Carnegie Mellon University

Post Docs, Research Scientists and Special Faculty

Nilsu Atilgan

Nilsu Atilgan

Postdoctoral Fellow

Address
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Vlad Ayzenberg

Vlad Ayzenberg

Postdoctoral Fellow

Address
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Edward Cranford

Edward A. Cranford

Postdoctoral Researcher

Address
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

I am currently a postdoc in the Functional Modeling Systems group, directed by Christian Lebiere. I earned my PhD in Cognitive Science from Mississippi State University. My research interests broadly include comprehension, prediction/anticipation, problem-solving, learning, and decision making. The focus of my current research is in modeling human decision making of adversaries in a cyber-security domain, understanding how humans respond to deception, and modeling end-user response to phishing attacks. In other research, I am interested in how experts generate and select appropriate courses of action in dynamic and time-pressured situations.

Mishaela DiNino

Mishaela DiNino

Postdoctoral Researcher

Address
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Shae DiNino is a joint postdoc in the labs of Lori Holt and Barb Shinn-Cunningham. She received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Washington and her B.A. and M.A. in Psychology from San Diego State University. Shae’s research focuses on auditory perception in adults who have experienced high levels of noise exposure. When not in the lab, Shae likes watching live music (with earplugs!) and taking her dog on outdoor adventures.

Janine Dutcher

Janine Dutcher

Special Faculty Researcher

  • BPH 340T
Address
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

My research seeks to understand how positive interventions and experiences (e.g., self-affirmation, mindfulness meditation, social support) may lead to reductions in threat and stress responding. I use multiple methods, including neuroimaging and psychoneuroimmunology, to explore how these processes have effects on physical health and well-being, with the ultimate goal of finding ways to help individuals build resilience. I received my B.S. in Psychology from Carnegie Mellon University in 2010 and my Ph.D. in Psychology from UCLA in 2016. 

Jon Fincham

Research Psychologist

Address
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Davida Fromm

Davida Fromm

Special Faculty Researcher

Address
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

I am interested in how speech, language, and communication skills are affected by neurological impairments such as stroke and dementia. Working with Brian MacWhinney, I am involved in creating shared databases for research in these and other related areas. Using and improving computer-based tools for language transcription and analysis is also a big focus of my work.

Margaret (Maggie)  Henderson

Margaret (Maggie) Henderson

Postdoctoral Researcher

Address
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Timothy Keller

Timothy Keller

Senior Research Psychologist

Address
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Senior Research Associate with expertise in fMRI. He is working on all of the fMRI projects. He has just the right computational skills to deal with the intensive data processing associated with fMRI data, as well as neuroanatomical knowledge for data interpretation. His substantive interests are in working memory, language, and spatial thinking. His Ph.D. is from the University of Missouri. He was previously an NIMH Post-Doctoral Fellow for two years.

Sahil Luthra

Sahil Luthra

Postdoctoral Fellow

Address
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Sahil is a postdoctoral researcher in the Holt Lab. He received his PhD in Psychological Sciences from the University of Connecticut in 2021. Sahil’s research focuses on the cognitive and neural mechanisms that support speech perception, and he is specifically interested in how listeners leverage different sources of information (their knowledge of who is talking, their knowledge of what someone is likely to say in some given context, etc.) to guide their interpretation of the acoustic signal. Outside of the lab, Sahil enjoys books, baking and boxing, as well as things that don’t start with the letter B.

Christian Lebiere

Christian Lebiere

Research Psychologist

Address
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

 

Michael Martin

Senior Researcher

Address
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Robert Mason

Robert Mason

Senior Research Associate

  • 327F Baker Hall
  • 412-268-3784
Address
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

My current research explores the cognitive and neural mechanisms through which scientific concepts are learned. I also developed a multiple cortical network theory of discourse processing with colleagues at the Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging (CCBI). My broader research program focuses on the interaction of learning, language and the brain during the instructional process. I use functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) to study cortical networks that subserve reading and learning. I have studied these networks in English speakers, bilinguals and individuals with autism. My Ph.D. is from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and I previously worked at the Learning Research & Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh.

Jason Schneiderman

Jason Schneiderman

Scientific Operations Director, CMU-Pitt BRIDGE Center

  • 150B Mellon Institute
  • 412-268-3647
Address
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

My own research falls into two general areas, the first of which is neuroimaging of neurological functioning, psychosocial distress, and psychiatric diseases. In particular the use of MRI to study brain structure and functioning in psychiatric disorders, sleep, stress, and injury. The second is cognitive and behavioral health, including psychiatric disorders, in aerospace medicine. I have a strong focus on the effects of spaceflight stressors including isolation, confinement, limited sleep, high workloads, microgravity, and radiation on the brain, cognition, and behavior. This includes work on mental healthcare in remote environments and of high-achieving populations.

Outside of my own research, a large focus of my work is in establishing and running shared research facilities in a range of environments from university and hospital based labs, to remote scientific facilities including Antarctic research bases and the International Space Station. I played a key role in the creation and operations of the Behavioral Health & Performance (BHP) Laboratory and the Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) at NASA Johnson Space Center, as well as a research facility for the Center for Understanding Biology using Imaging Technology (CUBIT) of the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University.

Areas of Expertise

  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Health Neuroscience
  • Neuropsychology
  • Neuroimaging

Catarina Vales

Catarina Vales

Special Faculty Researcher

  • 340U Baker Hall
  • 412-268-6113
Address
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Roberto  Vargas

Roberto Vargas

Postdoctoral Fellow

  • BPH 436D
Address
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

My current research examines how people think about, discuss, and engage with their social world across behavioral, ecological, and neural levels. Moreover, I am interested in how these thoughts of the social world provide an ecologically valid foundation for understanding the cognitive mechanisms underlying conceptual association at the individual and group level.

Specifically, I am interested in how peoples' thoughts and feelings (i.e., conceptual associations) involving their societal environment (e.g., healthcare, voting) and social groups within that environment (e.g., race, gender, social economic status) influence their decision to engage with services their society provides and their treatment of people of differing social identities.

The fundamental goal of this body of research aims to identify data-driven patterns of thinking and behavior to illuminate societally systemic and neural mechanisms that contribute to social thought, conceptual associations, and decision making.

I am currently a Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow (2022-2023 cohort) working with both the Cognitive Axon Lab (CoAx) and the Data Driven Diversity Lab (D3) and have served on the Psychology departmental Diversity & Inclusion board as well as co-founded the Diverse Recruitment committee to spearhead college-wide graduate recruitment efforts from underrepresented groups.