Research Experience
My research experience spans multiple labs at UC Irvine and collaborations with institutions across the country. My work focuses on trauma, resilience, mental health interventions, and the unique challenges faced by high-stress populations including child protective services workers, military families, and cancer patients.
Current Research Positions
Lab Manager & Research Coordinator
Trauma and Resilience Lab, UC Irvine (September 2023 - Present)
Principal Investigator: Alyson K. Zalta, Ph.D.
As Lab Manager since July 2025, I oversee multiple research studies examining trauma, PTSD, sleep, and resilience in diverse populations. Key responsibilities include:
- Coordinating multiple concurrent studies on intergenerational trauma transmission in military families, dim light melatonin onset (DLMO) in PTSD, and informal disclosure in sexual assault survivors
- Managing participant recruitment, screening 300+ participants through Research Match and Build Clinical
- Leading onboarding sessions for 15+ participants including informed consent, actigraphy data collection, and saliva sampling
- Training and supervising 7 research assistants on lab protocols, equipment use, and data collection tools
- Analyzing sleep patterns from actigraphy data for 59 participants
- Processing and quality-checking 180+ saliva samples
- Conducting systematic literature reviews (70+ articles) on cumulative trauma load
- Drafting IRB submissions and managing REDCap databases
- Contributing to manuscripts in preparation on CPT treatment outcomes and dropout predictors
Project Coordinator
Silver Stress and Coping Lab, UC Irvine (October 2025 - Present)
Principal Investigators: E. Alison Holman, Ph.D. & Roxane Cohen Silver, Ph.D.
I coordinate a longitudinal trauma study examining narrative styles and trauma responses. My work includes:
- Training AI models (ZOT GPT) to code narrative styles for redemption, contamination, agency, integration, and affective tone
- Coding 120 narrative responses from 60 participants
- Monitoring research assistant coding quality and organizing data into quantitative datasets
- Conducting correlation and multi-linear regression analyses in SPSS
- Organizing weekly research team meetings
Junior Research Specialist
Stress, Coping and Health in Context Lab, UC Irvine (June 2025 - Present)
Principal Investigator: Jacqueline Kim, Ph.D.
Supporting the DAWN (Describing Asian American Well-being and Needs in cancer) study to develop culturally adapted interventions for metastatic cancer patients:
- Conducting reflexive thematic qualitative analyses of healthcare professional interviews
- Drafting longitudinal REDCap surveys across 3 timepoints with 16 different measures
- Translating CALM (Managing Cancer And Living Meaningfully) Therapy intervention manual into Chinese
- Verifying and transcribing 9 Mandarin-speaking patient and caregiver interviews
- Coordinating with physicians to recruit eligible patients
- Literature review on psychological health in chronic kidney disease
Past Research Experience
Independent Researcher
School of Social Ecology Honors Program, UC Irvine (September 2024 - June 2025)
Conducted an independent honor thesis examining relationships between paternal mental health symptoms (PTSD, anxiety, depression) and authoritarian parenting styles in military families. Used multi-informant design with father self-reports and mother partner-reports. Performed statistical analyses including bivariate correlations and linear regression in SPSS.
Primary Thesis Advisor: Alyson K. Zalta, Ph.D.
Research Assistant
Spirituality, Meaning, and Health Lab, Storrs, CT (April 2025 - October 2025)
Principal Investigator: Crystal Park, Ph.D.
Contributed to systematic reviews on Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) for PTSD:
- Screened 355 articles through abstract and full-text review for meta-analysis eligibility
- Extracted and coded data from 40 CPT studies on predictors, outcomes, and dropout
- Organized datasets for meta-analytic analysis
- Assisted with manuscript preparation for two publications (in preparation)
Research Assistant
Decision Making and Judgement Lab, UC Irvine (January 2023 - June 2023)
Principal Investigator: Sule Güney, Ph.D.
- Conducted extensive literature review of 70+ peer-reviewed journals
- Created systematic tables for future meta-analysis
- Investigated effects of ambiguity in life choices, daily decisions, and medical decision-making
- Enhanced skills in experimental design and statistical analysis for judgment under ambiguity
Research Assistant
How Beliefs Influence Vaccine Uptake, Rochester, NY (June 2021 - August 2021)
Principal Investigator: Li Chen, Ph.D.
- Designed experimental study on religious and political beliefs affecting COVID-19 vaccine uptake
- Conducted data analysis in R to evaluate shifts in vaccine attitudes
- Developed research visualizations, tables, and written reports
- Refined R scripts for research-driven data visualization
For detailed information about specific projects, please see the Portfolio section or contact me at yuekunc1@uci.edu.