Meet the Mentors
Below you will find biographical information about each mentor including his/her area of specialty. You can use this information to determine which mentor may be best suited to respond to your questions.
Please check our FAQ page first before contacting a mentor. If you find that the FAQ page has not provided answers to your questions, then feel free to contact one of our mentors. If you would like to become a mentor, or are interested in finding out more information, please contact aplsstudents@gmail.com.
Our mentors are divided into categories to facilitate finding the best mentor for your questions. We have mentors in the following areas: forensic and non-forensic. Forensic mentors can discuss areas where clinical psychology has been applied to the legal system. Examples of topics in this area are risk assessment, competency, profiling, and psychological assessment. Non-forensic mentors specialize in topics in which areas such as social and cognitive psychology have been applied to the legal system. Examples of topics in this area are eyewitness evidence, jury decision-making, expert testimony, confessions and detecting deception.
Forensic Mentors
Kirk Heilbrun, PhD
Dr. Kirk Heilbrun is the Head of the Department of Psychology at Drexel University. He has previously served as an adjunct member of the Villanova Law School faculty where he co-taught the Law & Mental Health course (with David DeMatteo, JD, PhD). He received his PhD in psychology from the University of Texas at Austin in 1980 and then completed a postdoctoral fellowship in law and psychology at Florida State University. His research interests include forensic mental health assessment, violence risk assessment, and risk-reducing interventions, all of which have received extramural funding since 1994. He has served as president of the American Psychology-Law Society and the American Board of Forensic Psychology. He is a Diplomate (ABPP) in both clinical and forensic psychology.
David DeMatteo, JD, PhD
Dr. David DeMatteo, is Director of Drexel University’s JD/PhD Program in Law and Psychology, and an Associate Professor of Psychology and Law. He received a BA (high honors) in psychology from Rutgers University, an MA and PhD in Clinical Psychology from MCP Hahnemann University, and a JD (magna cum laude) from Villanova Law School. His research interests include psychopathy, forensic mental health assessment, drug policy, and offender diversion, and his research has been funded by several state and federal agencies. He has published numerous articles, book chapters, and books in these and related areas. He is an Associate Editor of Law and Human Behavior, on the Editorial Boards of several journals, and a reviewer for numerous scientific journals. Dr. DeMatteo is licensed as a psychologist in Pennsylvania, where he conducts forensic mental health assessments of juveniles and adults. Dr. DeMatteo was Chair of APA’s Committee on Legal Issues in 2011, and he is currently Council Representative to APA for the American Psychology-Law Society (Div. 41 of APA) as well as President-Elect of AP-LS. He is also board certified in forensic psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology.
Naomi Goldstein, PhD
Dr. Naomi Goldstein is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Drexel University as well as the Co-Director of Drexel’s JD/PhD Program in Law and Psychology, and a Stoneleigh Foundation Fellow. An applied researcher and Director of the Juvenile Justice Research and Reform Lab at Drexel, Goldstein seeks to improve juvenile justice policy and practice to promote positive outcomes for youth. For the past 15 years, her work has focused on adolescents’ capacities to make legal decisions, their abilities to fulfill behavioral requirements of the law, and the development of juvenile justice interventions and procedures to promote youths’ long-term well-being. Her research interests include: juvenile justice research and program evaluation, juvenile justice policy and practice reform, adolescent development and decision-making capacities, Miranda rights comprehension and juvenile confessions, juvenile probation system reform, dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline, anger management with girls in the juvenile justice system, and reducing rates of disproportionate minority contact with the justice system.
Non-Forensic Mentors
Bette L. Bottoms, PhD
Dr. Bette L. Bottoms received a bachelor’s degree from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College in Virginia, a Master’s Degree in Cognitive Psychology from The University of Denver, and a PhD in Social Psychology from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Her graduate training and her current research interests are broad (a mix of cognitive, developmental, social, and even a little community and clinical psychology), but her work then and now is unified by the theme of children, psychology, and law. Specifically, she studies the accuracy of children’s eyewitness testimony, techniques to improve children’s reports of past events, jurors’ perceptions of children’s testimony, and various issues related to child abuse. Dr. Bottoms is now a Dean Emerita and Professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She’s very active in the American Psychological Association, especially Division 41 (AP-LS) and Division 37 (Child, Youth and Family Services), of which was President in 2005.
Michael Saks, PhD, MSL
Dr. Michael Saks has a PhD in social psychology from Ohio State and an MSL from Yale Law School. He has been a professor of psychology at Boston College, and a professor of law at the University of Iowa and currently at the Arizona State University. He has been president of AP-LS and editor of Law & Human Behavior. He studies principal areas of the intersection of psychology and the law: 1) Decision-making in the legal process, especially decision-making by judges and juries, 2) The uses of scientific and other expert evidence in the law, and 3) The "behavior" of the litigation system, especially systems analysis of the tort litigation system and the evaluation of proposed reforms in light of data on the actual behavior of the system.
Eve Brank, JD, PhD
Dr. Brank received her J.D. (2000) and Ph.D (2001) from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the Law-Psychology Program. She joined the UNL faculty in 2008 and is part of the law/psychology and social programs. Prior to joining the Nebraska faculty, Dr. Brank was on the faculty in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society at the University of Florida. Her research primarily focuses on the way the law intervenes (and sometimes interferes) in family and personal decision making. In particular, she studies the public support, implementation, and effectiveness of parental responsibility laws within the context of the juvenile justice system and the legal requirements of elder care giving. Dr. Brank also studies issues related to decision making in the context of government searches and plea negotiations.
Please check our FAQ page first before contacting a mentor. If you find that the FAQ page has not provided answers to your questions, then feel free to contact one of our mentors. If you would like to become a mentor, or are interested in finding out more information, please contact aplsstudents@gmail.com.
Our mentors are divided into categories to facilitate finding the best mentor for your questions. We have mentors in the following areas: forensic and non-forensic. Forensic mentors can discuss areas where clinical psychology has been applied to the legal system. Examples of topics in this area are risk assessment, competency, profiling, and psychological assessment. Non-forensic mentors specialize in topics in which areas such as social and cognitive psychology have been applied to the legal system. Examples of topics in this area are eyewitness evidence, jury decision-making, expert testimony, confessions and detecting deception.
Forensic Mentors
Kirk Heilbrun, PhD
Dr. Kirk Heilbrun is the Head of the Department of Psychology at Drexel University. He has previously served as an adjunct member of the Villanova Law School faculty where he co-taught the Law & Mental Health course (with David DeMatteo, JD, PhD). He received his PhD in psychology from the University of Texas at Austin in 1980 and then completed a postdoctoral fellowship in law and psychology at Florida State University. His research interests include forensic mental health assessment, violence risk assessment, and risk-reducing interventions, all of which have received extramural funding since 1994. He has served as president of the American Psychology-Law Society and the American Board of Forensic Psychology. He is a Diplomate (ABPP) in both clinical and forensic psychology.
David DeMatteo, JD, PhD
Dr. David DeMatteo, is Director of Drexel University’s JD/PhD Program in Law and Psychology, and an Associate Professor of Psychology and Law. He received a BA (high honors) in psychology from Rutgers University, an MA and PhD in Clinical Psychology from MCP Hahnemann University, and a JD (magna cum laude) from Villanova Law School. His research interests include psychopathy, forensic mental health assessment, drug policy, and offender diversion, and his research has been funded by several state and federal agencies. He has published numerous articles, book chapters, and books in these and related areas. He is an Associate Editor of Law and Human Behavior, on the Editorial Boards of several journals, and a reviewer for numerous scientific journals. Dr. DeMatteo is licensed as a psychologist in Pennsylvania, where he conducts forensic mental health assessments of juveniles and adults. Dr. DeMatteo was Chair of APA’s Committee on Legal Issues in 2011, and he is currently Council Representative to APA for the American Psychology-Law Society (Div. 41 of APA) as well as President-Elect of AP-LS. He is also board certified in forensic psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology.
Naomi Goldstein, PhD
Dr. Naomi Goldstein is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Drexel University as well as the Co-Director of Drexel’s JD/PhD Program in Law and Psychology, and a Stoneleigh Foundation Fellow. An applied researcher and Director of the Juvenile Justice Research and Reform Lab at Drexel, Goldstein seeks to improve juvenile justice policy and practice to promote positive outcomes for youth. For the past 15 years, her work has focused on adolescents’ capacities to make legal decisions, their abilities to fulfill behavioral requirements of the law, and the development of juvenile justice interventions and procedures to promote youths’ long-term well-being. Her research interests include: juvenile justice research and program evaluation, juvenile justice policy and practice reform, adolescent development and decision-making capacities, Miranda rights comprehension and juvenile confessions, juvenile probation system reform, dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline, anger management with girls in the juvenile justice system, and reducing rates of disproportionate minority contact with the justice system.
Non-Forensic Mentors
Bette L. Bottoms, PhD
Dr. Bette L. Bottoms received a bachelor’s degree from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College in Virginia, a Master’s Degree in Cognitive Psychology from The University of Denver, and a PhD in Social Psychology from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Her graduate training and her current research interests are broad (a mix of cognitive, developmental, social, and even a little community and clinical psychology), but her work then and now is unified by the theme of children, psychology, and law. Specifically, she studies the accuracy of children’s eyewitness testimony, techniques to improve children’s reports of past events, jurors’ perceptions of children’s testimony, and various issues related to child abuse. Dr. Bottoms is now a Dean Emerita and Professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She’s very active in the American Psychological Association, especially Division 41 (AP-LS) and Division 37 (Child, Youth and Family Services), of which was President in 2005.
Michael Saks, PhD, MSL
Dr. Michael Saks has a PhD in social psychology from Ohio State and an MSL from Yale Law School. He has been a professor of psychology at Boston College, and a professor of law at the University of Iowa and currently at the Arizona State University. He has been president of AP-LS and editor of Law & Human Behavior. He studies principal areas of the intersection of psychology and the law: 1) Decision-making in the legal process, especially decision-making by judges and juries, 2) The uses of scientific and other expert evidence in the law, and 3) The "behavior" of the litigation system, especially systems analysis of the tort litigation system and the evaluation of proposed reforms in light of data on the actual behavior of the system.
Eve Brank, JD, PhD
Dr. Brank received her J.D. (2000) and Ph.D (2001) from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the Law-Psychology Program. She joined the UNL faculty in 2008 and is part of the law/psychology and social programs. Prior to joining the Nebraska faculty, Dr. Brank was on the faculty in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society at the University of Florida. Her research primarily focuses on the way the law intervenes (and sometimes interferes) in family and personal decision making. In particular, she studies the public support, implementation, and effectiveness of parental responsibility laws within the context of the juvenile justice system and the legal requirements of elder care giving. Dr. Brank also studies issues related to decision making in the context of government searches and plea negotiations.
