Sharon Pearcey

Dr. Sharon Pearcey is a Professor of Psychological Science at Kennesaw State University (KSU), where she focuses on teaching and research after stepping down from her administrative role as Department Chair. Her expertise lies in the intersection of hormones, stress, and emotion dysregulation, utilizing biomarkers like cortisol and inflammatory indicators. She collaborates across disciplines, including nursing and molecular biology, to study stress-related health outcomes.

Educations:

• PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience, Georgia State University (2000)
• MS in Applied Statistics, Kennesaw State University (2020)
• MA in Behavioral Neuroscience, Georgia State University (1993)
• BS in Psychology, Georgia State University (1985)
• AA in Psychology, Clayton State University (1983)

Research Interests: Dr. Pearcey’s work examines how stress impacts health through biomarkers such as cortisol, CRP, and interleukin-6. Her labs, including the Interdisciplinary Biomarker Lab and POSE Lab (Psychophysiology of Stress and Emotion), investigate topics like postoperative delirium, substance use disorders, and stress management strategies. Collaborations with Drs. Doreen Wagner, Ebony Glover, and Susan Smith explore stress’s role in surgical outcomes and fear extinction mechanisms.

Labs/Teams: Interdisciplinary Biomarker Lab (focusing on inflammation and stress), POSE Lab (studying fear response and cortisol), and collaborations with Nursing and Molecular Biology departments. Current research includes NIH-funded projects on stress and epigenetic markers.

Teaching: Teaches courses in Research Methods, Statistics, Psychopharmacology, Psychoneuroimmunology, and Physiological Psychology.