Heidi Lesscher is Associate Professor at Utrecht University's Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, leading research on neurobiology of play behavior and vulnerability to addiction. Heads the Neurobiology of Behaviour research group studying how play influences cognitive development. Research focus: Role of risky play in cognitive control development Neurobiological mechanisms of addiction Play deprivation effects on stress sensitivity Animal models of resilience Co-chairs Dynamics of Youth's 'Thriving & Healthy Youth' community. Developed 'Healthy Play Better Coping' framework for chronically ill children. Awarded NWO grants for play research including PlayRisC project.
Prof Verity Brown is an Honorary Professor in the School of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of St Andrews. Her research focuses on response control, including the neural basis of movement and psychological functions like attention, expectation, and planning. She employs techniques such as psychopharmacology, neurophysiology, and behavioral analysis in humans and animals, with a particular emphasis on the frontal cortex and basal ganglia circuits. Research Interests Neural mechanisms underlying response control Attentional and executive functions Cognitive flexibility and learning Role of frontal cortex and basal ganglia circuits Animal models of neurological and psychiatric disorders Advising and Grants No listed advisees or grant details are available in the provided texts. Labs and Teams Prof Brown’s work is integrated within the School of Psychology and Neuroscience’s research programs, though specific lab affiliations are not explicitly mentioned.
Dennis Sparta, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), affiliated with the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. His research focuses on the neurobiological mechanisms underlying binge drinking and addiction, particularly examining brain circuits involving the central amygdala, insula, and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST). Using techniques such as optogenetics, in vivo calcium imaging, and pharmacogenetic manipulation, he investigates how neuronal activity and neuroinflammation contribute to alcohol-seeking behaviors. Dr. Sparta’s work emphasizes sex-dependent plasticity in neural pathways and the role of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) neurons in modulating binge drinking and relapse. His studies also explore glutamatergic and GABAergic signaling in reward circuits and the impact of stress on alcohol consumption. He is actively reviewing applications for doctoral students to join his lab starting Fall 2024. Key themes in his research include neuropharmacology, neuroinflammation, and the integration of advanced neuroimaging tools for studying brain circuitry. While no scientific awards are explicitly listed, his contributions to addiction neuroscience are evident through his extensive publication record.
Jude Mitchell is a researcher specializing in visual neuroscience and cognitive processes, focusing on the role of internal brain states like selective attention in modulating sensory processing. His work emphasizes the marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) as a model organism for studying visual perception, attention mechanisms, and neural circuitry. Collaborations include researchers at UC San Diego and The Salk Institute, exploring topics such as saccadic eye movements, cortical activity, and optogenetic techniques. Key research areas include neuronal selectivity, laminar cortical activity, and the integration of motion signals during visual tasks. His research spans studies on dopamine receptor effects on distractibility, neural correlates of reach-to-grasp movements, and the interplay between sleep-wake cycles and circadian rhythms. Mitchell’s methodologies include head-mounted eye tracking, electrophysiological recordings, and computational models of neural networks. He has pioneered techniques for studying free-moving marmosets, enabling deeper insights into visual processing dynamics and attentional modulation across cortical layers and neuron types. Notable contributions include defining attention’s impact on neuronal burstiness and correlation in macaque area V4, and establishing marmoset models for understanding human mental disorders. His work bridges primate neurobiology with translational research, addressing both fundamental questions about brain function and practical applications in neuroscience.
Adam Snyder is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the University of Rochester, School of Arts & Sciences. His research focuses on understanding the computational mechanisms that allow the brain to process goal-relevant visual information while filtering distractions, examining both small neuronal populations and large-scale cortical coordination. His work spans micro- and macro-scale mechanisms of visual attention, aiming to develop interventions for visual navigation challenges. Research Interests include: Neural dynamics underlying visual attention Cortical coordination and population activity False alarm mechanisms in visual processing Generative models of visual scenes EEG and neural oscillations in attention His publications highlight advancements in understanding attentional coding in prefrontal and visual cortices, dynamic neuronal signaling in V4, and global arousal signatures via EEG. While no awards or grants are explicitly listed, his work contributes significantly to computational and experimental neuroscience. He can be contacted at adam.snyder@rochester.edu or through his office at 318 Meliora Hall.
Satish Iyengar is a Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Statistics at the University of Pittsburgh, affiliated with the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences. He also holds an affiliation with the Department of Psychiatry and serves on the FDA’s Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee. He earned his PhD in Statistics from Stanford University (1982) and a BA in Mathematics from Harvard University (1978). His research focuses on diffusion processes, point processes, multivariate mixture models, and applications in psychiatry and neuroscience, including meta-analysis. Education: PhD in Statistics, Stanford University, 1982 BA in Mathematics, Harvard University, 1978 Research Interests: His work bridges computational neuroscience, statistical methodology, and clinical psychiatry. Key areas include modeling neural activity, analyzing psychiatric clinical trials (e.g., antidepressant efficacy and suicide risk), and developing statistical frameworks for complex biological data. He has contributed to methodological advancements in meta-analysis and diffusion models. Awards: He received the P.R. Krishnaiah Memorial Lectureship (2017) and the University of Pittsburgh Provost’s Graduate Mentoring Award (2018). Advising & Grants: Advisor to 28 PhD students and multiple postdoctoral researchers. His advisees hold prominent roles in academia, industry, and healthcare. He has collaborated on grants involving statistical applications in neuroscience and clinical research. Affiliations: Besides his primary role at Pitt’s Statistics Department, he contributes to FDA drug advisory processes and interdisciplinary collaborations in psychiatry and neuroscience.
Samantha Kathleen Millard is a Research Fellow at the Department of Health Science and Technology within the Faculty of Medicine at Aalborg University, Denmark. Her work focuses on the neural mechanisms of pain processing and modulation, utilizing advanced neurophysiological techniques to develop non-pharmacological interventions for pain management. Dr. Millard completed her Ph.D. in Physiology and Pharmacology from the University of New South Wales with her dissertation titled 'Unravelling the PAF-Pain Relationship: Modulating Peak Alpha Frequency and Prolonged Pain Sensitivity through Pharmacological and Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation Approaches,' awarded on February 22, 2024. Her research spans multiple disciplines including neuroscience, neuropsychology, and clinical pain therapy. Her primary research interests center on the relationship between neural oscillations (particularly peak alpha frequency) and pain processing. Dr. Millard specializes in: Using electroencephalography (EEG) to measure neural activity related to pain Applying transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for pain modulation Investigating brain regions involved in pain processing, particularly the insula and prefrontal cortex Developing objective biomarkers for pain sensitivity and chronic pain conditions Exploring interoception and its relationship to pain perception Analysis of Dr. Millard's publication record reveals a strong emphasis on translating neurophysiological findings into potential clinical applications. Her recent work demonstrates sophisticated experimental approaches combining multiple neurostimulation and neuroimaging techniques to investigate pain mechanisms. Key trends in her research include: Targeting specific brain regions (insula, prefrontal cortex) with precise neurostimulation protocols Investigating the temporal dynamics of pain processing and modulation Developing EEG-based biomarkers for pain sensitivity and treatment response Exploring non-pharmacological interventions for chronic pain conditions Dr. Millard maintains an active research program with significant publication output, including multiple high-impact papers in 2025. Her work has garnered attention across academic and social media platforms, with coverage by news outlets and engagement on X (Twitter) and other platforms. She actively collaborates with researchers across multiple international institutions, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of her work. Her research contributes directly to Sustainable Development Goal 3 (Good Health and Well-being) through advancing our understanding of pain mechanisms and developing potential non-pharmacological interventions for pain management that could reduce reliance on opioid medications.
Heide Klumpp, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois Chicago . She leads the Clinical Cognitive Affective Neuroscience Lab , focusing on brain mechanisms of emotion processing and regulation in anxiety and depression. Her work identifies neural biomarkers for treatment response and investigates the intersection of sleep with internalizing disorders. Education: PhD, University of Georgia, 2006 Research Interests: Dr. Klumpp employs EEG, fMRI, and actigraphy to study: Brain-based predictors of treatment outcomes in anxiety and depression Neurofunctional correlates of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and pharmacological interventions Computational approaches to neuroimaging data analysis Environmental and neurobiological factors in emotion regulation Transdiagnostic neural mechanisms across mood and anxiety disorders Interactions between sleep quality and emotional processing Publications & Research Trends (selected): Her recent work explores how cannabis impacts frontolimbic connectivity, amygdala reactivity in traumatic stress, and network-level disruptions in resilient populations. She combines machine learning with neuroimaging to identify subnetworks in internalizing disorders and examines digital biomarkers for depression severity. Grants & Collaborations: Dr. Klumpp has led or co-investigated NIH/NIMH grants (R01, R21, R61, K23) and institutional pilot projects, including studies on: Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) biomarkers Attentional bias modification using music reward therapy Computational models of neurocognitive processes Chemotherapy-related cognitive changes in breast cancer patients Labs & Teams: As director of the Clinical Cognitive Affective Neuroscience Lab , she collaborates with the Anxiety, Mood, Addiction Research Collaborative and UI Health’s academic enterprise, mentoring doctoral students and integrating translational approaches to clinical psychiatry.
Dr. Alexander Urban is an Assistant Professor at the Child Study Center and Department of Genetics at Yale School of Medicine. His research focuses on structural genomic variations, transcriptomic and epigenomic reprogramming in neuropsychiatric disorders, and neurodevelopmental mechanisms. Key research areas include: Elucidating structural variation in human genomes across populations Investigating 16p11.2 and 22q11.2 deletion mechanisms Mapping transcriptomic and epigenomic changes in induced neurons Developing regulatory element atlases for human brain development Recent publications highlight his work on: Single-cell genomics across 388 human brains Chromosomal rearrangement dynamics in psychiatric disorders Cross-ancestry gene regulation studies in neurodevelopment Functional characterization of regulatory elements in cortical development
Dr. Neil Bailey is a Senior Research Fellow at Australian National University (ANU) and Head of Data Science at Monarch Mental Health Group. He holds an adjunct senior research fellow position at Monash University's Department of Psychiatry. His research focuses on understanding the neural mechanisms of mindfulness meditation, depression treatment efficacy, and traumatic brain injury recovery using EEG, machine learning, and brain stimulation techniques. Key areas include meditation's impact on attention, mental health outcomes, and personalized depression treatments through EEG biomarkers. His work contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals related to mental health and well-being. Notable achievements include over 70 studies, 2000+ citations, and awards like the Alfred Small Grant Scheme (2018) and Sao Paulo Neuroscience Scholarship (2018). He actively collaborates on global initiatives and has published industry guidelines for mindfulness in schools. Current projects explore the brain-body connection in meditators and predictive markers of TMS therapy response. Expertise: Neuroimaging, EEG analysis, mindfulness neuroscience, depression treatments Affiliations: ANU, Monash University, Monarch Mental Health Group Public engagement includes media appearances discussing mindfulness and mental health innovations, emphasizing translational research for societal impact.
Cantin Ortiz is a Researcher affiliated with the Cortical Circuits Group and Charlotte Boccara Group at the University of Oslo. His research focuses on the relationship between sleep architecture (particularly REM sleep) and adolescent depression, employing optogenetic stimulation in rodent models combined with electrophysiological and behavioral analyses. He holds a PhD in Neuroscience from the Institut Pasteur (Paris, France) and dual MSc degrees in Computer Science (KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm) and General Engineering (Ecole Centrale de Lille, France). Key research themes include adolescent neurodevelopment, REM sleep manipulation, and translational neuroscience approaches. His work bridges computational methods with experimental neuroscience, leveraging spatial transcriptomics and neural circuit mapping techniques. Ortiz has received the Young Researcher Prize (2024) from Fondation des Treilles. His publications span topics like hippocampal-neocortical interactions, spatial memory encoding, and molecular cartography of brain circuits. Current projects include closed-loop optogenetic interventions targeting REM sleep dysfunction in adolescent mental health models.
Evita Dubiņina is a Lecturer in the Department of Rehabilitation at the Faculty of Health Sciences, Rezekne Academy of Technologies. Her work bridges clinical rehabilitation and digital health innovation, with active contributions to research in geriatrics, pediatric oncology, and healthcare worker well-being. Master of Science in Health Sciences (Mg.sc.sal.) Active researcher in digital health, exergames, and physical activity monitoring Current project on AR-based activity tracking in pediatric oncology (2024–2026) Her research interests center on rehabilitation technologies and human performance, particularly in vulnerable populations. She investigates core stability in the elderly , the impact of virtual reality exergames on cognitive and physical function, and professional burnout in outpatient health settings. Her work integrates clinical insights with technological innovation to improve patient outcomes and healthcare delivery. The recent publications show a strong trend toward digital interventions using augmented and virtual reality for both pediatric and geriatric rehabilitation. These studies emphasize functional outcomes , cognitive-motor integration , and feasibility of gamified therapies in real-world healthcare contexts. Evita Dubiņina actively participates in national and international conferences and workshops related to health innovation and evidence-based physiotherapy. She contributes to interdisciplinary projects, particularly those funded by the European Commission, focusing on patient-centered digital tools. Her collaborative network includes experts in physiotherapy, pediatrics, and health technology. She is involved in the development of digital health solutions such as AR-based interactive games for pediatric oncology patients and VR exergames for the elderly. These initiatives reflect a forward-looking approach to rehabilitation, emphasizing engagement, adherence, and remote monitoring through innovative technologies.
Stephanie C. Hicks is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biostatistics at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University. Her work bridges statistics, data science, and genomics, with a strong emphasis on developing computational tools for modern biological data. Research Interests: Statistical methods for genomics and single-cell data Missing data imputation and uncertainty quantification Spatial transcriptomics and multi-assay data integration Open-source software development for reproducible research Functional and epigenomic analysis Her recent research, as reflected in publications from 2025, centers on benchmarking cellular deconvolution methods, integrating spatial transcriptomics across individuals, and developing combinatorial approaches for marker gene selection. These works span high-impact journals in genomics, bioinformatics, and computational biology, indicating a strong and active research program in statistical genomics and computational biology. Scientific Contributions: Development of the HuBMAPR R package for accessing the HuBMAP data portal Leadership in benchmarking studies for cellular deconvolution Advancing methods for label-free marker gene identification Addressing reproducibility and integration challenges in spatial omics Dr. Hicks mentors students and contributes to graduate education in biostatistics, emphasizing statistical programming and workflows. She is actively involved in the development of open-source tools that enhance reproducibility and accessibility in genomic research.
Carolyn Yoon is a Professor of Marketing at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, where she also serves as Associate Dean for Community and Global Initiatives and holds the Wilbur K. Pierpont Collegiate Professorship. Her research examines psychological and neural mechanisms in consumer decision-making across cultures and age groups, using interdisciplinary approaches spanning neuroscience, psychology, and behavioral economics. Her education includes: AB from the University of California (1982) MBA from the University of California (1986) PhD from Duke University (1995) Yoon's research focuses on: Consumer neuroscience and neuroforecasting techniques Aging-related changes in consumer behavior and cognition Cultural and social influences on decision processes Health behavior and digital intervention engagement Genetic and neural moderators of consumer preferences She employs fMRI, behavioral experiments, and cross-cultural methodologies to explore how biological and environmental factors shape economic choices. Her recent publications (2015-2024) demonstrate consistent themes: neurobiological underpinnings of consumer behavior, cultural neuroscience, aging cognition, and applications of neuroscience in marketing. Over 70% of her articles integrate neural/biological data with behavioral outcomes. No awards or supervised students are mentioned in the source material.
Dr. Nahian Shahmat Chowdhury is a Research Fellow at Neuroscience Research Australia, Conjoint Lecturer at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), and Head of Neurostimulation at the NeuroRecovery Research Hub within UNSW's School of Psychology. His work focuses on non-invasive brain stimulation to understand and treat chronic pain, with a particular interest in translational research to clinical practice. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy (2020), Master of Clinical Psychology, and is an AHPRA Registered Psychologist. Roles: Research Fellow, Conjoint Lecturer, Head of Neurostimulation Affiliations: Neuroscience Research Australia, UNSW School of Psychology, NeuroRecovery Research Hub Education: PhD (2020), Master of Clinical Psychology His research interests include neuroplasticity mechanisms in neuropathic pain, optimizing brain stimulation for chronic pain treatment, and validating EEG neurofeedback devices. He has secured grants totaling over AUD 6 million, including the June and Doris Cather Postdoctoral Award (2025) and multiple CIHR grants. His supervision includes 1 Honours and 2 PhD students focused on chronic pain interventions and neurotechnology. Dr. Chowdhury has published extensively on brain stimulation techniques, pain biomarkers, and neurorehabilitation. His awards include the Tasman Lovell Medallion (2021) and Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Emerging Researcher Award (2020). He teaches Statistics in R and Psychological Interventions at UNSW.
