As she completes her PhD at Michigan Ross, Christina Bradley has built a research portfolio focused on a deceptively simple question: how do emotions shape the way we work together? Her work explores how people respond to one another’s emotions in high-stakes settings—like conflict, negotiation, and hierarchical teams—and how those responses can strengthen relationships and performance.
Along the way, the Sanger Research Lab has played a meaningful role in advancing her work. Bradley has presented her research through the Lab, gaining critical feedback from faculty and fellow scholars, while also receiving funding and support to move her projects forward. The Lab also helped her recruit participants—an often overlooked but essential part of building rigorous, high-impact research.
That combination of community, resources, and real-time feedback reflects what the Sanger Research Lab is designed to do: accelerate the development of bold leadership research. For Bradley, it’s helped translate her passion for understanding emotions into scholarship that has real implications for how teams collaborate and perform. As she heads into a faculty role at Boston College, that foundation—and the Lab community behind it—will continue to shape her impact.
Christina Bradley, PhD ’26