Jean Decety
Jean Decety (Ph.D. in Neuroscience, University Claude Bernard, France) is Irving B. Harris Professor of Psychology and of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Chicago and the College. He is the Director of the Social Cognitive Neuroscience Lab and the Child Neurosuite. Decety’s research relies on multilevel analyses and interdisciplinary perspectives. He also highly values teaching as it encourages to think about the long road, and find meaningful links with other disciplines such as economics, education, sociology and political science.
email: decety [AT] uchicago.edu
Post doctoral scholars and graduate students
Qiongwen (Jovie) Cao
Qiongwen (Jovie) received her B.A. in Psychology and Neuroscience from the University of Southern California, where she studied the effects of attribute salience on intertemporal choice. Jovie is a Ph.D. student in the Integrative Neuroscience program interested in morality and social decision-making. Specifically, she examines how social context and culture affect moral decisions and the valuations of human lives. Jovie’s work combines behavioral economics and cognitive neuroscience to understand the underlying mechanisms of moral decisions.
email: qiongwenc [AT] uchicago.edu
Michael Cohen
Michael Cohen earned a Ph.D. from UCLA, and has had prior postdoctoral training at Northwestern University and University of Pennsylvania. Much of his prior work has used behavioral and fMRI methods to examine effects of conscious strategies and non-strategic effects of reward when people learn information of varying importance. In the SCNL, Michael contributes to fMRI data analysis and data collection for the brain fog project, as well as helping to develop work on how moral convictions motivate political activism and political violence.
email: mscohen [AT] uchicago.edu
Tongyu Gu
Tongyu obtained her B.S. with honors from the University of Amsterdam (the Netherlands) with a major in Quantitative Psychology and a minor in Gender and Sexuality Studies. She then received her M.A. (MAPSS-Psychology) from the University of Chicago where she worked with Dr. Linda Waite on psychological distress and mental health disparities. Tongyu is now a lab manager in the Social Cognitive Neuroscience Lab. Broadly, she is interested in how adults and children think, feel, and make decisions in different social environments.
email: tongyugu [AT] uchicago.edu
Tamun Hanjra
Tamun received her B.S. in Psychology with a concentration in Child Development and Behavioral Neuroscience from the Universiy of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is currently a MAPSS student on the Psychology track and is interested in risk factors and preventative practices for mental health, specifically focusing on how culture affects the children and how they develop different characteristics. She hopes to understand how intervention practices can more appropriately and effectively target youth-groups.
email: thanjra2 [AT] uchicago.edu
Lola Henry
Lola received her B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Sociology from the University of Georgia. During her senior year, she spent the fall semester studying abroad at the University of Oxford. Lola is currently a student in the MAPSS program with a concentration in psychology. She is interested in examining the roles which moral and social development may play in the adult commission of violent crime. She is interested in combining psychological and sociological perspectives in order to have holistic view of the factors affecting violent crime.
email: lolagrace [AT] uchicago.edu
Yingzi (Jay) Jin
Yingzi (Jay) received zir B.S. in Mathematics and Cognitive Science from the University of California, San Diego. Ze is a student in the Master in Computational Social Science, interested in empathy, group identity, bias, prosocial behaviors, and influence of social media. Jay would investigates what factors affect empathy and how social media influences group identity and bias. Ze regards data science as a very powerful tool to do psychology research. In zir leisure time, Jay likes singing, enjoying classical concerts, wine tasting, and photography.
email: jinyz [AT] uchicago.edu
Joanna Mendoza
Joanna Mendoza received her B.A. in Psychology and minor in Neuroscience from Texas A&M University. At A&M, she worked in the Anderson Lab and used eye-tracking devices, and in the DOME Lab, she used EEG. Joanna is now an M.A. student in the Social Science program and is en route to obtaining a certificate in Education and Society. Joanna is interested in educational systems and learning mechanisms, and hopes to combine aspects of education into modern technology.
email: joannam [AT] uchicago.edu
Allie Reynolds
Allie Reynolds received her B.A. in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science from Princeton University. At Princeton, she worked in the Brain Development Lab under Dr. Jesse Gomez and used fMRI to study the developmental origins of functional connections between visual and somatosensory cortices. She was also a member of the varsity softball team at Princeton. She is currently investigating the biological roots of brain fog in celiac disease using fMRI and psychological testing and is interested in expanding this project to include pediatric subjects.
Undergraduate students
Stella Aldrich
Second year at the College
Majoring in Cognitive Science and Human Rights
Morayo Fernandez
Fourth year at the College
Majoring in Biology and Psychology
Kimaya Ghoge
Second year at the College
Majoring in Business Economics and Psychology
Aseem Gidwani
Second year at the College
Majoring in Neuroscience
Aditi Maheshwari
First year at the College
Majoring in Psychology and Economics
Wibb Marzilli
Second year at the College
Majoring in Neuroscience and Psychology
Evalise Melgar
Third year at the College
Majoring in Psychology and Neuroscience
Emma van Steertegen
Second year at the College
Majoring in Neuroscience and Philosophy