معرفی
Derin Cobia is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Brigham Young University, affiliated with the Neuroscience program in the College of Life Sciences. His research integrates neuropsychology and neuroimaging to investigate brain structure-function relationships in neuropsychiatric disorders, with a primary focus on schizophrenia heterogeneity.
Dr. Cobia's academic credentials include:
- PhD in Clinical Psychology (Neuropsychology), St. Louis University (2008)
- MS in Clinical Psychology (Neuropsychology), St. Louis University (2006)
- BS in Psychology, Brigham Young University (2003)
- Postdoctoral Fellowship in Cognitive Neuroscience, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine (2011)
- Postdoctoral Fellowship in Clinical Neuropsychology, Mesulam Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center (2010)
- Internship in Clinical Psychology (Neuropsychology), West Virginia University School of Medicine (2008)
His cognitive neuroscience research employs computational anatomy tools to dissect clinical and biological heterogeneity in schizophrenia, particularly examining how neurobiological characteristics map onto clinical dimensions like negative symptoms. This work extends to Parkinson's disease, insomnia, and traumatic brain injury, with emphasis on structural brain changes in deep nuclei, cortical thickness, and their behavioral correlates. His methodology frequently leverages large-scale collaborative neuroimaging through consortia like ENIGMA.
Analysis of his recent publications reveals dominant themes in sex differences in schizophrenia neuroanatomy, structural correlates of aggression and cognitive control, and cross-disorder comparisons of brain morphology. Key methodological approaches include shape analysis of subcortical structures, mega-analyses of multi-site data, and causal modeling of brain-behavior relationships.
Scientific recognition includes:
- NARSAD Young Investigator Award (Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, 2014-2017)
- NIH Loan Repayment Program (2015-2017)
Dr. Cobia teaches Behavioral Neurobiology, Principles of Neuroimaging, and Neuropsychology while leading the Brain Imaging and Behavior Lab (BiB Lab). His research is supported by NIH and foundation grants focused on schizophrenia biomarkers and computational neuroanatomy. Current projects investigate thalamocortical networks in familial schizophrenia risk and structural correlates of community functioning in psychosis.
The BiB Lab maintains active collaborations with the ENIGMA-Schizophrenia Working Group and Parkinson's disease research networks, emphasizing translational applications of structural neuroimaging findings to clinical phenotyping and treatment development.