Director
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 and President 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

Finnegan Calabro, PhD
Assistant Research Professor
Co-Director of the LNCD
Director of Undergraduate Education for the LNCD
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.
Graduate Students
Research Staff
Piya Verma
Research Specialist

Nathan Rockcastle
Research Project Coordinator
Alumni
Faculty

Assistant Professor, Psychology

Junior Faculty, now tenure-track Faculty at the Psychiatry Department of Temple University
Postdoctoral Fellows

Form postdoctoral fellow researching brain network development in relation to psychopathology; white matter; neuroimaging

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

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

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


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

Postdoctoral Fellow, now Data Scientist at Prosper

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

Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
Science Writer

Assistant Professor of Psychology, Penn State
Graduate Students

Graduate Student

Graduate Student, now Postdoctoral fellow at

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

University of Pittsburgh Neuroscience Graduate Student, now Pediatric Resident at the University of Maryland Medical Center

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

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

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

Kevin Dowling
MD/PhD Student in the MSTP Program, now on second rotation

Jasmine Hect
MD/PhD Student in the MSTP Program, now on second rotation

Sam Elliott
Research Staff

Alyssa Famalette
Research Specialist
Previous Research Specialist

Jennifer Fedor
Research Specialist

former Assistant to the director, now in graduate studies as Pitt

Matthew Missar
Research Specialist

Laurie Thompson
former Research Specialist

Julia Lekht
Research Specialist, now studying to become a physician assistant



Research Assistant, now Staff Scientist in the Section on Neurocircuitry of the NIMH

Lab Manager

Research Assistant, now Graduate Student Researcher, University of California, Davis

Research Assistant, now Support/On-Boarding Analyst at Pacsoft

Research Assistant, now Graduate Student Researcher at Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Brown University

Assistant to the Director, now Administrative Assistant at Winchester Thurston

Research Assistant, now Research Specialist

School-Based Brief Mobile Therapist at Wesley Spectrum Services

Research Assistant, now Neuroscience Doctoral Program Graduate Student, Medical College of Wisconsin

Research Assistant, now Digital Content Manager and Co-Founder at Realize Content

Research Assistant, now in Medical School

Research Assistant, now Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Carnegie Mellon University

Research Assistant, now Clinical Research Fellow, Washington DC VA Medical Center

Research Assistant, now Product Manager for Precision Imaging Metrics at Massachusetts General Hospital