Michele D. Levine

Michele D. Levine is a Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, leading the Perinatal Health and Behaviors (PHAB) laboratory. Her research focuses on women’s health, perinatal health, mental health, and social psychology, with particular emphasis on group dynamics, minority influence, and online health communities. Levine oversees a lab dedicated to training students through collaborative projects, data management, and clinical trial participation. The lab emphasizes personalized mentorship and aligns student interests with ongoing research tasks.

Students in the PHAB lab engage in recruitment for clinical trials, data analysis, participant scheduling, and literature reviews. Levine’s academic requirements include a minimum 3.3 GPA, coursework in psychology, statistics, and research methods, with a two-semester commitment. The lab’s recruitment process involves applications, interviews, and reviews by lab members to ensure a fit with ongoing projects.

Levine’s research spans topics like intergroup conflict, self-affirmation’s neural mechanisms, and the role of olfaction in social perception. Her recent work highlights the dynamics of online health communities and the impact of group processes on mental health outcomes. Levine has contributed to influential publications in social psychology and ecology, including guidelines for ecological conservation and analyses of team learning mechanisms.

Her lab fosters interdisciplinary collaboration, integrating behavioral research with digital health tools and environmental science. Levine’s mentorship model prioritizes student growth through hands-on experience, ensuring alignment between academic goals and real-world research challenges.