Susan South, Ph.D., is a Professor of Clinical Psychology in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Purdue University and the current Director of Clinical Training. Her research investigates the links between romantic relationships, personality, and psychopathology. She has published over 100 peer-reviewed empirical publications and more than 20 book chapters on the assessment of romantic relationship satisfaction, the links between mental illness and relationship distress, gene-environment interplay between relationship dysfunction and mental illness, and behavior genetics, particularly as it relates to personality and relationships. She received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Virginia and completed her clinical internship at the Medical University of South Carolina. She completed a T-32 postdoctoral fellowship, “Neurobehavioral Aspects of Personality and Psychopathology” at the University of Minnesota She has received funding from the Kinley Trust Grant at Purdue University as well as Indiana’s Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute and the Simon Foundation. She is currently an Associate Editor for the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
Since July, 2026, Dr. South has served as the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs in the College of Health and Human Sciences. In this role, she supports faculty searches and hiring, and leads college-level efforts to foster faculty growth. She also has oversight of HHS faculty promotion and tenure. Working closely with academic heads, she advises on policies, procedures, and evaluative criteria, and oversees initiatives related to mentoring, professional development, retention and faculty recognition.
Jess Dupree is currently completing her internship year in Atlanta, with plans to graduate in 2026. She graduated in 2018 from Butler University with a B.A. in psychology, international studies, and Spanish where she completed an honor’s thesis comparing the flashbulb memories of the 2008 and the 2016 presidential election. After graduation, she worked as a research assistant for the Warriors Research Institute in Waco, TX, where she assisted with research involving telehealth mental health treatment for Veterans, Veteran family members, and firefighters. Broadly, she is interested in the bidirectional relationship between romantic relationships and psychopathology, specifically PTSD.
Maggie is a third-year graduate student in Dr. South’s lab. She graduated in 2021 from Trinity University with a B.A. in psychology and minors in English and classical studies. Her current research uses ecological momentary assessment methodology to examine processes underlying relationship satisfaction as they unfold at the momentary level. She also is involved in the lab’s more cognitively focused line of research, which investigates how interpersonal experiences and cognitive functioning are associated at the daily level for older adults with memory impairment.
Lily is a first-year graduate student in Dr. South’s lab. She graduated in 2022 from the University of Pittsburgh with a B. Phil in psychology and double minor in applied statistics and studio arts. Before matriculating to Purdue, Lily worked at Harvard University with Dr. Kate McLaughlin to study the longitudinal effects of stress on adolescent social, cognitive, and neurodevelopment. Her research interests center on personality and psychopathology, with a focus on how stress influences individual and couple-level interpersonal trajectories over time and their implications for mental health outcomes.
Ellen is a Clinical Sciences Research Project Manager in Dr. South’s lab. She graduated in May 2025 from Purdue University with a B.S. in Psychological Sciences and a minor in Forensic Sciences. Her research interests center on psychopathology, personality, and functional impairment, with a focus on ADHD and emotional dysregulation in college students, particularly examining gender differences and their impact on diagnosis, awareness, and treatment. She is also involved in additional research projects in the lab, including a collaboration with the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Twin Registry, where she helps lead the ecological momentary assessment (EMA) daily diary component.
Lab Alumni
Sam graduated from the lab with her Ph.D. in 2025. She graduated in 2015 from the University of Pittsburgh with a B.S. in psychology and received an M.S. in experimental psychology from Villanova University in 2019. Her research interests center on the bidirectional association between interpersonal relationships and personality pathology. Samantha is now at West Virginia University (WVU) medicine.
Madison Smith, Ph.D. received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Oklahoma State, and her Master of Science and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Purdue University in 2021. She is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Medical School and Sciences & Impact Institute at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine.
Dr. Ingram received her doctorate and master’s degrees in clinical psychology from Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN. She received her bachelor's degree in general psychology from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO. Dr. Ingram has experience working in a variety of settings including outpatient practices, college counseling centers, residential treatment centers, and inpatient units. She also provided care in Veterans Affairs hospitals where she served on comprehensive DBT, PTSD, and general mental health clinical teams. Sammie is currently a licensed clinical psychologist at Fairfax Mental Health & Wellness in Virginia.