Dr. Klein received a B.S. in Psychology (1989) and completed baccalaureate
requirements in Family and Child Development at Virginia Tech. She then
earned a M.S. (1995) and Ph.D. (1997) in Medical Psychology from the
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, MD. She
went on to complete a post-doctoral fellowship in Health Psychology at UCLA
(1999) and now is an Assistant Professor of Biobehavioral Health and an
Affiliate Professor in Noll Physiological Research Center and the Center for
Development and Health Genetics at Penn State University. Her research
focuses on biobehavioral effects of stress on appetitive and addictive
behaviors including cigarette smoking and substance abuse. Dr. Klein examines human and
animal subjects in laboratory settings using a multidisciplinary approach that incorporates
neuroendocrinological, immunological, behavioral and psychological variables. Dr. Klein’s current
animal research includes developing a mouse model of adolescent nicotine addiction, which is
funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse. Her human work is examining sex differences in the
biobehavioral effects of stress, as well as the stress-mediating effects of nicotine in men and women.
For example, she is examining the stress-regulatory effects of the posterior pituitary hormones,
oxytocin and vasopressin. Dr. Klein’s work on the effects of adolescent nicotine exposure and stress
on drug abuse earned a Young Investigator Award from the Society for Research on Nicotine and
Tobacco.