Hail to the editor-in-chief: valedictorian joined three research groups during her undergrad

Alyssa Georgescu had a special guest show up on poster day.

The day’s an end-of-year tradition in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behavior where undergrads showcase their research thesis projects to graduate students, postdocs and faculty.

Joining the crowd was Alyssa’s dad – he’d taken time off work and drove in from Vaughan. He was proud and Alyssa was surprised and happy. Alyssa went home that weekend to celebrate completing her thesis and undergrad degree with her dad, mom and brother.

Poster day capped a three-year run that saw Alyssa working in three different research groups – she cold emailed each faculty member asking if she could join their group after reading through all of their research papers.

Her journey started during the winter term of her second year with an invitation to join Professor Mel Rutherford’s lab. Alyssa worked on a research project that Ruth Hofrichter had started as a PhD student but couldn’t finish during the COVID lockdown. “It was an amazing opportunity that got my foot in the door when it came to research.”

Going into her third year, Alyssa wanted to focus on mental health research and clinical psychology. She credits sessional instructor Laura Jin for the inspiration. “As much as I rave about her courses, I don’t think that Dr. Jin knows how much of an impact she made on me both personally and academically.”

In her third year, Alyssa joined associate professor Khrista Boylan’s research group. She helped conduct research into suicide ideation in adolescents in the emergency room and at an outpatient clinic in Hamilton. That research led to a paper with Khrista and Hala Mahdi that’s currently being prepared for submission.

And during her fourth year, Alyssa worked on her honours thesis with associate professor Sheryl Green and PhD candidate Briar Inness. Her thesis focused on evaluating the role of hypervigilance, checking and avoidance behaviors in perinatal individuals with generalized anxiety disorder. Along with presenting that research at poster day, Alyssa shared preliminary research findings at conferences and the Hamilton Mental Health Symposium. She’ll be at this year’s Canadian Psychological Association Conference in Ottawa with updated results from an increased sample size. Another research paper, this time with Sheryl, Briar and Melissa Furtado, will also be submitted.

And if that wasn’t enough research experience, Alyssa also served as editor-in-chief for the seventh issue of Psynapse – McMaster’s annual undergraduate journal of psychology, neuroscience and behavior. The journal publishes psychology-related articles and artwork from undergraduate students. This year’s issue ran 76 pages with advanced topics and essays, infographics, precis and abstracts. Alyssa had been involved with the journal for since her first year when she created illustrations and graphics as a way to decompress from studying and writing assignments. In her third year, she was elected communications director to promote Psynapse within the department and across the university. Taking on the editor-in-chief role was a highlight of her undergrad degree and something she couldn’t have done without all the help from the journal’s executive members.

When she wasn’t in class, doing research or working on Psynapse, Alyssa was welcoming, mentoring and supporting new students. She helped out at every fall preview and May@Mac from her second to fourth years. And for the past two years, she was a teaching assistant for SCIENCE 1A03 – it’s a course that helps first-years make the transition from high school to university and prepare for the rest of their undergrad degrees.

Alyssa was nominated as valedictorian for her Convocation ceremony. She’s hoping to get together with friends on campus before graduation to take pictures in front of the arch. Alyssa still looks at the photos they took there during Welcome Week in 2021. They’d spent their first year at McMaster online because of the pandemic. “It felt a little surreal seeing everyone in person during Welcome Week. Finally getting together on campus made it worth the wait. I hope we can re-create those photos.”

After graduation, Alyssa will continue doing research on generalized anxiety disorder with Sheryl and her team in the Women’s Health Concerns Clinic at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, where she’ll also take on the role of clinical research coordinator.