Psychology Doctoral Student Earns P.E.O. International Scholarship

Lydia Roos, a doctoral student in health psychology, recently received the P.E.O. International Scholarship, a competitive merit-based $15,000 award.

Given by the P.E.O Sisterhood, an organization focused on helping women around the world participate in graduate study in the United States and Canada, the international scholarship is intended to recognize and encourage academic excellence and achievement by women in doctoral-level programs.

In addition to her graduate studies, Roos manages research projects in the StressWAVES lab, in addition to her graduate studies. She researches interpersonal stress, particularly in the context of close relationships and its effects on perceived stress, physiological stress reactivity, and immune function. She considers how individual, differences such as motivations in social contexts and emotion regulation strategies impact responses to stress, and the downstream effects on psychological and physical health and well-being.

The doctoral student plans to pursues a postdoctoral fellowship to continue her research; ultimately, her goal is to lead a research team investigating interpersonal stress and health through a psychoneuroendocrinological and immunological lens. Roos also earned her master’s degree in psychology from UNC Charlotte

Roos, who was nominated for the award by the local P.E.O. chapter, is an “outstanding student and citizen of the Health Psychology Program,” said Virginia Gil-Rivas, a professor in the Department of Psychological Science and director of the Health Psychology Doctoral Program. Roos also is a past recipient of the Hershel and Cornelia Everett Foundation Fellowship offered through UNC Charlotte’s Graduate School.