Principle Investigator

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.

Graduate Students

Hee Jung Jeong

Hee Jung is a graduate student in the BRAINS lab. She graduated from Korea University with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and Master's degree in Cognitive Behavioral Neuroscience. At Korea University, Hee Jung worked in the Human Performance lab led by Dr. Yang Seok Cho. Her project investigated the effect of anxiety on cognitive control. After moving to Nashville, Hee Jung worked in the Mood, Emotion, and Development lab led by Dr. Autumn Kujawa at Vanderbilt University. During her time at Vanderbilt, she worked on an fMRI and EEG project aimed at delineating neural correlates of social and monetary reward responsiveness. Hee Jung is currently a second-year graduate student in the Vanderbilt University Clinical Science Doctoral Program. Her primary research interests include uncovering the etiology and vulnerability factors of internalizing disorders using neuroimaging, physiology, and behavioral tasks. She is especially interested in tracking developmental trajectories of the brain in high-risk individuals and identifying risk factors related to familial and environmental influences. She is currently working on a project investigating the association between brain structure and dimensional factors of psychopathology and the effect of early life stressors on brain development in childhood.

Leighton Durham

Leighton is a graduate student in the BRAINS lab. She graduated Magna Cum Laude and received a BA in psychology with distinction from Duke University in 2017. While at Duke, Leighton worked as an undergraduate research assistant in Dr. Laura Richman's lab and assisted with projects surrounding the influence of perceived discrimination on mental and physical health outcomes. After graduating, Leighton worked as a full-time research assistant in Dr. Laura Holsen's lab at Brigham and Women's Hospital, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, in Boston, MA. During her time at Brigham and Women's, Leighton contributed to neuroimaging protocols aimed at delineating the relationships between stress, hormones, reward-related neural circuitry, and appetite in major depressive disorder. Leighton is currently a second-year graduate student in the Vanderbilt University Clinical Science Doctoral Program and is a Russell G. Hamilton Scholar. Her primary research interests include characterizing the neurobiological mechanisms underlying internalizing symptoms and their differential manifestations, as well as identifying neurobiological targets for early detection, prevention, and treatment of internalizing disorders. She is currently working on a project investigating the relationships between regional brain volume and multiple dimensions of psychopathology in childhood.

Gabrielle Reimann

Gabrielle is a graduate student in Vanderbilt's Clinical Science doctoral program. She graduated from James Madison University in 2017 with a B.S. in psychology and a minor in statistics. Following college, Gabrielle spent three years as a post-baccalaureate research fellow at the National Institutes of Health. She began her fellowship with Dr. Martha Bernad Perman and Leora Comis of the NIH Rehabilitation Medicine Department where she modeled risk factors for later life depression in Turner syndrome. She was awarded an additional two year fellowship in the Lab of Brain and Cognition with Dr. Alex Martin. There, she examined the neural correlates of memory and attention in autism spectrum disorders and prosopagnosia. As a graduate student, Gabrielle aims to examine structural and functional connectivity underlying internalizing symptoms in youths. She is particularly interested in the role of executive functioning in regulating psychopathology. Outside of academia, she loves hiking and Thai food, and she played in a steel drum band throughout college!

Camille J. Archer 

Camille is a graduate student in the BRAINS lab. She graduated Magna Cum Laude and received a B.A. in psychology and English from Vanderbilt University in 2020. While at Vanderbilt, Camille worked as an undergraduate research assistant in Dr. Bruce Compas's lab and 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. She completed her fellowship with Dr. Ellen Leibenluft of the Section on Mood Dysregulation and Neuroscience in the NIMH, where she contributed to behavioral and neuroimaging projects characterizing pediatric irritability, and the impact of adverse life events on irritability and other internalizing disorders. Camille is currently a first-year graduate student in the Vanderbilt University Clinical Science Doctoral Program. 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 early adversity, including familial and environmental factors that influence the developmental course of internalizing symptoms in youth. Outside of academia, she loves reading modernist fiction and exploring local coffee shops!

Lab Coordinator

Isabella Jackson

Isabella is a research assistant at Vanderbilt's Clinical Science BRAINS Lab. She will graduate in May 2024 with a major in Psychology and a minor in Data Science. At Vanderbilt, she has been awarded the Building Diversity in Psychology and Neuroscience Summer Fellowship and also is a current MARC scholar. At the BRAINS Lab, Isabella is responsible for the day to day operations of the lab's research projects which includes recruiting and screening participants, preparing participants for EEGs and MRIs, running the E-prime tasks during the EEG and fMRI sessions, administering cognitive tests, and managing participant payment and course credits. Currently, she is working on a project that investigates the associations between environmental attributes, brain structure, and anxious-depression in children.

Data Analyst

Shuti Wang

Shuti is a full-time research assistant in the BRAINS Lab. She received her master's degree in Quantitative Methods from Vanderbilt University in 2023. While at Vanderbilt, Shuti worked as a quantitative research assistant in Dr. James Booth's lab, focused on studying reading ability and working memory for children who are deaf or hard of hearing. Also, Shuti has been a data analyst intern in the Department of Health Policy at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. During her internship, she completed her master's thesis focusing on the relationship between school attendance and neurodevelopmental conditions. In the BRAINS Lab, Shuti oversees data collection and is responsible for basic data cleaning and data analysis for the lab's different projects.

Honors Students

Current

• Krisha Shah
• Devisi Ashar

Former

• Emily Micciche
• Julia Pines
• Jojo Dong
• Rebecca Keith
• Amy Milewski

Directed Study Students

Current

• Nikita Rohila
  

Former

• Farrah Stone

Volunteers

Current

• Chinyelu Iwenofu
• Victoria He
• Ralph Francois
• Cindy Jaramillo Panchi

MARC Scholars 

Current

• Isabella Jackson

START Students

Former

• Cindy Jaramillo Panchi
• Ralph Francois

Neuroscience Students

Current

• Amar Camara

Former

• Fanuel Berhe

Summer Students

Former

• Zoe Chang