William & Mary opened up new worlds to Jaclyn “Jackie” Iannucci ’16. Having lived her entire life in the small coastal town of Narragansett, Rhode Island, she spent just one hour at the College before arriving to start her freshman year in fall 2012.

William & Mary opened up new worlds to Jaclyn “Jackie” Iannucci ’16. Having lived her entire life in the small coastal town of Narragansett, Rhode Island, she spent just one hour at the College before arriving to start her freshman year in fall 2012.

But that hour was enough: “I loved how beautiful and historical everything was, and the sense of community,” Jackie said. “It was a gut decision that worked out perfectly.”

At the College, Jackie has been able to pursue her diverse passions: neuroscience and history (her major and minor, respectively), as well as education and soccer (through extracurricular activities).

Jackie currently is a lab manager in Associate Professor of Psychology Robert Barnet’s behavioral neuroscience research laboratory. Last summer, she conducted independent research in the lab for her Monroe project, a component of one of the College’s most academically distinguished undergraduate programs. Aligning with the lab’s recent focus in anxiety studies, Jackie examined the effects of nonphysical bullying on anxiety.

“The goal was to build an animal model for bullying that will help us understand how a bullying encounter might affect not only a rodent but a person on a neural level,” she said.

So far, her research suggests that negative stress effects from bullying can be behaviorally silent while the bullying is ongoing but can be manifested later, after the bullying has ended.

“This is an important finding because it suggests psychosocial stress from bullying may render the person more vulnerable to other stressors encountered later, even though the bullying has stopped,” Barnet explained. The results have implications for the timing of interventions to prevent the harmful effects of bullying.

Jackie’s interest in neurological disorders developed from watching her late grandfather struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. Her experiences in William & Mary’s interdisciplinary neuroscience program have confirmed her interest in pursuing a doctorate in the field and a career in neurological disease research, working at either a private company or a university.

“There are so many diseases for which no one knows the cures or causes, so I feel this area is where I can do the most good to help the most people,” she said. “It’s been a good experience to take a leadership role in a lab early, and be involved firsthand in the whole research process, from the literature review and proposal writing to data gathering and analysis.”

Jackie’s passion for helping others extends well beyond her major. She serves as president of William & Mary’s chapter of Building Tomorrow, an international organization that helps build schools in East Africa and was founded by William & Mary alumnus George Srour ’05.

Jackie coaches soccer at a local elementary school through the Virginia Legacy Soccer Club Community Partnership, a program serving low-income families.

“This program has been a whole new experience for me — and it’s been awesome,” she said.

A soccer player since age 3, Jackie is also president of one of the College’s two women’s club soccer teams.

From the research lab to the playing fields, Jackie’s scholarship support has been integral to allowing her to remain at William & Mary and excel academically as well as personally. She held the W.N. Cromwell Scholarship as a sophomore and currently holds the Kristi Kay Wilson Scholarship. Both are endowed awards given on the basis of need and academic excellence. The former was established in 1949 through part of a bequest from William N. Cromwell, a distinguished lawyer and philanthropist from New York. The latter was established in 1999 by Suzann Wilson Matthews ’71 in memory of her sister.

“Jackie is serious about her studies, engaged with the campus community and busy finding ways to use the knowledge and skills she is acquiring to make a difference in the world beyond William & Mary’s campus,” Matthews said. “I am both happy and proud to help her pursue her goals by providing scholarship support, and I look forward to hearing about her amazing accomplishments in the future.”

Jackie, who has two brothers of college age, said the scholarships have lessened the burden of out-of-state tuition on her family.

“I love being here, and these awards allow me to continue to receive the best education possible,” she said.