Alana Castle is a Master of Public Health Student in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, graduating in December of 2024. She has served as the Research Project Assistant for two NIH-funded studies at the Women’s Biobehavioral Health Laboratory, the MsBrain2 Study (P.I.s Dr. Rebecca Thurston and Dr. Pauline Maki) and the RISE Study (P.I. Dr. Karen Jakubowski), since 2021. Alana obtained her BSc in Psychology and certificates in Global Health and the Conceptual Foundations of Medicine from the University of Pittsburgh.

Her research interests include women’s health and psychiatric epidemiology, particularly the influence of psychosocial factors (e.g., trauma, adversity) on mental and physical health outcomes over the life course. Alana is also particularly interested in the influence of psychological well-being, including life satisfaction and self-compassion, on physical health outcomes. She is actively seeking opportunities in women’s health research following the completion of her graduate degree in Epidemiology.