Research Areas

  • Identifying at-risk groups (e.g., LGBTQ+ populations, perinatal and postpartum women, adolescents and young adults, brides), risk factors (e.g., social media use), and protective factors (e.g., intuitive eating, social media literacy) for eating and body image concerns.

  • Building more effective and efficient interventions, particularly using digital techologies, that can help prevent emergence or worsening of mental disorders.

  • Exploring factors that contribute to mental health disparities and developing initatives to increase cultural openness and humility, diversity and diversity appreciation, and representation within the psychological science and applied psychology.

Scroll down or click here to view a list of my scholarly works.

Research Experience

Undergraduate Volunteer Research Assistant, APPEAR Research Lab, Northeastern University

April 2017 - July 2020

PI: Rachel Rodgers, PhD, FAED

I began working in the APPEAR lab as a volunteer undergraduate research assistant in my junior year at Simmons. I began my work with APPEAR assisting ongoing studies with recruitment before launching my own study, a systematic review of the literature on body image among LGB+ and queer men. The systematic review was published in the journal Body Image in 2021.


Student Researcher, Research in Personality Course, Simmons University

Sept. 2019 - Dec. 2019

PI: Gregory Feldman, PhD

My peers and I designed a research study with the support of our professor to evaluate the effects of one of three different leisure activities (music listening, mobile phone use, meditation) on self-report (e.g., mood, self-esteem) and physiological outcomes (e.g., heart rate variability).

Undergraduate Research Intern, Atopic Dermatitis Multidisciplinary Center

Sept. 2019 - Mar. 2020

PI: Jennifer Lebovidge, PhD

I participated in a field-based research internship (unfortunately interrupted by the 2020 pandemic) at Boston Children’s Hospital’s Atopic Dematitis Multidisciplinary Center, assisting with data collection, cleaning, and preparaton for an experimental study exploring the effectiveness of a parent handbook internvention on symptom severity and quality of life for children with atopic dermatitis.

Clinical Research Assistant II, Laboratory for Affective and Translational Neurosciencem McLean Hospital

June 2020 - July 2021

PI: Diego Pizzagalli, PhD

I collaborated with the PI, postdoctoral fellows, and research assistants to manage two NIH-funded, multi-site neuroimaging studies (P50MH119467, UH3 MH109334) examining approach-avoidance decision-making (fMRI, EMA) and cross-species neurophysiological markers of reward and cognitive control (EEG). My duties included participant recruitment, consent, EKGs, EEG and biological sample collection, equipment troubleshooting, protocol management, and IRB compliance, alongside administrative tasks such as scheduling, expense tracking, medication ordering, and training new personnel. I also co-led the lab’s inclusion initiatives, developing outreach and recruitment strategies and facilitating monthly meetings that advanced our goals.

Graduate Research Assistant, APPEAR Research Lab, Northeastern University

Sept. 2021 - August 2022

PI: Rachel Rodgers, PhD, FAED

I returned to Northeastern as a master’s student in 2021, collaborating with the PI to launch two studies. The first was a longitudinal investigation of wedding-related disordered eating and body image, collecting monthly surveys up to 12 months pre-wedding and one month post-wedding. The second was an experimental study where undergraduates were randomized to follow Instagram accounts promoting either: a) body-positive, b) conventional beauty , or c) travel content for two weeks. We are currently analyzing qualitative and quantiative data from that study.

Doctoral Student Research Assistant, APPEAR Research Lab

Sept. 2022- Present

PI: Rachel Rodgers, PhD, FAED

I began the PhD in Counseling Psychology program in Fall 2022 and continued working with the APPEAR team. As a doctoral student, my primary research has focused on developing and testing digital single-session interventions (SSIs) for eating and body image concerns, with an emphasis on tailoring these interventions for specific at-risk populations. Together with external collaborators, undergraduates, and my PI, I developed and piloted a digital intuitive eating SSI. I assisted two doctoral students as they adapted my SSI content for different groups. I am currently supervising and mentoring several undergraduate and graduate students.

Peer-Reviewed Publications

  1. Rodgers, R.F., Nowicki. G.P., Wertheim, E., Paxton, S. (2025). Perceived effects of body positive social media content and correlations with trait body image. Eating Behaviors. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2025.101987  

  2. Kuhn, M., Palermo, E.H., Pagnier, G., Blank, J.M., Steinberger, D.C., Long, Y., Nowicki, G.P., Cooper, J., Treadway, M.T., Frank. M.J., Pizzagalli, D.A. (2025). Computational phenotyping of effort-based decision making in unmedicated adults with remitted depression. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsc.2025.02.006 

  3. Linton, S.R.*, Lees, T.*, Iturra-Mena, A., Kangas, B.D., Nowicki, G., Lobien, R., Vitaliano, G., Bergman, J., Carlezon, W.A., Pizzagalli, D.A. (2024). Behavioral and neurophysiological signatures of cognitive control in humans and rats. International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijnp/pyae050 [*Equal contributions] 

  4. Rodgers, R.F. & Nowicki, G.P. (2024). #Thisis40: Body image among adult women who post selfies. Journal of Women & Aging. https://doi.org/10.1080/08952841.2024.2347712  

  5. Rodgers, R.F., Hewett, R. & Nowicki, G.P. (2024). A sociocultural model of the relationships between social media use and body image in midlife women. Eating Behaviors, 53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2024.101867 

  6. Nowicki, G.P. & Rodgers, R.F. (2024). Pressures to be “Shedding for the Wedding”: An evaluation of the tripartite influence model of disordered eating among engaged women. Eating Behaviors, 52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2024.101849 

  7. Rodgers, R.F. & Nowicki, G.P. (2024). #mybestmidlife: Profiles of photo-based social media use and body image among midlife women. Body Image, 48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2023.101646 

  8. Nowicki, G. P., Marchwinski, B., O’Flynn, J., Griffiths, S., Rodgers, R.F. (2022). Body image and associated factors among sexual minority men: A systematic review. Body Image, 43, 154–169. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2022.08.006   

  9. O’Flynn, J., Nowicki, G.P., Laveway, K., Gordon, A., Rodgers, R.F. (2022) Towards inclusivity: A systematic review of the conceptualization of sexual minority status and associated eating disorder outcomes. International Journal of Eating Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23830 

  10. Folorunso, O.O., Burns White, K., Alonso-Caraballo, Y., Nowicki, G.P., Olson, E.A., Pizzagalli, D.A., Carlezon, W.A., Ressler, K.J., Chartoff, E.H. (2022). Building an intentional and impactful summer research experience to increase diversity in mental health research. Neuropsychopharmacology. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-022-01461-8  

Selected Conference Presentations

  1. Nowicki, G.P. (2025, June). Developing a single-session intuitive eating intervention [symposium presentation]. In One Session, Many Possibilities: The Case for Single-Session Interventions in Eating Disorders Treatment (A.C. Smith, Chair), presented at the 5th International Single-Session Therapies Conference in Chicago, Il, USA.  

  2. Nowicki, G.P., Haggerty, M., Nett, S., Smith, Arielle C., Schleider, J.L., Rodgers, R.F. (2025, May). Piloting a Digital Single-Session Intuitive Eating Intervention: Preliminary Results and Future Directions. [Paper presentation]. International Conference on Eating Disorders (ICED) 2025, San Antonio, TX, USA.  

  3. Nowicki, G.P., Haggerty, M., Nett, S., Rodgers, R.F. (2025, April). Targeting Co-morbid Anxiety and Depression in an Online Single-session Intervention Promoting Intuitive Eating Among Young Adults. [Poster presentation]. Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) 2025 Conference, Las Vegas, NV, USA.  

  4. Nowicki, G.P., Laveway, K., Cox, M., Cunha, I., Rodgers, R.F. (2024, November). If You Built It, They Will Come: Creating Digital Tools to Prevent and Treat Eating Disorders and Body Image Concerns. [Oral presentation session]. Massachusetts Psychological Association (MPA) Annual Meeting, Norwood, MA, USA.  

  5. Ramirez, T.R., Braga, M. Nowicki, G.P., Chavies, N.R., Carr, S.J., Scheman, N., Crossing, A.E. (2024, November). ROADMAP: A Summer Mentored Research Program for Underrepresented Undergraduate Scholars in Psychology. [Poster presentation]. Massachusetts Psychological Association (MPA) Annual Meeting, Norwood, MA, USA.  

  6. Palermo, E. H., Fisher, H., Blank, J. M., Anderson, C. Bogdanov, M., Steinberger, D., Long, Y., Nowicki, G. P., Smith, G. W., Webb, C. A., Kuhn, M. K., & Pizzagalli, D.A. (2024, November). Characterizing Emotional Dynamics in Remitted Depression: A network Approach Using Ecological Momentary Assessment. [Poster presentation]. Special Interest Group Expo, Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies 58th Annual Convention, Philadelphia, PA, USA.  

  7. Lees, T., Der-Avakian, A., Barnes, S.A., Linton, S.R., Iturra-Mena, A., Kangas, B.D., Nowicki, G.P., Lobien, R., Vitaliano, G., Bergman, J., Carlezon, W.A., Pizzagalli, D.A. Neurophysiological and behavioral signatures of reward learning and responsiveness are conserved across humans and rats. [Poster presentation]. 63rd Annual meeting of the Society for Psychophysiological Research, Prague, Czech Republic. 

  8. Nowicki, G.P. & Rodgers, R.F. (2024, June). The impact of body image coping skills on wedding-related disordered eating over time among women: the moderating role of sexual orientation. [Poster presentation]. Appearance Matters 10 Conference, Bristol, United Kingdom.  

  9. Palermo, E., Kuhn, M., Blank, J., Long, Y., Nowicki, G.P., Webb, C.A., Pizzagalli, D.A. (2024, April). The association between emotional reactivity to an in-laboratory stressor and emotional variability in daily life varies based on depression history.[Poster Presentation]. Anxiety and Depression Association of America 2024 Conference, Boston, MA, USA.  

  10. Nowicki, G.P., & Rodgers, R.F. (2024, March). Disordered eating among brides: Investigating pre- and post-wedding eating pathology and body image. [Poster presentation]. International Conference on Eating Disorders 2024, New York, USA.  

  11. Turner, E. Nowicki, G.P., Paltin, D., Wan Isa, I. McDaniel, M., Ayegba, E., Treichler, E. (2023, November). Mental illness stigma among psychology trainees with lived experience. [Poster presentation]. Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) 2023 Conference, Seattle, WA, USA.  

  12. Nowicki, G.P., Navarrete, C., Rodgers, R.F. (2023, September). "Shedding for the wedding" for whom? An evaluation of the tripartite influence model of disordered eating among women planning a wedding. [Poster presentation]. Eating Disorders Research Society (EDRS) 2023 Meeting, Boston, MA, USA.   

  13. Nowicki, G.P., Navarrete, C., Rodgers, R.F. (2023, June). Wedding-related body image through the lens of the tripartite influence model. [Oral presentation]. International Conference on Eating Disorders (ICED) 2023, Body Image Special Interest Group Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., USA.  

  14. Nowicki, G.P., Cornell-Rath, K., Rodgers, R.F. (2022, December 3). Social media literacy, body image, and appearance comparison among college women [Poster presentation]. Massachusetts Psychological Association (MPA) Annual Meeting, Norwood, MA, USA.  

  15. Nowicki, G.P., Schroder, H.S., Lamontagne, S.J., Lobien, R., Linton, S.R., Breiger, M., Pizzagalli, D.A. (2021, April 21) RDoC in action: The role of dopamine on cognitive control performance across multiple units of analysis [Poster presentation]. Harvard Psychiatry Research Day 2021, Virtual.  

Book Chapters

  1. Rodgers, R.F., & Nowicki, G.P. (2024). Body shame and gender. In E. Vanderheiden & C. H. Mayer (Eds.), Shame and Gender in Transcultural Contexts. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-54593-1_3

  2. Rodgers, R.F., Nowicki, G.P, & Hewett, R.. (anticipated publication 2026). Body image in midlife and older individuals. In T. Tyla & V. Swami (Eds.), Handbook of Diversity in Body Image. Elsevier.

I lived in multiple countries with my family as a child, which gave me a deep appreciation for other cultures. Traveling to academic conferences, learning about the vast world around me, and meeting new colleagues from different countries is one of my favorite things about being a research scientist.

My ultimate goal would be to have my research take me to every inhabited continent, and I hope to add new pins to the map on the left each year.