About Gillian
Gillian graduated from Wake Forest University with a BS in Biology and then completed a Pre-Clinical Psychology Post-Baccalaureate Certificate Program at Northwestern University. During the post-baccalaureate program, she worked as a research assistant at Feinberg School of Medicine and studied the determinants and health outcomes of physical activity participation in breast cancer survivors. As a PhD student in Dr. Krista Ranby’s Healthy Couples Lab, Gillian conducts dyadic research on cancer survivors’ and their caregivers’ health behaviors, relationship factors, and physical and mental health outcomes. Her thesis focused on predictors of physical activity interest among couples following a cancer diagnosis, and her dissertation examined distress and coping among medically underserved head-and-neck cancer and lung cancer patients and their caregivers. In her free time, Gillian loves exploring Colorado with her husband and golden retriever.
Gillian graduated from the Clinical Health Psychology PhD program in 2023. Her dissertation was entitled, “Distress and coping among medically underserved head and neck and lung cancer patients and their caregivers: Implications for intervention designs, mechanisms, and targets.” She completed her clinical internship at the VA Sepulveda Ambulatory Care Center and is currently a Clinical Psychologist in Psycho-oncology, Complementary and Integrative Health at the VA Greater Los Angeles.
Selected Publications and Presentations:
Ulrich, G. R., Nogg, K., Freeman, Z., Ranby, K. W. (2022). Effects of remotely-delivered physical activity education on exercise beliefs and intentions of active and non-active cancer survivors and their partners. Translational Behavioral Medicine, 12(5), 663-672.
Callan, S., Ulrich, G. R., Wooldridge, J. S., Roberts, S. V., & Ranby, K. W. (2022). The development and psychometric evaluation of the Partner Investment in Health Scale. Psychology & Health, https://doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2022.2112581
Ulrich, G. R., Ranby, K. W., & Borrayo, E. (2022, April). Discordant substance use and distress in underserved head-and-neck and lung cancer patients and their caregivers. Research Spotlight at the Society of Behavioral Medicine Annual Conference in Baltimore, MD.
Martens, K., Ulrich, G. R., Ranby, K. W., & Kilbourn, K. (2021). What matters most? Predictors of quality of life and life satisfaction among young breast cancer survivors. Cancer Nursing, 44(6):E727-e734.
Ulrich, G. R., Callan, S., & Ranby, K. W. (2021). Beliefs and interests in physical activity programs of cancer survivors and their romantic partners. Journal of Cancer Survivorship. Online ahead of print.
Ulrich, G. R., Ranby, K. W., & Borrayo, E. (2021, April). Cancer-risk behaviors and emotional distress in medically underserved head-and-neck and lung cancer patients and caregivers. Research Spotlight at the Society of Behavioral Medicine Annual Conference held virtually.
Ulrich, G. R., Ranby, K. W., & Borrayo, E. (2021, March). Dyadic participation in a psychosocial intervention among underserved head-and-neck and lung cancer patients and their caregivers. Podium presentation at the American Psychosocial Oncology Society Annual Conference held virtually.
Nogg, K., Ulrich, G. R., Ranby, K. W. (2021, March). The effects of cancer-specific exercise education in insufficiently active survivor-partner dyads. Poster presentation at the American Psychosocial Oncology Society Annual Conference held virtually.
Ulrich, G. R., & Ranby, K. W. (2020, April). Measuring ‘Partner Investment in Physical Activity’ among cancer survivors and their romantic partners. Poster presentation at the Society of Behavioral Medicine Annual Conference in San Francisco, CA (Conference canceled).
Varner, S., Lloyd, G. R., Ranby, K. W., Callan, S., Robertson, C., & Lipkus, I. M. (2019). Illness uncertainty, partner support, and quality of life: A dyadic longitudinal investigation of couples facing prostate cancer. Psycho‐Oncology, 28(11), 2188-2194.
Lloyd, G. R., Hoffman, S. A., Welch, W. A., Blanch-Hartigan, D., Gavin, K. L., Cottrell, A., ... & Phillips, S. M. (2018). Breast cancer survivors’ preferences for social support features in technology-supported physical activity interventions: findings from a mixed methods evaluation. Translational behavioral medicine, 10(2), 423-434
Phillips, S. M., Lloyd, G. R., Moran, M. R., Hartigan, D. B., Cella, D., Kerry S. …& Ackermann, R.T. (2017, March). Engaging breast cancer survivors in developing a technology-supported physical activity Intervention: The Fit2Thrive Study. Paper presentation at the Society of Behavioral Medicine Annual Conference in San Diego, CA.
Lloyd, G. R., Oza, S., Kozey-Keadle, S., Pellegrini, C. A., Conroy, D. E., Penedo, F. J., ... & Phillips, S. M. (2016). Breast cancer survivors' beliefs and preferences regarding technology-supported sedentary behavior reduction interventions. AIMS public health, 3(3), 592-614.