Congratulations to our ReMind Lab team member, Emily Bratlee-Whitaker for receiving the 2021 PhD Student Champion award from the Pennsylvania State University’s Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence. Emily, thrilled to receive this award states, “I am so grateful for the support the CGNE and its affiliated community, faculty, staff, and student members have given me throughout my doctoral program, and I hope to be able to pay it forward.” This award is presented annually by the CGNE at Penn State to doctoral degree graduates who exemplify excellence in the field of gerontology, as well as students whose projects align with the center’s vision to improve the lives of older adults in positive and person-centered ways.

Emily’s dissertation project titled, “Affective reactivity to daily memory lapses in middle-aged and older adults without cognitive impairment: Examining the moderating effects of personality and control beliefs about cognitive aging”, examines middle-aged and older adults’ emotional reactions to daily memory lapses and how individual characteristics impact these reactions. She is interested in continuing to examine associations among cognition, well-being, and health in aging.

There is no doubt that Emily will continue to exemplify excellence in the field of gerontology, especially when looking at her next steps! Emily was selected as one of three Future of Nursing Scholars to receive a post-doctoral fellowship award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. With this award she will continue her contributions at Penn State for a post-doctoral position at the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center, where she will also work with Dr. Jacqueline Mogle and team on the Daily Memory Lapses project.

Stay tuned on our website, and follow along with The Latest to follow the journeys of our ReMind Lab team members and the contributions we strive to make in our field of research!