ISSR Directory

Despina Stavrinos, PhD is Professor of Psychology and Founder and Director of the UAB Translational Research for Injury Prevention (TRIP) Laboratory (www.triplaboratory.com). Dr. Stavrinos’ program of research focuses broadly on the context of unintentional injury prevention and control with a strong focus on transportation-related issues from a cognitive and developmental perspective.

Over the past decade, Dr. Stavrinos has served as PI on grants from NIH, CDC, DOT, US Army, and industry totaling over $9 million. Currently, Dr. Stavrinos is PI on 2 longitudinal studies funded by NIH. REACT is examining driving attention among newly licensed adolescents. Findings will shape policy regarding the optimal age and experience for licensure. R2DRV is evaluating the effects of mild traumatic brain injury on teen driving performance to inform clinical practice guidelines on when teens can safely return to drive. Under Dr. Stavrinos’ leadership, the TRIP Lab acquired the first SUV driving simulator in the world through partnerships with Honda Manufacturing of Alabama and the Alabama Department of Transportation. The simulator has been featured on the TODAY show and CNN.

Dr. Stavrinos graduated from The University of Alabama with a BS in Psychology (Minor in Biology), earned both her MA and PhD (Developmental Psychology) from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the UAB University Transportation Center. She has received numerous awards, including the Routh Early Career Award in Pediatric Psychology, Dean’s Award for Excellence in Mentorship, and Birmingham Business Journal’s Top 40 Under 40 in 2020.

Dr. Stavrinos serves on the Editorial Board for Accident Analysis and Prevention, Journal of Pediatric Psychology, Human Behavior and Emerging Technology, and Journal of Clinical Psychology. She is the elected Chair of the Alabama Head and Spinal Cord Injury Trust Fund Advisory Board and serves on the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies of Science Standing Committee on Road User Measurement and Evaluation and the Standing Committee on Vehicle User Education, Training, and Licensing. Dr. Stavrinos serves as a consultant for academic research and legal/expert witness testimony.

Dr. Barth is a developmental social psychologist interested in social-emotional development, gender differences in science and math education experiences, adolescent risk behaviors, children’s decision-making skills, education contexts, and neuro-cognitive development in young children. She is involved in the evaluation of a variety of education initiatives at ISSR and is affiliated with the social and developmental programs in the psychology department, where she mentors both undergraduate and graduate students. Dr. Barth earned a BS in psychology, an MS in social psychology, and a PhD in developmental psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Mr. Conaway is responsible for the management of Capstone Poll projects. His primary interests include the measurement of choice and value, the impact of the survey designer, interviewer, and respondent on construct validity, and the measure and mismeasure of public knowledge and attitudes regarding history, religion, and science.

Dr. Daquin is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice who is interested in the institutional experiences of offenders under correctional supervision and its impact on offender reentry. Specifically, her research focuses the role of mental illness on prison misconduct and prison victimization, the institutional experiences of the aging prison population, and the effects of experienced and vicarious victimization of prisoners on post-release outcomes. Dr. Daquin earned her BA in Criminal Justice and Sociology from the University at Albany, an MS in Criminal Justice, and a PhD in Criminal Justice & Criminology from Georgia State University.

Dr. Daquin serves as the statistical consultant in the ISSR Research Design and Statistics Consulting Lab.

Dr. Dunlap is a research associate at ISSR specializing in program evaluation and grant-funded project coordination. Her interests include cognitive development and issues of gender parity. Sarah earned a BS in psychology and master’s and doctorate degrees in cognitive psychology at The University of Alabama.

Dr. Gibler is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Alabama in the Institute for Social Science Research. His research interests focus on the causes and consequences of international conflict and the international factors that contribute to intrastate conflict and state development. He has written articles that have appeared in such journals as the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, International Studies Quarterly, the Journal of Conflict Resolution, the Journal of Peace Research, and the Journal of Politics, and his research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Folke Bernadotte Academy, and the HF Guggenheim Foundation. His most recent book, The Territorial Peace, is currently available from Cambridge University Press.

Dr. McCallum has served as the director of ISSR for over 20 years and is also responsible for projects conducted by the Capstone Poll. She is a social psychologist interested in social influence, social-psychological aspects of health behavior and outcomes, safety and well-being of children and youth, and evaluations of education and community intervention programs. Dr. McCallum earned a BA from Furman and a PhD in social psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Dr. Benjamin McManus is a Developmental Psychologist and Associate Professor at the University of Alabama Institute for Social Science Research. He serves as the Assistant Director in the Translational Research for Injury Prevention (TRIP) Laboratory where he manages and programs the TRIP lab’s state-of-the-art driving simulator. Dr. McManus has expertise in information processing, attention, human factors, and driving safety in a variety of populations, including workers, adolescents, individuals with developmental disabilities, and older adults. His research focus is occupational injury prevention through the identification of workplace risk factors affecting worker well-being and subsequently impacting critical safety outcomes, namely driving safety. Dr. McManus earned a BS in psychology and biology and a PhD in psychology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Dr. Parker is a developmental social psychologist whose research explores children’s and adolescents’ experiences and adjustment with friends and other peers. Dr. Parker has also been extensively involved in bullying prevention and reduction efforts in middle schools and regularly conducts workshops on these topics for students, teachers, and other professionals.

Dr. Steele has experience in education program evaluation including classroom observations, quantitative and qualitative analysis, data management and instrument development. Her research interests include faculty professional development, learning assessment and gender differences in learning styles. Dr. Steele earned her Masters in Cellular and Molecular Biology and PhD in Education at the University of Alabama.

Dr. Tober is an Associate Professor at the University of Alabama Department of Anthropology and Institute for Social Science Research. Her work focuses on reproductive donation in the US and around the world. She has been conducting research exploring egg donors’ decisions and experiences within the global market for human eggs since 2013, focusing on the commodification of human genetic material, health and well-being of oocyte donors, and meanings of family and kinship within the context of gamete donation. With funding from the National Science Foundation, she is conducting research comparing the biomedical markets of egg donation in the United States and Spain. Her book, Romancing the Sperm: Shifting Biopolitics and the Making of Modern Families (2018), explores the intersections between the sperm banking industry, the men who provide sperm, and the single women and lesbian couples who use donor sperm to conceive a child. She earned a BA in anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, her MA in anthropology at University of Hawaii, Manoa, and her PhD in medical anthropology from the joint University of California, Berkeley and University of California, San Francisco medical anthropology program.