Dr. Mullen is currently serving as the primary advisor for the following doctoral students

Adam Taggart, MSc | CV

Adam received his B.A. in International Business & Japanese from the University of Central Lancashire, UK in 2010, and his M.Sc. in Management from Brunel University, West London in 2015. During this time, Adam worked as a full-time martial arts coach, fitness instructor and movement coach which allowed him to switch studies to kinesiology. Adam is currently in his 4th year as a doctoral student and his research interests focus on improving cognition and academic performance using martial arts and complex movement interventions.

D. David Thomas, MS | CV

David studied exercise science at the College of Charleston (B.S. 2010) and exercise physiology and sports nutrition at Florida State University (M.S. 2012). Since then, he has worked as a clinical research assistant, exercise physiologist, adjunct professor, and most recently as a data analyst. At the University of Illinois, David is a first-year Informatics PhD student studying consumer-facing technologies that improve health and wellness.

Dr. Mullen is also supervising the following graduate students

Vaishnavi Krishna | CV

Vaishnavi completed her Bachelor’s in Audiology and Speech Language Pathology from Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, India in 2021. She is currently working on her M.S. degree in Speech and Hearing Science at University of Illinois. Vaishnavi is aiming to specialize in interventions that improve cognitive functioning, and she ultimately wants to work in the field of neuro-communication disorders.