Employees

• Administrative support

  • Cheryl Anderson

    Financial Services Associate

    Cheryl Anderson is responsible for purchasing, relocations, travel oversight, and institutional accounts payable functions and reconciliations. She processes daily fiscal transactions, maintains operational records, and ...

  • Brian Brindle

    Senior Systems Administrator

  • Paula Byron

    Director of Communications

    Paula Byron oversees communications for both the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute and the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine.

  • Sarah Castle

    Human Resources Manager

    Sarah Castle assists the faculty and staff with their human resource needs, including recruitment, compensation, benefits, and employee relations.

  • Sherri Cook

    Senior Associate Director for Finance and Administration

    Sherri Cook oversees the institute's financial and administrative units. Among her many duties, she develops and implements financial, administrative, and personnel policies and procedures; develops ...

  • Bob Jentsch

    IT Specialist

    Bob Jentsch serves as the primary point of contact for end-user hardware and software support, as well as teleconference support.

  • Justin King

    Assistant Director, Information Technology & Data Management

    Justin King manages information technology for the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute.

  • Susanna Kiss

    Laboratory Manager

    Susanna Kiss serves as manager of the Friedlander Lab.

  • Gary Mason

    Associate Director, Resource Management & Operations

    Gary Mason manages the VTCRI facility, oversees renovations, and provides input on key issues such as master planning, space planning, budget development, facility maintenance, equipment ...

  • Elizabeth McBride

    Director of Development

    Elizabeth McBride oversees development for both the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute and the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine.

  • Amanda Mullins

    Development and Communications Assistant

    Amanda Mullins provides development and communications support to both the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute and the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine.

  • Dana Nichols

    Special Assistant to the Executive Director

  • Dixon Smiley

    Animal Care Technician

    Dixon Smiley is responsible for all activities within the VTCRI animal facility.

  • Audra Van Wart

    Director of Education and Training

  • Anya Work

    Office Assistant

• Faculty

  • Warren Bickel

    Professor in the VTCRI, Director of the Addiction Recovery Research Center and Professor of Psychology in the College of Science at Virginia Tech

    Fundamental to solving the problem of addiction and other dysfunctional health behavior is to understand how an individual continues to engage in a behavior despite ...

  • Pearl Chiu

    Assistant Professor in the VTCRI and of Psychology in the College of Science at Virginia Tech

    How is it that a depressed individual may value nothing at all, whereas an addict might value drug consumption at the expense of all else? ...

  • Harry Dorn

    Professor in the VTCRI and of Chemistry in the College of Science at Virginia Tech

    For nearly 40 years, Dr. Dorn has made pioneering developments in joining high-performance liquid chromatography with nuclear magnetic resonance to form a technique that has ...

  • Quentin Fischer

    Research Assistant Professor in the VTCRI

    The adult brain is capable of considerable functional reorganization often manifest as long term modification of synaptic strength (strengthening as long term potentiation or LTP, ...

  • Christopher Franck

    Research Assistant Professor in the VTCRI; Assistant Director of the Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Statistical Analysis (LISA), Virginia Tech

    My research interests lie in the fields of statistics and biostatistics. In collaborative research the role of the statistician begins as soon as a research ...

  • Michael Friedlander

    Founding Executive Director of the VTCRI, Professor of Biological Sciences in the College of Science and adjunct Professor in the School of Biomedical Engineering and Science at Virginia Tech

    My research program is directed at understanding the processes that regulate alterations in synaptic efficiency between neurons within the cerebral cortex – synaptic plasticity - ...

  • Robert Gourdie

    Professor and Commonwealth Research Commercialization Fund Eminent Scholar in Heart Regenerative Medicine Research, VTCRI; Director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine Research, VTCRI

    Dr. Gourdie is also a professor of biomedical engineering and science in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech.

  • Ann Harvey

    Research Scientist in the VTCRI

    I am a research scientist at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute. My duties include conducting research as well as coordinating the Roanoke Brain Study. ...

  • Hodja Kalikulov

    Research Assistant Professor in the VTCRI

    Synaptic plasticity is widely considered to be a cellular mechanism underlying learning and memory. Intracellular calcium signaling plays a key role in the regulation of ...

  • Mohammad Kayali

    Research Assistant Professor

  • Debbie Kelly

    Assistant Professor in the VTCRI and of Biological Sciences in the College of Science at Virginia Tech

    My research focuses on developing innovative methodologies to study complex biological machinery. In particular, I am interested in using a combination of structural and functional ...

  • Brooks King-Casas

    Assistant Professor in the VTCRI and of Psychology in the College of Science at Virginia Tech

    My lab addresses two broad areas of inquiry: (i) neural basis of valuation and learning in social settings, and, (ii) abnormalities of social valuation. We ...

  • Ulrich Kirk

    Research Assistant Professor

    My area of research investigates the neurobiology of self-regulation in valuation and decision-making, and more recently the interaction of emotional processes on choice and motivation. ...

  • Ken Kishida

    Research Scientist

    I am interested in neurobiological signals associated with conscious experience, social cognition, and decision-making in humans. My research has been framed by questions regarding the ...

  • Mikhail Koffarnus

    Research Assistant Professor

    My research focuses on understanding drug abuse and developing drug abuse treatments from behavioral economic and pharmacological perspectives. Decision-making processes are often disrupted in drug ...

  • Leslie LaConte

    Assistant Professor

    Leslie’s research interests lie in the field of structural biology. Working with Konark Mukherjee, she is currently investigating proteins found in the presynaptic active zone ...

  • Stephen LaConte

    Assistant Professor in the VTCRI and of Biomedical Engineering and Science in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech

    Research in the LaConte lab is devoted to advanced neuroimaging acquisition and data analysis approaches, aimed at understanding and rehabilitating neurological and psychiatric diseases. A ...

  • Terry Lohrenz

    Research Assistant Professor in the VTCRI

    Terry Lohrenz is a member of the Human Neuroimaging Laboratory and Computational Psychiatry Unit. He was trained as a mathematician and spent time in the ...

  • Sarah McDonald

    Assistant Professor in the VTCRI and of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech

    Understanding how viruses evolve as they replicate and spread in the human population is fundamentally important for effective disease control. Viruses with segmented, RNA genomes ...

  • Read Montague

    Director, Human Neuroimaging Laboratory and Computational Psychiatry Unit, Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute; Professor, Department of Physics, Virginia Tech

    Read Montague is the founding director of the Human Neuroimaging Laboratory and the Computational Psychiatry Unit of the VTCRI. Montague’s work centers broadly on human ...

  • Konark Mukherjee

    Assistant Professor in the VTCRI and of Biological Sciences in the College of Science at Virginia Tech

    The role of MAGUK ( Membrane Associated Guanylate Kinase) proteins in neurodevelopment. Neurodevelopment proceeds through a series of events culminating into formation of productive neuronal ...

  • Craig Ramey

    Professor and Distinguished VTC Research Scholar in the VTCRI and Research Professor in the Department of Psychology at Virginia Tech

    My program of research centers on the role of experience – across the human lifespan - in the development of competence, as closely linked to ...

  • Sharon Ramey

    Professor and Distinguished VTC Research Scholar in the VTCRI and Research Professor in the Department of Psychology at Virginia Tech

    My research addresses three major areas of human development: (1) the contribution of early experience, starting even prior to conception and extending through the prenatal ...

  • Ignacio Sáez

    Research Assistant Professor in the VTCRI

    I am interested in the study of human cognition, and especially in the role of the neurotransmitter dopamine in valuation and decision-making mechanisms. I plan ...

  • Zhi Sheng

    Assistant Professor in the VTCRI and of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech

    Glioblastoma, a lethal and incurable brain cancer, often recurs after conventional therapies such as resection, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy, possibly because cancer stem cells in ...

  • Jamie Tyler

    Assistant Professor in the VTCRI and of Biomedical Engineering and Science in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech

    Jamie Tyler studies fundamental properties of synaptic transmission, how these properties are modified by experience, and how best to control neuronal activity for making nervous ...

  • Gregorio Valdez

    Assistant Professor in the VTCRI and of Biological Sciences in the College of Science at Virginia Tech

    While at Harvard University, Dr. Gregorio Valdez and colleagues described the effects of aging, exercise, and caloric restriction on the peripheral synapses (the neuromuscular junction). ...

  • Jianping Wu

    Research Assistant Professor

• Postdocs

  • Jason Aimone

    Postdoctoral Associate

  • Crystal Boudreauz

    Postdoctoral Associate

    I received my doctorate in Biological Sciences (Microbiology) from Mississippi State University. My research interests include innate and adaptive immune responses to viral infection and ...

  • Dongil Chung

    Postdoctoral Associate

    Dr. Chung's research focus is social and neuroeconomic studies that include understanding social influence on risk preference using the functional MRI. He is part of ...

  • Cameron Craddock

    Postdoctoral Associate

  • Kimberlee D'Ardenne

    Postdoctoral Associate

  • Jennifer Dionne

    Postdoctoral Associate

  • Xiaosi Gu

    Postdoctoral Associate

    Dr. Gu's research focus utilizes functional MRI and human lesion studies on decision making and prosocial behaviors, and role of the insular cortex in cognition. ...

  • Kevin Hill

    Postdoctoral Associate

  • David Jarmolowicz

    Postdoctoral Associate

    Dr. Jarmolowicz's research focus is behavioral and neuroeconomic studies of addiction and its treatment. He is part of the Addiction Recovery Research Center at the ...

  • Wynn Legon

    Postdoctoral Associate

  • Terry Mueller

    Postdoctoral Associate

    Dr. Mueller's research focuses on studies of behavioral markers of addiction and processes in opposition to addiction. He is currently part of the Advanced Recovery ...

  • Justin Tanner

    Postdoctoral Associate

  • Nedaa Timraz

    Postdoctoral Associate

  • Michael Wesley

    Postdoctoral Associate

  • Daniel Zapp

    Postdoctoral Associate

  • Lusha Zhu

    Postdoctoral Associate

• Research support

  • Nathan Apple

    Head, Software Development

    Nathan leads the software development effort at the Human Neuroimaging Laboratory.

  • Laura Bateman

    Senior Administrative Assistant

    Laura Bateman provides administrative support to Drs. Craig and Sharon Ramey.

  • Samuel Bowman

    Undergraduate Research Student

  • Cassandra Carrin

    Research Coordinator

    Cassie Carrin works in the Montague Lab studying decision-making using fMRI analysis of brain function.

  • Anne Carter

    ARRC Research Associate

    Anne Carter studies the successful experiences of people in recovery from addictions for the Bickel Lab and Addiction Recovery Research Center.

  • Vrushali Chavan

    Research Associate

    Vrushali Chavan manages the Mukherjee Lab, where she also studies CASK domain deletions and their importance in mental retardation.

  • Georgios Christopoulos

    Affiliated Scholar

  • Nancy Crowell

    Affliated Scholar

    Nancy Crowell studies early childhood education in conjunction with the laboratories of Craig and Sharon Ramey.

  • Gina Cruz

    MRI Research Assistant

  • Cyrus Eierud

    Graduate Student

    Cyrus Eierud's principal research interests are in decoding states of mind and detecting learning using neuroimaging. He studies multivariate pattern analysis to predict mind states ...

  • Samantha Fede

    ARRC Research Assistant

    Samantha Fede studies inter-temporal choice behavior and brain activity in addicted individuals for the Bickel Lab and the Addiction Recovery Research Center.

  • Olivia Fitch

    Research Scholar

  • Kirstin Gatchalian

    ARRC Project Coordinator

    Kirstin Gatchalian studies risky decision-making and executive function in addicted individuals as part of the Bickel Lab and the Addiction Recovery Research Center.

  • Brian Gilmore

    Research Associate

  • Brittany Hamilton

    Research Coordinator

    Brittany Hamilton is the research coordinator for the laboratories of Pearl Chiu, Brooks King-Casas, and Stephen LaConte.

  • Laura Hatz

    ARRC Research Assistant

    Laura Hatz studies decision-making, social interactions, and brain activity in addicted individuals for the Bickel Lab and the Addiction Recovery Research Center.

  • Harshad Hegde

    Computer Programmer

    Harshad Hegde's responsibilities include the development and maintenance of computer applications and websites for the Bickel Lab and the Kelly Lab.

  • Gecia Hermsdorff

    Research Assistant

  • Kara Johnson

    MRI Research Technologist

    Kara Johnson works in the Montague Lab studying decision-making using fMRI analysis of brain function.

  • Eun Joo Kim

    Affiliated Scholar

  • Lauren Knuppel

    Research Assistant

  • Christine Koefer

    Senior Administrative Assistant

    Christine Koefer provides administrative support to Dr. Read Montague, the director of the Human Neuroimaging Laboratory, and to the Human Neuroimaging Laboratory staff.

  • Josef Koefer

    Undergraduate Research Student

  • Nina Lauharatanahirun

    Graduate Student

  • Jennifer Lent

    Research Scholar

    Jennifer Lent is a research coordinator for Dr. Brooks King-Casas, Dr. Pearl Chiu, and Dr. Stephen LaConte.

  • Monica Li

    Graduate Student

  • Jonathan Lisinski

    Research Associate

  • Patsy Marshall

    Senior Administrative Assistant

    Patsy Marshall is the senior administrative assistant to Dr. Warren Bickel, director of the Addiction Recovery Research Center (ARRC). She also provides administrative support to ...

  • Nathaniel Mason

    MRI Research Technologist

    Nathaniel Mason works in the Montague Lab studying decision-making using fMRI analysis of brain function.

  • Katie McCurry

    Senior Research Assistant

  • Allison McKell

    Graduate Student

  • Kathleen McLachlan

    Research Assistant

    Kathleen McLachlan is a research assistant for Dr. Pearl Chiu and Dr. Brooks King-Casas.

  • Rob McNamara

    Clinical Research Coordinator

    Rob McNamara provides clinical management and supervision for the behavioral and neuroimaging research performed in the laboratories of Dr. Pearl Chiu and Dr. Brooks King-Casas.

  • Katherine McRoberts

    Graduate Student

    Katherine McRoberts is a Virginia Tech graduate student in biomedical engineering, and she works as a research assistant in the laboratory of Dr. Stephen LaConte.

  • Sharon Mullen

    Animal Care Assistant

  • Susan Murphy

    Research Associate

  • Michelle Patriquin

    Graduate Student

    Michelle Patriquin is a graduate research assistant in the Montague Lab, and she is studying the relationship between physiological processes and social behavior in individuals ...

  • Duy Phan

    MRI Research Technologist

    Duy Phan works in the Montague Lab studying decision-making using fMRI analysis of brain function.

  • Abby Rowlands

    Research Assistant

    Abby Rowlands studies noninvasive neuromodulation and neurostimulation techniques in the Tyler Lab.

  • Tomo Sato

    Affiliated Scholar

    Tomo Sato develops hardware and software as well as an ultrasonic neuromodulation research platform for use in the Tyler Lab.

  • Jae Shin

    Software Developer

  • Shannon Showalter

    Research Assistant

  • Betsy Toretsky

    Project Associate

  • Matthew Tripp

    MRI Research Technologist

    Matthew Tripp works in the Montague Lab studying decision-making using fMRI analysis of brain function.

  • John Wang

    Graduate Student

  • Jason White

    Research Associate

  • Jeffrey Zemla

    Research Associate

    Jeffrey Zemla works with Dr. Stephen LaConte investigating the role of feedback in real-time fMRI studies.