Graduate Students
Andrew Fox
206 Waisman
608-310-5531
Drew's website
Advisor: Davidson
Program:
I am interested in the way that emotional and empathetic brain systems influence decision-making and pro-social behaviors. During my graduate career I hope to use functional brain imaging in both humans and rhesus monkeys (macaque mulatta), to investigate how these interactions occur. Eventually I hope my research leads to novel ways of triggering these brain systems to produce positive behavioral outcomes.
Daniel Grupe
Waisman S111
608-890-1389
Advisor: Nitschke
Program: IGM
I am interested in the use of neuroimaging methods to investigate individual differences in cognitive and affective processes, with the goal of understanding how extreme differences in these processes leads to psychopathology. My current research is focused on the anticipation of future events under conditions of uncertainty, as well as the relationship between cognitive biases surrounding uncertainty and anxiety disorders.
Deok Han
Waisman T129
608-890-2671
Advisor: Alexander
Program:
My research interest is to develop innovative brain image segmentation, especially in WM of DTI images using digital image processing and machine vision technique.
Jamie Hanson
Waisman 394
608-890-2482
More about Jamie
Advisor: Davidson/Pollak
Program: IGM
Currently, I am directing a large study examining brain development and early experience. This work seeks to answer how brain development and plasticity give rise to both the commonality and individual differences in a behavioral repertoire.
Upon the completion of that project, I plan to investigate the neural substrates of reward from a development perspective. I am interested in normative aspects of these functions and also how they can be altered via early experience. I hope to interweave and understand individual differences in impulsivity and decision-making in this investigation.
Aaron Heller
Waisman S109
608-890-3076
Advisor: Davidson
Program: Clinical
My research interests include the influence of body states and positions on emotion and memory, as well as the neural underpinnings of approach and avoidant behaviors. Additionally, I plan to pursue a research project investigating the degree to which one's goals may affect or even override the encoding, perception, and memory of stimuli in one's environment.
Ansel Hillmer
Waisman T166
608-890-2959
1005 WIMR
608-262-2170
ahillmer@wisc.edu
Advisor: Christian
Pasha Hosseinbor
T117 Waisman608-265-2062
Samuel Hurley
B1138q, 1005 WIMR
608-318-3063
Advisor: Alexander
Program: Medical Physics
My research interests focus on MRI imaging of white matter disease, specifically multiple sclerosis (MS). My goal is to develop novel quantitative MRI methods to measure the properties of white matter through the use of new acquisition and mathematical modeling strategies.
Allison Jahn
Waisman A134
608-263-5641
Advisor: Davidson/Abercrombie
Program: Clinical
Generally, my research interests focus on examining how brain and body processes interact with the environment in the etiology and exacerbation of depression. My current interests involve elucidating the underlying mechanisms of information processing and emotional biases in depression.
Awards: 2007 Hertz Foundation Research Fellowship Award (and travel grant); 2006 Roderick Menzies Memorial Scholarship for Collaborative Graduate Student Research (and travel grant); 2006 National Science Foundation (NSF) graduate research fellowship; 2004-05 Lyn Abramson Award for Cognitive Approaches to Psychopathology.
Deb Kerr
Waisman S111
608-890-1389
Advisor: Nitschke
Program: Clinical
I am currently in the Clinical Neuroscience doctoral program at UW Madison. My present study, advised by Dr. Jack Nitschke, involves neuro-imaging of snake phobia. Specifically, I am interested in how the elements of anticipation and uncontrollability operate in specific phobia, including what brain regions they recruit.
I am particularly interested in the cognitive basis of mood and anxiety disorders, specifically: depression, phobia, and generalized anxiety disorder. I am fascinated by the phenomenon of ‘resilience’ and attempting to parcel out its many complex factors. I would like to continue doing research using neuro-imaging methods, but am experienced with other approaches. Ultimately, I would like to be involved in research that will lead to the treatment and prevention of mood and anxiety disorders.
Jessica Kirkland
Waisman A134
608-263-5641
Advisor: Davidson
Program: Clinical
My primary research interest is the development of empathy, and the roles that a lack of empathy may play in the severity and persistence of childhood behavior problems. I'm specifically interested in using functional MRI and behavioral measures to investigate various aspects of empathy in children with conduct disorder and conduct problems.
Awards: 2008 Ramona Messerschmidt Award for Graduate Research; 2008 Organization for Human Brain Mapping Conference Travel Award; 2007 New York Academy of Sciences Young Investigator Award for conference travel; 2007 Hertz Foundation Research Fellowship Award (and travel grant); 2006 Roderick Menzies Memorial Scholarship for Collaborative Graduate Student Research (and travel grant)
Regina Lapate
Waisman 206
608-263-3672
Advisor: Davidson
Program:
My research interest lies in the possibility of reforming the description and assessment of manifestations and disturbances along the spectrum of mental processes. I am attracted to affective neuroscience due to its utilization of a psychophysiological approach to mental disorders as an alternative to an exclusively phenomenological one. Such perspective brings direct implications to the conceptualization and appraisal of health in a broad dimension.
I am especially interested in the relationships between interoceptive abilities, affective chronometry and pain processing. Currently, I am involved in psychophysiological and neuroimaging data acquisition, processing and analysis for the MIDUS (MidLife in the US) and Pain Regulation studies.
Awards: 2009 Psychology travel award from the "Hertz Foundation and Royalty Research Fellowship" for travel to HBM
Daniel Levinson
Advisor: Davidson
Program: Clinical
I'm taking part in developing behavioral games sensitive to ways meditation influences emotion and attention. The vision is to understand the brain processes that allow people excel at these behaviors, and how these processes may be facilitated.
Sharee Light
Waisman S109
608-890-1386
Advisor: Davidson
Program: Clinical
My primary research interest is focused on elucidating the neural bases of positive emotion, with an emphasis on empathy (i.e., the process of understanding and interpreting the mental and emotional states of others and experiencing resultant, related emotions) and pleasure as distinct types of positive emotion. My interest in studying the neural bases of pleasure comes from my interest in the symptom of anhedonia (i.e., a lack of, or reduced ability to experience pleasure) observed in major depressive disorder (MDD).
Awards: 2006 Tursky Award for Excellence in Predoctoral Research in Psychophysiology.
Jeff Moirano
Waisman T117
608-265-2062
Advisor: Converse
My main research interests include functional imaging of cognitive disorders and neuroreceptor mapping. I am currently working on a project to image dopaminergic neuromodulation using two simultaneous PET tracers. I also collaborate on several studies of novel therapeutic strategies for neurodegenerative disorders.
Pouria Mossahebi
1310E WIMR
mossahebi@wisc.edu
Advisor: Alexander
Brendon Nacewicz
Waisman T113
608-890-3073
Advisor: Davidson
Program: MD/PhD
My research interests are the structural and functional correlates of social function/dysfunction in the autistic brain, with particular focus on the amygdala. I am interested in the volumes of structures likely involved in processing of social stimuli as assessed by region of interest tracing on MR images. I am also interested in the physical connectivity between these structures as measured using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).
Awards: 2008 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the NIMH; 2007 Wayne & Jean Roper Wisconsin Distinguished Graduate Fellowship Award; 2006 Student Travel Award, International Meeting for Autism Research and the Zeaman Travel Award, Mtg. on Res. & Theory in Intellectual & Dev. Disabilities.
David Perlman
Waisman S109
608-890-1386
Fun with Dave's head
Advisor: Davidson
Program: IGM
My original background is in physics, with followup in statistics and computer programming. I have taken course work with a focus on statistical methodology, functional neuroimaging, model-based psychology including neuroeconomics and behavioral game theory, and clinical psychology, particularly depression. My research work has focused on an in-depth development of fMRI methodology skills, and execution and analysis of fMRI experiments relating to cognitive modulation of pain perception in normal participants as well as in long-term meditation practitioners. I am currently developing the outline of my dissertation research program, which will involve studying relations between affective chronometry/affective hysteresis, cognitive models of depression, and cognitive modulation of pain perception. I will be studying the central constructs of self-focused attention, and emotional regulation/reactivity, attempting to use these constructs to tie together the various measures. In the bigger picture, I am interested in how techniques such as meditation and fMRI neurofeedback could be used to generate improvements in the functioning of these systems. I have been involved in the design of studies of meditation, as well as piloting fMRI neurofeedback on our scanner. I am also interested in using advanced PET tracers to look at the involvement of modulatory neurotransmitters, particularly dopamine, in these potential improvements.
Brianna Schuyler
Waisman 206
608-890-2961
Advisor: Davidson
Program: IGM
My work so far has focused on ways to analyze effective connectivity between brain regions in functional MRI data. I am also interested in studying perception of self and self-attachment - their neural correlates and how one's degree of self-attachment affects certain behaviors.
Helen Weng
Waisman A125
608-263-0269
Advisor: Davidson
Program: Clinical
My main research interest is how we may most effectively regulate both negative and positive emotion which leads to increased personal well-being as well as altruistic behavior towards others. I study meditation as a set of practices which may increase effective emotion regulation. I am also interested in how meditation may help to alleviate and maintain remission from mood and anxiety disorders.
My current research involves studying compassion meditation as an alternate form of emotion regulation compared to cognitive reappraisal using fMRI and economic behavioral measures. I am collaborating with Drew Fox to develop an economic decision-making task that will be sensitive to compassion training. I am also studying how mindfulness meditation training affects automatic emotion regulation processing compared to an active control group.
Awards: 2007 Francisco J. Varela Memorial Grant Award; 2007 Hertz Foundation Research Fellowship Award; 2007 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Honorable Mention; 2008 Fetzer Institute Fellowship, Fetzer Initiative on the Neuroscience of Love, Compassion, and Forgiveness; 2008 Travel Award: International Symposium "Foundations of Human Social Behavior"; 2008 Hertz Foundation Research Fellowship Award (and Travel Grant)
Dustin Wooten
Waisman T166
608-890-2959
Advisor: Christian
Program: Medical Physics
Zhan Xu
Waisman S109
608-890-1386
zxu25@wisc.edu
Advisor: Alexander
Elizabeth Zakzewski
Waisman T117
608-265-2062
Advisor: Alexander