News & Events
Lab News
Biological Psychology Special Issue: The Psychobiology of Dyadic and Interpersonal Processes across Adulthood
Dr. Kuan-Hua Chen and colleagues (Stephanie Wilson, Rosie Shrout, and Julianne Holt-Lunstad) are co-guest-editing a special issue for Biological Psychology featuring the psychobiology of dyadic and interpersonal processes across adulthood. Please consider submitting your letter of intent by Nov. 15, 2024! For more details, see HERE.
2024 GSA Symposium Featuring Research Using Technology to Study Dementia Care Dyads
A symposium chaired by Dr. Kuan-Hua Chen, highlighting recent technological advancements in studying dementia care dyads, has been accepted for the 2024 meeting of the Gerontological Society of America (GSA). The symposium will feature presentations by Dr. Christopher Fagundes (Rice University), Dr. Neil Thomas (University of Ottawa), Dr. Lyndsey Miller (Oregon Health & Science University), and Dr. Rashelle Hoffman (Creighton University).
Dr. Chen spoke in the 2024 Meeting of the Association of Psychological Science (APS)
On May 24, 2024, Dr. Chen shared his journey in developing dyadic wearables to study "time spent together (physical proximity) between persons with dementia and family caregivers at the 2024 APS meeting in San Francisco, CA.
Dr. Chen spoke in the 2024 Chicago Consortium on Longevity Summit
On May 10, 2024, Dr. Chen spoke about dementia caregiving at the 2024 Chicago Consortium on Longevity Summit, co-hosted by Dr. Claudia Haase at Northwestern University and Dr. Joe Mikels at DePaul University.
What is the Optimal Bin Size to Compute Physiological Linkage? Ask Ahria!
Ahria's work to determine the optimal bin size to compute physiological linkage in married dyads was highlighted in the 2024 SAS meeting poster sessions and later be selected to be included in Affective Science as a long abstract. Congrats, Ahria!
Paper published in Clinical Psychological Sciences
Dr. Kuan-Hua Chen's paper, entitled "Interpersonal linkage in positive and negative emotional behaviors, emotional well-being, and physical functioning in dementia caregivers" has been published in APS journal Clinical Psychological Science! Click HERE to read!
NIH Award to study synchrony between grandparents and grandchildren
Dr. Kuan-Hua Chen and the lab have been awarded supplement support from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGHS) with $200K to study how grandparents' and grandchildren's emotions, physiology, and brains (EEG) are synchronized during dyadic interactions, and how this relates to child development, health, and risk of developing dementia and cognitive declines.
NIA IMPACT Collaboratory Faculty Scholar
Dr. Kuan-Hua Chen has been awarded IMPACT Collaboratory Faculty Scholar. Through this award, he will enhance relevant skills to conduct technology-centered and community-based pragmatic clinical trials that aim to optimize social connectedness and mitigate health declines in rural and urban aging Americans in their homes and other healthcare settings.
UNMC Diversity Research Award to study Rural Couples living with Dementia
Dr. Kuan-Hua Chen and the lab have been awarded Diversity Research Award from the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) with $100K for 2 years to study the relationships between social support and healthcare access, social connectedness, and health in persons with dementia and their spousal caregivers living in rural areas of the Nebraska and nearby states!
Nebraska Banker Association Award to Study Brain-Body Interactions
Dr. Kuan-Hua Chen and his collaborator Dr. Valia Gumenyuk have been awarded an Equipment Fund ($14,999) to enhance the UNMC MEG laboratory by purchasing a BIOPAC system to record autonomic nervous system responding during MEG scanning. This will allow the CHEN lab and other UNMC researchers to study brain-body interactions with excellent temporal and spatial precision!
Past Events
2024 SAS Symposium Featuring Recent Advances in Pyschological Linkage
Are you coming to the 2024 SAS (The Society for Affective Science) meeting in March? If so, come to the symposium chaired by Dr. Kuan-Hua Chen to learn more about how people's physiological responses become synchronized during social interactions! Other speakers include: Mr. Chen Erez (Bar-Ilan University), Ms. Olivia Jurkiewicz (UCSD), and Dr. Bob Levenson (UC Berkeley).
2023 GSA Symposium Featuring Research Using Technology to Study Emotions in Older Individuals and Dyads
This November at the 2023 GSA (The Gerontological Society of America) meeting, we had a successful symposium chaired by Dr. Kuan-Hua Chen that featured recent research advances using technology to study real-world emotions and social behaviors in aging individuals and couples! Other speakers include: Dr. Casey Brown (Georgetown), Ms. Enna Chen (Stanford), Dr. Michael AuYeung (OHSU), and Dr. Bob Levenson (UC Berkeley).
2023 SAS symposium Featuring Recent Advances in Social and Emotional Aging
This April at the SAS (Society for Affective Science) meeting, we had a successful symposium (chaired by Dr. Kuan-Hua Chen and Dr. Bob Levenson) that features recent advances in social and emotional aging! Other speakers include Dr. Casey Brown (Georgetown), Dr. Janelle Beadle (UNO), and Ms. Sangha Jeon (IC Irvine).
2023 APS Symposium Featuring Recent Advances in Technology-based Health Science Research
This March at the APS (American Psychosomatic Society) meeting, we had a successful symposium (chaired by Dr. Kuan-Hua Chen and Dr. Joshua Novak) that features recent advances in technology-based health science research. Other speakers include Dr. David Newman (UCSF), Dr. Lüscher Janina (Swiss Paraplegic Research), and Dr. Stephanie Wilson (SMU).