Dr. Diane Gooding – Information for Prospective Graduate Students
Website: drdianecgooding.com
Current research: Most of my past work has been in the area of psychotic disorders, and risk for psychotic disorders, especially schizophrenia. I am still engaged in this work, though mostly through collaborations. My current work at UW-Madison centers around detecting risk for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, biomarkers, and access to testing for underserved and under-included groups (particularly Blacks/African American and American Indian/Alaska Native communities).
Gleason, C.E., Zuelsdorff, M., Gooding, D.C., Kind AJK, Johnson AL, James TT, Lambrou NH, Wyman MF, Ketchum FB, Gee A, Johnson SC, Bendlin BB, Zetterberg H. (2021). Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers in Black and non-hispanic White cohorts: A contextualized review of the evidence. Alzheimer’s & Dementia, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.12511
Gooding, D.C., Carter, F.P., Umucu, E., Van Hulle, C.A., Lewis, J.P., Zuelsdorff, M., Bouges, S., James, T.T., Salazar, H., Floyd, L., Bester, J., & Gleason, C.E. (2024). Factors affecting the willingness of African-American and American Indian/Alaska Native communities to engage in genetic and biomarker research: The UBIGR Study. Biomarkers in Neuropsychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bionps.2024.100090
Fischer, B., Van Hulle, C.A., Langhough, R., Norton, D., Zuelsdorff, M., Gooding, D.C., Wyman, M.F., Johnson, A., Lambrou, N., James, T., Bouges, S., Carter, F.P., Salazar, H., Kirmess, K., Holubasch, M., Meyer, M., Venkatesh, V., West, T., Verghese, P., Yarasheski, K., Carlsson, C.M., Johnson, S.C., Asthana, S., & Gleason, C.E. (2023). Plasma Aβ42/40 and cognitive variability are associated with cognitive function in African Americans: Findings from the AA-FAIM cohort. Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions. 9:e12414 https://doi.org/10.1002/trc2.12414
Communication Prior to Applying: Due to time constraints as well as reasons of fairness and equity, I prefer not to hold video calls, meetings, or have long email exchanges with prospective students prior to the application process. Once the application due date has passed, I screen applications and make a shortlist. If you are on the shortlist, I will eventually contact you. If you have questions about completing or submitting the UW Madison Psychology Department application itself, the best person to contact is our graduate coordinator, Kevin Belt, via email: kbelt@psych.wisc.edu.
Areas I’m Willing to Advise Students in: I’m happy to advise students in clinical psychology. I am available as a co-mentor in other areas in psychology such as developmental or biological psychology if that area better suits your educational needs. If you are interested in a co-mentoring arrangement, this will require that both myself and another relevant faculty member be willing to assume mentorship of the same student.
How I Evaluate Applicants: The Psychology Department has adopted a holistic evaluation process, which considers various ways in which students’ application materials may demonstrate excellence and a strong likelihood to thrive in graduate school. In addition, I also assess whether the applicant has a strong likelihood of thriving in my lab and working as part of a dynamic collaborative group.
Academic preparation: High grades are not enough. What type of coursework did the applicant enroll in? What skills do they have, such as quantitative (statistics, calculus), language (bilingual?), computer sciences (programming?)?
Research preparation: Nearly all successful applicants to my lab have had previous research experience as a research assistant. More competitive applicants have typically also conducted some type of independent research, such as a senior thesis, post-bacclaureate project, summer independent research project, etc. Did you work with animals, children, adults? Typically developing or atypical populations? Not every applicant has the same opportunity for research experience. What did you learn from your research experience? What skills have you developed? That’s actually more important to me than the area of research that you were involved in.
Personal statement: I look very closely at applicants’ personal statements. What did the applicant choose to write about? Why are they applying to our program? How well do their interests for graduate study in Psychology align with what my lab currently works on?
Other Information for Prospective Applicants: At times the Clinical Program has additional application requirements for applicants who are being considered for further evaluation. This may include a videotaped interview.