University of North Texas 
People
Lab Director
Dr. Levin-Aspenson earned her Ph.D in clinical psychology with a minor in quantitative
psychology from the University of Notre Dame. She spent her internship and postdoctoral
years doing research and clinical assessment as part of the Methods to Improve Diagnostic
Assessment and Services project at Brown University before joining the psychology
faculty at the University of North Texas. She is also an active member of the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) consortium. The overarching aim of Dr. Levin-Aspenson's research is to bring clinical psychological
science into closer alignment with how individuals develop and experience mental health
problems. She does this through work on psychological assessment and quantitative
dimensional models of psychopathology, which results in the identification of empirically
supported research and treatment targets and the development of psychometrically sound
and clinically useful measures.
Graduate Students
Bella Manuel is a third-year doctoral student in Clinical Psychology at the University of North Texas. She received her bachelor's in psychology at Penn State in 2021 and master's in clinical research methods from Fordham University in 2023. Her research interests focus on the assessment and conceptualization of personality pathology, particularly with traits commonly associated with borderline and obsessive-compulsive personality disorders. She is especially interested in the application of transdiagnostic models and frameworks like HiTOP to better understand the dimensional structure of these traits. Her work explores how these frameworks can improve diagnostic accuracy and enhance clinical interventions.
Nick is a third-year student in the clinical psychology Ph.D. program at UNT. He holds a B.A. in psychology and an M.A. in psychological research from California State University, Long Beach. He primarily investigates mental healthcare barriers such as mental-health related
stigma, attitudes toward seeking mental healthcare, and measurement tools for these
constructs. Additionally, Nick is interested in the clinical implementation of HiTOP and how
it may help redress mental healthcare barriers. Some of his current projects include investigation into stigma surrounding psychotropic
medication use and how certain cultural values may moderate the impact of mental healthcare
stigma. In his free time, Nick is a passionate enjoyer of Irish/Scottish folk music and video games.
Kayla Brown is a first-year student in the Clinical Psychology PhD program at the University of North Texas. She received her B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Spanish and American Sign Language (ASL) from the University of Georgia. Currently, her research interests broadly include evaluating assessments to ensure optimal measurement of psychopathology phenotypes, specifically for populations in need. Kayla enjoys reading, learning languages, and watching others play videogames in her free time.