Christine So

Dr. Christine So is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Washington State University, where she leads the Laboratory for Understanding Nocturnal behaviors and Affect (LUNA). Her research focuses on the intersection of sleep, trauma, and psychopathology, investigating how sleep disturbances serve as both causes and consequences of mental health disorders through multimodal research approaches.

Dr. So's educational background includes:

• Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Houston (2022)
• Pre-doctoral clinical internship at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Western Psychiatric Hospital
• MIRECC postdoctoral fellowship in trauma-related sleep disturbances at the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center

Her primary research interests examine mechanisms of trauma-related sleep disturbances, particularly nightmares, and how sleep problems function as transdiagnostic risk factors for health issues. Dr. So employs ecological momentary assessment, polysomnography, actigraphy, and computerized tasks to investigate cognitive and affective processes underlying sleep disruptions. Additional research areas include sleep health disparities, environmental influences on sleep, and personalized behavioral sleep medicine interventions targeting Alzheimer's risk biomarkers.

Dr. So's publication record demonstrates consistent growth in sleep and trauma research, with recent work examining neighborhood effects on sleep in trauma-exposed populations, bidirectional sleep-pain relationships among Veterans, and sleep health disparities. Her research bridges clinical psychology, sleep medicine, and public health with particular attention to vulnerable populations including trauma survivors and Veterans.

Dr. So has been recognized through a MIRECC postdoctoral fellowship supporting her specialized training. Her work appears in leading journals including Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, Sleep Health, and International Journal of Psychophysiology.

As a licensed clinical psychologist in Washington state, Dr. So mentors graduate students in WSU's Clinical Psychology PhD program, with recruitment for Fall 2025 and 2026 cohorts underway. She maintains active collaborations with researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, University of Houston, and VA medical centers, particularly with Drs. Phil Gehrman and Katherine Miller. Her laboratory provides training opportunities for students interested in the intersection of sleep, trauma, and health.

The Laboratory for Understanding Nocturnal behaviors and Affect (LUNA) serves as the hub for Dr. So's research program, focusing on how disrupted sleep acts as both precipitating and exacerbating factors of psychopathology, particularly in trauma contexts. The lab employs multimodal approaches to characterize cognitive and affective processes underlying nightmares and investigates environmental influences on sleep health disparities, with plans to expand into identifying sleep biomarkers of Alzheimer's risk.