Science Collaborative
Kelly Cichy, Ph.D.
Dr. Kelly Cichy received a B.S. in Psychology from Xavier University and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies from The Pennsylvania State University. Her research program examines the links between social relationships and health, and includes two related lines of inquiry. Her first line of inquiry focuses on family relationships in later life, where her work has centered on intergenerational relationships. Specifically, she is interested in how parents and offspring continue to influence one another in adulthood and how experiences in this tie have relational and psychological implications for both aging parents and their adult offspring. Her second related line of inquiry focuses on stress and health. Specifically, her research seeks to understand how stressful experiences involving family relationships (e.g., conflict) compromise midlife and older adults' health and well-being. Currently, she is completing a project investigating how racial differences in exposure and reactivity to family stressors contribute to health disparities between African Americans and European Americans. Cichy's research combines different methodological approaches, including videotaped observations and daily diary procedures, and offers graduate and undergraduate students the opportunity to become involved in research. She teaches undergraduate courses in Gerontology and a graduate course in Lifespan Development, and is a member of the Gerontological Society of America.
Ellen Glickman, Ph.D.
Dr. Ellen Glickman is a recognized expert in the area of environmental and exercise physiology with ~76 original, full-length papers in scientific journals, 3 technical reports and 1 Book Chapter. She is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, a reviewer for many of the top journals in her field, including Medicine in Science and Sport and Exercise, European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology and Aviation Space and Environmental Medicine. She has been an invited lecturer at numerous national (i.e., The American College of Sports Medicine, Wilderness Medical Society) and International Conferences (International Conference of Environmental Ergonomics (ICEE), Oxford University Roundtable, government research laboratories (i.e., Brooks AFB, US Army Research Institute Environmental Medicine USARIEM) and Universities. In 2001, The Wilderness Medical Society Awarded Dr. Glickman their Research Award for their Outstanding Scientist. Most recently, she has partnered with Orbital Research Inc., (Cleveland, OH) a STEM initiative, to enhance our knowledge in the area of environmental physiology with technology to better understand human physiology. Dr. Glickman received her Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh from 1989 -1995. She was part of the Department of Kinesiology at Louisiana State University and had an environmental physiology laboratory at Pennington Biomedical Research Center. In 1995 Glickman joined the faculty at Kent State University and has continued her work in acute cold exposure. She started at USARIEM as a National Research Council Scientist and continues to collaborate with USARIEM as part of the Military Nutrition Division. Finally, Dr. Glickman has been Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on numerous externally funded projects during her time at Kent State University.
Angela Ridgel, Ph.D.
Dr. Ridgel is an Assistant Professor in Exercise Science/Physiology. She received her undergraduate degree in Biology from The College of William and Mary in Virginia, a Master's degree in Biology at Villanova University in Pennsylvania and her Doctoral degree in Biomedical Sciences from Marshall University in West Virginia. Dr. Ridgel completed her Post-doctoral training at Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic. Her early work used animal models to examine the neurobiology of movement and the effects of aging on movement. Most recently, she has been interested in how aging and neurological disorders limits exercise and movement in humans. Dr. Ridgel's current research project examines the effects of exercise rate on improvements in motor function in Parkinson's disease. She has ongoing research collaborations with biomedical engineers and neurologists at the Cleveland Clinic.
Gregory C. Smith, Ph.D.
Dr. Gregory C. Smith has been Professor of Human Development & Family Studies and Director of the Human Development Center at Kent State University since July, 2001.His prior academic appointments were at the University of Rochester, the State University of New York at Albany, and the University of Maryland, College Park. He earned a doctorate in Human Development (Specialization in Psychology of Adult Development and Aging) from the University of Rochester, a master’s in Psychology from Villanova University, and a bachelor’s in Psychology from the State University of New York. His primary research focus is on caregiving issues within aging families. He has authored over 60 publications and has edited four books, including the 2012 volume of the Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics titled "Emerging Perspectives on Resilience in Adulthood and Later Life". He has received over four million dollars of extramural research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including a current R01 project titled "Comparing Interventions to Improve the Well-Being of Custodial Grandfamilies" funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research. Dr. Smith has also served as a member of numerous scientific review panels for NIH, the Alzheimer’s Association, and the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. He is scheduled to become the Editor of the International Journal of Aging and Human Development in January 2012, and is currently an Editorial Consultant for the journal Developmental Psychology. Dr. Smith is a Fellow of both the American Psychological Association (Division 20 – Adult Development and Aging) and the Gerontological Society of America. In 2006, he was named Outstanding Researcher of the Year by the Ohio Association of Gerontology and Education.