Melissa M. Amick, Ph.D.

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Office: C11-9

Email: melissa.amick@va.gov

Phone: 867-364-2135

Education

2003-2005 - Postdoctoral Fellowship, Medical Rehabilitation Neuropsychology

Warren Alpert School of Medicine, Brown University

2002-2003 - Clinical Internship in Geriatric Neuropsychology

VA Boston Healthcare System

2003 - Ph.D., Clinical Psychology

Boston University

Dr. Amick's research focuses on the cognitive and neuroanatomical consequences of deployment-related health conditions including traumatic brain injury, post traumatic stress disorder, suicidal ideation, and spinal cord injury.

Research Interests: TBI, PTSD, Suicide Ideation, Spinal Cord Injury, Neuropsychology

Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

Investigator, Translational Research for TBI and Stress Disorders

Office: A12-42

Email: deguti@gmail.com

Phone: 867-364-5883

Education

2006 - Ph.D. Experimental Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience

University of California, Berkeley

Dr. DeGutis is the co-director of the Boston Attention and Learning Laboratory (BALLAB) with Dr. Michael Esterman. They study the cognitive and neural mechanisms of sustained attention as well as the potential for enhancing attention abilities through cognitive training. To gain insights from multiple perspectives, they perform behavioral, neuroimaging (functional MRI), non-invasive brain stimulation (transcranial magnetic stimulation, transcranial direct current stimulation), and cognitive training experiments in healthy subjects and disordered populations (e.g., hemispatial neglect, traumatic brain injury, age-related cognitive decline).

Research Interests: Developmental Prosopagnosia, Cognitive Rehabilitation of Attention, ADHD, PTSD/TBI, and Age Related Cognitive Decline

Principal Investigator, National Center for PTSD - VA Boston Healthcare System

Co-Director, Boston Attention and Learning Laboratory

Associate Professor, Boston University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry

Office:  A13-49

Email: esterman@bu.edu

Phone:  857-364-4362

Education

2006-2009 - Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Psych. & Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University

2006 - Ph.D., Psychology, University of California, Berkeley

Our research uses cognitive neuroscience approaches to understand attention, as well as PTSD, other trauma-related conditions, and aging. We use a range of methods, including cognitive tasks, fMRI, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), and EEG. See my lab website for more details. 

Research Interests:  Attention, PTSD, TBI, Aging, ADHD, Cognitive Neuroscience Methods

Office: C11-6

Email: francesca.fortenbaugh@va.gov

Phone: 867-364-2206

Education

2012 - Ph.D. Psychology

University of California, Berkeley

Dr. Fortenbaugh's research over the past decade has focused on space perception, visual attention, and changes in these visual processes following retinal and cortical damage. Currently, my research interests include studying visual attention across the lifespan and the neural mechanisms involved in supporting visual perception.

Research Interests: Space Perception, Sustained Attention, Multi-Voxel Pattern Analysis,  Connectivity Analyses

Former Associate Director for Training and Education, NeRVe Center

Office: C11-9

Email: elizabeth_leritz@hms.harvard.edu

Phone: 867-364-5645

Education

2004 - Ph.D., Clinical Psychology (Neuropsychology)

University of Florida

1996 - B.S., Washington University

Dr. Leritz completed her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, with a concentration in Neuropsychology, in 2004 at the University of Florida. Her current research, supported by an R01 from the NNDS, is focused on understanding how cerebrovascular risk factors contribute to age-related neurodegeneration as well as cognitive and functional decline. She uses structural and functional MRI to examine how risk factors in midlife can influence the neural aging process. An additional focus of her work is in examining how risk factors interact with TBI and PTSD in returning veterans.

Research Interests: Aging, Memory, Neuropsychology, Cognitive Science, Cognitive Psychology, Biological Psychology, Mild Cognitive Impairment, DTI

Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

Office: A11-1A

Email: regina_mcglinchey@hms.harvard.edu

Phone: 867-364-2658

Education

1991 - Ph.D., Clinical Psychology (Neuropsychology)

Tufts University

Dr. McGlinchey is the director of the TRACTS program, a VA RR&D Center of Excellence, and co-director of the Geriatric Neuropsychology Laboratory. Her research involves the investigation of neuropsychological deficits in a wide range of psychiatric and neurological population.

Research Interests: Executive Function, Memory, Learning, Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuroimaging, Brain Imaging, Behavioral Neuroscience, Cognition Disorders, Cognitive Neuropsychology

Associate Director for Research, New England GRECC, VA Boston Healthcare System

Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

Office: A11-1

Email: william_milberg@hms.harvard.edu

Phone: 867-364-2946

Education

1978 - Ph.D., Clinical Psychology (Neuropsychology)

Wayne State University

Dr. Milberg is a clinical and research psychologist who founded the Geriatric Neuropsychology laboratory when he became part of the GRECC in 1981. At that time the focus of the lab was on the cognitive consequences of dementia and stroke in older adults, but since that time the laboratory has grown and diversified considerably. During his tenure Dr. Milberg has published numerous empirical and theoretical scientific articles and chapters dealing with brain organization and information processing in aging related diseases. Since 2009, he has co-directed the TRACTS program with his longtime collaborator and lab co-leader Dr. Regina McGlinchey.

Research Interests: Executive Function, Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuroimaging, Neurobiology and Brain Physiology, Cognitive Neuropsychology, Learning, Memory, Clinical Neuropsychology, Cognition Disorders

Office: D11-134

Email: meghan_pierce@hms.harvard.edu

Phone: 867-364-6816

Education

2017 - Ph.D. Experimental Psychology/Neuroscience

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Meghan earned a doctorate in Experimental Psychology with an emphasis on neuroscience from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She is specifically interested in deployment-related health issues affecting women Veterans. Her research interests include alterations in the neurobiological response to stress related post traumatic stress disorder and comorbid deployment-related pathologies and how this relationship differs between the sexes. 

Research Interests: Deployment Related Health Issues Affecting Women Veterans, PTSD, Comorbid Deployment-Related Pathologies, IPV

Faculty, Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging

Assistant Professor in Radiology, Harvard Medical School

Assistant in Neuroscience, Massachusetts General Hospital

Office:  D11-112

Email:  dsalat@hms.harvard.edu 

Phone:  857-364-6785

Education

2000 - Ph.D., Behavioral Neuroscience

Oregon Health and Science University

Our research examines structural and functional changes in the brain with aging and age-associated neurodegenerative disease, as well as to understand the neurological consequences of military associated traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. A primary focus of this work is to determine how the common decline in vascular health with advancing age contributes to neurodegenerative changes, cognitive attenuation and the development of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. We utilize neuroimaging technology as a primary tool to measure subtle alterations in tissue integrity and physiology and how those changes relate to measures of cognitive function and systemic physiology. Through these studies, we hope to advance procedures for the clinical utilization of imaging technology in the diagnosis, characterization, and tracking of neurodegenerative disease as well as towards advancing understanding of the pathological mechanisms that cause dementia. Please see my lab website for more information.

Research Interests: Aging, Age-Associated Neurodegenerative Disease (Alzheimer's Disease, Dementia), Traumatic Brain Injury, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Neuroimaging Methodology Development (e.g., Diffusion)

Office: B12-53A

Email: danielle.sullivan2@va.gov

Phone: 867-364-2130

Education

2016 - Ph.D. Behavioral Neuroscience

Boston University School of Medicine

Dr. Sullivan is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine. Her research focuses on how multiple biomarkers such as neuroimaging and genetics impact the outcome and recovery of the disorders. This work involves a multi-modal approach that combines behavioral, functional MRI, and structural MRI techniques to examine the neuropathology of mTBI and PTSD.

Research Interests: DTI, TBI, PTSD, fMRI, Functional Connectivity, Cognitive Control

Research Career Scientist, VA Boston Healthcare System

Professor of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine

Office: D11-115

Email: verf@bu.edu

Phone: 617-232-9500

Education

1978 - Candidates*

University of Louvain, Belgium

1981 - License**

University of Louvain, Belgium

1986 - Ph.D., Psychology

University of Louvain, Belgium

1988 - Postdoctoral Fellowship

Boston University Aphasia Research Center

Dr. Verfaellie's research aims to elucidate the cognitive and neural bases of various forms of human memory, through the study of patients with memory disorders as well as individuals with intact memory. In addition to the study of patients with selective amnesia, her current research extends to other clinical populations in whom memory impairment is one of the presenting complaints, such as individuals who suffered cardiac arrest or traumatic brain injury. Additional information about her research program is available at the MDRC website.

Research Interests: Cognitive and Neural Bases of Memory, Memory Disorders (e.g., Selective Amnesia), Traumatic Brain Injury