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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 JOIN THE LAB AS A POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCHER

We are accepting applications for post-doctoral researchers with excellent computational skills, familiarity with structural and functional fMRI research, and a strong record of research productivity to conduct research on the neurocognitive basis of empathy, altruism, and psychopathy. Please contact Dr. Marsh to inquire about upcoming post-doctoral opportunities and please attach a current CV to your email.

Please see complete information on our post-doctoral position here.

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

Paige Freeburg

Laboratory manager

Paige Amormino

PhD Student (Psychology)

Marla Dressel

PhD Student (Psychology)

Naomi Nero

PhD Student (Psychology)

Kate Bohigian

Research Assistant

Courtney Brooks

Research Assistant

John Chin

Research Assistant

Joy Chung

Research Assistant

Heather Doherty

Research Assistant

Jeffrey Gao

Research Assistant

Grace Hardymon

Research Assistant

Cait Jenkyn

Research Assistant

Graeme Morland-Tellez

Research Assistant

Caroline Palermo

Research Assistant

Jessica Visone

Research Assistant

Pauline Smith

Visiting post-doctoral fellow

Lab Alums

Kathryn Berluti

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

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

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 in Psychology, Georgetown University

Postdoctoral Research Fellow. Center for Computational Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Emily Robertson, PhD

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

LSAN Laboratory manager, 2014-2016

Hannah Savitz

PhD student (Psychology, Yale University)

LSAN Laboratory manager, 2018-2020

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

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

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

Zoë Epstein, COL ’17

The Laboratory on Social & Affective Neuroscience

Lin Gan, SFS '23

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

Mollie Grossman, COL ’12

PhD, Gerontology, USC

Mike Hall

The Laboratory on Social & Affective Neuroscience

Jennifer Hammer*, COL ’14

The Laboratory on Social & Affective Neuroscience

Honors Student

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

Alexa King

The Laboratory on Social & Affective Neuroscience

Research Assistant

Kalli Krumpos, COL ’12

The Laboratory on Social & Affective Neuroscience

Joanna Li, COL '23

MA Student, University of Chicago

Kyla Machell*, COL ’10

PhD, Clinical Psychology, George Mason University

Honors Student

Diana McCue, COL ’11

MSSW, University of Texas at Austin

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

Law, K.F., Amormino, P., Marsh, A.A., O’Connor, B.B.

(2023).

Ethical reasoning versus empathic bias: a false dichotomy?

In: Trends in Cognitive Sciences, in press

Rhoads, S. A., O'Connell, K., Berluti, K., Ploe, M. L., Elizabeth, H. S., Amormino, P., Li, J., Dutton, M. A., VanMeter, A. S., Marsh, A. A.

(2023).

Neural responses underlying extraordinary altruists’ generosity for socially distant others

In: PNAS Nexus, pgad199

Marsh, A. A.

(2023).

Fear signals vulnerability and appeasement, not threat

In: Behavioral & Brain Sciences, 8 (46): e71

Baked Goods

LSAN Creations

LSAN

About LSAN

Interested Applicants

APPLY TO JOIN THE LAB AS A POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCHER

APPLY TO JOIN THE LAB AS A PHD STUDENT

APPLY TO BE AN UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANT

LSAN MEMBERS

Current Members

Kate Bohigian

Courtney Brooks

John Chin

Joy Chung

Heather Doherty

Jeffrey Gao

Grace Hardymon

Cait Jenkyn

Graeme Morland-Tellez

Caroline Palermo

Jessica Visone

Lab Alums

Hannah Savitz

Undergraduate Alumni

Hae Min Byeon*, COL ’11

Jessica Chaffkin*, COL ’13

Kelly Church, COL ’13

Keri Church, COL ’13

Nicole Conrad, COL ’19

Lauren Davis

Michael Didow III

Yean Do*, COL ’13

Zoë Epstein, COL ’17

Lin Gan, SFS '23

Brandi Ginn*, COL ’20

Shivani Goyal*, COL ’19

Mollie Grossman, COL ’12

Mike Hall

Jennifer Hammer*, COL ’14

Alexandra Hashemi, COL ’11

Arianna Hughes, COL ’17

Sarah Khorasani, COL ’16

Alexa King

Kalli Krumpos, COL ’12

Joanna Li, COL '23

Kyla Machell*, COL ’10

Diana McCue, COL ’11

Updates

Recent Publications

Baked Goods

Help advance our research

Donate

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