Meet our Team

Vijay A. Mittal, Ph.D.

Research Coordinators

joanna hernandez, b.a.

Imaging Specialist

Joanna graduated from Northwestern with a B.A. in Cognitive Science. There, she developed an interest in psychological research while working as a research assistant in a psychophysiology laboratory. Since then, she has worked on a number of MRI studies and is interested in researching large-scale functional brain networks across different populations. Jo is very excited to be a part of the ADAPT team!

Gabby Olson, b.a.

Gabby graduated from Northwestern with a B.A. in Psychology and Linguistics. She previously worked in labs studying neurodevelopmental and anxiety disorders. She is interested in development across the lifespan, particularly the effects of early stressors on language and cognition. Gabby hopes to pursue a PhD in clinical psychology in the future and is excited to gain more research experience in the ADAPT lab!

sophie parmacek, m.s.

Assessment Specialist

Sophie graduated from Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science with an M.S. in Clinical Counseling (Research Track) and from the University of Missouri with a B.A. in Psychology. She is interested in investigating executive functioning and social development in adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders. Sophie plans to pursue a PhD in clinical psychology and is excited to join the ADAPT lab!

nashya linares, b.a.

Nashya graduated from Florida International University with a B.A. in Psychology. She previously worked in a biopsychology lab focused on early development of learning using animal models. Her plans are to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology where she hopes to intersect education and clinical interventions in adolescents.

MAEVE HOFFMAN, B.A.

Maeve graduated from Wesleyan University with a B.A. in Neuroscience & Behavior and Psychology. There, she worked in the Kurtz lab investigating the effects of cognitive remediation therapy for individuals with schizophrenia-spectrum disorder. She hopes to go to medical school in the future and is excited to gain more clinical experience in the ADAPT lab!

Catherine Spencer, MA, LCSW

Assessment Specialist

Cathy received her Master of Arts degree in Social Work, Social Policy, and Social Administration from the University of Chicago with a clinical and school social work concentration. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor in Biology from Truman State University. Cathy has worked with adolescents and their families in various settings, specializing in eating disorders, autism spectrum disorders, student assessment in schools and youth alcohol and drug prevention. She looks forward to continuing to build her expertise in adolescent and young adult mental health in the ADAPT Lab.

Postdoctoral Fellows

Katherine Damme, Ph.D.

Dr. Damme received her PhD from Northwestern University where she examined in cognitive and neuroimaging markers of risk for psychopathology (bipolar disorder and psychosis). Her research focuses on the contributions of early and adolescent brain development to risk for psychosis using cortical morphometry and neural connectomics. She joined the lab in 2018 to examine how interventions like exercise and tDCS may mitigate risk for psychopathology by altering cognition and neural networks.

trevor williams, PH.D.

Trevor Williams will join the ADAPT lab in the Summer of 2020. Presently, he is completing his Clinical Psychology PhD requirements for the University at Buffalo, SUNY, where he studied transdiagnostic models of personality and psychopathology, as well as their connection to social processes. In the ADAPT lab, his research will focus on using behavioral, psychophysiological, and neural data to better understand social-cognitive processes related to the development of psychosis.

Danielle Pratt, PH.D.

Danielle Pratt received her PhD from the University of Minnesota where she studied the psychometric properties of cognitive measurements in people with psychosis as well as identifying how cognitive mechanisms differ for those individuals using classical and computational methods. She joined the ADAPT lab in 2021 to examine what cognitive patterns or altered mechanisms might indicate risk for developing psychosis.

Graduate Students

Jessica Fattal, b.s.

Jessica graduated from Michigan State University with a B.S. in Psychology and a B.S. in Neuroscience. During her baccalaureate and post-baccalaureate training, Jessica worked as a research assistant and lab manager in the Michigan State Clinical Neuroscience Lab studying visual and oculomotor changes in schizophrenia. Jessica is currently a graduate student in Dr. Vijay Mittal's ADAPT lab in Chicago. Her research interests center on identifying basic physiological changes that may act as markers for risk in prodromal populations.

Luz maria alliende serra, M.A.

Luz Maria graduated from Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile with a BA in Clinical Psychology. After graduation she worked as a research assistant under Dr. Nicolas Crossley at the same institution, studying early psychosis with a focus on neuroimaging approaches. She also worked as a clinician in an inpatient unit for first episode psychosis. In 2021, she obtained an MA in Psychology from The University of Chicago working under Dr. Molly Erickson. Her MA thesis focused on thalamocortical connectivity and its role in explaining 2 consistently found EEG and fMRI patterns in working memory deficit in schizophrenia. She is part of the ANDES network for the study of early psychosis in Latin America. Luz Maria is interested on how environmental stressors affect the onset and presentation of early psychosis and how this can be translated onto the study of biomarkers through imaging and EEG.

Luz Maria is also part of the ANDES network for the study of early psychosis in Latin America and is interested in the study of psychosis from a global perspective.

Ivanka Ristanovic, M.A.

Ivanka graduated from Roosevelt University with an MA in Clinical Psychology. During her graduate training, she was a research assistant in a lab focusing on norming computer based category and digit span tests. Ivanka completed her clinical practicum at an inpatient unit of Hartgrove psychiatric hospital where she worked with at-risk populations experiencing highly acute symptomatology including but not limited to psychotic symptoms, suicide ideation, homicide ideation, and aggression. Ivanka is interested in working with adolescents and young adults, and her research interests include neurological and hormonal basis for severe psychopathology development and maintenance and their role in developing new treatment methods.  She started Graduate school at NU, in the ADAPT lab, this fall.

Katia Zalkind, M.s.

Katia Zalkind graduated from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, where she worked with Neal Cohen. Her honors thesis involved priming for words and nonwords generated by an artificial grammar. After receiving a National Science Fellowship and coming to Northwestern University, she worked with Ken Paller and Sohee Park. Katia’s Masters Thesis concerned event-related potential correlates of reading. Katia also managed a group home for Trilogy Inc—a behavioral healthcare center in Rogers Park. In the Mittal lab, Katia is investigating semantic priming and connectivity in individuals at high risk for psychosis. Her area of interest is the intersection of brain, language, and psychopathology.

Vanessa Zarubin, B.s., b.a.

Vanessa graduated from Wofford College with a B.S. in Psychology and a B.A. in French. Following graduation, she joined the Translational Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience lab at the University of California, Davis, where she was the coordinator and technical specialist for a longitudinal study examining cognitive deficits and treatment response in first-episode psychosis. Vanessa is currently a graduate student in Dr. Vijay Mittal’s ADAPT lab. Her research interests include using multimodal approaches to better predict the onset and course of sub-threshold and full-threshold psychosis symptoms, with the goal of facilitating access to effective treatment sooner and improving treatment outcomes.

Graduate Student Collaborators

Franchesca Kuhney, M.A.

Franchesca is a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She received her bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Connecticut. Following graduation, she worked at the NIMH in the Clinical and Translational Neuroscience Branch, Section on Integrative Neuroimaging. Using structural neuroimaging techniques, her work at NIMH examined longitudinal developmental trajectories of brain regions thought to underlie the unique social and emotional phenotype of Williams syndrome. As a graduate student, her work focuses on understanding environmental and biological processes responsible for social dysfunction and disrupted development of skills needed to navigate the social environment in individuals with psychosis-spectrum disorders.

Alexis Porter, M.s.

Alexis graduated from Utah State University with a B.S. in Psychology. During her time at Utah State, her research focused primarily on evaluating whether natural or built environments elicited significant changes in neural activation via EEG. Following graduation, she joined the Cognitive Axon Lab at Carnegie Mellon University as a lab coordinator and data manager. Her work branched into a sector of health neuroscience where she examined the effects of exercise interventions on white matter architecture. Alexis is currently a graduate student jointly advised by Dr. Caterina Gratton and Dr. Vijay Mittal. Her research interests include evaluation of machine learning approaches to understand individual differences in brain networks as they relate to behavior and psychopathology. 

Research Assistants

Grace Lee

Grace is a second-year undergraduate student at Northwestern University majoring in Psychology and Human Development in Context. She hopes to pursue a career in clinical child psychology! Her interests lie in the development of psychological disorders and sharing knowledge to destigmatize mental health care. She is delighted to work with ADAPT lab!

Quinn Meyerson

Quinn is a third-year undergraduate student at Northwestern University majoring in Psychology. He is interested in the psychology of meditation, the interaction between mental health and spirituality, and community-based mental health care. After graduating, he hopes to pursue a doctorate in Clinical or Counseling psychology and work as a therapist. Outside of psychology, he enjoys meditating, baking, and being in nature. He is thrilled to be joining the ADAPT team!

Taera Kaka

Taera is a second-year undergraduate student at Northwestern majoring in Psychology with a minor in Data Science. She hopes to pursue a PhD in clinical psychology and is interested in studying the social factors that affect diagnosis of mental health disorders, particularly schizophrenia. Taera is extremely excited to work with the ADAPT lab and gain experience in clinical research!

Isha Nayak

Isha is a first year undergraduate at Northwestern University majoring in Psychology and Global Health. She hopes to attend medical school after graduation and wants to go into pediatrics. Isha is also very interested in clinical psychology and is excited to be working with ADAPT to further her understanding of mental disorders.

Lauren Lee

Lauren is a first-year undergraduate student at Northwestern University majoring in Biological Sciences and minoring in Psychology. She is pursuing a career in the medical field and is interested in the relationship between psychological disorders and genetics. Outside the lab, she enjoys swimming, playing music, and shopping. Lauren is very excited to work with the ADAPT lab!

Solmi Park

Solmi is a first-year undergraduate student at Northwestern majoring in psychology. After graduating, she is planning to attend medical school and is looking to pursue a career in psychiatry. She is especially interested in exploring the neurobiological causes and potential treatments of psychological disorders. She is incredibly excited to work with the ADAPT team and gain research experience surrounding her passions!

Sophia talwalkar

Sophia is a third year undergraduate at Northwestern studying cognitive science and theatre. She is inspired by the efforts of the ADAPT team to better understand early onset of psychological disorders and hopes to pursue a career in pediatric neurology and psychology. She cannot wait to be a part of this innovative clinical research!

Ariel Gordon

Ariel is a third-year undergraduate student at Northwestern University majoring in Psychology and Cognitive Science. He plans to pursue a PhD in clinical psych, and is looking forward to a career of therapy, research, and/or teaching. He is particularly interested in the use of novel tools such as virtual reality and psychedelics to diagnose, classify, and treat mental disorders. Ariel is excited to gain clinical research experience with ADAPT!

saleha mian

Saleha is a first-year master’s student in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program in the Family Institute at Northwestern University. She recently graduated from the University of California, Los Angles, majoring in Psychobiology and minoring in Global Health. She wants to specialize with working with diverse and multicultural adolescents working through trauma and provide psychoeducation around the mental health stigma in these communities. She is very excited to join ADAPT and collaborate with the team to explore psychosis development and help provide preventative research for adolescents.

ishika arora

Ishika is a second-year undergraduate student at Northwestern University studying Psychology and Global Health Studies with a minor in Computer Science. She hopes to pursue clinical psychology after college and is excited to join the ADAPT team. Ishika is interested in studying societal factors that influence mental health and how these can inform prevention and treatment strategies for mental disorders.

Morgan Tinsley

Morgan is a third-year undergraduate student at Northwestern studying Psychology and Economics with a minor in Gender and Sexuality Studies. Although undecided on a definitive career path, she hopes to pursue a master's degree or PhD in psychology after taking a gap year or two to do social work. Morgan is passionate about mental health advocacy and the need to understand, accommodate, and protect individuals with perceptual disturbances. She’s excited to be part of the ADAPT lab and gain clinical research experience.

claire marrie

Claire is a second-year undergraduate student at Northwestern University majoring in Psychology and minoring in Critical Theory and Classics. After graduating, she plans to pursue a career in clinical psychology. She is very excited to join the ADAPT lab and gain experience in clinical research! 

aman datta

Aman is a third-year undergraduate studying Psychology and Communication Studies with a minor in Film and Media Studies. He is unendingly interested in and passionate about the mental health question. He is especially interested in the connection between mental health and personality and the potential for nostalgia to be an ameliorative force. He intends to pursue a doctorate in clinical psychology with the goal of becoming a therapist, but, before that, is extremely excited to work with the ADAPT lab! 

julianna schuch

Julianna is a second-year undergraduate student at Northwestern majoring in Psychology and Cognitive Science. After graduation, she hopes to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology. Julianna is particularly interested in studying how linguistic markers can predict mental disorders, as well as how environmental factors, such as family dynamics and nutrition, play a role in the onset and duration of disorder. She is delighted to gain valuable clinical research experience with ADAPT!

JULIE PASKA

Julie is a second-year undergraduate at Northwestern University majoring in the biological sciences and minoring in psychology. She is interested in pursuing a career in medicine and believes gaining research experience with the ADAPT lab will help her succeed in this goal. Among other subjects, Julie is interested in the many biological and social factors that contribute to the development of human psychological disorders. 

emily park

Emily is a second-year undergraduate student at Northwestern University, where she is pursuing a double major in Psychology and Global Health. Her goal is to earn a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology after graduation. Emily is dedicated to mental health advocacy and is particularly interested in identifying youth who are at risk for psychosis and developing early intervention strategies. She is thrilled to be joining the ADAPT team to gain clinical research experience!

molly zwiebach

Molly is a first-year undergraduate student at Northwestern University majoring in Cognitive Science. After graduating, she is hoping to pursue a career in the medical field. She is interested in studying a hands-on approach to mental illness and potential treatments. She is very excited to join the ADAPT team and engage in clinical research!

natalie larson

Natalie is a second-year undergraduate student at Northwestern University majoring in Biology and Psychology. She is pursuing a PhD in clinical psychology and is interested in the biological and genetic factors underlying mental health disorders. She is excited to gain experience in a clinical research setting at the ADAPT lab!

Ismail Guenoun

Ismail is a first-year undergraduate student at Northwestern pursuing a double major in Psychology and Data Science. He is interested in studying psychopathology, the effects of trauma on developmental disorders, and the interactions between culture and mental health. After graduating, Ismail hopes to pursue a Psy.D in clinical psychology. He is thrilled to join the ADAPT team and gain research experience!

Ben Geduld

Memorial

Shane Colombo, B.A.

Shane was prepared to start in the fall of 2018 as a graduate student at Northwestern and new member of the ADAPT lab. His research interests centered around understanding the neurobiological mechanisms that link psychosocial stressors with self-knowledge deficits observed in psychosis. Shane received his B.A. in psychology from San Francisco State University. As an undergraduate, he assisted with research at the University of California, San Francisco that examined the inhibition of imitative behavior in patients with schizophrenia. After graduation, he conducted research at Columbia University using functional neuroimaging techniques to characterize the relationship between stigma and social cognition in patients at clinical-high risk for psychosis. 

Shane was taken from us, in an untimely and violent way, shortly after arriving in Chicago. He had only just begun to touch our lives, but in that short time, had already become an important member of our group. He will be missed, but never forgotten. The ADAPT lab team and our community are still reeling from this loss and trying to come to grips with what has happened. We are dedicated to honoring Shane’s memory through continuing his important work, aimed at reducing stigma and improving our understanding of how societal stress may exacerbate risk for serious psychopathology.

Randal Ross, M.D.