In the seventh episode of IHEC’s series on asthma, Fatima and Sofia explore the mental health aspects of asthma with valuable insight from Dr. Melissa Engel. Together, they examine the bi-directional relationship between asthma and mental health struggles like depression and anxiety, strategies to build resilience in those with asthma and their caregivers, and the hopeful connection between asthma control and improved quality of life, rooted in the idea that asthma is just one part of a patient’s identity.

Melissa Engel is a Pediatric Psychology Clinical-Research Postdoctoral Fellow with a concentration in Allergy and Asthma in the Pritzker Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and the Center for Food Allergy and Asthma Research at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. She earned her PhD and MA in Clinical Psychology from Emory University, as well as an MA in Developmental Psychology from the University of Minnesota. Melissa completed her predoctoral psychology internship at Texas Children’s Hospital/Baylor College of Medicine, with dual emphases on pediatric health psychology and child anxiety. Clinically, Melissa works with a variety of pediatric populations across inpatient and outpatient hospital settings. Melissa specializes in children and adolescents with chronic illnesses, as well as anxiety in youth with and without medical conditions. Her research focuses on identifying and addressing the unique psychosocial challenges faced by young people with food allergies. Melissa is particularly interested in social anxiety, or fear of negative peer evaluation, in the context of food allergies