An official website of the United States governmentAffective Neuroscience and Pain Lab
Lab Alumni
Titilola Akintola, Ph.D., Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow
Lola Akintola was a visiting postdoctoral fellow who investigated the mechanisms of expectation effects on pain using neuroimaging and behavioral approaches. Lola received her B.Sc. in biology from Morgan State University and her Ph.D. in toxicology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, where she studied under the mentorship of Dr. Luana Colloca.
Carolyn Amir, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow
Carolyn Amir was a postbac IRTA research fellow, studying the effects of psychological processes on pain perception in healthy adults.
Nicole Antkiewicz, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow
Nicole Antkiewicz served as a postbac IRTA who investigated the effects of bias on pain perception and expression in healthy adults.
Lauren Banker, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow
Lauren is now a Ph.D. student in the applied physiology and kinesiology at the University of Florida.
Sabrina Barhoum, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow
Sabrina Barhoum was a postbac IRTA research fellow who studied the neural and psychological mechanisms of pain perception, particularly expectation and pain relief. Sabrina attended Muhlenberg College and received her B.S. in neuroscience and minor in philosophy. She spent her undergraduate years working in Dr. Gretchen Gotthard’s lab, where she evaluated the disruption of memory and memory reconsolidation using virtual reality. This research focused on proposing future treatment for memory-based disorders, like post-traumatic stress disorder, and was presented as a poster at the Society for Neuroscience Convention in 2019. She completed a grant proposal investigating the association between media multitasking and negative affect in children under the mentorship of Dr. Matthieu de Wit, and presented a formal talk about the extended mind theory and technology under the guidance of Dr. Jeremy Teissere. Her other research interests and proposed areas of study include childhood psychopathology, cognition, and neural plasticity.
Jama Brookes, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow
Jama Brookes was a postbac IRTA research fellow who assisted in understanding biopsychosocial processes in pain perception and expressions. She created and analyzed psychophysiological stimuli to study health disparities in pain. Jama received a B.S. in psychology with a minor in medical humanities from Appalachian State University. While completing her undergraduate degree, Jama worked under three research professors in the departments of biochemistry, psychology, and economics. She researched P450 modulation, moral aspects of blame, and the role of sleep in monetary decision making, respectively.
Jolyna Chiangong, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow
Jolyna Chiangong was a postbaccalaureate Intramural Research Training Award (IRTA) research fellow and Office of Intramural Training and Education Postbac Enrichment Program (OITE-PEP) Scholar investigating biopsychosocial influences on pain and pain assessment through studying facial expressions. She obtained her B.S. in biology, health, and society and gender and health from the University of Michigan. Under the mentorship of Dr. Clayton Shuman, she researched perinatal experiences of birthing patients during and following the COVID-19 pandemic and maternal health disparities. She also obtained her M.S. in biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University, where, under the mentorship of Dr. Wendy Bennett, she explored technology-based interventions to limit gestational diabetes and obesity. At the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, she worked in the lab of Dr. Faustine Williams and explored the intersections between psychosocial factors and immigrant, racial/ethnic minority, and gender minority mental health.
Molly Cosgrove, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow
Molly Cosgrove was a postbac IRTA fellow in the Section on Affective Neuroscience and Pain.
Troy Dildine, Predoctoral IRTA Fellow
Troy Dildine was a predoctoral IRTA fellow through the Graduate Partnership Program and had been pursuing a Ph.D. in medicine between the National Institutes of Health and Karolinska Institutet.
Maya Joshi Delity, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow
Maya Joshi Delity was a postbac IRTA research fellow who investigated psychological processes on chronic pain, as well as mechanisms of expectation effects on pain. Maya received her B.A. in psychology from Boston University, where she studied under the mentorship of Dr. Nicholas Wagner in the Biobehavioral and Social Emotional Lab.
Elena Do, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow
Elena Do was a postbac IRTA research fellow who investigated social discrimination on pain.
Shara Grant, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow
Inseon Lee, Ph.D., Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow
Inseon Lee is now faculty at Kyung Hee University.
Robert Linton III, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow
Robert Linton III, was a postbac IRTA.
Dominik Mischkowski, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow
Dominik Mischkowski is now an assistant professor at Ohio University.
Margaret Rose-McCandlish, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow
Margaret Rose-McCandlish was a postbac IRTA research fellow who studied the effects of psychological processes on pain perception and expression in healthy adults.
Elizabeth Necka, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow
Elizabeth Necka is now an American Association for the Advancement of Science fellow at the National Institute of Mental Health.
Olga Oretsky, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow
Esther Palacios-Barrios, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow
Esther Palacios-Barrios is now a Ph.D. student in clinical psychology at the University of Pittsburgh.
Julie Parsons, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow
Julie Parsons was a postbac IRTA fellow.
Chrissy Sandman
Chrissy Sandman is now a Ph.D. student in clinical psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles. (no image available)
Rachel Weger, Postbaccalaureate IRTA Fellow
Rachel Weger was a postbac IRTA research fellow. She gathered and analyzed psychophysiologial measures and participant self-report in healthy adults to study health disparities in pain.
Julio Yanes, Ph.D., Postdoctoral IRTA Fellow
Julio Yanes, Ph.D., was a postdoctoral IRTA fellow.
(from left): Bethany Sauls, summer student; Bethany Leidl, summer student; Caitlin Stavish, special volunteer; Lauren Banker, summer student