Ashli Owen-Smith is a behavioral scientist affiliated with the School of Public Health at Georgia State University , where her research focuses on mental health disparities, suicide prevention, and integrative/complementary approaches for complex mental-physical health conditions. She works with underserved populations including refugees/immigrants, incarcerated individuals, and LGBTQ+ communities through community-based participatory research and mixed-methods frameworks. Her current projects are funded by CDC , DBHDD , and DPH . Education: Ph.D. in Behavioral Sciences (Emory, 2009), S.M. in Public Health (Harvard, 2005), B.A. in Psychology (Smith College, 2001) Her research spans mental health , trauma , suicide prevention , and mindfulness-based interventions . Recent work examines telehealth adaptations for chronic pain and mental health, vaccine hesitancy in refugee communities, and social determinants of suicide . She leads studies on gender-affirming care and health disparities in LGBTQ+ populations. Key article trends include epidemiological analysis of suicide risk factors, COVID-19 impacts on mental health, ICD-10 coding for autism, and complementary medicine in trauma recovery. Subfields span telehealth , health equity , mental-physical comorbidity , and community engagement . Students she has mentored include C.A. Scarlett , T. Griner , and M.M. Sesay . Her work integrates public health policy , clinical research , and health systems analysis .
Jack J. Blanchard, Ph.D., is an Associate Provost for Enterprise Resource Planning and Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Maryland, College Park. He is affiliated with the Brain and Behavior Institute and serves as Academic Director of the Master of Professional Studies program in Clinical Psychological Science. Previously, he held roles as Department Chair and Director of Clinical Training. Education: Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, State University of New York at Stony Brook (1991) B.S. in Psychology, Arizona State University (1984) NIMH Postdoctoral Fellow at Medical College of Pennsylvania (1990-1992) Research Interests: Dr. Blanchard’s work focuses on emotion-behavior interactions in psychotic disorders, particularly schizophrenia. His laboratory (LEAP) employs fMRI, smartphone-based ecological assessments, and actigraphy to study: Social affiliation deficits and paranoia Neural correlates of motivation and reward processing Impact of sleep on symptom severity Clinical and behavioral assessment innovations Publication Trends: Recent articles (2020-2025) demonstrate a strong emphasis on transdiagnostic approaches, integrating neuroimaging with real-world behavioral tracking to examine social reward processing, pandemic-related mental health impacts, and sleep-psychosis comorbidities. Methodological themes include fMRI, smartphone assessments, and longitudinal designs. Awards and Honors: Joel and Kim Feller Professorship (2016) Excellence in Teaching Mentorship Award Fellow, Association for Psychological Science Mentoring and Grants: Actively trains graduate/undergraduate researchers through LEAP lab. Secured major funding including: NIMH grants for neural correlates of social affiliation/paranoia University of Maryland Brain and Behavior Initiative awards for wearable tech integration Laboratory and Collaborations: Directs the Laboratory of Emotion and Psychopathology (LEAP), collaborating with psychiatry departments and neuroscientists. Focuses on minority-representative samples and integrates clinical, behavioral, and technological methodologies.
Dr. Kelsey A. Bonfils is a Nina Bell Suggs Endowed Professor and Assistant Professor in the School of Psychology at the University of Southern Mississippi, where she directs the Social Cognition & Recovery in Schizophrenia (SCORS) Lab. Her academic journey includes a PhD and MS in Clinical Psychology from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, and a BS from the same institution. Dr. Bonfils' research focuses on social cognition mechanisms in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, examining contributing factors like sleep disturbance and developing interventions to improve recovery outcomes. Her work spans clinical psychology applications for adults with serious mental illness, psychosis risk, and emotion regulation processes. She maintains active professional affiliations with the American Psychological Association, Society for Research in Psychopathology, and International Society of Interpersonal Psychotherapy. Her publication portfolio demonstrates strong research trends in: Social cognition and metacognition in psychotic disorders Sleep-psychopathology relationships Innovative psychotherapies for serious mental illness Mental health disparities and treatment accessibility Veterans' mental health services Dr. Bonfils has received the distinguished Nina Bell Suggs Endowed Professorship recognizing her contributions to clinical psychology research. She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses including Abnormal Psychology, Clinical Psychology Practicum, and Adult Psychotherapy. At the SCORS Lab, Dr. Bonfils leads research on social cognitive processes and recovery-oriented interventions for individuals with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, with current projects investigating sleep-social cognition interactions and metacognitive therapies.
Andrew Yonelinas is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Davis, where he directs the Human Memory Lab. He holds additional leadership roles as Associate Director of the Center for Mind and Brain and is an affiliated faculty member with the UC Davis Center for Neuroscience. His research bridges cognitive psychology and neuroscience to investigate fundamental memory mechanisms and their neural substrates. His educational background includes a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from McMaster University (1995) and a B.S. in Cognitive Science from the University of Toronto (1990). These foundational studies established his expertise in experimental methodologies and cognitive theory. Yonelinas specializes in dual-process models of memory, distinguishing between recollection (detailed contextual retrieval) and familiarity (vague recognition). His lab employs process dissociation, remember/know procedures, and ROC modeling alongside neuroimaging (fMRI, ERP) and clinical studies with amnesic and Alzheimer's patients. Recent work expands into auditory working memory, multisensory integration, and the impact of mental illness on cognitive processes, revealing hippocampal roles across memory systems. His research consistently addresses how memory fails in clinical conditions while developing unified theoretical frameworks. Analysis of his 2024-2025 publications shows a strong focus on memory mechanisms across sensory modalities, with increasing emphasis on clinical applications. Key trends include hippocampal contributions to visual/auditory working memory, EEG-based biomarkers for mental illness, and the interplay between schema knowledge and memory distortion in aging populations. His work demonstrates methodological innovation through model-based EEG phenotyping and multisite clinical collaborations. His scientific recognition includes: American Psychological Society’s Shahin Hashtroudi Memorial Award University of California Chancellor’s Fellow Award European Brain and Behavior Society International Lecture Award Yonelinas actively shapes his field through editorial roles at top journals including Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Journal of Experimental Psychology, while serving as a grant reviewer for NIH, NSF, and international funding bodies. His Human Memory Lab trains next-generation researchers in memory theory and methodology, with recent projects examining stress effects on memory precision and neural mechanisms of action slips. The Human Memory Lab operates within UC Davis's neuroscience ecosystem, collaborating closely with the Center for Mind and Brain on projects involving clinical populations and neuroimaging. Current initiatives include the CNTRACS Consortium for EEG standardization in mental illness and investigations into how stress modulates memory binding through hippocampal mechanisms.
Dr. Vasileios Stavropoulos is the Associate Dean, Higher Degree Research at RMIT University's Department of Health and Biomedical Sciences. His research focuses on behavioral addictions, digital phenotyping, and the psychological impacts of digital media, particularly in gaming and social media contexts. He supervises numerous research projects addressing topics like cyber-phenotyping via text mining, disordered gaming, and the interplay between digital media and mental health. Key research interests include the psychological mechanisms underlying problematic gaming and social media use, network analysis of addiction symptomologies, and the role of user-avatar bonds in behavioral disorders. His work integrates machine learning and behavioral science to predict and analyze addictive behaviors. Dr. Stavropoulos has published extensively on gaming disorder, social media addiction, and the mental health implications of digital media use. His collaborations span clinical psychology, public health, and computational methods, reflecting his interdisciplinary approach to addressing modern behavioral challenges. He is actively engaged in higher degree research governance at RMIT, overseeing doctoral programs and fostering innovation in research methodologies. His contributions include developing scales for measuring addiction behaviors and advancing longitudinal studies on mental health correlations with digital engagement.
Prof. Dr. Peter Falkai is a Professor and Chair at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, LMU University of Munich. He leads regular members of the Munich Cluster for Neuroscience (MCN) and Graduate School of Neuroscience (GSN), with affiliations to the Medical Faculty and various research groups, including the Psychotherapy and Social Neuroscience Research Unit and Center for Neurostimulation (CNS LMU). Primary research focus: Molecular & Developmental Neuroscience Secondary research focus: Behavioral & Cognitive Neuroscience Tertiary research focus: Cellular & Systems Neuroscience His research explores the neurobiological origins of psychotic disorders like schizophrenia, utilizing functional imaging, gene expression analysis in human post-mortem tissue, and lifestyle interventions. He coordinates cross-diagnosis studies, including EU-FP7 PRONIA, and collaborates on neurostimulation, addiction medicine, and precision psychiatry. Prof. Falkai served as President of the German Society for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Neurology (DGPPN) from 2010–2012 and on the European Psychiatric Association (EPA) Council of National Societies. He oversees clinical operations, including private wards, outpatient clinics, and specialized units for autism, bipolar disorders, and addiction medicine.
Dr. Jane Garrison is a cognitive neuroscientist and Lecturer at the University of Cambridge, affiliated with Queens’ College. She serves as Director of Studies in both Psychological & Behavioural Sciences and Natural Sciences (Biological) for Part IA students, and as Admissions Tutor at Queens’ College. MA (Cantab), MSc (Hertfordshire), PhD (Warwick), PhD (Cantab) Focus on the neural basis of reality monitoring and hallucinations in schizophrenia and other conditions Current research explores paracingulate sulcus morphology, functional connectivity, and neurofeedback interventions Her recent publications emphasize neuroimaging methodologies, structural MRI analysis, and computational frameworks for understanding hallucination mechanisms. Contact: jrg60@cam.ac.uk
Sara Hägg is a Senior Lecturer at the Karolinska Institutet , affiliated with the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics . She is also a Docent in molecular epidemiology. PhD in Computational Biology (Linköping University, 2009) MSc in Molecular Biology (Stockholm University, 2003) BSc in Computer Science (Stockholm University, 2003) Her research focuses on human biological aging , including measurement of aging markers (telomere length, epigenetic clocks, frailty index), causal pathway analysis, and identification of geroprotectors for age-related diseases. She utilizes longitudinal twin studies (SATSA, GENDER, HARMONY), UK Biobank, and Swedish cohorts with methods like Mendelian randomization and genome-wide analyses . Recent articles demonstrate trends in epidemiological aging research , with emphasis on cardiovascular aging , neurological disease interactions , metabolic profiling , and epigenetic clocks . Her work often involves multivariable modeling and cross-cohort validation . Leadership roles include Director of LifeGene Core Facility (2024-) and Founding Board Member of the Nordic Aging Society (2023-). She serves on expert groups for the Swedish Twin Registry and Strategic Research Area in Epidemiology and Biostatistics .
Professor Louis Appleby is a distinguished Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Manchester, where he serves in the Division of Psychology & Mental Health. He holds the prestigious position of Director of the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health and leads England's National Suicide Prevention Strategy. His work has positioned him as one of the UK's foremost experts in suicide prevention and mental health safety. Professor Appleby's research focuses on suicide prevention across diverse populations including mental health patients, children and young people, individuals with prior self-harm, and offenders. He leads the Centre for Mental Health and Safety, recognized as the largest research unit in suicide prevention globally. The Centre has developed a UK-wide database of over 100,000 suicides that informs evidence-based policy and practice. His research examines risk factors that increase suicide vulnerability and identifies protective factors and effective intervention points across different populations. Recent publications demonstrate his continued leadership in the field, with studies examining suicide in veterans, self-harm patterns in children and women, and suicide risk among patients with psychosis. These works reflect his commitment to translating research into practical interventions that save lives across multiple demographic groups. CBE (2006) RCPsych Lifetime Achievement Award (2021) Knighted in the 2023 New Year Honours Making a Difference Award, University of Manchester (May 2019) Outstanding Benefit to Society Through Research (2015) Professor Appleby has secured substantial research funding totaling £25 million from organizations including the Wellcome Trust, Medical Research Council, and Department of Health. His leadership extends to numerous doctoral students and early-career researchers in suicide prevention. He has held significant government roles including National Director for Mental Health (2000-2010) and National Clinical Director for Health and Criminal Justice (2010-2014), demonstrating his impact on national mental health policy. As Director of the Centre for Mental Health and Safety, Professor Appleby oversees multiple research programs including the National Confidential Inquiry, the Manchester Self-Harm Project (MASH), bereavement support research, offender health initiatives, and international epidemiological collaborations with Danish colleagues. His work continues to shape suicide prevention strategies at local, national, and international levels.
Dr. Donald Addington serves as a Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Calgary's Cumming School of Medicine, with full memberships at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute and Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research and Education. His academic career spans over 50 years, focusing on transforming mental health service delivery for schizophrenia and early psychosis through evidence-based tools and standards. His educational credentials include: MBBS in Medicine, University of London (1972) MRCPsych in Psychiatry, Royal College of Psychiatrists (1976) FRCPC in Psychiatry, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (1982) Dr. Addington's research integrates clinical psychiatry with health services evaluation to develop practical measurement systems. He pioneered internationally adopted instruments including depression assessment scales for schizophrenia and fidelity metrics for psychosis services, creating bridges between clinical practice, policy development, and funding mechanisms. His work establishes standardized approaches for evaluating mental health service accessibility, quality, and outcomes across diverse healthcare systems. His publication trajectory reveals consistent innovation in measurement science, evolving from the foundational Calgary Depression Scale (1990) to contemporary fidelity scales for early psychosis intervention (FEPS-FS/CHRP-FS). These works establish global benchmarks for service quality assessment, with applications spanning clinical practice guidelines, performance measurement, and cross-system outcome comparison through initiatives like the ICHOM Psychotic Disorders standard set. Dr. Addington's scientific recognition includes: Excellence in Clinical Teaching, PAIRA (1996) Leadership Award, Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health (2000) Gold Medal, Canadian College of Neuropsychopharmacology (2004) Michael Smith Award for Schizophrenia (2006) C.A. Roberts Award for Clinical Leadership (2011) Angelo Cocchi Award for Fidelity Implementation (2016) President’s Commendation, Canadian Psychiatric Association (2022) Dr. John M. Cleghorn Memorial Award (2024) He has secured major research funding from the National Institutes of Health, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research. His leadership extends through 11 years as Department Chair of Psychiatry and two terms as Canadian Psychiatric Association Board Chair, mentoring generations of clinicians while developing tools implemented across Canadian provinces, US states, and European nations. Dr. Addington leads cross-institutional teams including the ICHOM Psychotic Disorders working group and large-scale implementation projects in Ontario, 32 US states, Czechia, and Italy. His current initiatives expand the FEPS-FS framework to clinical high-risk populations and bipolar disorder services while advancing patient-reported outcome measures for international service comparison.
Matt Nassar is an Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Assistant Professor of Cognitive and Psychological Sciences at Brown University. He leads the Learning, Memory and Decision Lab, which is part of the Department of Neuroscience and the Robert J. & Nancy D. Carney Institute for Brain Science. His research focuses on understanding how the brain flexibly processes information to achieve complex and adaptive behaviors through computational approaches that bridge cognitive psychology and neuroscience. Education: PhD, University of Pennsylvania (2012) BA, Colgate University (2004) Nassar's research examines how different cognitive systems—learning, memory, and perception—leverage common computational principles to optimize decision-making. His work particularly focuses on how the brain balances stability and flexibility in processing information, how uncertainty is represented and utilized in learning, and how neural computations underlie complex behaviors. Through computational modeling and empirical research, he investigates how modular information-processing systems impact decisions and complex behavior in dynamic environments. His research integrates methods from cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and computational modeling to address fundamental questions about human cognition. Analysis of Nassar's recent publications (2020-2024) reveals a strong focus on computational neuroscience applied to decision-making, learning, and psychiatric conditions. His work frequently employs Bayesian modeling approaches to understand belief updating, uncertainty processing, and structure learning. Key themes include the neural basis of flexibility in learning, computational mechanisms underlying psychiatric symptoms, and age-related changes in cognitive processing. His research bridges cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and computational modeling to provide insights into both healthy cognition and disorders such as depression and schizophrenia. Scientific Contributions: Developed computational models of belief updating and learning under uncertainty Investigated neural mechanisms of stability-flexibility tradeoffs in cognition Examined age-related differences in learning and memory processes Explored computational mechanisms underlying psychiatric conditions Studied the role of noise correlations in neural learning systems Investigated how prefrontal cortex representations shape decision processes Nassar actively mentors researchers in his lab, with recent announcements highlighting postdocs joining from prestigious institutions like Max Planck UCL and Freie Universität Berlin. His lab appears to receive significant research funding, supporting multiple postdoctoral positions and research projects. Collaborations span multiple departments at Brown University, particularly with researchers in Cognitive and Psychological Sciences, Neurology, and Psychiatry. The lab has produced numerous high-impact publications in top journals including Nature Human Behaviour, Brain, and eLife. The Learning, Memory and Decision Lab, led by Nassar, is an active research group that uses computational models to understand how the brain represents and stores information for effective decision making. Recent lab announcements (as of February 2025) indicate the lab is expanding with new postdoctoral researchers joining from Harvard, Max Planck UCL, and Freie Universität Berlin, suggesting strong research momentum and funding support. The lab appears to be well-integrated within Brown's neuroscience community, with collaborations spanning multiple departments and research centers.
Prof. Dr. Michael Bosnjak leads the Department for Psychological Research Methods at the University of Trier, Germany, focusing on research synthesis methods, theory-driven machine learning, survey methodology, and experimental designs applied to personality psychology (HEXACO model), consumer behavior, and public health. His team includes Dr. Henning Silber (GESIS), Dr. Bernd Weiß (GESIS), and international collaborators at Utrecht University. Affiliation: University of Trier (Department of Psychology) Editorial Roles: Zeitschrift für Psychologie (Editorial Board), Social Science Computer Review (Associate Editor), Frontiers in Psychology (Review Editorial Board) Grants: DFG SFB 884 (co-applicant), DFG Project PaCO (2019-2024, principle investigator), BMBF-funded GESIS Panel Campus His recent publications analyze panel conditioning effects in longitudinal studies, e-commerce privacy dynamics, personality-trait interactions, and psychosis proneness measurement. Scientific awards include the 2016 BMBF infrastructure grant, 2011 Isaac Manasseh Meyer Fellowship, and 2003 Karin Islinger Award. Current projects address data quality in probability-based and opt-in panels, with experimental designs across eight groups testing measurement error mechanisms. He serves as a co-editor for multiple special issues on survey methodology and tourism psychology.
Professor Anke Ehlers is a leading academic in experimental psychopathology at the University of Oxford, affiliated with Wolfson College. As Co-Director of the Oxford Centre for Anxiety Disorders and Trauma (OxCADAT), her work focuses on anxiety disorders and PTSD, emphasizing cognitive mechanisms and evidence-based treatments. Her research has led to the development of a widely adopted cognitive therapy for PTSD, endorsed by NICE and international guidelines. Her academic credentials include a Dipl-Psych, PhD, and habilitation. She holds prestigious awards such as the APA's Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award (2014) and the ISTSS Lifetime Achievement Award (2022). She is a Supernumerary Fellow of Wolfson College and a Fellow of multiple academies, including the British Academy and the Academy of Medical Sciences. Recent research explores efficient PTSD treatment delivery, psychological mechanisms of therapy, and complex PTSD. Key studies include randomized controlled trials of online therapy for youth PTSD and blended trauma-focused CBT. Her work bridges clinical practice and neuroscience, investigating brain network dynamics in PTSD recovery. Research Groups: Anxiety and Trauma (OxCADAT) Awards: Includes Wilhelm Wundt-William James Award and multiple fellowship recognitions. Her contributions span clinical innovation, dissemination of evidence-based therapies, and foundational research on trauma’s psychological impact. Ongoing projects aim to optimize treatment accessibility and understand dissociative experiences in psychosis.
Steve Luck is a Distinguished Professor at the University of California, Davis, holding appointments in the Department of Psychology and the Center for Mind and Brain (CMB). He served as CMB Director from 2009–2019 and is affiliated with the UC Davis MIND Institute and the Center for Neuroscience. His research focuses on attention, working memory, and cognitive dysfunction in psychiatric disorders (e.g., schizophrenia), employing ERP recordings, eye tracking, and behavioral methods. He is a leading developer of ERP methodologies, including the ERPLAB Toolbox and global ERP Boot Camp workshops. Education: Ph.D., Neurosciences, UC San Diego, 1993 M.S., Neurosciences, UC San Diego, 1989 B.A., Psychology, Reed College, 1986 Research Interests: Dr. Luck explores mechanisms of cognitive control, with a focus on working memory's role in guiding attention. His lab investigates ERP correlates of attentional deficits in schizophrenia and develops standardized ERP protocols. Recent work emphasizes multivariate decoding of EEG signals and transdiagnostic neurocognitive biomarkers. Awards: Troland Award (2001) APA Distinguished Scientific Award (1998) McGuigan Young Investigator Prize (2004) Elected Fellow, Society of Experimental Psychologists and AAAS Teaching & Leadership: Professor Luck pioneered hybrid course formats in Cognitive Science and teaches advanced topics in perception and cognitive neuroscience. He co-founded the UC Davis Cognitive Science major and advocates for innovative undergraduate education models. Labs & Collaborations: The Luck Lab integrates clinical and basic research, collaborating globally on ERP method development and schizophrenia biomarker studies. Key projects include ERP Core resources and the CNTRACS consortium for neurocognitive reliability studies.
Prof. Dr. phil. Dipl. Psych. Ulrike Kluge is a Professor and Head of the Center of Cross-Cultural Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (ZIPP) at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. She concurrently leads the Research Division for Intercultural Migration and Care Research within Social Psychiatry and serves as a Senior Researcher at the Berlin Institute for Integration and Migration Research (Humboldt University). Her work focuses on intercultural mental health services and migration-related psychosocial challenges. Research Focus: Kluge specializes in critical migration studies examining psychological impacts of displacement, ethno-psychoanalysis, psychotherapy with cultural interpreters, and group-analytic approaches in transcultural contexts. Her research portfolio includes qualitative investigations into: Mental health consequences of racism and structural discrimination Refugee-host community dynamics Language barriers in healthcare Innovative care models for forced migrants Intercultural opening of mental health systems Key Projects: FOCUS: Forced displacement and refugee-host community solidarity TransVer: Network for intercultural opening of psychosocial care systems reWoven: Refugee women and psychosocial volunteer engagement SeGeMi: Study group on Mental Health and Migration Effectiveness studies on native-language counseling Professional Engagement: She develops training programs for clinicians working with refugees, provides supervision services, and coordinates Berlin-wide networks for refugee mental health care. Her work significantly contributes to professionalizing psychosocial support for asylum seekers through the 'Welcome Culture at Charité' initiative.
