People
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Faculty
Dr. Gregory Strauss
Dr. Gregory Strauss
Dr. Gregory Strauss
Dr. Strauss is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Georgia. He is the director of the CAN Lab and Georgia Psychiatric Risk Evaluation Program (G-PREP). His research primarily examines the phenomenology, etiology, assessment, and treatment of negative symptoms in individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia and youth at clinical high-risk for psychosis.
Google Scholar Profile Email: gstrauss@uga.edu
*Note: Dr. Strauss will not be recruiting a graduate student to apply during the fall 2023 cycle/fall 2024 start date*
Dr. Lauren Luther
Dr. Gregory Strauss
Dr. Gregory Strauss
Dr.Luther is junior faculty in the psychology department and the CAN Lab. Her research takes an experimental therapeutics approach to treating negative symptoms in adults diagnosed with schizophrenia. She is currently focusing on identifying novel cognitive and neural mechanisms of avolition that can be augmented using mobile health interventions that incorporate cognitive and behavioral treatment approaches.
Google Scholar Profile Email: lauren.luther@uga.edu
*Note: Dr. Luther will not be recruiting a graduate student to apply during the fall 2023 cycle/fall 2024 start date*
Employees
Melissa McDowell
Ashley Zollicoffer
Ashley Zollicoffer
Melissa is the CAN Lab manager. She is paid to work on our NIH funded grants conducted in individuals with schizophrenia and youth at clinical high-risk for psychosis. She received her M.S. in clinical mental health counseling from Capella University. Her primary interests are in the assessment and treatment of mental illness.
Ashley Zollicoffer
Ashley Zollicoffer
Ashley Zollicoffer
Ashley is a full-time research coordinator paid to work on the GAINS R01 clinical high-risk study. She is originally from California and graduated from Florida A&M University with a master’s degree in Community Psychology. Her research interests involve cultural and environmental influences on psychosis.
Lauren Arnold
Ashley Zollicoffer
Zachary Carter
Lauren is a full-time research coordinator working on our fMRI studies examining mechanisms of negative symptoms in schizophrenia. She is originally from Georgia. Her interests involve using neuroscience methods (EEG, fMRI) to examine cognitive and emotional processes involved with the etiology of schizophrenia.
Zachary Carter
Lauren Jennings
Zachary Carter
Zach is a full-time research coordinator paid to work on the ProNET grant evaluating biomarkers and clinical factors associated with psychosis risk. He graduated from UGA with a B.S. in psychology. His primary research interests involve the relationship between the gut microbiome and schizophrenia as well as race and psychological health
Ada Hutcheson
Lauren Jennings
Lauren Jennings
Ada is a full-time research coordinator paid to work on the CAPR grant. She graduated from UGA with a B.S. in psychology and minor in social work. Her primary research interests involve the interactions between trauma, cognitive function, and the onset of psychosis
Lauren Jennings
Lauren Jennings
Lauren Jennings
Lauren is a full-time research coordinator paid to work on the ProNET grant. She graduated with a B.S. in Brain and Behavioral Science from Purdue University and a M.P.S. in Clinical Psychological Science from the University of Maryland. Her primary research interests involve the interaction between negative symptoms and cognitive impairments in psychosis
Zhixin Zhang
Zhixin Zhang
Zhixin Zhang
Zhixin is a full-time research coordinator paid to work on the ProNET grant. She is originally from China and graduated from Vanderbilt University with a B.S. in Cognitive Studies and Neuroscience. Her research interests involve biological and social influences on the etiology of psychosis.
Graduate Students
Luyu Zhang
Anna Knippenberg
Sydney James
Luyu is a 2nd year graduate student in Clinical Psychology. He is originally from China. His research interests involve the etiology of schizophrenia. He is focusing on a bioecosystem model of negative symptoms and interactions between environmental and neural factors using multiple methods, such as fMRI, digital phenotyping, environmental coding, and social network analysis.
Sydney James
Anna Knippenberg
Sydney James
Sydney is a 2nd year Clinical Psychology Ph.D. student. She is originally from North Carolina. Her research interests involve identifying mechanisms underlying negative symptoms. She is focusing on a bioecosystem model of negative symptoms which evaluates cultural components of the broader macrosystem using a multi-method approach that consists of digital phenotyping, network analysis, and cultural scales.
Anna Knippenberg
Anna Knippenberg
Anna Knippenberg
Anna is a 1st year graduate student in Clinical Psychology. She is originally from Texas. Her research interests involve identifying mechanisms and treatments for anhedonia in schizophrenia using neuroscience methods. She is exploring a model of emotional memory impairment using fMRI.
Lab Alumni (PHDs and POSTDOCS)
Dr. Katiah Llerena
Dr. Katiah Llerena
Dr. Katiah Llerena
Katiah completed her PhD in 2013. Her dissertation examined emotional maintenance in schizophrenia using ERPs. She is currently faculty at UCSF.
Dr. Sara Sullivan
Dr. Katiah Llerena
Dr. Katiah Llerena
Sara completed her PhD in 2016. Her dissertation focused on the effects of emotion regulation on subsequent cognitive control in schizophrenia using ERPs. She is currently a staff psychologist at the Bedford VA in MA.
Dr. Lindsay Morra
Dr. Katiah Llerena
Dr. Lindsay Morra
Lindsay completed her PhD in 2016. Her dissertation examined the association between metabolic dysfunction and cognition in schizophrenia. She is currently a staff psychologist in the psychiatry department at Johns Hopkins.
Dr. Kayla Whearty
Dr. Katherine Frost Visser
Dr. Lindsay Morra
Kayla completed her PhD in 2017. Her dissertation examined the role of emotional memory impairment in anhedonia in schizophrenia using eye tracking. She is currently a staff psychologist at NYU and Assistant Professor of Neurology at Hofstra University.
Dr. Katherine Frost Visser
Dr. Katherine Frost Visser
Dr. Katherine Frost Visser
Katie completed her Ph.D. in 2020. Her dissertation examined mechanisms of emotion regulation in youth at clinical high-risk for psychosis using EMA. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Brown University.
Dr. Ivan Ruiz
Dr. Katherine Frost Visser
Dr. Katherine Frost Visser
Ivan completed his PhD in 2022. His dissertation examined whether effort fails to become a secondary reinforcer in schizophrenia. He is currently a postdoc at UCLA.
Dr. Michael Spilka
Dr. Michael Spilka
Dr. Michael Spilka
Michael was a postdoctoral fellow in the CAN lab from 2021-2022. He worked on fMRI projects on the R61 cognitive training grant and the CAPR clinical high-risk for psychosis study. He is currently working as a data scientist in private industry.
Lisa Bartolomeo
Dr. Michael Spilka
Dr. Michael Spilka
Lisa defended her dissertation in 2023. Her study examined the positivity offset theory of anhedonia in people diagnosed with schizophrenia and youth at clinical high-risk for psychosis. She is currently a clinical psychology intern at UCLA.
Ian Raugh
Dr. Michael Spilka
Ian Raugh
Ian defended his dissertation in 2023. He examined state and trait mindfulness in people diagnosed with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and bipolar disorder. He is currently completing his clinical internship at the ANN Arbor VA Hospital in Michigan.