Ariana Bazzi is a Research Assistant for the Center for Deployment Psychology (CDP). She received her Bachelors of Science and a minor in Sociology from Virginia Commonwealth University. As an undergraduate, Ariana conducted an independent study in the La Esperanza Research Program, contributing to research on immigration policy and mental health outcomes in Latinx adolescents.

Postgrad, she volunteered at the VCU REPEAT Lab, where she worked on projects regarding reward processes, emotion regulation, and anorexia nervosa treatment. Her primary research interest and passion is in eating disorders, particularly restrictive eating. She is especially drawn to how social media influences disordered eating and the role of emotion dysregulation, both in the development of eating pathology and in response to social media exposure.

Ariana is planning to apply to Clinical Psychology Ph.D. programs next fall for the 2027 cycle.