Scientists and Postdoctoral Fellows

Cory Burghy, Ph.D.
Research Associate
A132 Waisman
608-263-1968

My research focuses primarily on the acquisition and effective implementation of emotion understanding and emotion regulation strategies in childhood and adolescence. More specifically, I am interested in how life stress (e.g., poverty, negative life events) may impact the development of individual differences in emotional control and coherent affective processes. My current research includes a longitudinal examination of neural, physiological, and cognitive development through childhood and adolescence with particular emphasis on the development of internalizing symptoms/disorders.

Brandi Cage, Ph.D.
Research Associate
368 Brogden / S-119H Waisman
608-263-0130 / 608-890-3476

My primary research interests focus on the positive qualities of emotion: what they are, how they function in the body and the mind, and how they are cultivated. More specifically, I am engaged in the study of the forgiveness process. My current research includes examination of neural, physiological and cognitive indices of forgiveness behaviors. I also have an interest in examining individual differences, cultural dynamics of forgiveness and physiological processes in ethnic minority populations.

Awards: NIH NCCAM Research Supplement to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research Programs.

Lisa Flook , Ph.D.
Assistant Scientist
S-119D Waisman
608-265-6602

My research interests focus on exploring prevention and early intervention strategies to promote well-being early in life. Given the negative short and long-term effects stress has on mental and physical health, I believe mindful awareness has much to offer towards helping children and adolescents improve daily well-being and cope with stress. I am also involved in studying the impact of introducing mindfulness practices in educational settings.

Kristin Javaras, D.Phil.
Research Associate
A-126 Waisman
608-890-1407

My research focuses on using statistical methods to gain insight into the nosology and etiology of mental illness (especially mood, anxiety, and eating disorders) from self-report, genetic, and imaging data.

Awards: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Dissertation Grant Award
Academy of Eating Disorders / International Journal of Eating Disorders Recipient of 2008 Early Career Investigator Award

Antoine Lutz, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist
T-231 Waisman
608-262-8705

More about Antoine

I am interested in understanding the neural counterparts to subjective experience and, more generally, the mechanisms underlying mind-brain-body interactions. More specifically, I am studying the role of large-scale neuronal integration (neural synchrony mechanisms) during various mental states (voluntary attention, emotion generation).

Donal MacCoon, Ph.D.
Assistant Scientist
S-119D Waisman
608-890-3626

My primary research area is sustainable well-being (see sustainablewellbeing.us). I also study the role of attention in self-regulation. I have developed a model, Context Appropriate Balanced Attention, to describe this role and have applied and tested the model with anxiety, depression, borderline personality disorder, and most recently, to mindfulness practices.

Melissa Rosenkranz, Ph.D.
Assistant Scientist
T-125 Waisman
608-262-5050

I am interested in the neural-immune and biochemical mechanisms by which individual differences in affective responding modulate resilience to and progression of disease, as well as the impact of meditation practice on affective responding and, subsequently, on the neural-immune and biochemical mechanisms underlying resilience or vulnerability to disease.

Awards: NIH NCCAM K Award: Neural Mechanisms By Which Chronic Stress Regulates Inflammation In Asthma

Emma Seppala , Ph.D.
Assistant Scientist
S-119G Waisman
608-263-0803

Emma's primary research interests center around methodologies to increase well-being and resiliency. She is currently studying how yoga-based practices can help promote long-term mental and emotional well-being in different populations including returning combat veterans with trauma and PTSD.

Stacey Schaefer Stacey M. Schaefer, Ph.D.
Assistant Scientist
T-127 Waisman
608-263-9321

More about Stacey

My research questions currently revolve around the interaction/overlap between executive control and self-regulatory processes including attention, emotion, and pain regulation. In particular, I study the morphometry of and functional activity in emotion regulation-related brain circuitry, and those measures relations to individual differences in state and trait affect, cognitive ability such as working memory capacity, the ability to identify and differentiate between emotions, and the tendency to use particular emotion regulatory strategies.