Director
Dr. Bärbel Knäuper
DESCRIPTION
Dr. Knäuper is the James McGill Professor of Health Psychology in the Department of Psychology at McGill University.
Her research focuses on determinants of physical and psychological health self-management and mechanisms of health behavior change. She develops theory-based behavioral intervention programs in the areas of psychotherapy, eating, physical activity, and medication adherence.
AFFILIATIONS
Professor Knäuper's affiliation include the McGill Center for the Convergence of Health and Economics, MCCHE, and the McGill Research Center for Physical Activity and Health, PATH.
FUNDING
Her research is funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Canadian Cancer Society, and a James McGill Professor Award.
Research Team
Graduate students
Serena Thapar - Fifth Year PhD Student
Serena is a doctoral candidate in Clinical Psychology at McGill University. Her research focuses on mindfulness- and acceptance-based interventions to promote psychological well-being. Her doctoral work uses a mixed-methods and user-centered design approach to develop and evaluate ACTaide, a smartphone app designed to support between-session practice of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Broadly, her research aims to inform the accessibility, acceptability, and implementation of evidence-based psychological interventions. She also has interests in behavioral medicine, digital health, health psychology, and implementation science. Serena's research has been funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and presented at national and international conferences. Alongside her research, she is completing her pre-doctoral residency in clinical health psychology at the McGill University Health Centre, where she works with patients in the Bariatric Surgery Psychology Program and Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinic.
Contact: serena.thapar [at] mai.mcgill.ca (serena[dot]thapar[at]mail[dot]mcgill[dot]ca)
Learn More About Serena Thapar
Education
2022-Present | Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec.
2018-2022 | Honours Bachelor of Science (HBSc) in Psychology and Health Studies, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario.
Publications
Funding
Nellie Siemers - Fourth Year PhD Student
Contact: nellie.siemers [at] mail.mcgill.ca (nellie[dot]siemers[at]mail[dot]mcgill[dot]ca)
Nellie is a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in Clinical Psychology at McGill University, where she conducts research at the intersection of health psychology, behavioral science, and digital innovation. Her work focuses on improving health behavior change interventions and currently leads two complementary research programs: the development of an open-source cursor-tracking methodology to improve the precision of readiness-to-change assessments, and the evaluation and cultural adaptation of ACTaide, a mobile application designed to extend Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) beyond the therapy room. More broadly, her research is grounded in an interest in wellbeing and the role of nutrition, physical activity, mindfulness, and clinical practice in supporting sustainable behavior change. Her research has been provincially funded and presented at national and international conferences.
Learn More About Nellie Siemers
Education
2023-Present |Doctorate in Philosophy in Clinical Psychology, McGill University
2021-2023 | Doctorate in Psychology Academic and Professional Profile, Université du Québec à Montréal
2016-2020 | Arts Honors Equivalent Undergraduate Degree in Psychology (Minors in Behavioral Science & Science), McGill University
Funding
2025-2026 Canadian Behavioural Interventions and Trials Network (CBITN), Scholarship Program
2025-2028 Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Santé (FRQS), Doctoral Award
2021-2023 Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Santé (FRQS), Master’s Award
Publications
Siemers, N., Jamieson, Z., Gao, X., Saad, M., & Knäuper, B. (2026). Open-source pipeline of cursor-tracking for Likert-scale data collected in Qualtrics. Journal of Open Research Software, 14, 46.
Carrière, K., Preissner, C., Siemers, N., & Knäuper, B. (2026[in press]). Validation of the French version of the Four Facet Mindful Eating Scale (FFaMES-F). Psychological Assessment.
Siemers, N., Gao, X., Jamieson, Z., & Knäuper, B. (2026). A feasibility study of a novel cursor tracking software to improve readiness assessments. Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science. 1-22.
Carrière, K., Siemers, N., Thapar, S., & Knäuper, B. (2024). Proof-of-concept testing of a mobile application-delivered mindfulness exercise for emotional eaters: RAIN delivered as a step-by-step image sequence. mHealth, 10, 24.
Axt, J., Siemers, N., Discepola, M., Martinez, P., Xiao, Z., & Wehrli, E. (2023). The mind’s “aye”? Investigating overlap in findings produced by reverse correlation versus self-report. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 107, 104473.
Hester, N., Axt, J., Siemers, N., & Hehman, E. (2022). Evaluating the structural and external validity of 25 race-related scales. Behaviour Research Methods, 1-20.
Carrière, K., Shireen, H., Siemers, N., Preissner, C., Starr, J., Falk, C., & Knäuper, B. (2022). Development and validation of the Four Facet Mindful Eating Scale (FFaMES). Appetite,168, 105689.
Carrière, K., Siemers, N., & Knäuper, B. (2022). A scoping review of mindful eating interventions for obesity management. Mindfulness, 13, 1387-1402.
Shireen, H., Siemers, N., Dor-Ziderman, Y., Knäuper, B., & Moodley, R. (2022). Treating others as we treat ourselves: A qualitative study of the influence of psychotherapists’ mindfulness meditation practice on their psychotherapeutic work. Current Psychology, 42, 13532-13546.
Handbook & Book Chapters
Siemers, N., & Knäuper, B. (2026). Four Facet Mindful Eating Scale. In N. N. Singh
(Eds.), Encyclopedia of Mindfulness, Buddhism, and Other Contemplative Practices. Springer.
Siemers, N., Frayn, M., Preissner, C., Carrière, K., Di Sante, J., Beebe, A., Juneau, C., &
Knäuper, B. (2025). Mindful eating: Self-regulation strategies for dysregulated eating. In
M. Robinson, B. Meier, & B. Ostafin (Eds.), The handbook of mindfulness and self-regulation:
Cognitive neuroscience, social personality, clinical and applied perspectives. Springer.
Daniela Quesada Rodriguez - Second Year PhD Student
Daniela is a first-year Clinical Psychology Ph.D. student at McGill University. She is enthusiastic about innovative health interventions and how they can promote behavior change, particularly through accessible digital tools. She is currently advancing the development of ACTaide, a therapy-companion mobile application designed to support between-session practice of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) exercises and metaphors. Her research focuses on transforming ACTaide into a clinically-ready tool and evaluating its use in therapeutic settings.
Contact: daniela.quesadarodriguez [at] mail.mcgill.ca (daniela[dot]quesadarodriguez[at]mail[dot]mcgill[dot]ca)
Learn More About Daniela Rodriguez
Education
2025-PRESENT | Doctorate in Philosophy in Clinical Psychology, McGill University (Montreal, Quebec)
2021-2025 | Arts Honours Undergraduate Degree in Psychology, McGill University (Montreal, Quebec)
Publications
Thapar, S., et al. (2025). ACTaide: Therapist and client co-design study. JMIR Formative Research, 9, e69532. https://formative.jmir.org/2025/1/e69532
Tara Mullen - Incoming PhD Student
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Learn More About Tara Mullen
TBC...
Madeleine Hebert - Incoming Masters Student
Madeleine is a first-year Experimental Psychology M.Sc. student at McGill University. Her research approaches behaviour change from social-psychological and political science perspectives; she is examining whether individuals' adoption of a plant-based diet is facilitated by their expectations of that lifestyle's future social acceptance. In her spare time, she enjoys discovering new music, petting cats, and taking long walks around the city.
Contact: madeleine.hebert [at] mail.mcgill.ca (madeleine[dot]hebert[at]mail[dot]mcgill[dot]ca)
Learn More About Madeleine Hebert
Education:
Funding:
Undergraduate Thesis Students
Mira Saad
Learn More About Mira Saad
Contact: mira.saad [at] mail.mcgill.ca (mira[dot]saad[at]mail[dot]mcgill[dot]ca)
Mira is a U3 student completing a Bachelors of Science in Psychology. She is currently working as a summer intern funded by a SURA grant. Broadly, her interests lie in understanding the individual differences that influence the formation and gravitation towards certain behaviour change mechanisms. Additionally, she is interested in examining the theoretical groundwork behind current therapeutic interventions.
Education
2021-PRESENT | Science Honours Undergraduate Degree in Psychology
Julianne Fréchette
Learn More About Julianne Fréchette
Contact: julianne.frechette [at] mail.mcgill.ca (julianne[dot]frechette[at]mail[dot]mcgill[dot]ca)
Julianne is a U2 student completing a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology Honours and a minor in History. She is currently working on the translation and cultural adaptation of ACTaide, a mobile application designed to support clients undergoing Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) in practicing metaphorical and experiential exercises between sessions. Her interests include neuropsychology, clinical psychology and the cross-cultural outcomes of mental health digital interventions.
Undergraduate Volunteer or Course Students
Julianne Smith
Learn More About Julianne Smith
Contact: julianne.smith2 [at] mail.mcgill.ca (julianne[dot]smith2[at]mail[dot]mcgill[dot]ca)
Julianne is in her fourth and final year of her undergraduate degree in Psychology, with a minor in Neuroscience. In the Health Lab, she is working on Study 2 alongside Nellie, Lea, and Mira, where she is helping with data collection and analysis. She has a strong interest in health psychology and plans to pursue graduate studies in clinical psychology. She is also passionate about family-centred support and works at a family centre where she manages supervised visits between parents and children who are not currently in their custody. This work has further strengthened her interest in health psychology, particularly in supporting mental health and family wellbeing during challenging life circumstances.
Lea Briglio
Learn More About Lea Briglio
Contact: lea.briglio [at] mail.mcgill.ca (lea[dot]briglio[at]mail[dot]mcgill[dot]ca)
Léa Briglio is a U2 Honours Psychology undergraduate student at McGill University, minoring in Education. She is currently volunteering at the lab, and her research interests include examining the social determinants of health, notably socioeconomic and place-based factors, as well as developing interventions for youth to better address health risk behaviours. As part of her honours thesis, she is exploring the relationship between racial discrimination, sense of community by neighbourhood, and well-being among Black youth in Montreal. She is deeply committed to equity-based and locally driven research initiatives, and hopes to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology following the completion of her undergraduate degree, with the goal of advancing Canadian-focused research in developmental and mental health contexts.
Sacha Fontes