As an undergraduate student, Karina Powell, began her educational journey in chemical engineering, eager to apply her studies to the development of pharmaceutical products to help people. It wasn’t long before she recognized that her true interests were more analogous to a career in Clinical Psychology. While pursuing her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Illinois Institute of Technology, Powell began working as a research assistant in Dr. Patrick Corrigan’s lab. She was enthralled by his research approach and topics. Powell was fortunate enough to be admitted to the joint clinical/rehabilitation psychology doctoral program at Illinois Institute of Technology as a member of Dr. Corrigan’s lab, where she continues these research interests.

Currently, Powell is assisting Dr. Corrigan with a research project through The Carter Center in Atlanta, GA. The Carter Center had developed and run a Mental Health Journalism Fellowship since 1996 and they reached out to Dr. Corrigan with a particular interest in determining the magnitude of effect that this program has on their fellows, other journalists, and the general public.  She is also investigating the impact of humor styles and presentation on attitudes toward people with mental illness.  Throughout her contributions to various research projects, she has been instrumental in developing a battery of measures designed to assess affirming, or positive, attitudes toward people with mental illness.  This battery focuses on attitudes of recovery, empowerment, and self-determination.

Additionally, throughout her enrollment at IIT, Powell has been fortunate to be a participant in the Chicago Public Schools Gifted and Classical programs testing, offering Powell exposure to testing administration and working with children. Powell has also had the privilege of completing externship training programs in therapy at a City of Chicago mental health clinic in Englewood and in neuropsychology at Alexian Brothers Medical Center and the University of Chicago Medical Center.  She has had the opportunity to contribute as a graduate assistant to a number of courses for undergraduate and master's level students in both psychology and sociology.

In her spare time, Powell volunteers with FIRST Robotics, mentoring students from underserved communities in multi-level robotics programs, as well as enhancing relationships between universities, industry and the community through conducting training workshops and helping to coordinate events.