We are located in the Psychology Department at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, USA. Headed by Prof. Lisa Welling, Ph.D., this lab focuses on factors that affect person perception, individual differences in preferences, hormone-mediated behavior, evolutionary approaches to mate choice, and other aspects of human relationships. 

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In addition to internal funding sources, our research has been funded by the NSERC (Canada), the ESRC (UK), the ORSAS (UK), and the AIB (USA).

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20 March, 2026 >> Congratulations to lab EMBARK students on matching their respective residency programs! After graduation this Spring, Tannoz Norouzi will be a resident at UC Irvine's Diagnostic Radiology program, Silvana Iskandar will be a resident at the UCLA Harbor Medical Center's Neurology program, and Manasa Pavuloori will be a resident at the University of Buffalo's Internal Medicine program!

19 January, 2026 >> Our paper "Examining stress responses in naturally cycling versus hormonally contracepted women using the Tend-And-Befriend Model" by Lisa Welling and Sadie Hughes was accepted for publication in Evolutionary Psychological Sciences!

15-18 January, 2026 >> Lisa Welling attended and presented collaborative work at the American Professional Society of ADHD and Related Disorders in San Diego, CA.

12 November, 2025 >> Lisa Welling was interviewed by New Scientist.

24 October, 2025 >> Collaborative work on ADHD medication has been covered by Yahoo Finance. 

21-24 October, 2025 >> Lisa Welling attended and presented collaborative work at the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry in Chicago, IL.

25 September, 2025 >> Lisa Welling gave a public lecture at the Psychology Institute at the University of Wroclaw in Poland. The talk was titled "The Evolution of Attraction in Humans." 

23 September, 2025 >> Lisa Welling gave a plenary address at the PTNCE (Polish Society for Human and Evolution Studies) meeting in Wroclaw, Poland. The Plenary was titled "Hormones and Human Behavior: Evolutionary Insights into the Role of Hormones in Mate Selection." 

1 September, 2025 >> Lisa Welling has been appointed to serve on the Editorial Board for the journal Human Nature. 

10 August, 2025 >> The ebook based on the special issue of Frontiers in Psychology "Hormones and Person Perception" edited by Lisa Welling, Amanda Hahn, and Iris Holzleitner is now available online. 

28 July, 2025 >> A paper with collaborators at the Rochester Center for Behavioral Medicine, titled "Solriamfetol improves daily fatigue symptoms in adults with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome after eight weeks of treatment", has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Psychopharmacology! Study authors include Joel Young, Richard Powell, Anna Powell, Lisa Welling, Lauren Granata, and Jaime Saal.

8 June, 2025 >> An editorial by Lisa Welling, Iris Holzleitner, and Amanda Hahn on hormones and person perception has been accepted for publication in Frontiers in Psychology! 

4-7 June, 2025 >> Come and check out the talks being given by Lisa Welling, Kat Sheetz, and Justin Mogilski at the Human Behavior and Evolution Society's annual conference in Atlantic City, NJ! 

3 June, 2025 >> Congratulations to Lisa Welling, who was elected to serve for a third and final term as the Secretary/Archivist for the Human Behavior and Evolution Society! 

18 April, 2025 >> Congratulations to Kat Sheetz, who has officially passed her comprehensive exam! 

9 April, 2025 >> Congratulations to Dr. Lisa Welling, who was inducted into the Order of the Golden Plume! This is an award granted by graduating seniors to faculty who have "dedicated timeless and passionate commitment to student success."

4 April, 2025 >> Congratulations to lab EMBARK student Silvana Iskandar, who received the Reviewer's Choice Abstract Award at the OU Graduate Student Research Conference! Great job, Silvana!

10 March, 2025 >> Drs. Welling, Shackelford, and Delecce have been awarded an Oakland University Research Excellence Fund grant valued at $15,000 to investigate factors impacting human sperm competition!

5 March, 2025 >> Dr. Lisa Welling has been awarded Oakland University 2025 Faculty Research Fellowship grant valued at $10,000 to investigate the association between competition-induced testosterone increases and mate preferences!

27 February, 2025 >> Congratulations to Dr. Lisa Welling on being awarded a sabbatical for Fall 2025! 

16-19 January, 2025 >> Dr. Lisa Welling joined a fantastic group of clinicians from the Rochester Center for Behavioral Medicine at the American Professional Society of ADHD and Related Disorders (APSARD) meeting in San Diego, CA! Dr. Welling and others presented interesting research on ADHD from collaborative projects.

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