Principle Investigator

Antonia N. Kaczkurkin

Antonia N. Kaczkurkin
Antonia N. Kaczkurkin

Antonia Kaczkurkin is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Vanderbilt University. She received her Master of Arts and Ph.D. degrees in clinical psychology from the University of Minnesota. She completed her APA-accredited clinical internship at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She was then a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania before joining the faculty at Vanderbilt. Dr. Kaczkurkin's research focuses on understanding the neurobiological mechanisms that contribute to the etiology of internalizing disorders. She integrates multimodal measures such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and psychophysiology to develop a comprehensive understanding of the basic mechanisms underlying anxiety and depressive disorders. Her specific research interests include: 1) investigating abnormal brain anatomy and functioning in anxiety and depressive disorders, 2) understanding the neurobiological heterogeneity that exists within internalizing symptoms, and 3) applying knowledge about these neurobiological differences to improve treatment outcomes. Dr. Kaczkurkin is currently funded by a K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award from the NIMH.

CV.pdf

Graduate Students

Gabrielle Reimann

Gabrielle is a doctoral candidate in Vanderbilt's Clinical Science program, and she is currently completing her internship at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Gabrielle's research program strives to embrace psychiatric heterogeneity at both the symptom and neurobiological levels. She develops and leverages computational and quantitative tools to capture comorbidity, transdiagnostic symptoms, and other sources of complexity with the aim of identifying biobehavioral markers to improve mental health classification and its taxonomy. As a graduate student, she was awarded the NSF GRFP, APAGS Junior Scientist Fellowship, Ethel M. Wilson Scholarship, and Vanderbilt Award for Doctoral Discovery. She interned with the NIMH Machine Learning Team and continues to collaborate with this team remotely. Outside of academia, she loves hiking, volleyball, and cooking!

Camille J. Archer 

Camille is a fourth-year graduate student in Vanderbilt's Clinical Science program. She graduated Magna Cum Laude and received a B.A. in psychology and English from Vanderbilt University in 2020. While at Vanderbilt, Camille assisted with projects investigating the impact of parental internalizing symptoms on youth mental outcomes. After graduating, Camille spent two years as a post-baccalaureate research fellow at the National Institutes of Health where she contributed to behavioral and neuroimaging projects characterizing pediatric irritability, and the impact of adverse life events on irritability and other internalizing disorders. Currently, her primary research interests include using multimodal methods to investigate potential risk factors for psychopathology in youth. She is especially interested in examining the effects of irritability and environmental factors, such as early adversity, on the developmental course of internalizing symptoms in youth. Outside of academia, she loves reading modernist fiction and exploring local coffee shops!

Yulan Chen

Yulan is a doctoral student in Vanderbilt's Clinical Science Program in Psychological Sciences. Her research focuses on emotional development in the adolescent brain, with particular interests in cognitive processes and the effects of traumatic experiences. She integrates behavioral, neuroimaging, and statistical approaches to identify mechanisms in typical and atypical development that can inform early intervention strategies for supporting youth mental health. Yulan received her bachelor's degree in Psychology and Global Health from Northwestern University. After graduating, she was the research coordinator of the Vision and Neurodevelopment Lab at Stanford University under Dr. Anthony Norcia where she conducted EEG studies with babies, toddlers, and adults to investigate the development of disparity sensitivity and object perception. She earned her master's degree in Developmental Neuroscience and Psychopathology from University College London and Yale University where she conducted her dissertation with Dr. Youngsun Cho, studying how cognitive-motivational phenotypes in older children relate to later psychiatric symptoms and their underlying neural circuits. Outside of research, she enjoys playing the flute, exploring new hiking trails, and being a plant mom.

Lab Coordinator

Kaitlynn E. Ellis

Kaitlynn is the lab coordinator at Vanderbilt's Clinical Science BRAINS Lab. She earned her B.S. in Neurobiology and Psychology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2022. As an undergraduate, she worked in Dr. Brittany Travers' lab, assisting with research on motor and brain development in individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Following graduation, Kaitlynn served as a lab manager in Dr. Haley Vlach's lab, where she contributed to projects examining cognitive development in early childhood. At the BRAINS Lab, Kaitlynn oversees the day-to-day operations of several research projects. Her responsibilities include recruiting and screening participants, preparing participants for EEG and MRI sessions, administering E-Prime tasks during data collection, conducting cognitive assessments, and managing participant compensation and course credit. Kaitlynn plans to pursue a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, with a research focus on how early life stress influences brain development and contributes to the emergence of internalizing disorders.

Volunteers

  • Lauren Epstein
  • Laurenne McCarty
  • Kimia Rose

START Students

  • Siri Arkatala
  • Sochanita Deu
  • Megha Duvvuri
  • Karen Herrera
  • Ge-Ho Yang

Building Diversity in Psychology and Neuroscience Fellowship

  • Shayaan Essani

Lab Alumni

Graduate Students

  • Leighton Durham
    Leighton graduated from Vanderbilt University in the Summer of 2025. She currently holds post-doctoral position at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
  • Hee Jung Jeong
    Hee Jung graduated from Vanderbilt University in the Summer of 2025. She will be joining Sogang University in Seoul, South Korea as an assistant professor in Clinical Psychology. There she will be leading the Stress and Resilience (STAR) lab.

Data Analyst

  • Shuti Wang

Honors Students

  • Devisi Ashar
  • Jojo Dong
  • Rebecca Keith
  • Emily Micciche
  • Amy Milewski
  • Julia Pines
  • Krisha Shah

Directed Study Students

  • Farrah Stone
  • Teffina Zhu Zheng

MARC Scholars

  • Isabella Jackson

START Students

  • Ralph Francois
  • Cindy Jaramillo Panchi
  • Chinyelu Iwenofu

Building Diversity in Psychology and Neuroscience Fellowship

  • Amar Camara

Neuroscience Students

  • Fanuel Berhe
  • Amar Camara

Volunteers

  • Jasmine Aggarwal
  • Bergen Allee
  • Gabby Baugh
  • Grace Callahan
  • Zoe Chang
  • Alexandra Dulman
  • Matthew Ellis
  • Hannah Gelnaw
  • Charlotte Harrington
  • Victoria He
  • Ashley Kim
  • Myrsine Kostoulas
  • Daniel Nicastro
  • Cindy Jaramillo Panchi
  • Ruhi Patel
  • Dillon Plageman
  • Nikita Rohila
  • Sarah Woronko
  • Charlotte Wulf