Michael I. Demidenko

Michael I. Demidenko is a Social Science Research Scholar in the Department of Psychology at Stanford University. He holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Michigan and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford, focusing on cognitive neuroscience. His research emphasizes neuroimaging (fMRI), statistical modeling, reproducibility in science, and developmental psychology. Demidenko leads projects on measurement validity in neuroimaging data and has developed tools like PyReliMRI for reliability analysis. He has secured grants including the F32 Ruth L. Kirschstein Postdoctoral Fellowship and the T32 NICHD Training Grant.

His work investigates adolescent brain development, particularly how environmental factors influence neurodevelopment. He has contributed to large consortia like the ABCD Study, preprocessing neuroimaging data and developing open-source tools for data analysis. Demidenko’s research spans topics such as reward processing, individual differences in sensation seeking, and the impact of prenatal androgens on brain structure.

• Education:
  • Ph.D. in Psychology, University of Michigan (2020)
  • Certificate in Data Science, University of Michigan (2020)
• Grants & Awards:
  • F32 Ruth L. Kirschstein Postdoctoral Fellowship (NIDA, 2022-2025)
  • T32 NICHD Developmental Psychology Training Grant (2019-2021)
• Key Projects:
  • Measurement invariance of fMRI task data across adolescent cohorts
  • Reliability of fMRI estimates using multiverse analysis
  • Preprocessing pipelines for ABCD Study neuroimaging data

Demidenko advocates for open science practices, including registered reports and preregistration. He has published extensively on fMRI methodological challenges and neurodevelopmental mechanisms underlying risk-taking behaviors in adolescents. His work bridges statistical rigor, neuroimaging techniques, and developmental theory to address translational questions in mental health and substance use.