Marissa Ericson, Ph.D.

Tenured Professor and Dissertation Mentor

Academic Background

Dr. Marissa Ericson earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Neuroscience from the University of Southern California and her B.A. from Cornell University.

Teaching and Professional Roles

She is a Principal Statistician at the University of California, Irvine, and serves as a Professor and Dissertation Chair at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology and California Lutheran University. She has also worked as a data scientist and research consultant at USC, Chapman University, and UCSB’s META Lab.

Dr. Ericson has taught more than 60 courses at the graduate and undergraduate levels, including Dissertation, Academic Writing, Research Methods, Cognitive Processes, Brain and Behavior, Child and Adolescent Abnormal Psychology, and Statistics.

Research and Publications

Her early research focused on the electrocortical, neuropsychological, and psychophysiological bases of psychopathologies such as schizophrenia spectrum disorders and adolescent aggression. Using modalities such as EEG, ERPs, EKG, and sEMG, she investigated brain–behavior relationships.

Her current research emphasizes well-being, resilience, positive psychological outcomes, and mindfulness–meditation interventions. She has authored, co-authored, and provided statistical support for many peer-reviewed publications in psychology, neuroscience, and survey design.

Dissertation Mentorship

Over the past decade, Dr. Ericson has mentored hundreds of dissertation and thesis students across psychology, neuroscience, PsyD, and MFT programs. She frequently serves as both chair and methodologist, guiding students in study design, statistical analysis, and dissertation writing.

She is especially passionate about helping students develop their research questions, design protocols, and select the appropriate statistical tests to support their projects from beginning to successful defense.

Notable Experience

  • PhD in Clinical Neuroscience
  • Associate Professor of Psychology, Criminal Forensic, and MFT departments
  • Principal statistician at University of California Irvine
  • Visiting scholar at UCSB META and TANC labs
  • Consulting lead statistician at Chapman/ City of Hope
  • Dissertation chair and consultant for ten years
  • Worked with hundreds of students to successfully defend dissertation and thesis projects
  • Expert methodologist
  • Over 60 courses taught on Dissertation, Academic writing, Research Methods, Statistics (all levels)
  • Develops statistics courses and tutorials
  • Worked with hundred of students on graduate admission essays and applications
  • Authored, co-authored, and provided statistical support for many peer-reviewed publications in the broad areas of psychology, neuroscience, and survey design.