Ernest Jouriles
Dr. Jouriles co-directs the Family Research Center with Dr. McDonald. The mission of the Center is to advance knowledge on the prevention of violence, and the diverse effects of violence exposure on children, adolescents, and young adults. The research is conducted with the goal of generating knowledge that can be used to assist survivors of violence.
Dr. Jouriles has mentored and supervised the master’s theses and/or doctoral dissertations of over 30 students, many of whom have gone on to enjoy successful academic, clinical, and administrative careers. Recent students have received awards for paper and poster presentations at national and international conferences. The lab is designed for doctoral students to publish several meaningful papers by the time they complete their Ph.D.
Currently, Dr. Jouriles teaches doctoral-level courses in research methods and developmental psychopathology. He was honored as “Professor of the Year” at the University of Houston in 1998 by Psi Chi, and as a Dedman Family Distinguished Professor at SMU in 2012 for his sustained excellence in research and teaching.
Email: ejourile@smu.edu
Renee McDonald
Dr. McDonald has investigated research questions related to the adverse effects of various forms of family and interpersonal violence on children and adolescents throughout her career. In addition, she has worked together with Dr. Jouriles to develop and evaluate clinical interventions designed to help prevent and reduce the adverse effects of such violence exposure. Together with our graduate students, our team has helped advance knowledge about risk and protective factors and evidence-based interventions that collectively improve the field’s ability to respond to the needs of youth exposed to violence.
Graduate students on our team are integrally involved in all aspects of the lab’s research program, from conceptualization and design of studies, through funding, data collection and analysis, and publication. The team is close-knit, vibrant, intellectually stimulating, and members support one another.
In her leisure time, Dr. McDonald enjoys reading, cooking, making and collecting pottery, learning new things, and spending time with Dr. Jouriles at home.
Graduate Students
Rachel Chan, 2nd year student.
- BA, Psychology, University of San Francisco
Congratulations to Rachel on the successful defense of her Master’s Thesis Proposal in Fall 2025.
Research interests: interpersonal violence, interventions, health inequities, communities of color
Hobbies: volleyball, cooking, reading
Melissa Sitton, MA (On internship, ‘25-‘26)
- BA, Psychology and Individual and Family Development, Seattle Pacific University
- MS, Experimental Psychology, Western Washington University
- MA, Clinical Psychology, Southern Methodist University
Research interests: victimization and adversity, protective factors for youth following violence exposure, emotion regulation, interventions
Hobbies: baking, walking my dog, gardening
Staff
Natashya Ntuk, BARS Research Assistant
Biology Major, Southern Methodist University
Former Staff
Julia Griffin, BARS Project Coordinator
BA, Psychology, Southern Methodist University
We said farewell and congratulations to Julia in Fall 2025. Julia is now pursuing her Ph.D. at North Carolina State University.
Ryan Barbre, BARS Research Assistant
BS, Psychology, University of Texas at Arlington
Congratulations to Ryan, who is now pursuing a graduate degree in counseling at SMU.