Principal Investigator
Bengi Baran, Ph.D.
Dr. Baran received her PhD in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and completed post-doctoral research training in Sleep, Circadian and Respiratory Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School. She is interested in understanding the role of sleep in symptoms and cognitive deficits in psychiatric disorders. A specific focus is on identifying sleep-related biomarkers of risk for psychotic disorders using functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), sleep electroencephalography (EEG) and event-related potentials (ERPs).
Email: bengi-baran@uiowa.edu
Graduate Students
Hazal Arpaci
Hazal graduated from Middle East Technical University (Ankara/Turkey) with a B.S. in psychology, and an M.S. in cognitive psychology. As an undergraduate student, she worked as a research assistant in the Cognitive Sciences department and volunteered at several cognitive psychology and neuroscience labs. During her master's, she studied memory models and tried to explore the reasons behind the contiguity effect. Right now, she is a graduate student in the Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience Ph.D. program. She is interested in the causal role of sleep oscillations on memory consolidation and symptoms in clinical populations. After getting her Ph.D., Hazal hopes to work in academia.
Emily Gildea
Emily is a second-year graduate student in the Clinical Science program. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a B.S. in Psychology and Sociology and a minor in Neuroscience. Before coming to Iowa, Emily worked as a lab coordinator in Drs. Hetrick, Wisner, and Moussa-Tooks's lab at Indiana University studying cognitive and neural mechanisms related to psychosis spectrum disorders, autism spectrum disorders, and cannabis use. She also worked at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital during her undergraduate career. She is interested in the neural underpinnings of psychosis spectrum disorders. During her free time, Emily enjoys reading, drinking coffee, and hanging out with her two cats.
Clinical Research Coordinators
Morgan Lott
Morgan (she/her) graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a B.S. in Psychology and a minor in Anthropology. She previously worked at the Learning and Language Lab at UIUC under the mentorship of Dr. Jon Willits, studying the role of visual experience in the acquisition of semantic knowledge in infants. Her current research interests include the emergence of psychopathology during adolescence and the impact of social media usage. She is especially interested in studying puberty as both a social and biological phenomenon. During her free time, Morgan enjoys reading, building miniatures, and spending time with her two cats named Baby Puppy and Brother Fanny.
Isabella Martinez
Isabella graduated from the University of Iowa with a B.S. in Psychology, a certificate in Resilience and Trauma-Informed Perspectives, and a minor in Spanish. She was previously involved at the Iowa ADHD and Development Lab under the mentorship of Dr. Molly Nikolas, examining how transitions during adolescence, such as puberty, influence mental health. Her current research interests are the nature/nurture impacts on psychopathologies and vise versa, specifically in minority populations. Her clinical interests are in psychosis/schizophrenia, PTSD, and ASPD. In her free time she enjoys going out to eat with friends and spending time with her dog and two cats.
Research Assistants
Eleanor MacKellar
Eleanor is a fourth-year psychology major and Spanish minor at the University of Iowa. She is interested in pursuing a career in psychology. In her free time, she likes to read sci-fi and fantasy books and watch low-quality movies with her friends.
Meredith Sloat
Meredith is in her last year as a Neuroscience major with minors in Chemistry and Theatre Arts. In the future, she hopes to attend medical school to pursue a career in pediatric psychiatry. Meredith is interested in the relationship between sleep and psychiatric/developmental disorders, and how sleep medicine can be utilized to manage and treat conditions, particularly in youth. In her free time, Meredith enjoys playing guitar and piano, reading, and knitting/crocheting!
Collaborators
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Candice A. Alfano, Ph.D. & Sleep Anxiety Center of Houston (University of Houston)
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Angela Fang, Ph.D. & CoNNeCTLab (University of Washington)
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Aycan Kapucu, Ph.D. (Ege University)
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Dara Manoach, Ph.D. & SCAN Lab (Massachusetts General Hospital)
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Cara Palmer, Ph.D. & Sleep and Development Lab (Montana State University)
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Amanda McCleery, Ph.D. & MAYPL (University of Iowa)