Brianna Speakar
Bri Speakar is a senior undergraduate Biology major at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) in the Honors program. She is currently serving as the database manager for the SMI Research Group’s large-scale longitudinal Biopsychosocial Health Study under the supervision of Rebecca Wolfe and Dr. William Spaulding at UNL. Bri received a UCARE grant for her independent collaborative research within the lab’s Biopsychosocial Health Study evaluating relationships between self-report measurement of systemic inflammation-related sickness behaviors, mood and attenuated psychosis symptoms, sleep, executive cognition, and social experience. Bri worked as a research assistant in the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience through UNMC’s summer undergraduate research program. During her position in the Gendelman lab under Dr. Bade, she conducted independent collaborative research that acclimated into a poster presentation: “Dolutegravir reduces migration and invasion abilities of trophoblasts by decreasing HIF-1α expression and MMPs activities” at the Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium at UNMC. Her current research interests include health behaviors and immune response in populations with Serious Mental Illness as well as immune response and viruses in relation to brain degeneration.
Publications, Posters, and Presentations:
Beck-Felts, K., Wolfe, R., Speakar, B., Spaulding, W., Dinzeo, T. (2023). Social Determinants of Health as Psychosis Risk Predictors. Abstract submitted to be presented at the Annual Meeting for the Society for Research in Psychopathology, Philadelphia, PA.
Speakar, B., Wolfe, R. M., Spaulding, W.D. (2023). Relationships Between Inflammation-Related Sickness Behavior, Mood, Attenuated Psychosis, Sleep, and Social Disconnection in an Emerging Adult Sample. Abstract submitted to be presented at 57th Annual Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Research Conference.
Cotton, A., Wolfe, R. M., Speakar, B., Le, T., Spaulding, W.D. (2023). Associations Between Physical Symptoms, Social Connectedness, and Psychological Wellbeing in Individuals with Chronic Health Conditions. Abstract submitted to be presented at 57th Annual Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Research Conference.
Bade, A.N., Speakar, B., Foster, E,G., Shukla, S.K., Gendelman, H.E., (2023) Dolutegravir Reduces Migration Abilities of Trophoblasts. Poster to be presented at Society on NeuroImmune Pharmacology in Delhi, India.
Beck-Felts, K., Wolfe, R., Speakar, B., Dinzeo, T., Spaulding, W. (2023). Sickness Behaviors as Predictors of Attenuated Negative Psychotic Symptoms. Poster presented at the Rowan University Psychology Research Conference, Glassboro, NJ.
Cotton, A., Wolfe, R. M., Speakar, B., Le, T., Spaulding, W.D. (2023). Physical symptoms, social connectedness, and quality of life: A multiple regression analysis. Poster presented at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Student Research Days, Lincoln, NE.
Wolfe, R.M., Beck-Felts, K.M., Speakar, B., Spaulding, W.D. (2022). Domains of vulnerability, resilience, health habits, and mental and physical health for health disparities research. Behavioral Sciences.
Cotton, A.V., Wolfe, R.M., Speakar, B., Spaulding, W.D. (2022). Health stigma, social experience, and psychological wellbeing in emerging adults with chronic health conditions. Poster presented at the 2022 UCLA McNair Summer Research Colloqium, Los Angeles, CA.
Ranjbari-Sisan, J., Wolfe, R.M., Hepburn, T., Speakar, B., Blank, J., Spaulding, W.D. (2021). Healthcare service use, help-seeking, health and wellbeing in attenuated psychosis. Poster presented at the 55th Annual Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Research Conference.
Speakar, Brianna; Foster, Emma; and Bade, Aditya N., (2022) "Dolutegravir reduces migration and invasion abilities of trophoblasts by decreasing HIF-1α expression and MMPs activities". Poster presented at Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium at UNMC.
Bade, A.N., Speakar, B., Foster, E,G., Shukla, S.K., Gendelman, H.E., (2023) “Dolutegravir Reduces Migration Abilities of Trophoblasts”. Poster to be presented at Society on NeuroImmune Pharmacology in Delhi, India.