In Memoriam
Emma Mumper, Ph.D.
On September 6th, 2020, the Lab for Scalable Mental Health—and the entire Stony Brook community—lost a dear member, colleague, and friend. Emma Mumper was a talented researcher, gifted clinician, and a genuinely exceptional person.
In Fall of 2020, Emma was a 5th-year graduate student in the Klein Developmental Psychopathology Lab, which she joined as a doctoral student immediately after graduating from Indiana University in 2016. When the Lab for Scalable Mental Health came to Stony Brook in 2018, Emma seized the opportunity to extend her work on the development of childhood anxiety disorders to promoting the treatment of anxiety in youth. Her unwavering commitment to youth well-being was core to her work with our team. In addition to her contributions to Project YES, the Lab's open-access mental health support platform for teens , Emma worked tirelessly with fellow lab member Jenna Sung to build and test Project BRAVE (now called Project EMPOWER): an online, single-session intervention teaching parents to promote bravery and reduce avoidance in their children. Alongside Jenna, Emma co-created the intervention and helped lead a worldwide trial of its effectiveness.
Emma's dedication to this project was extraordinary to behold. It also reflected many strengths she exemplified: deep commitment to helping those in need; kindness extended by instinct to colleagues, patients, and research participants alike; generosity with her time and energy; and dedication to engaging, lifting, and mentoring those around her. In keeping with Emma's mission to help children everywhere, Project EMPOWER will remain freely available on our Lab website for all who might benefit.
Emma's contributions to clinical psychology were immense within our team, in the clinic, and in her "home" research lab. In recognition of Emma’s scientific and clinical accomplishments, Stony Brook University honored her with a posthumous Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology.
Per the Klein Developmental Psychopathology Lab's tribute to Emma, her "sincere warmth, immeasurable decency, and empathic spirit drew others towards her. She built herself a large community here at Stony Brook, and we all loved her a great deal."
Like the many others who knew and cared for Emma, we will miss her enormously.
In Memoriam, Dr. Emma Mumper.
You continue to change our lives for the better, and your contributions will remain indelible.
You continue to change our lives for the better, and your contributions will remain indelible.