Megan Renna

Dr. Megan Renna is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at The Ohio State University and a core faculty member of the Clinical Psychology graduate program. She holds affiliations with the Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research at Ohio State's Wexner Medical Center. Her research focuses on psychophysiological mechanisms linking emotion regulation, negative affectivity, and biological dysfunction in healthy adults and cancer survivors.

• Education: PhD in Clinical Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University (2019)
• Clinical Internship: Duke University Medical Center
• Postdoctoral Fellowship: T32 Psychoneuroimmunology at Ohio State's Comprehensive Cancer Center

Research interests include:
- Neuroinflammatory pathways in chronic illness
- Mindfulness-based interventions for symptom management
- Translational research bridging psychological and biomedical approaches
- Longitudinal studies of cardiometabolic risk in vulnerable populations

Her work has been recognized with the 2024 Society for Behavioral Medicine 'Up & Coming Researcher' Award and the 2024 Outstanding Junior Faculty Award from the University of Southern Mississippi.

Dr. Renna directs the Psychophysiology, Emotionality, and Treatment (PET) Lab, which employs multi-method approaches including:

• Ecological momentary assessment
• Biomarker analysis (inflammation, cortisol, ECG)
• Experimental psychophysiological paradigms

Primary study populations include breast cancer survivors and individuals with mood/anxiety disorders.