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LSAN

THE LABORATORY ON SOCIAL & AFFECTIVE NEUROSCIENCE

About LSAN

Georgetown University

The Laboratory on Social & Affective Neuroscience is located in the Department of Psychology at Georgetown University. We conduct research aimed at understanding the social, cognitive, and neural basis of social processes that include empathy, altruism, and aggression.

Phone

202 687 6853

Interested Applicants

APPLY TO BE OUR NEW Lab MANAGER

We are accepting applications for lab managers to begin in the summer of 2026. This two-year position is suitable for recent university graduates with bachelors degrees in Psychology, Neuroscience, or a closely related discipline who anticipate applying for PhD programs in one of these fields. To apply, please send a cover letter and CV (including contact information for at least 3 references) to lsan@georgetown.edu.

APPLY TO JOIN THE LAB AS A PHD STUDENT

We are considering accepting a new Ph.D. student to the lab in the upcoming application cycle. Please click the link below for more information about applying to the Psychology PhD program, the Neuroscience PhD program, or the Cognitive Science PhD program, all of which are programs through which our lab accepts graduate student trainees.

Please also see this page for my recommendations and advice for potential PhD applicants to my lab, or any lab.

APPLY TO BE AN UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANT

We are seeking enthusiastic, hard-working undergraduate students as research assistants. Please note that we are not able to offer research assistant positions to all interested applicants.

LSAN MEMBERS

Past & Present

Current Members

Abigail Marsh, PhD

Neuroscientist, Psychologist, and Professor

Melinda Somers

Lab Manager

Samantha Perlstein, PhD

Post-doctoral researcher

Joe Venticinque, PhD

Post-doctoral researcher

Marla Dressel

PhD Student (Psychology)

Ah-Yeong Kim

PhD Student (Psychology)

Naomi Nero

PhD Student (Psychology)

Michael Cormack

Research Assistant

Elena Dunn

Visiting Research Assistant

Paige Foster

Research Assistant

James Gill

Research Assistant

Charlotte Golden

Research Assistant

Jack Higgins

Research Assistant

Weiran Jiang

Full Time Research Assistant

Thea Kutash

Research Assistant

Nina Mayro

Research Assistant

Ciara Morrissey

Research Assistant

Sanchit Sehgal

Research Assistant

Mateo Zoubek

Research Assistant

Ashling Burns

Visiting Research Assistant

Lab Alums

Paige Amormino, PhD

T32 Post-doctoral research fellow, Pennsylvania State University

PhD in Psychology, Georgetown University

Kathryn (Adams) Berluti, PhD

Quantitative Research and Data Science Consultant, W2 Consulting Corporation

PhD in Psychology, Georgetown University

Kristin Brethel-Haurwitz, PhD

Social & Behavioral Scientist Administrator, OBSSR, NIH

PhD in Psychology, Georgetown University

Elise Cardinale, PhD

Assistant Professor, Catholic University

PhD in Psychology, Georgetown University
LSAN Laboratory manager, 2010-2012

Hannah (Savitz) Elizabeth

PhD student (Psychology, Yale University)

LSAN Laboratory manager, 2018-2020

Paige Freeburg

PhD student (Psychology, Yale University)

LSAN Laboratory manager, 2022-2024

Leah Lozier, PhD

Social Science Analyst, U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development

PhD in Neuroscience, Georgetown University

Lydia Meena

Senior Recruiter at WeWork

LSAN Laboratory manager, 2016-2018

Alissa Mrazek, PhD

Research Assistant Professor, University of Texas Austin

LSAN Post-baccalaureate research assistant, 2010-2011

Katie O’Connell, PhD

Social Scientist, The Lab @ DC

PhD in Neuroscience, Georgetown University

Montana Ploe

PhD student (Clinical Psychology, Washington State University)

LSAN Laboratory manager, 2020-2022

Shawn Rhoads, PhD

Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

PhD in Psychology, Georgetown University

Emily Robertson, PhD

Clinical Psychologist, Director of the Center for Child Behavior
PhD in Clinical Psychology, Louisiana State University

LSAN Laboratory manager, 2014-2016

Pauline Smith, PhD

Sustainable behavior psychologist, Capgemini Engineering

Visiting post-doctoral fellow, 2020-2023

Sarah Stoycos, PhD

Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California
PhD in Clinical Psychology, University of Southern California

LSAN Laboratory manager, 2012-2014

Kruti Vekaria, PhD

Behavioral Scientist, Discover Financial Services

PhD in Psychology, Georgetown University

Joana B. Vieira, PhD

Assistant Professor, Utrecht University, Netherlands

PhD in Neuroscience, University of Porto
* Completed dissertation research in LSAN

Undergraduate Alumni

Kate Bohigian, COL ’25

Research Assistant

Honors Student

Courtney Brooks, COL ’25

Research Assistant

Honors Student

Hae Min Byeon*, COL ’11

PhD student, University of Chicago

Honors Student

Kearney Capuano

The Laboratory on Social & Affective Neuroscience

Research Assistant

Jessica Chaffkin*, COL ’13

MD, University of Maryland

Honors Student

Joy Chung, COL '24

Research Assistant

Kelly Church, COL ’13

The Laboratory on Social & Affective Neuroscience

Keri Church, COL ’13

The Laboratory on Social & Affective Neuroscience

Nicole Conrad, COL ’19

JD student, University of California Berkeley

Lauren Davis

The Laboratory on Social & Affective Neuroscience

Michael Didow III

The Laboratory on Social & Affective Neuroscience

Yean Do*, COL ’13

The Laboratory on Social & Affective Neuroscience

Honors Student

Heather Doherty, COL '24

Research Assistant, Weill Cornell Psychiatry

Honors Student

Zoë Epstein, COL ’17

The Laboratory on Social & Affective Neuroscience

Lin Gan, SFS '23

Research associate, New York University

Honors Student

Jeffrey Gao, COL ’25

Research Assistant

Brandi Ginn*, COL ’20

The Laboratory on Social & Affective Neuroscience

Honors Student

Shivani Goyal*, COL ’19

Post-doctoral IRTA, NIMH/NIH

Honors Student

Mike Hall

The Laboratory on Social & Affective Neuroscience

Jennifer Hammer*, COL ’14

The Laboratory on Social & Affective Neuroscience

Honors Student

Grace Hardymon, COL ’25

Research Assistant

Alexandra Hashemi, COL ’11

MD, Tulane University

Arianna Hughes, COL ’17

The Laboratory on Social & Affective Neuroscience

Sarah Khorasani, COL ’16

MD/MA student, Tufts University

Updates

Congratulations to Dr. Katie O’Connell

LSAN

Congratulations to Dr. Katie O’Connell, who successfully defended her dissertation, “From perception to social...

Recent Publications

Amormino, P., Gao, J., Li, P., Induni, S., Amar, S., Balabanis, K., Burt, A., Dockray, K., Doherty, H., Dube, N., Janney, L., Kales, E., King, I., Kronthal, E., Lee, B., Regan, B., Romero, I., Jones, B. A., Seaman, K. L., & Marsh, A. A. (2025).

(2025).

Social Discounting and Anti-/Pro-Sociality: A Meta-Analysis and (Short-Form) Replication

In: Personality & Individual Differences 247, 113447

Rhoads, S. A., Gan, L., Berluti, K., O'Connell, K., Cutler, J., Lockwood, P. L., & Marsh, A. A.

(2025).

Neurocomputational basis of learning when choices simultaneously affect both oneself and others

In: Nature Communications 16, 9350.

Law, K. F., Syropoulos, S., Amormino, P., Marsh, A., Young, L., & O'Connor, B. B.

(2025).

Mapping the moral architecture of effective and extraordinary altruism

In: PNAS Nexus 4 (10), pgaf326

Baked Goods

LSAN Creations

LSAN

About LSAN

Interested Applicants

APPLY TO BE OUR NEW Lab MANAGER

APPLY TO JOIN THE LAB AS A PHD STUDENT

APPLY TO BE AN UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANT

LSAN MEMBERS

Current Members

Michael Cormack

Elena Dunn

Paige Foster

James Gill

Charlotte Golden

Jack Higgins

Weiran Jiang

Thea Kutash

Nina Mayro

Ciara Morrissey

Sanchit Sehgal

Mateo Zoubek

Ashling Burns

Lab Alums

Undergraduate Alumni

Kate Bohigian, COL ’25

Courtney Brooks, COL ’25

Hae Min Byeon*, COL ’11

Jessica Chaffkin*, COL ’13

Joy Chung, COL '24

Kelly Church, COL ’13

Keri Church, COL ’13

Nicole Conrad, COL ’19

Lauren Davis

Michael Didow III

Yean Do*, COL ’13

Heather Doherty, COL '24

Zoë Epstein, COL ’17

Lin Gan, SFS '23

Jeffrey Gao, COL ’25

Brandi Ginn*, COL ’20

Shivani Goyal*, COL ’19

Mike Hall

Jennifer Hammer*, COL ’14

Grace Hardymon, COL ’25

Alexandra Hashemi, COL ’11

Arianna Hughes, COL ’17

Sarah Khorasani, COL ’16

Updates

Recent Publications

Baked Goods

Help advance our research

Donate

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