Recovery Intervention Program (GRIP) randomized trial for young adults with first episode psychosis. She obtained her B.A. in psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and her doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She completed her internship at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland. She is now a Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA Postdoctoral Fellow within the Aaron T. Beck Psychopathology Research Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Broadly, Liz\u2019s research interests include using longitudinal and mediation\/moderation models to better understand how and why people recover, developing and evaluating novel interventions for individuals with SMI, and studying how consumer-provided services foster engagement and recovery.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Christian Santos, B.S. Christian earned his Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Penn State University, driven by a longstanding passion for supporting others and a deep commitment to the field of mental health. Following graduation, he gained valuable clinical experience as both an Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapist and a Substance Use Counselor. These roles … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99519,"featured_media":0,"parent":2223,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-2256","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","odd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFormer Staff - OASIS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/psych\/oasis\/research\/staff\/former-staff\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former Staff - OASIS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Christian Santos, B.S. 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