Dr. Igor Yakovenko is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Calgary and a licensed clinical psychologist. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Calgary, a clinical residency at Yale University, and a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Alberta. His research focuses on the features and determinants of substance use and behavioural addictions, including disordered gambling and video gaming, and on the co-occurrence of addiction with other psychiatric disorders. A major goal of his work is to account for real-world conditions of mental health treatment, such as frequent comorbidity, in order to inform clinical guidelines and integrated care for addiction and mental health. Dr. Yakovenko is an active member of the Canadian Research Initiative in Substance Matters (CRISM), where his work includes evidence-based public health interventions for cannabis use and online platforms that improve access to substance use treatment.
Jan completed his master's in counselling psychology at McGill University and is now completing his Ph.D. His chief clinical and research interest is the pathology of disordered video gaming, in particular defining the profile of a healthy gamer, since what separates healthy from unhealthy gaming is still unclear. Before psychology, Jan spent eight years in engineering consulting. His past experience ranges from yoga and architectural and engineering design to flying aircraft and helping map the fruit fly brain.
Jenna completed her B.Sc. at Mount Saint Vincent University and an M.Sc. in psychiatric research, and is now completing her Ph.D. in clinical psychology. Her research uses electroencephalography (EEG) to identify potential biomarkers for psychosis, and seeks a better understanding of the relationships between addiction, trauma and psychosis. Outside of work Jenna likes to crochet, read and spend time with her family.
Eli completed his B.A. in Psychology at the University of British Columbia, where he wrote his undergraduate thesis on effort exertion in pursuit of rewards in bipolar and hypomanic individuals under the supervision of Dr. Luke Clark at the UBC Centre for Gambling Research. He has also worked as a research assistant with Dr. Lena Quilty at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health investigating personality differences across the spectrum of gambling involvement. Eli’s research interests lie in the role played by cognitive distortions in the etiology and maintenance of addictive disorders such as Gambling Disorder, as well as identifying the factors that contribute to high comorbidity between anxiety disorders and addictive disorders.
Angela completed her B.Sc. at McGill University, where she wrote her undergraduate theses on (1) eating disorders and addictive behaviours and (2) interventions that reduce attractiveness bias. Her primary research interests revolve around how different social factors relate to addiction and addictive behaviours. In her free time, she likes discovering new restaurants, live music and trying new crafts.
Alfie is the lab coordinator. He holds a Bachelor of Psychology from Dalhousie University, where he completed an honours project with Jan Slattery and Dr. Yakovenko on physiological and emotional indicators of rage quitting during video game play. Outside of the lab, he plays tennis and badminton.
