Laura F
- Research Program Mentor

PhD candidate at University of Southern California (USC)

Expertise

Neuropsychology; Clinical psychology; Aging; Alzheimer’s disease; Dementia; neuroimaging

Bio

My name is Laura Fenton. I'm a PhD student in the clinical psychology program at USC. I am passionate about understanding ways we can promote brain health across the lifespan and into old age. For example, some of my recent research has focused on associations between sleep and brain health in older adults at risk for dementia. I'm also passionate about communicating tools from therapy to the public in order to promote mental health and wellbeing! Outside of the lab, I love to stay active through running, strength training, hiking and yoga!

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

Best Practices for a Healthy Brain!

It is SO important that we as scientists communicate our knowledge to the public in a way that they can understand. Through this project the student could do just that! They could summarize research on ways to promote brain health, and present the findings through a medium of their choice (blog post, paper, podcast episode, youtube video).

Building Resilience through Science!

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) are scientifically supported ways to build resilience and cope with the difficult things life is bound to throw at us from time to time. However, most people don't learn skills from these treatments unless they attend therapy which can be very expensive. In this project, the student could research these treatment approaches and communicate them to the public through a medium of their choice (blog post, paper, podcast episode, youtube video).