News (cont)
2022
Rachel Phillips receives an F31 award: “Neuroinflammation as a Mechanism Linking Early Life Stress, Altered Functional Connectivity, and Anhedonia in Major Depression.” Congratulations, Rachel!
2021
Rachel Phillips has a poster accepted for the 2021 ACNP Annual Meeting. Congratulations, Rachel!
Dr. Jessica Kinard has a poster accepted at the 2021 ASHA Convention. Congratulations, Jessica!
Story about Gabriel Dichter’s involvement in SPARK
Kate Gibson has a poster accepted at SOBP. Congratulations, Kate!
Rachel Phillips has a poster accepted at SOBP. Congratulations, Rachel!
The CAN lab publishes the first PET-MR study of striatal dopamine binding in autism
2020
Rachel Phillips presents at the 2020 ACNP Annual Meeting. Congratulations, Rachel!
Gabriel Dichter is promoted to full member of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology.
Dr. Jessica Kinard received a NC TraCS grant, “Remote Assessment for Latinx Infants and Children at High Risk for Developmental Disabilities.” Congratulations, Jessica!
McRae Scott has been accepted into the Psychology & Neuroscience Honors Program. Congratulations, McRae!
Paul Cernasov passed his Master’s Defense. Congratulations, Paul!!!
Rachel Phillips has had a Biological Psychiatry abstract accepted. Congratulations, Rachel!
2019
Gabriel Dichter quoted in Daily Tar Heel article about UNC’s involvement in SPARK.
Rachel Greene successfully defended her dissertation. Congratulations, Rachel!
Rachel Greene has matched at Oregon Health & Science University for internship. Congratulations, Rachel!
Paul Cernasov has received a Department of Psychology Dashiell Travel Award. Congratulations, Paul!
Paul had a Biological Psychiatry abstract accepted. Congratulations, Paul!
2018
Paul passed his Master’s proposal meeting. Congratulations, Paul!
Maya Mosner has successfully defended her dissertation. Congratulations, Maya!
Rachel Greene passed her dissertation proposal defense. Congratulations, Rachel!
Highlighted in Scientific American on new treatments for anhedonia
Gabriel Dichter is quoted in Spectrum article on reward processing in autism
Former lab member Dr. Megan Kovac accepts a faculty position at CADB. Congratulations, Megan!
Dr. Erin Walsh has received a 5-year K23 award to use PET-MR to study neuroinflammation. Congratulations, Erin!
Maya Mosner has matched at Children’s National Medical Center Washington, DC for her Psychology Internship. Congrats, Maya!
Rachel Greene has received a CIDD Trainee Research Award. Congratulations, Rachel!
2017
Rachel Greene received a David Zeaman Graduate Award to attend the 51st Annual Gatlinburg Conference. Congratulations, Rachel!
Gabriel Dichter is named the John and Polly Sparks Foundation Investigator by the Brain and Behavior Foundation.
Rachel Greene has received a 2017 Trainee Professional Development Award from the Society for Neuroscience. Congratulations, Rachel!
The CAN Lab is awarded a research supplement to evaluate changes in dopamine binding and ecologic momentary assessment after anhedonia treatment. link
Erin Walsh, PhD, has been accepted into UNC’s KL2 Scholars program and will be an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry. Congratulations, Erin!
Rachel Greene has passed her Masters Defense. Congratulations Rachel!
Jasmine Shah has defended her honors thesis and received highest honors. Congratulations, Jasmine!
Gabriel Dichter is awarded a Brain & Behavior Research Foundation Independent Investigator grant, “Inflammation as a Candidate Mediator of Anhedonia Treatment Response”.
The lab is thrilled to welcome Paul Cernasov as an incoming clinical psychology doctoral student!
Maya Mosner and Rachel Greene receive Travel Awards to attend IMFAR. Congratulations Maya and Rachel!
Maya Mosner has received a Psi Chi Teaching Award by UNC’s chapter of Psi Chi. Congratulations Maya!
2016
Rachel Greene has been awarded a Graduate Student Mentoring Award from the Office for Undergraduate Research. Congratulations, Rachel!
Gabriel Dichter is awarded a new NIMH grant, Simultaneous PET/MR Study of Striatal Dopamine Binding in Autism, in collaboration with Jacob Hooker, PhD.
WRAL story about UNC’s participation in SPARK
Postdoc Erin Walsh has been awarded a two-year grant from the Mind and Life Institute, “Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and early life abuse: Does attenuating inflammation reduce depressive symptoms and interpersonal dysfunction?”. Congratulations, Erin!
UNC joins launch of SPARK, nation’s largest autism research study
Miranda Sullivan has been awarded a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) to continue her eyetracking research in the lab. Congratulations, Miranda!
Maya Mosner has been awarded a Graduate School Summer Research Fellowship. Congratulations, Maya!
Jasmine Shah is awarded a Lindquist Undergraduate Research Fund Grant. Congratulations, Jasmine!
Lab projects featured in the CIDD Newsletter
Psychology majors Jasmine Shah, Miranda Sullivan, and Rebecca Sukhu continue in the lab this year as Independent Study trainees.
Gabriel Dichter is elected as an Associate Member of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology.
2015
Gabriel Dichter and CIDD Director Joseph Piven will be PI’s of “Carolina Site for the SFARI National Autism Cohort”. The goal of this project is be a site for the Simons Foundation National Autism Cohort which aims to recruit 50,000 individuals with ASD and their family members to contribute clinical data and DNA for large-scale research studies.
Gabriel Dichter is awarded a UNC-CH 2015 Phillip and Ruth Hettleman Prize for Artistic and Scholarly Achievement by Young Faculty.
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Gabriel Dichter is quoted in Simons Foundation story about effects of repeated scanning on brain connectivity.
New symposium accepted at ACNP: Dichter, G.S., Walsh, E., Carl, H., Petty, C., Bizzell, J., Sideris, J., Crowther, A., Minkel, J., & Smoski, M.J. (December, 2015); Functional Connectivity Predictors of Response to Behavioral Activation Therapy for Depression. ACNP Annual Meeting, Hollywood, Florida; (Title of symposium: Using Neural Connectivity Biomarkers in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) to Identify Subtypes and Predict Treatment Response).
Gabriel Dichter is co-investigator on 2R01 DA026424 (PI: Daughters) 2015-2020; “Technology Enhanced Behavioral Activation Treatment for Substance Use.”
CAN Lab member and postdoctoral fellow Jessica Kinard has been accepted into the CIDD T32 postdoctoral training program. Congratulations, Jessica!
CAN Lab member Sean McWeeny has successfully defended his honors thesis, “The Autism Social Anhedonia Scale: A novel social reward processing scale for ASD.” Congratulations, Sean!
CAN Lab member Hannah Carl has successfully defended her honors thesis, “A Model of Reduced Motivational Endurance in Depression: A Potential Predictor of Response to Psychotherapy.” Congratulations, Hannah!
CAN Lab post-doc Dr. Jessica Kinard won a Graduate Education Advancement Board Impact Award for her dissertation. This award recognizes graduate students for contributions they are making to our state. Congratulations, Jessica!!!
CAN Lab post-doc Dr. Jessica Kinard had a poster accepted for presentation at the International Meeting For Autism Research in May in Salt Lake City. The poster is titled, “Parent-Mediated Intervention for Hispanic Families of Young Children with Autism.” Congratulations, Jessica!
CAN Lab member Shuting Zheng has co-authored an IMFAR poster that describes a study that explored eye-tracking paradigm for toddlers with autism spectrum disorder. Zheng has been awarded a competitive travel award to attend the conference. Congratulations, Shuting!
Crowther, A., Smoski, M.J., Minkel, J. , Moore, T., Gibbs, D., Petty, C., Bizzell, J., Schiller,C.E., Sideris, J., Carl, H., & Dichter, G.S.; Resting-State Connectivity Predictors of Response to Psychotherapy in Major Depressive Disorder has been accepted at Neuropsychopharmacology. Congratulations, Andrew! PDF, press release
Rachel Greene has been awarded a NC TraCS grant: “An Evaluation of Eyetracking as a Treatment Outcome Measure for Autism.” Congratulations, Rachel!
Hannah Carl as been awarded a Undergraduate Research Support Office Travel Grant to present her honors thesis work at the 2015 Society for Biological Psychiatry in Toronto. Congratulations, Hannah!
2014
Cara Damiano has successfully defended her dissertation. Congratulations, Cara!
UNC 2014 Neuroscience of Youth Depression Datablitz discussant video.
Quoted in Simons Foundation story about impact of therapy on brain function in autism
CAN Lab members Dr. Jessica Kinard and Cara Damiano featured in the October, 2014 issue of Inside the Institute
CAN Lab postdoc Dr. Jessica Kinard receives the Joanne Erwick Roberts Early Career Award. Congratulations, Jessica!
Sean McWeeny has been awarded a David Bray Peele Memorial Research Award for his honors thesis. Congratulations, Sean!
Undergraduate Research Assistants Nadia Peyravian, Jasmine Shah, and Sadé Archie join the lab. Welcome!
Postdoctoral fellow Erin Walsh joins the lab as part of UNC’s T32 training grant for research in complementary, alternative and integrative medicine. Welcome, Erin!
Postdoctoral fellow Jessica Kinard joins the lab. Welcome, Jessica!
Rachel Green joins the lab as a new clinical psychology PhD student. Welcome, Rachel!
Devin Gibbs has been awarded a Carolina Medical Student Research Program summer fellowship to work in the lab this summer. Congratulations, Devin!
Julia Katz has been awarded a Carolina Medical Student Research Program summer fellowship to work in the lab this summer. Congratulations, Julia!
Sean McWeeny has been awarded a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) to work in the lab this summer and has been accepted into the Honors Program. Congratulations, Sean!
Cara Damiano has matched at the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities for her clinical internship. Congratulations, Cara!
Megan Kovac has matched at Westchester Jewish Community Services for her clinical internship. Congratulations, Megan!
The CAN Lab welcomes Duke honors student Hannah Carl. Welcome, Hannah!
2013
The CAN Lab welcomes Maya Mosner, a UNC clinical psychology doctoral student, to the lab!
The CAN Lab welcomes Neurobiology rotation student, Andrew Crowther.
CAN Lab trainee Dr. Jared Minkel receives a faculty appointment in the UNC Department of Psychiatry. Congratulations, Jared!
Read Gabriel’s Autism Science Foundation blog post about fMRI studies in autism: link
CAN Lab receives a research supplement to R21 MH094781 to promote diversity in psychiatry research.
Graduate student Cara Damiano has received a 2013-2014 UNC graduate school award for her dissertation addressing neural mechanisms of reward uncertainty in children with autism. Congratulations, Cara!
Graduate student Megan Kovac has received a 2013-2014 Jessie Ball DuPont Dissertation Fellowship for her dissertation addressing affective modulation of the postauricular reflex in children with autism. Congratulations, Megan!
Graduate student Anna Sabatino (Developmental Psychology) defended her dissertation which investigated visual attention to social and nonsocial stimuli in children with autism. Congratulations, Anna!
Psychology honors student Dillon Cockrell received the Dashiell-Thurstone Award and highest honors for his honors projects on fMRI of reward loss in children with autism. Congratulations, Dillon!
CAN Lab projects are highlighted in the Spring, 2013 CIDD newsletter link.
Ellie Hanna has been admitted to Duke’s Cognitive Neuroscience Admitting Program. Well deserved – congratulations, Ellie!
UNC medical student Dana Kelley receives an Office of Medical Student Research award to work in the CAN lab this summer. Welcome, Dana!
2012
Lab projects are highlighted in the 2012 CIDD newsletter link.
See Cara Damiano’s Autism Speaks blog post about her predoctoral fellowship.
Thematic Issue on Reward Processing in Autism, guest edited by Gabriel Dichter & Ralph Adolphs, published in the Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders link.
Postdoc Jared Minkel joins the lab. Welcome, Jared!
Fall, 2012: Brittney Ciszek, a graduate student in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program at UNC, will do a rotation in the lab. Welcome, Brittney!
CAN Lab psychology honors student Joey Aloi and Ryan Delapp receive highest honors for their honors projects. Congratulations!
UNC medical students Jeremy Ford and Nathan Yarnall receive Office of Medical Student Research awards to work in the CAN lab this summer. Welcome, Jeremy and Nathan!
Anna Sabatino has received a Summer Research Fellowship from the UNC Graduate School to support her dissertation research on visual attention in autism. Congratulations, Anna!
Joey Aloi presents his honors thesis results at the UNC Celebration of Undergraduate Research (link).
CAN Lab psychology honors student Ryan Delapp (UNC 2012) will attend the University of Louisville’s PhD program in Clinical Psychology next Fall. Congratulations, Ryan!
Megan Kovac, UNC School Psychology Graduate Student and LEND Fellow joins the lab. Welcome, Megan!
CAN Lab member Anna Sabatino has an abstract accepted at the Graduate Research symposium at William and Mary. Her abstract is titled “Social and Nonsocial Attention in Autism”. Congratulations, Anna!
2011
Gabriel has been awarded the 2011 Vanderbilt University Randolph Blake Early Career Award for the Psychological Sciences link.
NIH article about the CAN lab’s ARRA project. link.
Former CAN Lab post-doc Dr. John (Tony) Richey has accepted a faculty position at Virginia Tech. Congratulations, Tony!
Cara Damiano receives a Weatherstone Predoctoral Fellowship from Autism Speaks. Congratulations, Cara! link
Lab projects are featured in the Fall, 2011 issue of the CIDD newsletter (link).
Simons Foundation article on restricted interests in autism link.
Dillon Cockrell Interviewed in Carolina Scientific Magazine about his SURF experiences in the CAN Lab (link).
Joey Aloi presents his honors thesis results at the UNC Celebration of Undergraduate Research (link).
Joey Aloi and Ryan Delapp are accepted to the UNC Honors Program in Psychology. Congratulations!
Joey Aloi and Dillon Cockrell are accepted to the UNC Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program. Congratulations!
Ali Rittenberg will attend medical school at UNC in the Fall. Congratulations, Ali!
Gabriel is quoted in Yahoo.com article on links between depression and impaired concentration link.
2010
Cara Damanio joins the lab as a Clinical Psychology doctoral student. Welcome, Cara!
CAN lab members present findings at IMFAR 2010
Dichter presents lab findings as part of NARSAD’s “Healthy Minds Across America” series.
CAN Lab ARRA grant featured in the Fall, 2009 issue of CIDD’s Inside the Institute.
2009
Jennifer Felder will attend UC-Boulder’s PhD program in Clinical Psychology in the Fall; Congratulations, Jenn!