Brandy joined CfNN as a Research Assistant in Spring 2022.  Prior to joining CfNN, Brandy received her BS in Psychology from Johnson and Wales University and brings  research experience in the areas of:  Alzheimer’s, Migraine, and chronic pain. Brandy’s research interest include: The use of non-invasive, no pharmaceutical therapies and treatments for chronic pain and migraine, comorbid health issues that stem from chronic pain, amputation and phantom pain. Brandy has a particular interest in reaching out to the female Veteran population  and any opportunities to collaborate with the research team in order to gain a better understanding of what and how treatments and therapies best suit their needs.

Jeffrey Rasmussen is a Research Assistant with the CfNN. He joined the Center in August 2021. Jeffrey received a Bachelor of Science in Physiology and Neurobiology from the University of Connecticut and a Master of Science in Neuroscience from Brown University. He has over 3 years of neuroscience research experience, investigating the mechanisms behind certain neurological and psychiatric disorders. Since joining the CfNN, Jeffrey has worked for Dr. Mascha Frank on a study investigating the effect of tDCS timing on safety memory for Veterans with combat-related PTSD.

Rebecca Poncin is the Research Coordinator for the David Borton lab at Brown University. Rebecca received her Bachelors of Science in Veterinary Technology in 2014 from Mount Ida College. Rebecca left her role as Research Services Manager, working primarily with rodents, in November of 2021 to start her role with the Borton lab.

Lauren DeMoss is a Clinical Research Project Coordinator with the CfNN. She joined the Center in November 2020. Lauren received a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from James Madison University and a Master of Science in Occupational Therapy degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has more than 5 years of experience coordinating clinical research in the areas of autism, anxiety, and PTSD in children and adults. Lauren began her research career at the Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development, and has also worked at the Rhode Island Consortium for Autism Research and Treatment. Since joining the CfNN, Lauren has worked for Dr. Christy Capone on a study investigating the use of Stellate Ganglion Block for Veterans with combat-related PTSD.

Jake recently graduated from Carleton College with a BA in Cognitive Science and Philosophy. At Carleton, Jake contributed to research on psycholinguistics, cognitive psychology, and emotions/mental illness across cultures. His cognitive science thesis focused on the relationship between cognition and emotion, and his philosophy thesis considered the cross-cultural validity of DSM and ICD psychiatric classifications. Jake’s research interests lie at the intersection of affective science and clinical psychology.

McKenna graduated from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in December 2018. Prior to joining the CfNN team in summer 2021, she worked on a study of dating violence in the court involved population at Rhode Island Hospital. She is interested in leveraging both technology and social factors to prevent the development of PTSD and other negative sequelae following trauma.

Spencer received a BS in Applied Mathematics-Computer Science and an MS in Data Science from Brown University. Prior to joining CfNN, he was a research manager at Brown University for a VA-funded project involving the development of a visual prosthesis device for the blind, and has continued this work at the VA. Spencer is interested in leveraging machine learning and computer vision systems to improve assistive technologies.

Dr. Temereanca graduated with a bachelor and master degree in Physics from University of Bucharest, and a PhD in Neurobiology from University of Pittsburgh. She received her postdoctoral training in Neuroimaging and was a faculty member and Principal Investigator at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School before joining Brown University. Dr. Temereanca’s research integrates neuroimaging, physiological and computational neuroscience methods to study mechanisms for the coordination of brain processes and brain-body interactions during behavior, including movement, perception, cognition and affect, and how they change with experience in health and disease. With the Recording, Decoding, and Computational Neuroscience Core, she is incorporating EEG and other physiological measures of brain function into basic and clinical research to improve mental and physical health in veterans.

Dr. Rasmussen was a member of the second graduating class of the PLME program and received his MMS and MD from Brown Medical School in 1977. He completed his residency in psychiatry at Yale in 1983. Following a two-year obligation with the National Health Services Corps in North Kingdom Vermont, Dr. Rasmussen joined the Brown faculty and Butler Hospital in 1983. He has been the Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University since 2009 and was previously the Medical Director at Butler Hospital from 1998 – 2012. Dr. Rasmussen is an internationally recognized expert in the course and treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). More recently his primary research interest has been in neurosurgical approaches to intractable OCD and depression and the neurocircuitry of OCD.

Valerie Vogel joined the Providence VA Medical Center as a Research Assistant in December 2017. Prior to her joining the PVAMC, she received her BA magna cum laude in Psychology and minor in Business Administration at East Carolina University. Current research she is involved in focuses on identifying the effect of cognitive behavioral therapy on seizures and analyzing the neurophysiological brain changes associated with the treatment in individuals with seizure disorders.

Rachel Underwood joined the Providence VA Medical Center as a Research Assistant in August 2019. Prior to joining PVAMC, she received her BS in Neuroscience from Trinity College (Hartford, CT). During her time at Trinity she conducted literature review research at Hartford Hospital working to create an epilepsy/seizure database for doctors. Currently, her time is split working on two studies. Rachel is interested in Psychogenic non-epileptic seizure research.

Sascha Morris received a BS in Neuroscience and Biology from Brown University. His undergraduate research aimed to understand neuromuscular control of flying mammals. He was also involved in projects on biologically inspired robotic modeling, as well as technology for concussion recognition. Since joining the CfNN, he has focused on data analysis and implementation of studies involving noninvasive neuromodulation as a therapy for affective disorders such as depression and PTSD. This research involves Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) alongside electroencephalography (EEG) for recording neural signals. Alongside members of both the CfNN and the Jones Lab at Brown University, Sascha studies patterns and signatures of brain activity from the macro-scale to biophysical level. This translational effort aims to understand neurological disorders and their treatment in order to ultimately improve rehabilitation for Veterans and all those affected.

Isaiah Mansour joined the CfNN team in March 2021 to study mental health afflictions using and creating new technologies (magnetic stimulation, virtual reality, etc.). Originally, he studied marine biology and aquaculture at the University of Maine, earning his degree in 2018. He then leveraged transferable science and communications skills to fill professional roles in biomedical research (wound healing) and business development (biotechnology innovation) settings. With COVID-19, Isaiah decided to focus his scientific career on tangibly helping people. He has always been fascinated by the human mind, especially the relationship between brain physiology, thoughts and health and is excited to be a part of a group making real strides in research and treatment.

Steven Magnanti provides leadership, education, and guidance to investigators, research associates, staff and students in his role as Core C leader. He oversees research related procedures in support of CfNN PIs and Project Coordinators and facilitates the continuity of care and access to care for CfNN’s complex study participants. Steven joined the CfNN in June 2020. Before joining CfNN, he served as a Health Systems Specialist and the Superintendent of the 143d Medical Group RI Air National Guard where he was responsible for managing medical administrative functions including medical support, medical operations, and professional development of the enlisted force. Steven has served over 20 years in the military and held various positions related to the sustainment of health and readiness of the RI Air National Guard population. In addition, he has 20 plus years of clinical experience in the areas of outpatient family medicine, emergency medical services and diagnostic cardiology. Steven has an MS in Healthcare Management.

Alexis Harle joined CfNN as a Research Assistant in August 2019. Prior to joining the PVAMC, she received her BS with honors in Biology at Johnson & Wales University. Her research interests include improving treatment methods for posttraumatic stress disorder, as well as other anxiety disorders. Alexis hopes to expand her knowledge on neurological processes and neurotechnology. She plans on going to Medical School in the near future.

Jonathan Jampel joined the Providence VA Medical Center as a Research Coordinator in July 2020. Prior to joining CfNN, he received his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Binghamton University (Binghamton, NY), participating in research focusing on alcohol and addictive behavior. Jon then took a post-baccalaureate research assistant position at The Fenway Institute (Boston, MA) for three years, where he assisted with studies and produced research related to LGBT physical and mental health. In 2016, Jon began his PhD in clinical psychology at Clark University (Worcester, MA), where his research has focused on men’s mental health and sexual behavior. Immediately before taking a position in CfNN, he spent nearly a year working as a clinical practicum student at the Collaborative Addiction & Recovery Services (CARS) at the Providence VA. Through this position, he developed a clinical and research interest in substance-use disorders. In future endeavors, Jon hopes to integrate this interest with his previous graduate work in men’s mental and sexual health. Currently, he works on a protocol examining the effect of synchronized transcranial magnetic stimulation (sTMS) on Veterans with substance-use disorders.

Amy Harmon joined the Providence VA Medical Center a Research Assistant in August 2019 after receiving her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from University of Rhode Island. As an undergraduate, she focused on software engineering, hardware engineering, and developing assistive devices for activities of daily living (ADLs). Currently, her interests at CfNN include helping Veterans with low vision or blindness as well as helping to reduce risk of Veteran suicide.

Hannah Hallett joined CfNN as a Research Assistant in July 2019 after receiving her B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Biology and concentration in Neuroscience from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Prior to joining the PVAMC, she spent her undergraduate career in a Psychophysiology research lab focusing on how historical representations of trauma are represented at the cardiovascular level by threat and challenge states. Hannah’s research interests live at the intersection of mental health, neuroimaging, mindfulness, and holistic medicine. In essence, her focus in research is to integrate various modalities such as neuromodulation and other non-medication treatment options to ultimately help people renegotiate some of the challenges they face. Specifically, Hannah is interested in exploring the underlying neural mechanisms of conditions such as Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Depression.

Christiana Faucher joined the Providence VA Medical Center as a Research Assistant in March 2020 after completing a Bachelor of Science with Honors in Cognitive Neuroscience at Brown University. Her research at Brown focused on the effects of risk aversion and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on reversal learning, relevant to fear and anxiety disorders. As a student intern at the Providence VAMC beginning in 2018, Christiana was able to collaborate on an ongoing research project exploring the potential use of tDCS to augment virtual reality exposure therapy for Veterans with PTSD. Currently, Christiana is interested in the novel ways that non-invasive brain stimulation (TMS, LIFU, tDCS, etc.) and other types of technology (MRI, EEG, etc.) can be leveraged to augment and or predict treatment outcomes for comorbid psychiatric disorders, such as major depressive disorder (MDD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Ryan Doherty joined the Providence VA Medical Center as a Research Coordinator in July of 2020. Prior to coming to PVAMC, he received his BS in biology and BA in French from Washington & Lee University (Lexington, VA) and his MA in French from Brown University (Providence, RI). While at Washington & Lee, Ryan researched conservation and population genetics of bats and crayfish and did independent research modelling the spread of infectious disease on a college campus. At Brown, his research focused on nostalgia and medical history. Currently, his research interests include treatments for veterans with PTSD and major depression.

Sydney Brigido officially joined the Providence VA Medical Center as a Research Assistant in July 2019. She volunteered with CfNN during the previous year. Sydney received her BA in Psychology from Providence College (Providence, RI), where she was a member for the National Honors Society in Psychology (Psi Chi). While at Providence College, she focused her studies on personality psychology and conducted research investigating the development of empathy in elementary age children. Sydney has also volunteered at Butler Hospital with their Memory and Aging Program doing outreach for Alzheimer’s prevention. Her research interests include understanding posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in combat Veterans, as well as studying common comorbidities such as major depressive disorder (MDD) and substance use disorders. She is currently Virtual Reality (VR) Coordinator for the TAVRE Study.