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Board of Honors Tutors
The following non-departmental researchers have agreed to be listed as potential thesis supervisors. You do not need to petition to include these researchers on your thesis committee; and if you have a board member who is asterisked below as an adviser, you do not need to have a departmental faculty co-supervisor. Click each name for the Tutor's research statement. The list will expand as researchers contact us, so re-check periodically.
Marilyn Albert, Ph.D. /HMS
Chris Argyris, Ph.D. /HBS
Arthur Barsky, M.D. /HMS
* Max Bazerman, Ph.D.
James Beck, M.D., Ph.D. /HMS
Gary Belkin, M.D. /HMS
* David Bellinger, Ph.D./HMS
* Francine Benes, M.D., Ph.D. /HMS
* Lawrence Benowitz Ph.D. /HMS
William Brownsberger, J.D. /HMS
* Andrew Budson, M.D. /HMS
David Caplan, M.D., Ph.D. /HMS
* Shelley Carson, Ph.D.
Verne Caviness, M.D. / Ph.D.
Jared Curhan, Ph.D.
Howard Eichenbaum, Ph.D. /BU
* Ellsworth Fersch, J.D., Ph.D. /HMS
Albert Galaburda, M.D. /HMS
* Randy Gollub, M.D. / Ph.D.
Paul Harris, Ph.D. /HGSE
* Gene Heyman, Ph.D.
* Allan Hobson, M.D. /HMS
Todd Horowitz, Ph.D. /HMS
Jens-Michael Jensen, M.D. /HMS
David Jimerson, M.D.
* Daniel Kohane, M.D., Ph.D. /MIT
Kenneth Kosik, M.D. /HMS
Barry Kosofsky, M.D., Ph.D. /HMS
* Jennifer S. Lerner, Ph. D / KSG
Dara Manoach, Ph.D. /HMS
* William Milberg, Ph.D. /HMS
Michael Norton, Ph.D.
Alvaro Pascual-Leone, M.D., Ph.D. /HMS
* Todd L. Pittinsky, Ph.D. /KSG
* Scott Pomeroy, M.D. / Ph.D.
* Douglas Powell, Ed.D. /HMS
* James Quattrochi, Ph.D. /HMS
Bruce Rosen, M.D., Ph.D /HMS
Clifford Saper, M.D., Ph.D. /HMS
* Cary Savage, Ph.D. /HMS
* Martha Shenton, Ph.D. /HMS
* Robert Stickgold, Ph.D. /HMS
Josh Tenenbaum, Ph.D./MIT
Kathleen Valley, Ph.D., M.D. /HBS
Ruth Wageman, Ph.D.
Robert Waldinger, M.D. /HMS
Roger D. Weiss M.D. HMS
Sabine Wilhelm, Ph.D. /HMS
Jeremy Wolfe, Ph.D. /HMS
Anita Wooley, Ph.D.
Gerald Zaltman, Ph.D. /HBS
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Marilyn Albert
Professor of Psychology, (Harvard Medical School), Massachusetts General Hospital
albert@psych.mgh.harvard.edu
Chris Argyris
Professor of Education Emeritus, Harvard Business School, Harvard Graduate School of Education
chris_argyris@monitor.com
– research interests forthcoming –
Arthur Barsky
Professor of Psychiatry (Harvard Medical School), Brigham and Women’s Hospital
ajbarsky@rics.bwh.harvard.edu
I am a psychiatrist directing an urban mental health center and an historian with scholarly work in historical study of ethics and approaches to the idea of mind-body interactions. Therefore, I can facilitate research that would involve the use of human subjects with severe chronic mental illness such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and serve as a reader/adviser for work involving some aspect of the psychology of mental illness, as well as be available to read-advise work on topics in the history of psychology, psychiatry, and ethics.
*Max Bazerman
Jesse Isidor Straus Professor of Business Administration (Harvard Business School) mbazerman@hbs.edu
James Beck
Professor of Psychiatry (Harvard Medical School), Associate Chair
(Department of Psychiatry, Cambridge Hospital),
jbeck1@bidmc.harvard.edu, (617) 998-5037
Available to supervise research in topics on clinical psychiatry,
schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, substance abuse, informed consent and
ethics, services research/managed care, and the criminal justice system as it
related to mental disorder.
Gary Belkin
Instructor in Psychiatry (Harvard Medical School), Massachusetts General Hospital
Gary.Belkin@DMH.state.ma.us
The research I facilitate would involve the use of human subjects with severe chronic mental illness such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. We conduct a range of psychological and pharmacological research, and I also have interests in the development of ideas of ethics in medicine and notions of mind-body interactions. I am most likely to be of value in supervising and gaining access to mentally ill subjects for students, as well as serving as a reader for work involving some aspects of the psychology of mental illness as well as topics in the history of psychology, psychiatry, and ethics.
*David Bellinger
Professor in the Department of Public Health (Harvard School of Public Helath); Associate Professor of Neurology (Harvard Medical School),
Neuroepidemiology Unit (Children’s Hospital)
david_bellinger@childrens.harvard.edu
I have several research projects underway at Children’s Hospital in which a student could become involved: (1) Prospective studies of children with congenital heart defects who are enrolled in different randomized clinical trials evaluation different surgical interventions (e.g., method of vital organ support, acid-base management, hematocrit). These studies involve the collection of lots of neurobehavioral and neuropsychological data on the children, as well as on family factors. These studies would help a student become familiar with clinical research focused on medical issues. (2) A randomized clinical trial comparing the neurobehavioral effects of dental amalgam (which is 50% elementary mercury) and new non-mercury containing materials for repairing dental caries. This would be an opportunity for a student to become familiar with behavioral toxicology research. (3) A follow-up study of extremely low birth weight children (<1500 grams, <32 weeks gestation), investigating the behavioral correlates of white matter lesion characteristics (e.g., size, location, laterality). This research would provide an opportunity for a student interested in brain-behavior relationships and the development of at-risk infants. (4) A Learning Disabilities Research Center examining the information processing abilities of children referred for learning difficulties, as well as of community controls. The wealth of data being collected as part of Center activities would provide opportunities to investigate a variety of issues in the field of learning disabilities.
*Francines Benes
Professor of Psychiatry/Neuroscience (Harvard Medical School), McLean Hospital
benesf@mclean.harvard.edu, 855-2401
My laboratory uses a two-pronged approach to the study of corticolimbic circuitry in relation to schizophrenia and other major psychiatric disorders. On the one hand, we use postmortem tissues from patients with these disorders and apply a combination of stereological, immunocytochemical, receptor binding autoradiography and in situ hybridization to analyze specific neurotransmitter systems in key regions, such as the anterior cingulate cortex and hippocampal formation. At the same time, we also study the same systems in rodent brain using similar techniques. In addition, however, we also use more sophisticated neuroanatomic and molecular biologic approaches to identify how the functions of the circuitry implicated in schizophrenia may be altered during normal adulthood and in relation to postnatal developmental of the brain. Students should be familiar with the use of computers and be highly motivated to learn microscopic approaches to the study of neural circuitry.
*Larry Benowitz
Associate Professor of Neurosurgery (Harvard Medical School), Departmental of Neurosurgery (Children’s Hospital)
larry.benowitz@childrens.harvard.edu
Specific projects available in the laboratory include molecular control of axon growth in nerve cells, isolation of key signaling molecules (cloning), regulation of gene expression in neurons, study of nerve regeneration in vivo. Course work in molecular biology and/or neuroscience required.
William Brownsberger
Associate Director for Public Policy (Division on Addictions, Harvard Medical School)
will@willbrownsberger.com
I am interested in these related to drug treatment in the criminal justice system. I am about to begin a major study in this area and there may be some opportunities for students. Computer and interviewing experience is a plus, and I am only available in serving as a co-adviser (thus, a departmental faculty co-adviser would also be required).
* Andrew Budson, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Neurology Harvard Medical School
David Caplan
Professor of Neurology (Harvard Medical School), Department of Neuropsychology (Massachusetts General Hospital)
caplan@helix.mgh.harvard.edu
I work on three topics: (1) language disorders in aphasic patients, concentrating on syntactic processing in sentence comprehension and including analysis of lesions via MR and PET scans; (2) activation studies of syntactic processing in normal subjects using fMRI; and (3) the nature of verbal working memory, especially the working memory system used in sentence processing, research which involves studying elderly subjects and patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Students should have some background in linguistics and experimental psychology, and it would be very helpful if they had experience with experiment-building software (we use Psyscope) and stats.
*Shelley H. Carson
Assistant Head Tutor, Department of Psychology
carson@wjh.harvard.edu
My research interests include 1) the interface between creativity and psychopathology, 2) the biological basis of creativity, 3) the effect of individual differences in personality on the development of psychopathology, and 4) mind/body issues including the effects of mindset (cognitive restructuring) on physical and emotional measures. I am also open to exploring other creative thesis ideas in the field of psychology.
Verne Caviness
Giovanni Armenise Harvard Professor of Neurology, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital
caviness@helix.mgh.harvard.edu
The areas in which work is undertaken in my laboratories lie in two general domains. (1) Cell and Molecular Biology of Brain Development: Our specific emphasis has been upon neuronal proliferation, its control mechanisms and relation to larger issues in neocortical histogenesis. We have approached these issues quantitatively, have formulated model mechanisms, and are particularly looking at molecular mechanisms of regulation of the G1 restriction point. We have used tissue from (mouse) embryos, tissue culture, in situ hybridization, a variety of approaches in molecular genetics, and are now opening a door in relation to transgene regular of p27 via the tetracycline promotor. This work is not a big operation; it has been done by a very small number of very hard working investigators in a very small lab. (2) MRI-based image Analysis in a Variety of Fundamental and Clinical Issues Relating to Human Brain Science: Here the emphasis has been upon the development of computer-assisted tools for working quantitatively with brain structure and anatomy. We have worked on issues of anatomy, systems organization, development, and aging. We have pushed forward certain statistical means for dealing with variance in anatomy. We have developed applications for study of a number of degenerative disease, tumor and stroke with large programs going in relation to schizophrenia, autism, stroke, and more modest efforts in others. The perspective here is that this has evolved as a general community resource and any research team with a good idea, a capacity to work very hard, and where the resources to support the program have been very much welcomed. Beyond these two major areas, I have pretty fluid access and involvement in an active in-patient and out-patient clinical program which includes children and adults and even fetuses sometimes. Whereas I do not do much in the way of clinical research, I am closely associated with colleagues who do so that I could serve as a link for such where the interest was in such an area. Students with a running start in molecular and cell biology would be most suitable for the first program. For the second, computer skills, mathematics, and a sense of systems organization would all be useful. However, energetic, highly motivated students who are in a position to commit an appropriate block of time to projects reach altitude quickly even without much prior experience.
Howard Eichenbaum
Professor of Psychology (Boston University), Director (Cognitive Neurobiology Laboratory)
hbe@bu.edu
*Ellsworth Fersch
Lecturer on Psychology (Harvard Medical School)
fersch@fas.harvard.edu
Willing to supervise research on a broad range of topics in psychology and the law. Interested in joint concentration and interdisciplinary theses. Before contacting, please consult Wrightsman, L., Nietzel, M., and Fortune, W. (1998), Psychology and the Legal System (4th ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Co.
Albert Galaburda
Emily Fisher Landau Professor of Neurology (Harvard Medical School), Department of Neurology (Beth Israel-Deaconess Medical Center)
agalabur@caregroup.harvard.edu
Students in my lab can trace neuronal connections, measure neurons, search for genes via breeding experiments or using gels, all in the service of discovering relationships between brain and behavior. Current projects include the temporal lobes in schizophrenia, the neurobiology of Williams Syndrome, models for learning disorders, especially time perception and processing experiments related to anatomy. I also have access to experiments using psychophysical approaches in living subjects, normals or patients, which often link up to neuroimaging or transcranial magnetic stimulation, but need not. There is an ongoing project on time perception in normals and ADHD patients.
Students have to be interested in the brain basis for behavior and have taken normal and abnormal psychology course work. Ability to run spreadsheets and lack of phobia about working with computers and with experimental animal models are desirable.
*Randy Gollub
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry (Harvard Medical School), Psychiatric Neuroimaging / Department of Psychiatry (Massachusetts General Hospital)
rgollub@partners.org, 617-724-9602
Functional magnetic resonance imaging is a powerful new research tool for the field of neurobiology. Brain mapping with fMRI allows a neuroscientist to investigate brain activity in behaving human subjects. Importantly, MR imaging is safe and can be used repeatedly in the same subjects, allowing for longitudinal studies of brain function. High field fMRI has sufficient power to reliably detect signal changes temporally correlated with stimuli or cognitive tasks in small brain regions in individual subjects. The major goal of the research in my laboratory is to apply this powerful methodology to the study of fundamental neurobiological processes underlying normal and pathological human brain activity. Many of my projects have as an important focus an investigation of brain body communication. In addition, I am interested in developing improved methods for fMRI data analysis including investigation of the effects of physiologic perturbations on fMRI signals in the brain and estimation of the stability and reliability of fMRI data. Specific thesis projects for honors students in my laboratory would be in the following two areas: (1) Substance Abuse: I work with a team of other scientists at the MGH NMR Center investigating mechanisms by which acute administration of drugs of abuse produce states of euphoria and drug carving in drug dependent subjects. Ongoing work is required to interrogate data sets already collected with newer questions. New studies are currently underway and there is always room for more help on the project. (2) Acupuncture Analgesia: I am heading up a team of great scientists for use fMRI to investigate the mechanism of acupuncture analgesia. There are many aspects of this project that area open to new directions, such as investigation of other means of modulating pain perception. Students interested in directly participating in the acquisition and analysis of fMRI data should possess a good working knowledge of UNIX based computer language and at least a familiarity with programming. The more neuroanatomy you know the better. Significant expertise in statistics is also a big plus. Working well with others is also essential. Imaging is a team science. You will be learning from and working with others as you complete your project. I look forward to hearing your clever ideas.
Paul Harris, Ph.D. /HGSE (early cognitive development)
* Gene Heyman
Lecturer on Psychology (Harvard Medical School), Behavioral Psychopharmacology Research Laboratory (McLean Hospital)
Interested students should contact Gene M. Heyman at gmheyman@mclean.harvard.edu or 617 855 2719.
I am currently directing a National Institute of Drug Abuse project on cognition, decision making, and drug use. The goal of the project is to identify the relationships between working memory, decision making, as measured by laboratory choices tasks, and drug use, including cigarettes, alcohol, and illicit drugs in diverse populations, including college students, community volunteers, and drug clinic patients. One of the immediate goals of the project is to test whether performance in decision making and working memory tasks predicts cigarette use in college students. To date we have found positive results between the decision making tasks and drug use. One of the immediate goals of the project is to test if this correlation is mediated by more basic cognitive processes, and whether the results found in drug clinic populations hold for college students.
*Allan Hobson
Professor of Psychiatry, Emeritus (Harvard Medical School), Beth-Israel Deaconess Medical Center
allan_hobson@hms.harvard.edu
Basic research in neurobiology of mammalian sleep cycle control: Animal experiments use state of the art anatomical, physiological, and pharmacological methods to probe cellular and molecular level mechanisms. Cognitive science research in functional significance of sleep for learning and memory: Human experiments explore the fate of task capability when sleep is varied and/or the fate of sleep when task is varied. Course work in neurobiology and/or cognitive psychology required. Lab experience desirable. Computer skills including statistics desirable.
Todd Horowitz, Ph.D. /HMS (visual cognition and attention)
Jens-Michael Jensen
Research Fellow in Dermatology (Harvard Medical School), Harvard Skin Disease Research Center (Brigham and Women’s Hospital)
mjensen@rics.bwh.harvard.edu
My main field of interest in the Harvard Skin Disease Research Center is the generation of transgenic cells in mice, molecular biology research. The transgenic models are focused on signal transduction pathways, which influence the physical and antimicrobial barrier function of the skin. Accuracy, a general understanding in biology and chemistry, and some lab experience are helpful.
David Jimerson
Professor of Psychiatry (Harvard Medical School), Psychiatry Research Unit (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center)
djimerso@caregroup.harvard.edu, 617-667-4667
Work in our unit focuses on clinical symptom patterns and neurobiological correlates in patients with bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa, and related eating disorder syndromes. We are currently interested, for example, in the possible role of dysregulation in central serotonin and leptin pathways in abnormal eating patterns in these disorders. Another area of current research involves assessment or behavioral characteristics in individuals who have recovered from a past eating disorder. For projects in our unit, it is generally most helpful when students have had course work in psychopathology, areas of neurobiology related to their research interest, and statistics. Previous participation in a research project is often a significant advantage.
* Daniel Kohane
Associate Professor of Anaesthesia (Harvard Medical School), Children's Hospital
daniel.kohane@childrens.harvard.edu
I am currently involved in a large number of projects/collaborations. They focus on the use of biodegradable particles to treat or prevent a variety of conditions, including seizures (in collaboration with Greg Holmes at Children’s Hospital); uterine surgery (in collaboration with Dario Fauza at the Harvard Medical School); delayed neuronal injury, e.g., in strike, trauma, etc., in collaboration with Mike Moskowitz at Massachusetts General Hospital); abdominal pain (in collaboration with Keith Isaacson at Massachusetts General Hospital); pulmonary hypertension (in collaboration with Warren Zapol at Massachusetts General Hospital); and chronic pain (in collaboration with Charles Berde at Children’s Hospital). I am also involved in other projects that might not involve microparticles, and am also happy to have the student develop his/her own ideas. No special background is required; however, the ability to work semi-autonomously will be key, since I am not on the Harvard University campus and because I am very busy between the lab and my clinical commitments.
Kenneth Kosik
Professor of Neurology (Harvard Medical School), Department of Neurology (Brigham and Women’s Hospital), Harvard Institutes of Medicine
kosik@cnd.bwh.harvard.edu
The Kosik lab has historically been oriented toward the cellular and molecular biology of neurons. Given the profound technical advances available to neurobiologists, the time is opportune to apply molecular approaches to the study of behavior. One technical advance that has made behavior more tractable at a molecular level is the development of gene arrays (DNS chips) because changes in the expression levels of large numbers of brain genes can be determined in a single experiment. Thus ensemble patterns of gene expression can be analyzed with regard to a behavioral task. The conduct of these studies requires expertise in several disciplines including molecular biology, rodent behavior, and statistical algorithms. Students with some expertise or talent in these areas may consider a project in the lab.
Barry Kosofsky
Associate Professor of Neurology (Harvard Medical School), Laboratory of Molecular and Developmental Neuroscience (Massachusetts General Hospital)
kosofsky@helix.mgh.harvard.edu
Potential thesis project areas: effects of prenatal exposure to drugs of abuse on brain development and behavior (neuroanatomy, gene expression, signal transduction, behavior); prenatal stress-induced alterations of brain development and behavior; functional brain imaging of psychostimulant action in rodents; and morphometric analysis of human brain growth, and drug-induced alterations thereof. Background required will in some ways be dictated by interests/projects, but should include a basic/introductory understanding of neuroanatomy, (brain) development, and some aspects of behavioral maturation. Prior research (bench or imaging) experience would be to advantage.
*Jennifer S. Lerner,
Professor of Public Policy, Kennedy School of Government
Mailing Address: Harvard Kennedy School, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
Office: Center for Public Leadership, Taubman Building 1st Floor, Cambridge, MA 02138 Lab: 124 Mt. Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
Web: http://content.ksg.harvard.edu/lernerlab/
Contact Person Ms. Ayres Heller, Lab Manager, Phone: 617-496-3144, Email: ayres_heller@ksg.harvard.edu
Research topics: Emotion, judgment and decision making, accountabillity, applications of psychology to public policy
Dara Manoach
Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry (Harvard Medical School), (Massachusetts General Hospital)
dara@nmr.mgh.harvard.edu
The primary goal of my research program is to elucidate the neural basis and nature of cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. Cognitive deficits in schizophrenia are profoundly disabling and not adequately treated by current medication regimens. I am particularly interested in clarifying the role of the prefrontal cortex of the brain in cognitive deficits. The prefrontal cortex is thought to mediate cognitive processes that guide voluntary action such as holding information in mind for brief periods, inhibiting reflexive actions in order to permit flexible, non-reflexive responding, switching between one activity and another at will, and monitoring outcomes of behavior in order to optimize performance and learn from mistakes. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), magnetoencephalography (MEG), diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), and studies of saccadic eye movements, my lab is studying the contribution of prefrontal cortex and other brain regions to these essential cognitive functions. A separate line of inquiry focuses on understanding the role of sleep in consolidating new learning. My lab is investigating this using overnight polysomnography and behavioral studies. These studies will enrich our understanding of disabling cognitive deficits in schizophrenia and can guide the development of targeted interventions. (Aug 2007)
* William Milberg
Associate Professor of Psychology (Harvard Medical School)
wpm@bu.edu
Our laboratory works in two areas concerning the effects of brain diseases and behavior. We work on the problem of defining the effects of dementing illnesses on cognition, and on the effects of focal stroke on visua/attentional functions. In the area of dementia we have a number of ongoing projects concerning changes in the semantic memory system of patients with Alzheimer’s Disease, and more recently the identification of early changes in brain function associated with microvascular disease and cardiovascular risk. Our other main area is the study of basic visual processes in patients with hemispatial neglect due to stroke. Most of our studies employ the methods of experimental psychology to analyze these problems and there are lots of potential projects here for a highly motivated undergraduate to get involved with. Our preference is for interested students to have some course work in cognitive neuroscience, experimental psychology, or other related disciplines. Experience with microcomputers and a statistics/experimental design course is a definite advantage for working in our laboratory.
Michael Norton, Ph.D. HBS (Marketing and decision making)
mnorton@hbs.harvard.edu
* Alvaro Pascual-Leone
Professor of Neurology (Harvard Medical School), Director of Laboratory for Magnetic Brain Stimulation, Director of Research for Behavioral Neurology Unit (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center)
apleone@bidmc.harvard.edu
There are several areas of active research in the Laboratory for Magnetic Brain Stimulation and the Behavioral Neurology Unit at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. First, there are studies on cross-modal brain plasticity in the blind and deaf that employ psychophysics, functional imaging, and transcranial magnetic stimulation. Second, there are studies on cortical plasticity in the recovery of function after storke that include motor and cognitive (language) functions and combine detailed clinical, neuropsychological, neurophysiologic, and neuroimaging information. The third group of studies relate to the study of the cortical physiology of higher cognitive functions, particularly higher order visual processing and visuo-motor integration. We combine functional magnetic resonance imaging with transcranial magnetic stimulation to study the causal roles of different brain regions in different behaviors. Finally, there are ongoing studies on the cortical pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric disorders, including depression, schizophrenia, hallucinations, depersonalization, and mania. Specific details on ongoing experiments can be obtained at Students interested in working in the laboratory would benefit from computer skills, including programming experience, knowledge about clinical neurophysiology, and background in neuroanatomy and neurophysiology. However, none of this background is essential.
* Todd L. Pittinsky
Assistant Professor of Public Policy, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and Affiliate Faculty, Department of Psychology, Harvard University.
todd_pittinsky@harvard.edu
The focus of my research is allophilia (a positive attitude toward
another group). Because social scientists have long studied
intergroup dislike and hatred, our understanding of negative prejudice
has become quite sophisticated. But to solve some of our most pressing
problems in organizational and public life, we must develop an equally
sophisticated understanding of the opposite of prejudice. If our
hypothesis is right, promoting intergroup liking has distinct
antecedents, processes, and outcomes from reducing intergroup
disliking. In the laboratory and the field we study intergroup liking
in three ways, through the study of: positive stereotypes, positive
prejudices, and leader effects on intergroup liking.
* Scott Pomeroy
Professor of Neurology (Harvard Medical School), Department of Neurology (Children’s Hospital)
scott.pomeroy@childrens.harvard.edu
Undergraduate students are always welcome in my lab, and I am willing to serve as either a thesis adviser or a reader. A variety of projects are available to students. The primary focus of my lab is to understand how growth factors promote the development of the cerebellum and regulate the growth of tumors that arise in the developing cerebellum. We have been particularly interested in the role of the neurotrophins and sonic hedgehog in granule cell development and medulloblastomas, but are in the early phases of examining other molecules as well. We are also interested in understanding how brain tumors impact functions of the central nervous system. In particular, we are investigating how the tumor craniopharyngioma, which occurs in the region of the hypothalamus, alters circadian cycles in children and adolescents.
* Douglas Powell
Clinical Instructor in Psychology (Harvard Medical School)
douglas_powell@hms.harvard.edu
My research interest are in two areas:
1) Coping with changes and challenges, especially cognitive, of the third age of life - the years from 60-80, based on a research study of 300 adults.
2) The treatment of specific phobias (fear of public speaking, test taking anxiety, etc) - cf. forthcoming issue (as of fall 2003) of the Journal of Clinical Psychology .
* James Quattrochi
Visiting Scholar in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology; Lecturer on Molecular and Cellular Biology
jquattr@fas.harvard.edu
Bruce Rosen
Professor of Radiology (Harvard Medical School), Massachusetts General Hospital
bruce@nmr.mgh.harvard.edu (please also cc carol@nmr.mgh.harvard.edu)
– research interests forthcoming –
Clifford Saper
James Jackson Putnam Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience (Harvard Medical School), Chair of Department of Neurology (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center)
csaper@bidmc.harvard.edu
The work in my lab is concerned with working out CNS circuitry involved with regulation of wake-sleep cycles, feeding, and response to immune attack, including fever. We also do some work on the degeneration of these circuits in humans with various neurological degenerative disorders. Students should have a general background in neuroscience, including biochemistry, biology, and at least one general neuroscience course including neuroanatomy. Technical skills in histology, immuno- histochemistry, or preparation of probes for in situ hybridization are useful.
* Cary Savage
Assistant Professor of Psychology (Harvard Medical School), Cognitive Neuroscience Group (Massachusetts General Hospital)
savage@psych.mgh.harvard.edu
Research in the MGH Cognitive Neuroscience Group is aimed at understanding how cognition is disrupted in neuropsychiatric disorders. We are especially interested in the strategic processes that support and enhance episodic memory and how the various components of these processes are regulated in different regions of prefrontal cortex. We use "offline" neuropsychological testing and "online" cognitive activation approaches with positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Neuropsychiatric patient groups include those with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), other compulsive disorders, schizophrenia, and Parkinson’s disease. We find distinct patterns of strategic memory impairment across these groups. We also have investigations ongoing in normal aging, including studies examining the effects of estrogen replacement therapy on verbal memory and prefrontal blood flow (using PET) in normal postmenopausal women. Students could conduct offline cognitive neuroscience investigations in any of these populations. They could also gain initial exposure to functional neuroimaging approaches. Students should have basic computer skills, preferably in the Macintosh platform, and some understanding of cognitive neuroscience paradigms and brain-behavior relationship.
* Martha E. Shenton
Professor of Psychology (Harvard Medical School), Director of Clinical Neuroscience Division (Laboratory of Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, Brockton Veterans Administration Medical Center), Director of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science Studies (Surgical Planning Laboratory, MRI Division, Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital)
shenton@bwh.harvard.edu
The Clinical Neuroscience Division of the Laboratory of Neuroscience is comprised of several research laboratories that include facilities at the VAMC-Brockton, the Massachusetts Mental health Center (MMHC), McLean Hospital, and the Surgical Planning Laboratory, MRI Division, Brigham and Women’s Hospital. The major goals of the research conducted vary by site. In Brockton, our goal is to understand further the pathophysiology of schizophrenia by investigating event-related potential, cognitive, and structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) abnormalities in ptients diagnosed with chronic schizophrenia. At MMHC, we are conducting event-related potential, cognitive, and structural and functional MRI studies in individuals recruited from the general community who meet the criteria for schizotypal personality disorder, a disorder that is genetically linked to schizophrenia. Our goal here is to ascertain whether or not these individuals, who are genetically linked to schizophrenia but who are not medicated and not experiencing a psychotic illness, will evince neurophysiological , cognitive, and structural and functional abnormalities that are similar to, albeit more attenuated than, patients diagnosed with chronic schizophrenia. At McLean Hospital, our goal is to evaluate patients who are experiencing their first psychotic episode (either schizophrenia or affective disorder with psychosis) to determine whether or not the cognitive, ERP, and MR abnormalities observed in patients diagnosed with chronic schizophrenia will also be observed at first psychotic episode, prior to possible confounds observed in chronic patients such as the long term effects of medication, chronicity, and other epiphenomena that are sequelae of having a long term psychotic illness. Finally, at the Surgical Planning Laboratory we are part of a larger group of investigators who are developing and applying cutting edge imaging and image processing to understand further schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, Multiple Sclerosis, arthritis, neuroanatomy of premature infants, visualization of tumors in the brain, abdomen, etc. as well as surgical interventions for prostate cancer, neurosurgery, etc. Our goals are to understand the neurobiology of schizophrenia and we work with computer scientists, neuroradiologists, neurosurgeons, and other colleagues who are also interested in developing techniques for the accurate segmentation of brain tissue using automated techniques which include three-dimensional reconstruction of brain regions of interest as well as applying new "warping" techniques based on template driven segmentation using a well defined brain atlas.. Our laboratory is always interested in students joining us to obtain hands-on research experience in the area of neuroscience. We do not require specific courses, only an interest and desire to learn about the brain and behavior. We have sponsored senior honors thesis work, including theses of students in the Department of Psychology, and we provide Independent Study credit for students at Wellesley College. We also have a number of stipends for summer positions to work closely with a preceptor on a well defined research project. Our laboratory currently has a number of investigators as well as eight research assistants, five fellows, two visiting assistant professors, and currently three undergraduates working in the laboratory from Wellesley College.
* Robert Stickgold
Associate Professor of Psychiatry (Harvard Medical School), (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center)
robert_stickgold@hms.harvard.edu
Our lab is studying sleep, memory, dreams, and the relationships between them. Doing only human studies, we look at how sleep affects cognition, how cognition affects sleep, and how cognition is affected by a lack of sleep. Our overall goal is to determine the function of sleep in memory consolidation and integration, and the role of dreaming in these processes. We have been spending a lot of time recently studying a visual discrimination task for which learning is absolutely dependent on post-training sleep. In this protocol, we have shown that pulling an "all-nighter" the night after training prevents the improvement in performance that normally follows training, and that subjects who get less than six hours of sleep the night after training also fail to show any beneficial effects of the training. In another direction, we are looking at dreaming in normal subjects and brain lesioned patients in order to understand the brain basis of dreaming, and how dreaming relates to issues of memory consolidation and integration. Recent studies have looked at the presence (or rather the absence!) of episodic memories in dream reports and at sleep onset images after extended play of the computer game Tetris, where both normals and amnesics were both found to see images from the game, even though the amnesics had no recollection of playing.
Josh Tenenbaum, Ph.D./MIT (
Cognitive Science and Computation)
jbt AT mit DOT edu
Kathleen Valley, Ph.D. Associate Professor (Harvard Business School)
kvalley@hbs.edu
Possible thesis projects include studies of schemas in social interaction and studies of mental models in social interaction, and, more generally, topics in negotiation, power and influence, and social scripts. Course work in statistical methods and experimental methodology required.
Ruth Wageman, Ph.D. (effectiveness of task-performing teams)
ruth.wageman@dartmouth.edu
Robert Waldinger, M.D. /HMS (Adult development - longitudinal study)
rwaldinger@partners.org
Roger D. Weiss
Associate Professor of Psychiatry (Harvard Medical School), Clinical Director of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program (McLean Hospital)
rweiss@mclean.harvard.edu, 617-855-2242
The area of research on which I have worked over the years has involved primarily clinical research on substance use disorders, and in particular the relationships between substance use disorders and other psychiatric disorders. I would prefer that students have some familiarity with substance use disorders either through course work or research experience, and that they have reasonably sophisticated data analytic skills.
Sabine Wilhelm
Associate Professor of Psychology (Harvard Medical School), OCD Clinic (Massachusetts General Hospital)
wilhelm@psych.mgh.harvard.edu
I could supervise students who have an interest in information processing research (or potentially treatment outcome) in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Tourette’s Disorder, Trichotillomania, or Body Dysmorphic Disorder. It would be helpful if students had computer skills (i.e., word processing and statistics software).
Jeremy Wolfe, Ph.D. /HMS (
Visual attention)
Gerald Zaltman
Joseph C. Wilson Professor of Business Administration (Harvard Business School)
gzaltman@hbs.edu
Projects that have implications for organizational behavior or consumer behavior would be appropriate. "Implications" simply means that the nature of the problem of interest to the student is one which is best or at any rate fruitfully studied (1) in a naturally occurring organizational or consumer setting or (2) with a design for which stimuli or behaviors appropriate to those settings are in order.
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