Principal Investigator (PI)

Dr. Foti is Professor of Psychological Sciences at Purdue University. He received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Stony Brook University, and he completed his clinical internship at McLean Hospital. He has two decades of research experience using EEG to characterize brain functioning in clinical populations. He has the privilege of being the dad of the best kiddo in the whole wide world.

Contact info:

foti@purdue.edu

Office: PSYC 1142

Phone: (765) 494-4804

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Seventh Year Clinical Psychology PhD Candidate - Completing Doctoral Internship

Roslyn is a seventh-year clinical psychology doctoral student in the PACER lab. Their research interests center on mapping pathophysiological processes that contribute to depression onset. In particular, their program of research focuses on using multi-method assessments such as electroencephalogram (EEG), magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), and neuropsychological assessment to understand how risk processes unfold and interact with one another. They hope that their research will serve to clarify phenotypic definitions of depression, improve the field's understanding of etiology for specific sub-groups, and ultimately improve treatment outcomes. 

Outside the lab, you can find Roslyn cooking up tasty vegetarian food, hiking around at the state park, and kicking it with their rescued street cats, Etta (James) and (Erykah) Badu.

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Seventh Year Clinical Psychology PhD Candidate - Completing Doctoral Internship

Kimberly is a seventh-year clinical psychology doctoral student in the PACER Lab. Her research interests focus on examining neural processes linked to depression risk using electroencephalography (EEG). Kimberly’s work also aims to reduce barriers to research opportunities for the Hispanic/Latine community by using EEG telehealth methods and culturally adapting protocols. She hopes her research will help understand the interplay between depression, neural processes, and cultural factors to inform the development and adaptation of clinical interventions. During her free time, Kimberly likes to paint, travel, dance cumbia, and spend time with family and friends.

Sixth Year Clinical Psychology PhD Candidate - Completing Doctoral Internship

Lisa Brown is a sixth-year student in Purdue University’s Clinical Psychology PhD program where they are currently mentored by Dr. Dan Foti and Dr. David Rollock. They received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Spelman College. They are a black queer pangender person, and they use they/them/theirs pronouns. Lisa's current program of research contains three foci: psychosis, neurophysiological methods: primarily EEG, and racial and gender diversity utilizing a multiple minority stress framework to improve the generalizability of clinical neuroscience findings in psychotic disorders particularly as it relates to demographic factors of age, race, gender and ethnicity.

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Second Year Clinical Psychology PhD Student

Abigail (known by colleagues as Abby) is a second-year clinical psychology student in the PACER lab. She graduated from Gordon College in December 2021, where she worked on research examining visual motion processing in depression. After graduation, she worked in the Motivated Learning & Memory Lab at McLean Hospital, where she ran 2 EEG studies that were designed to understand how emotional memory was compromised in depression.

In her research with Dr. Foti,  she seeks to further understand how cognitive processes such as reward processing, decision making, and sustained attention are altered in depressed individuals in ways that might be less evident through self-report and behavioral data alone.  Outside of the lab, Abby enjoys checking out new coffee shops, volunteering at the local animal shelter, and adoring her cat, Pippin.

Second Year Clinical Psychology PhD Student

Kamryn is a second-year doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program. She graduated with distinction from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2024 with a Bachelor of Science in Neurobiology and Anthropology. As an undergraduate, she worked in Dr. Bhattacharyya's Lab at the Waisman Center researching the neurodevelopment of Down syndrome using immunocytochemistry. In the PACER lab, Kamryn is broadly interested in studying the cognitive processes that underlie illness utilizing EEG and neuropsychological assessment.

Outside of the lab, Kamryn loves to cheer on Wisconsin sports teams (Badgers, Packers, Brewers, & Bucks). She's excited to root on the Boilermakers as well!

First Year Clinical Psychology PhD Student

Reilly is a first-year clinical psychology doctoral student. He graduated from the University at Buffalo in 2024 with a B.S. in Psychology. After graduating, Reilly stayed in Buffalo to continue working on various projects for Dr. Len Simms & Dr. Larry Hawk. Reilly’s interests involve utilizing the EEG and event-related potentials (ERPs) within the EEG signal to investigate mechanisms of risk for developing internalizing pathologies (e.g, anxiety/depression). Reilly is also interested in dimensional models of psychopathology (e.g., HiTOP) and investigating psychophysiological correlates of transdiagnostic characteristics. 

Outside of the lab, Reilly enjoys running, hiking, watching shows, and spending time with his friends. 

First Year Clinical Psychology PhD Student

Molly is a first-year doctoral student in the Clinical Psychological Sciences program. She graduated summa cum laude from Tufts University in 2023 with a Bachelor of Science in Biopsychology. After graduating, she worked in the Laboratory for Affective and Translational Neuroscience at McLean Hospital with Dr. Diego Pizzagalli where she led a study investigating the efficacy of an EEG-based neurofeedback as a novel treatment for depression. In graduate school, Molly is interested in using EEG to investigate the heterogeneity of depression, with a particular focus on anhedonia and how individual differences in symptom experience relate to motivation, engagement, and quality of life in individuals with psychopathology.

When not in the lab, Molly enjoys cooking, listening to her own college acapella group, and hanging with her cat Bruce.

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Research Technician

Lilliya is PACER Lab's clinical psychology research technician, primarily coordinating the CAPE project and other administrative duties in the lab. She is a recent University of Denver graduate with a B.S. in Psychology/Cognitive Neuroscience, and her post-bac research focuses on how environmental toxins (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)), and depressive symptoms like anhedonia all intersect and can be measured using electroencephalogram (EEG) and neuropsychological data. She is particularly interested in performing cognitive and neuropsychological assessments as she aspires to pursue her PhD in clinical neuropsychology.

Outside of the lab, Lilliya can be found running, hiking, songwriting, doing Bible studies, or managing her photography business.

Postdoctoral Scholar

Ruhi is a postdoctoral researcher in the Kelleher Lab at Purdue University, jointly supervised by Drs. Bridgette Kelleher and Dan Foti. She earned her B.Sc. in Electrical & Electronic Engineering from BUET, post-baccalaureate in Regulatory Affairs and Regulatory Science for Medical Devices and Ph.D. from the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue University. Her work focuses on biomedical signal and image processing (with vast expertise on multi-modal clinical data: PPG, US, MRI) and machine learning with computer vision focus for physiological signals. Her current efforts include NIH-funded projects analyzing EEG and heart rate information from children with congenital Zika syndrome. Besides, Ruhi is passionate about mentoring and teaching, and has served as a graduate TA for BME 501 Biostatistics and BME 231 Bioinstrumentation & Circuit Theory, emphasizing hands-on, active-learning approaches.

Outside the lab, she loves cooking and is happiest trying new recipes and feeding people. She is a proud mom to her adorable daughter, Ruhana.

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