Lab Members

Phillips’s interdisciplinary research is focused on understanding the determinants and health outcomes of physical activity participation and the translation of this research into practice. Phillips is a behavioral interventionist by training and has worked with data from prospective, cohort and national datasets. She has extensive training, experience and expertise in designing, conducting and analyzing randomized exercise interventions to maximize adherence and cognitive and physical functioning as well as in using accelerometers to objectively measure physical activity. Phillips has worked with older adults, individuals with multiple sclerosis, college students, prostate cancer survivors, breast cancer survivors and childhood cancer survivors. She has published over 70 articles in the areas of physical activity, aging, cancer and implementation sciences.
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Her current research interests include understanding the biopsychosocial mechanisms underlying the relationship between physical activity and health and disease outcomes; identifying the determinants of physical activity behavior change and maintenance; the intersection of cancer and aging, the role of physical activity in the primary and secondary disease prevention; and the translation of research in these areas to practice using technology and innovative study designs and methods. In her free time, she enjoys reading, running, spending time with her family and traveling.

Freeman graduated from Boston University in 2016 with a BA in neuroscience. Prior to joining the EHL, she was working with the Young Women’s Study and Adult Survivorship research teams at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. She is interested in women’s health and oncology, with a focus on improving quality of life through mobile technologies. When not at the lab, Hannah enjoys spending time outdoors, cycling and volunteering at community gardens.

Lauren graduated from Northwestern University in 2024 where she studied biological sciences and global health studies. Prior to the Exercise and Health Lab, she worked as an undergraduate research assistant in the Foundations of Health Lab where she studied how mentoring relationships and education on coping strategies combat health disparities among disadvantaged youth. Currently, she is also involved in research that investigates how mobile-based technologies can help improve medication adherence in adolescent sickle cell patients. She is interested in how mobile-based behavioral interventions can optimize health outcomes and improve quality of life for patients. 

Solk graduated in 2018 from the University of Michigan, where she studied psychology and digital studies, and served as an undergraduate assistant in the university's Child Development and Family Relations Lab. Solk began working as a research assistant/project coordinator at the EHL in June 2018 and is excited to continue contributing to research in the lab as a graduate student. She is interested in technology-based interventions that promote health behavior change. Ultimately, she hopes to provide support to individuals coping with chronic disease and treatment.

Starikovsky graduated from the University of Maryland in 2019 with a BA in psychology and a minor in neuroscience. After college, she worked for almost two years with youth multiple sclerosis and early-onset Alzheimer’s disease populations as a clinical research coordinator at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania. Starikovsky recently received her master’s degree in clinical psychology at Northwestern University and is excited to begin her PhD in clinical psychology with the Exercise & Health Lab. She is interested in creating manageable and sustainable lifestyle interventions (i.e. physical activity, mindfulness, sleep) for those with chronic illnesses.

Shirlene is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the NCI-funded T32 Behavioral and Psychosocial Research Training Program in Cancer Prevention and Control. She earned her PhD in Preventive Medicine (Health Behavior Research) from the University of Southern California in 2023 and her BA double majoring in Psychology and Medicine, Health, and Behavior from Vanderbilt University. Her research focuses on studying symptom monitoring among adults with cancer and using analysis methods to understand the corresponding variability in physical activity.