Lab Members
Jessica Duncan Cance, MPH, PhD
Dr. Cance is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education at the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Cance received her Ph.D. in Health Behavior and Health Education from the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her Master's in Public Health in Behavioral Sciences and Health Education from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. She also received a predoctoral Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) fellowship from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Prior to her doctoral studies, Dr. Cance was a public health researcher at RTI International in North Carolina. Dr. Cance's interests are in adolescent health promotion. Specifically, she conducts research focused on how the longitudinal interaction of biological, psychological, and social factors impacts adolescent and young adult health risk behaviors such as substance use and aggression. Dr. Cance is currently working on research to better understand how pubertal timing, how developed one is compared with peers, influences risk behavior in adolescence. She also currently has a grant with NIDA examining the longitudinal patterns of cigarette smoking and alcohol use across emerging adulthood.
Anna Talley
Anna Talley is a doctoral student in the Department of Educational Psychology specializing in quantitative methods. She currently works as a graduate research assistant under Dr. Jessica Duncan Cance, investigating patterns of physiological and psychosocial outcomes across adolescence and emerging adulthood. Talley's other research interests include methodological issues in multilevel modeling, particularly those relating to complex variance structures.
Eric DeDonato
Eric started the MS in Health Behavior and Health Education in the Fall of 2012. His primary objective is to complement 6 years of work experience in health care and health promotion with formal education and research under the guidance of accomplished academics. Eric's areas of interest include health disparities among racial/ethnic minorities and sexuality and adolescence.