CURRICULUM VITAE
Cristina Phoenix Garcia
Department of Psychology
University of Maryland, College Park, MD cpgarcia@umd.edu
EDUCATION
Ph.D. Clinical Psychology University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Aug. 2013 – May 2019 (expected) Advisor: Jack Blanchard, Ph.D.
Bachelor of Arts
May 2011
University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL
Major: Psychology, with Honors, magna cum laude
Minors: English, Judaic Studies
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Laboratory of Emotion and Psychopathology (LEAP): Individual Differences in Social
Affiliation
Principal Investigator: Melanie Bennett, Ph.D.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland
August 2013 – Present
I am assisting with the execution of a study investigating social functioning in patients with schizophrenia. We are examining the effect of diagnosis on socially regulated neural response to threat, the association between negative symptoms and neural responses to threat, and the nature of the relationship between neural responses to threat and third-party rated social skill and functioning.
Laboratory of Emotion and Psychopathology (LEAP): Centers for Intervention
Development and Applied Research (CIDAR) Study
Principal Investigator: Robert Buchanan, M.D.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland
August 2013 – Present
Researchers are investigating the efficacy of intranasal oxytocin spray as a treatment for social and affective abnormalities in schizophrenia. I am trained in transcribing these role-plays for future coding of social skills and affiliation.
Exploring the Stability and Mutability of Attention and Working Memory
Principal Investigator: Amishi Jha, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology, University of Miami
Spring 2011 – Present
With funding from various sources (National Institute of Health and the Department of Defense), we examine several lines of questioning, including 1) the nature of dynamic adjustments of working memory, 2) the effect of affective distraction on attentional processes, 3) the effect of stress on attention and working memory and how these abilities might be protected, and 4) how resilience might be increased via mindfulness meditation training. My responsibilities include preparing and monitoring research protocols for the University of Miami, University of
Pennsylvania, and Georgetown Institutional Review Boards and the Department of Defense
Human Research Protection Office; managing undergraduate research assistants; programming

G a r c i a | 2 behavioral and EEG experiments using E-Prime; administering questionnaires, behavioral tasks, and EEG tasks with undergraduate and military populations; creating and editing Visual Basic macros in Excel for cleaning and scoring data; and analyzing data using Excel and SPSS.
Behavioral Effects of Mindfulness Training on Cognitive Control and Eating Habits
Principal Investigator: Amishi Jha, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology, University of Miami
Spring 2011
Funded by the University of Miami Provost Research Award, this study examined the effects of mindfulness training on cognitive control and eating habits in a non-clinical sample. I programmed a Stroop task with food stimuli and a food-related implicit association task using E-
Prime, and after piloting these tasks, I assisted with the conceptualization and execution of a study exploring the effect of mindfulness meditation training on eating habits. I participated in the logistical preparation for the eight-week treatment study, including working with the mindfulness instructor to schedule course dates, arrange class locations, and provide course materials to participants. My duties also included the recruitment and assessment of healthy undergraduate students and data cleaning and analysis.
Honors Thesis: Neurocognition, Cognitive Biases and Symptomatology in Schizophrenia
Chairperson: Amy Weisman de Mamani, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology, University of Miami
Fall 2010 – Spring 2011
I investigated whether knowledge corruption and cognitive insight mediated the relationship between deficits in verbal learning and memory and psychiatric symptoms in a sample of 72 patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. I administered tasks and questionnaires measuring neurocognitive abilities and cognitive biases, then scored and analyzed these data. As hypothesized, analyses revealed a significant relationship between recall memory and knowledge corruption; however, mediation could not be established, as there was no significant relationship between knowledge corruption and total symptoms. Contrary to hypotheses, cognitive insight did not relate to either verbal learning or memory and, therefore, could not be examined as a mediator of the relationship between verbal learning and memory and symptomatology. The results suggest that some memory abilities do relate to knowledge corruption but not to cognitive insight.
Participant, Research Initiatives Mentorship Experience (PRIME)
Chairperson: Amy Weisman de Mamani, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology, University of Miami
Summer 2010
This program was funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences Program and administered by the American Psychological Association. My independent research examined the relationship between neurocognitive variables (i.e., verbal learning and verbal memory) and cognitive biases (i.e., knowledge corruption and the confidence gap) in a sample of individuals with schizophrenia. I collected, scored, and analyzed data, and I found that deficits in verbal recall memory were significantly positively associated with greater knowledge corruption, or high confidence in incorrect information. The findings suggest that interventions that specifically target neurocognitive impairments may also improve information-processing biases in patients with schizophrenia.
Culturally-Informed Therapy for Schizophrenia

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Principal Investigator: Amy Weisman de Mamani, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology, University of Miami
Fall 2009 – Spring 2011
This NIMH-funded treatment outcome study compares a novel family-focused Culturally-
Informed Therapy for Schizophrenia to a Treatment as Usual condition. My duties included conducting assessment batteries (including BDI, BAI, DASS, FMSS, Hopkins Verbal Learning
Test) with patients with schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder and family members in English and Spanish. I also assisted with recruitment of participants, phone screenings to determine eligibility, data entry and analysis, and assisting with manuscript preparation. Additionally, I was trained in reliably coding expressed emotion and communication deviance from The Five Minute
Speech Sample (Magaña et al., 1986).
Study of Forgiveness and Health
Principal Investigator: Michael McCullough, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology, University of Miami
Fall 2008
This NIMH-funded study evaluated the effects of forgiveness and rumination on mental health. I administered writing intervention tasks and collected physiological data (impedance cardiography, heart rate variability, and electrocardiogram) on undergraduates at the University of Miami who recently experienced interpersonal harm (e.g., intimate partner violence, infidelity, interpersonal dispute). Duties also included data entry.
Genetic and Psychological Associations of Social Decision Making
Principal Investigator: Michael McCullough, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology, University of Miami
Fall 2008
This NIMH-funded study evaluated behavioral, dispositional, and genetic correlates of cooperation and resilience to betrayal. Duties included administering a group-based computer task (using E-Prime) and self-report questionnaires, and data entry.
PUBLICATIONS
Leonard N.R., Jha A.P., Casarjian B., Goolsarran M., Garcia C.
, Cleland C.M., Gwadz M.V., and Massey Z. (2013). Mindfulness training improves attentional task performance in incarcerated youth: A group randomized controlled intervention trial. Front. Psychol. 4:792. doi:
10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00792
Garcia, C.P.
, Sacks, S.A., Weisman de Mamani, A.G. (2012). Neurocognition and cognitive biases in schizophrenia . Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 200:724-727.
Sacks, S.A., Weisman de Mamani, A.G., Garcia, C.P.
(2012). Associations between cognitive biases and domains of schizotypy in a non-clinical sample. Psychiatry
Research, 196:115-22.

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POSTER PRESENTATIONS
Bradshaw, K., Garcia, C.P.
, Gur, R., Horan, W., Kring, A., Blanchard, J.J. (2014, September). A
Granular Analysis of the Relation Between Positive and Negative Symptoms in
Schizophrenia .
Poster presentation at the 28 th Annual Meeting of the Society for Research in Psychopathology, Evanston, IL.
Garcia, C.P.
, Bradshaw, K., Bennett, M.E., Blanchard, J.J. (2014, September). Delay discounting, anhedonia, and working memory in schizophrenia . Poster presentation at the
28 th Annual Meeting of the Society for Research in Psychopathology, Evanston, IL.
McCarthy, J., Garcia, C.P.
, Malik, A., & Bennett, M. (2014, May). Using technology to improve smoking cessation in schizophrenia. Poster presentation at the University of Maryland
Department of Psychiatry Research Day, Baltimore, MD.
Garcia, C.P.
, Catalano, L., Bradshaw, K., McCarthy, J., Bennett, M., & Blanchard, J. (2014,
April). Emotional responding to social affiliative interactions in schizophrenia . Poster presentation at first annual meeting of the Society for Affective Science 2014, Bethesda,
MD.
Garcia, C.P.
, Rostrup, N., Jha, A.J. (2012, October). Dynamic adjustments in cognitive control during working memory tasks . Poster presentation at Annual Meeting of the Society for
Neuroscience 2012, New Orleans, LA.
Garcia, C.P.
, Sacks, S.A., Weisman de Mamani, A.G. (2011, March). Neurocognition, cognitive biases and symptomatology in patients with schizophrenia . Poster presentation at 2011 Research, Creativity, and Innovation Forum, Coral Gables, Fl.
Garcia, C.P.
, Sacks, S.A., Weisman de Mamani, A.G. (2010, November). Verbal learning and memory as predictors of knowledge corruption and the confidence gap in patients with schizophrenia . Poster presentation at 44 th Annual Meeting of the Association for
Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, San Francisco, CA.
Sacks, S.A., Garcia, C. P.
, Weisman de Mamani, A.G. (2010, November). First-rank symptoms in schizophrenia: Prevalence and associations with source memory, knowledge corruption and cognitive insight.
Poster presentation at 44 th Annual Meeting of the
Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, San Francisco, CA.
ORAL PRESENTATIONS
Garcia, C.P.
, Bradshaw, K., Blanchard, J.J.
(2014, July). The Relation Between Positive and
Negative Symptoms in Schizophrenia: Exploring the Role of Gender and Race . Invited oral presentation at the 2 nd Annual Summer Diversity Conference, College Park, MD.
Garcia, C.P.
, Sacks, S.A., Weisman de Mamani, A.G. (2011, April). Neurocognition, cognitive biases and symptomatology in patients with schizophrenia.
Invited oral presentation at the 6 th Annual Meeting of the Atlantic Coast Conference: Meeting of the Minds, Coral
Gables, Fl.

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AD HOC REVIEWER EXPERIENCE
Psychology and Neuroscience
RESEARCH TRAINING WORKSHOPS
Meditation and Moderation
Presenter: Julia Felton, Ph.D.
University of Maryland, College Park
December 2013
Attended a six-hour training sponsored by the University of Maryland Clinical Psychology program. Statistical and applied aspects of the various forms of mediation, moderation, and bootstrapping were discussed in depth.
CLINICAL TRAINING WORKSHOPS
An Experiential Workshop for Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Presenters: Arthur Sandt, Ph.D. and Andy Santanello, Ph.D.
University of Maryland, College Park
August 2014
Delivering Brief Behavioral Activation Treatment for Depression
Presenter: Carl Lejuez, Ph.D.
University of Maryland, College Park
July 2014
Techniques in Dialectical Behavior Therapy
Presenter: Aditi Vijay, Ph.D.
University of Maryland, College Park
November 2013
Rainbow Terrapin Network Membership Training for Allies and Professionals
LGBT Equity Center
University Of Maryland, College Park
March 2014
Covered the fundamentals of allyship and advocacy for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer inclusion on campus. Included discussion of social justice, vocabulary and inclusive language, campus issues and resources, and ways to take action and get involved.
FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS
2014 - Present
2013 - Present
2011
NIH National Research Service Award Pre-doctoral Fellow (T32
MH020075) , Schizophrenia Research Training Program, University of
Maryland, College Park
Dean’s Fellowship , University of Maryland, College Park
Psychology Honoree , Office of Academic Enhancement, University of
Miami

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2011
2010 - 2011
2009
2007 - 2010
2007 - 2011
2007 - 2011
2007 - 2011
Student Research Award , Research, Creativity, and Innovation Forum,
University of Miami
President’s Honor Roll, University of Miami
Edward Pascoe Study Abroad Scholarship
Provost’s Honor Roll , University of Miami
University of Miami Dean’s Scholarship
Florida Academic Scholar
Florida Bright Futures Scholar
, University of Miami
, University of Miami
, University of Miami
, University of Miami
PROFESSIONAL AFILLIATIONS & POSITIONS HELD
2014-Present International Congress on Schizophrenia Research
2014-Present Society for Research in Psychopathology, Student Member
2014-Present Society for Affective Science, Student Member
2012-2013 Society for Neuroscience, Student Member
2010 - Present Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society
2009 - Present Golden Key Honor Society
2010 Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Student Member
APTITUDES
Proficient with SPSS 19, R, Microsoft Office, E-Prime v2, Visual Basic programming language
(for Excel), and Adobe Creative Suite.