Current Group Members
Left to right: Lisa Cottone, Lei Zhang, Elizabeth Caparelli, Rita Goldstein, Dardo Tomasi, Nelly Alia-Klein, Andreana Leskovjan, Danielle Delosh.
Rita Z. Goldstein, Ph.D. My primary research interest lies in studying the interplay between the cognitive-emotional-behavioral and neurobiological changes that accompany crack/cocaine addiction with the goal of understanding the mechanisms that underlie the recurring nature of addiction to drugs (intoxication, withdrawal, craving, relapse).... Link to web page
Nelly Alia-Klein, Ph.D. A recent graduate from the clinical psychology program at Columbia University, Nelly is interested in the study of aggression. During her graduate years she has headed a funded research study in a forensic psychiatric unit with persons with psychotic disorders who had committed violent crimes. Nelly was recruited to BNL by Dr. Nora Volkow as a Post Doctoral Fellow to study the neuropsychological mechanisms of aggression using functional neuroimaging. She is currently involved in two studies: 1) genetic (particularly MAO A) modulation of brain activation (fMRI BOLD) to cognitive and affective stimuli in individuals predisposed to aggression; 2) the effects of violent video stimuli on brain function (PET FDG). nellyklein@bnl.gov
Dardo Tomasi, Ph.D.
Elizabeth C. Caparelli, Ph.D.
Lisa A. Cottone, Ph.D. Lisa recently received her doctorate in biopsychology from Stony Brook University. During her doctoral training and research, she used event-related potentials (ERPs) to explore the boundaries of cognitive processing during sleep and wakefulness. While at Stony Brook, Lisa collaborated with Dr. Rita Goldstein on a project investigating ERP correlates of motivation and inhibition. Recruited by Dr. Goldstein for a postdoctoral fellowship at BNL, Lisa is currently training to use fMRI and neuropsychological assessment to study the neurobiological factors associated with drive and control, within the framework of drug addiction. cottone@bnl.gov
Tom Maloney, Ph.D. Tom received his doctorate in biopsychology from Stony Brook University after extensive pre-doctoral training in sleep research and sleep disorders medicine. Tom brings extensive experience in the computer analysis of human sleep EEG, arousal and cognitive performance using event-related potential (ERP) and period-amplitude analyses. Tom's research interests include the sleep-related recovery of cognitive performance. tmaloney@bnl.gov
Danielle Delosh, B.A. in Psychology. During her senior year Danielle was a SULI fellow at BNL from January to May 2004. After graduating from Stony Brook University in May, Danielle received another SULI fellowship through August 2004. Her background includes human cognition during sleep and sleep in autistic children. Through her work at BNL, she has added neuropsychology of drug addiction, focusing on decision-making and the reward circuit. She plans to continue to study drug addiction in graduate school. delosh@bnl.gov
Andreana Leskovjan, B.S. in Physics and Psychology. Currently in the Stony Brook University Ph.D. program for Biomedical Engineering. Primary research interest: improving fMRI acquisition and analyses techniques, with particular emphasis on decreasing signal loss (in the orbitofrontal cortex and amygdala) during acquisition and increasing detection sensitivity during analysis. Other interests: medical physics and impulse control in disorders such as drug addiction and OCD. leskovjan@bnl.gov
Lei Zhang, B.S. in Computer Science. Currently in the Stony Brook University Ph.D. program for Computer Science. Primary research interest: classification of brain states from fMRI data by using Machine Learning methods. lzhang@cs.sunysb.edu
Not in the picture:
Nora Volkow, M.D. Link to web page
Linda Chang, M.D. Link to web page
Thomas Ernst, Ph.D. Link to web page
Dardo Tomasi, Ph.D. Link to web page; see recent JMRI publication.
Elisabeth C. Caparelli, Ph.D. Link to web page; see recent NeuroImage publication.
Frank Telang, MD. Link to web page
Christopher Wong cwong@bnl.gov