Lab Director/PI

Val Wongsomboon, Ph.D.

Dr. Wongsomboon is an assistant professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Science at Florida State University. Before joining FSU, she completed her Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Florida and postdoctoral fellowships at Northwestern and Yale Universities. Her research is highly interdisciplinary and examines how stigma, social contexts, and evolving forms of relationship development influence health & well-being. She uses a range of quantitative and qualitative methods (e.g., cross-sectional, longitudinal, experimental, natural language processing) to study how psychosocial factors, family/peer processes, and relationship choices/statuses influence health outcomes. Her work also explores relationship formation and maintenance across diverse settings, particularly in contemporary and digital contexts, among vulnerable or underrepresented populations facing health disparities.

Current Lab Members

Elaine Van Den Heuvel

Lab Manager

I am a first-year doctoral student in Human Development and Family Science. I am also an alumna of the CARE Program and Unconquered Scholars. My research interests are resilience and protective factors, with a special interest in welfare populations (e.g., foster youth, homeless youth, wards of the court). Outside of academics, I enjoy going on trails, traveling, and getting coffee at local shops.

Josie Puleo

Graduate Research Assistant

I am a second-year master’s student in Educational Psychology, and alumna of FSU’s Psychology department. My research interests lie in a variety of areas, including motivation (e.g. self-regulation and learning), emotions, and interpersonal relationships. I am interested in working with populations that are often underrepresented. Outside of academia, I love exploring trails around Tallahassee, cooking/baking, and spending time with my cats and family.