Leadership
Dr. Haley received her Ph.D. degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of Virginia in 2005 after completing a pre-doctoral internship in Neuropsychology and Rehabilitation Medicineat Eastern Virginia Medical School. Before joining the Clinical Psychology faculty at UT Austin, she spent two years as a Dementia Research Fellow at Brown University, and a visiting research fellow at the Center for Neurological Imaging at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Her research examines the biological underpinnings of cognitive impairment associated with aging and dementia. As a clinical neuropsychologist, she is interested in studying the neural substrates of memory, language and executive function in clinical populations, in vivo, by utilizingfunctional neuroimaging (fMRI) and neurospectroscopy (1H MRS). She also conducts work to determine how disturbances in glucose metabolism, hormonal regulation, and cardiovascular functioning contribute to changes in cognition, brain morphology, and energy metabolism. Her goal is to bridge knowledge from basic and clinical neuroscience with the aim of improving how we understand, predict, and treat age- and disease-related cognitive impairment.
Dr. Marie Caillaud, PhD
Postdoctoral Research AssociateMarie is a postdoctoral researcher at UT Austin. She did a first postdoctoral internship at the Research Center, University Institute of Geriatrics of Montreal (Quebec, Canada), after receiving her PhD in Neuropsychology at the University of Angers in collaboration with the National Institute of Health and Medical Research of Caen (France). Her primary research interests are the early cognitive, biological and cerebral markers that would allow to target persons at risk of developing a neurological pathology. She is using multimodal and multiorgan imaging (brain and liver) to study these early changes.
Selected Publications :
Caillaud, M., Hudon, C., Boller, B., Duchesne, S., Lorrain, D., Gagnon, JF, Mellah, S., Phillips, N., Belleville, S., and the Consortium for the Early Identification of Alzheimer’s Disease-Quebec (2019). Evidence of a relation between hippocampal volume, white-matter hyperintensities, and cognition in Subjective Cognitive Decline and Mild Cognitive Impairment. J Gerontol B, 75(7).
Dr. Tania Ramos-Santiago
Research Associate IITania received her Ph.D. in Bioengineering from the University of Puerto Rico in 2023. She started with the UT Clinical Neuroscience Lab in October 2023. Her role is to coordinate research duties and perform community outreach for the FEASible research study. FEASible is a study that aims to identify risk factors of the environment, activity, and sleep to validate metabolic health burden among Latina women.
Jessica Park
Laboratory CoordinatorJessica joined the Clinical Neuroscience Lab as a research assistant in 2021, and they received a B.A. in Psychology and a certificate in Forensic Science from the University of Texas at Austin the following year. They are interested in exploring the intersection of cognition and physical and mental health, as well as how external factors like nutrition and environment affect the brain. When not in the lab, Jessica spends their time hoarding books, drawing, and knitting little creatures.
Graduate Students
Cherry joined the doctoral program in Clinical Psychology in 2018. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2015 with a B.A. in Psychology with honors and a minor in Education. Prior to becoming a part of the UT Clinical Neuroscience Lab, Cherry worked with Dr. Elliot Tucker-Drob to investigate changes in cognitive functioning as a function of age to understand the cognitive decline in the aging population using large, representative longitudinal dates from the Health and Retirement Study. After joining the UT Clinical Neuroscience Lab, her current research interests are centered on examining the effect of large neutral amino acid supplementation on neuropsychological performance in midlife adults.
Yanrong “Momo” Li
Graduate StudentMomo joined the doctoral program in Clinical Psychology in 2021. She graduated from the University of Southern California in 2019 with B.A. in Psychology with honors and B.A. in Neuroscience. Her current research interests focus on the impact of vascular health on brain integrity and cognition. In her free time, she enjoys drawing, watching Netflix, and spending time with her furry babies: Jujube, Dough, and Churro.
Isabelle is a second year Clinical Psychology graduate student. She received a B.S. in Neurobiology and Global Health from University of Wisconsin-Madison. Upon graduating, she completed a post-baccalaureate fellowship at the National Institutes of Health in the Lab of Biological Modeling. Her primary research goals involve investigating neurobiological and nutritional mechanisms associated with metabolic syndrome and brain health, utilizing an integrated approach that includes multi-organ and multimodal neuroimaging methods. Outside of school, Isabelle embraces Austin’s vibrant energy and lush green spaces by biking and swimming around town. She also enjoys relaxing at home and knitting.
Tianyu Wang
Graduate StudentTianyu is a third year PhD graduate student in the Exercise Physiology program, Cardiovascular Research Laboratory. She is interested in evaluating the effect of lifestyle interventions on cognitive and cardiovascular health among people with metabolic disease. Her goal in the future is to bridge the gap between exercise science and the general public practice. Her project focuses on the effect of liver fat reduction achieved by a two-week dietary intervention on cardiovascular and cognitive health in people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
Research Assistants
Nikhita Ajaykumar
Research AssistantNikhita is a senior neuroscience major minoring in computer science and applied statistics who works as a research assistant and L1 MRI user in the lab. She hopes to get a PhD in Clinical Psychology with a quantitative focus. Her main interests are in exploring how the intersection between neuropsychology and data science can be used in the treatment of mental health disorders.
Nahall Najimi
Research AssistantNahall is a B.S. Psychology student who joined the lab during the first semester of her junior year, and she is currently completing her honors thesis with us. She has always planned to have a career in medicine, but found a passion for research during her time with us as well. Her main interests are in neurodegenerative diseases and geriatric populations, but she is always open to learning more about everything brain-related. Outside of her academic career, Nahall enjoys equestrian sports and traveling.
Neha Nirmal
Research AssistantNeha is a sophomore neuroscience major minoring in media studies. Her main interests are cognition and environmental effects on behavior. Her future goal is to become a doctor.