Director

Dr. Luna smiles into the camera. She is on a white background. She has black hair and is wearing a green beaded necklace and a black top.

lunab@upmc.edu
Loeffler Building room 111

Dr. Beatriz Luna, PhD

Staunton professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics

Professor of Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh

Founder and Director of the Laboratory of Neurocognitive Development

Founder of the Flux Society for Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

Research

Dr. Luna’s research uses multimodal neuroimaging methods including: functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI), Magnetoencephalography (MEG), Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging (MRSI). Her findings have led to influential developmental models emphasizing the implications of specialization of different brain systems with regards to cognitive development.

Faculty

Research Instructor, Staff Scientist — Finnegan Calabro, PhD

Finnegan Calabro, PhD

Assistant Research Professor

Co-Director of the LNCD

Director of Undergraduate Education for the LNCD

Ashley Parr, PhD

ashley.clare.parr@gmail.com
Loeffler Building room 113
CV

Ashley Clare Parr, PhD

Research Instructor

Research

Dr. Parr’s research combines functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) to understand how maturation within the brain’s dopamine system contributes to the developmental specialization of reward and cognitive control systems through adolescence.

Postdoctoral Fellows

Valerie Sydnor, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow

Research

Dr. Sydnor’s research program aims to chart how neurodevelopmental plasticity spatially and temporally unfolds across the youth cortex and to identify biological and environmental regulators of developmental timing. Her overarching scientific goal is to conduct research that can help guide interventions for youth that incorporate mechanistic developmental principles and that are delivered while the brain is undergoing demarcated periods of malleability.

Dan Petrie, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow

Research

Dr. Petrie’s research is broadly focused on the relationship between adolescent brain development and decision-making. Specifically, he is interested in the mechanisms that help facilitate the transition from goal-directed behavior to habitual behavior, and how adolescents may form habits differently than children and adults.

Shane McKeon, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow

Research

Dr. McKeon’s work aims to assess the proposal for CP in PFC by characterizing CP mechanisms during adolescence using electrophysiological assessments of E/I balance.

Graduate Students

Amar Ojha

Neuroscience Graduate Student

Research

Amar is broadly interested in using neuroimaging techniques to characterize the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the development of cognitive and affective self-regulatory capacities in adolescence

Victoria Dionisos

Cognitive Psychology Graduate Student Researcher

Research

Victoria is interested in neurobiological mechanisms such as pruning and myelination that support the development of certain brain networks related to inhibitory control and other cognitive functions.

Destiny Wright

Clinical Psychology Graduate Student Researcher

Research

Destiny is broadly interested in using neuroimaging techniques to understand how puberty impacts executive functioning during adolescent development.

Abigail Beatty

Bioengineering Graduate Student Researcher

Research

Abigail is broadly interested in using EEG and other neuroimaging techniques to understand the underlying mechanisms of cognitive brain development during adolescence.

Research Staff

Angela Martinez
Research Specialist

Piya Verma
Research Specialist

Hannah Creely
Research Specialist

Alyssa Famalette
Research Specialist

Nathan Rockcastle
Research Project Coordinator

Will Foran
Data Coordinator/Analyst

Alumni

Faculty

Maria smiles into the camera. She has brown curly hair to past her shoulders. Behind her is green paneling.

Maria Jalbrzikowski, PhD
Assistant Professor, Psychology

Vishnu “Deepu” Murty, PhD
Junior Faculty, now tenure-track Faculty at the Psychiatry Department of Temple University

Postdoctoral Fellows

Laura Cabral, PhD
Form postdoctoral fellow researching brain network development in relation to psychopathology; white matter; neuroimaging

Bart Larsen, PhD
Cognitive Neuroscience Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Fellow, now Postdoctoral Fellow at The Psychiatric And Developmental Imaging Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania

David Montez, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow and University of Pittsburgh Graduate Student, now Postdoctoral Fellow at the
Dosenbach Lab at the Washington University School of Medicine

Miya Asato, MD
Postdoctoral Fellow, now Program Director, Neurodevelopmental Disabilities Residency Program, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh;
Associate Director, Child Neurology Residency Program, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh;
Professor, Pediatrics and Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Kirsten O’Hearn, PhDPostdoctoral Fellow, now Assistant Professor of Physiology and Pharmacology at Wake Forrest School of Medicine

Michael Hallquist, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, now Assistant Professor of Psychology, UNC; Director of DEPENd lab

David Paulsen, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, now Data Scientist at Prosper

Chuck Geier, PhD
Cognitive Psychology Grad Student and then Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Pittsburgh, now Professor at University of Georgia, Director of the Geier Lab for Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

Katerina Velanova, PhD
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
Science Writer

Suzy Scherf, PhD
Assistant Professor of Psychology, Penn State

Graduate Students

Maria Perica, PhD
Graduate Student

Orma Ravindranath, PhD
Graduate Student

Brenden Tervo-Clemmens, PhD
Graduate Student, now Postdoctoral fellow at

Harvard Medical School

Scott Marek, PhD
University of Pittsburgh Neuroscience Graduate Student, now Postdoctoral Fellow at the
Dosenbach Lab at the Washington University School of Medicine

Daniel Simmonds, MD, PhD
University of Pittsburgh Neuroscience Graduate Student, now Pediatric Resident at the University of Maryland Medical Center

Aarthi Padmanabhan
University of Pittsburgh Cognitive Psychology Grad Student, now Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience Laboratory

Kai Hwang
University of Pittsburgh Cognitive Psychology Grad Student, now Lab Director of the Hwang Lab and
Assistant Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the Iowa Neuroscience Institute, The University of Iowa

Sarah Ordaz, PhD
University of Pittsburgh Clinical Psychology Grad Student, now Licensed Psychologist, Assessment Clinic Lead with the Pacific Anxiety Group

Ana Almeida Rojo
CNUP Predoctoral Fellow – Rotation Student, now on rotation with Dr. Yanhua Huang, University of Pittsburgh Psychiatry Department