Dr. Michael Thomas (Principle Investigator)

Dr. Thomas has been at Colorado State University since the Fall of 2018. He received his B.A. in Psychology from the University of California, Riverside in 2005 and his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Arizona State University in 2011. He completed his internship and post-doctoral training at University of California at San Diego. Prior to coming to CSU, he was a faculty member in the University of California-San Diego Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Thomas is a licensed clinical neuropsychologist with experience working in outpatient, inpatient, and forensic mental health centers for adults with serious mental illness. His research combines psychometric theory, cognitive modeling, and neuroimaging in the study of neurocognitive disorders such as dementia and schizophrenia. He is a member of the American Psychological Association (APA) Division of Clinical Neuropsychology, as well as the APA Division of Quantitative and Qualitative Methods. For a list of recent publications see: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=OlaO5Z8AAAAJ&hl=en.

Anastasia Sares (Post-doc)

Anastasia Sares earned her doctorate from McGill University, studying the neural underpinnings of stuttering through behaviour and fMRI. Her interests include sensorimotor integration, pitch/harmony perception, timing perception and synchronization, language and music in special populations, and music therapy. She is back at Colorado State University (her Alma Mater) to work in neuroimaging and psychosis. Anastasia is passionate about science communication, regularly writes articles for Brainpost, and is also a singer and a flautist.

ORCID : https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1440-2639

PhD Students

Andrea Mendez Colmenares

Dr. Mendez Colmenares is a Cognitive Neuroscience Ph.D. student who specializes in white matter neuroimaging and aging research at Colorado State University. Her primary research takes place at the BRAIN lab with Dr. Aga Burzynska (see: https://www.chhs.colostate.edu/hdfs/research/research-labs/the-brain-laboratory). She received a medical doctorate degree from the Universidad Del Zulia in Maracaibo, Venezuela. She started working in the field of aging in medical school, focusing on understanding chronic diseases such as hypertension which potentially increases the risk of developing neurological disease. At Colorado State University, she is studying how aging white matter changes as a result of exercise interventions. In her free time, Dr. Mendez Colmenares enjoys hiking and climbing mountains. She also loves to play and sing Venezuelan music on the guitar.

John Duffy

John Duffy is a Cognitive Neuroscience Ph.D student specializing in functional and effective connectivity in aging and psychosis. His research also examines how mindfulness affects brain connectivity and the effectiveness used to treat and augment mental health, along with performance. Mr. Duffy’s work involves years of experience in information technology and software development. He is an avid outdoorsman and rock climber, a multi-instrumentalist, a world traveled, a brewer of beer and maker of tasty things. He ‘may’ also have the most adorable baby in the world and is not at all biased about her.

Emily T. Sturm

Emily received her B.S. in Neuroscience with a concentration in Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience at Colorado State University in December 2020. She is currently a first year student in the Cognitive Neuroscience PhD program at CSU. She has a passion for improving inclusivity in recruitment and is interested in brain imaging, motivation, and reward learning in participants with schizophrenia. In her free time, she loves craft beer and camping.

Jazmin Diaz

Jazmin received a B.A. in Psychology with an emphasis in Cognitive Science from UC Irvine in 2016. After which she began working as a research associate at UC San Diego on a multi-site neuroimaging study investigating brain development in adolescents. She is currently a first-year Ph.D. student in the Cognitive Neuroscience program at CSU. Jazmin is interested in using neuroimaging techniques to explore how white matter structures change in the brain during the aging process. Jazmin is passionate about working with underrepresented populations to improve inclusivity in neuropsychological research. In her free time, she enjoys watching reality TV and visiting breweries.

Professional Staff

Maiele Mignard

Maiele received her B.S. in Psychology at Colorado State University in Spring 2022. She is currently the lab manager of the Neurocognitive Measurement Lab. Within the context of cognitive functioning she is most interested in the domain of cognitive effort: what motivates individuals to put in effort, how rewards impact effort, and if effort changes across the lifespan or in different clinical groups. In the future, she aims to pursue research on cognitive effort in the context of workplace motivation in an Industrial/Organizational Psychology grad program. In her free time she likes to read, crochet, and go to breweries or backpacking with her dog and partner.

Tristan Nyman

Tristan recently obtained his B.S. from CSU’s cognitive and behavioral Neuroscience program. Tristan served as an officer of the Neuroscience Student Organization at CSU and helped to mentor incoming freshmen within the Neuroscience major. Tristan has completed a clinical psychiatric internship and conducted undergraduate thesis research focused on using neurofeedback to mitigate auditory verbal hallucinations in individuals with schizophrenia. Tristan has interests in the neurological mechanisms underlying various mental health disorders and has professional interests in psychiatric healthcare as well as neuroimaging technology. Tristan is currently involved in the Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) pilot project at the Thomas lab.

Eve Delao

Eve Delao is a Professional Research Assistant with the Colorado Neuroscience of Behavioral Health and Wellness Research Group at Anschutz Medical Campus. She collaborates with the neurocognitive measurement laboratory on our project on adaptive cognitive testing and brain activity of participants with schizophrenia. She is originally from Denver and received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Colorado Denver in 2018. She has previous research experience studying cardiovascular response to stress and has worked as a PRA at the Children’s Hospital Colorado studying childhood obesity. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, running, reading, and spending time with her family and friends.

Tessa Mitchell

Tessa Mitchell is a Professional Research Assistant with the Colorado Neuroscience of Behavioral Health and Wellness Research Group at Anschutz Medical Campus. She collaborates with the neurocognitive measurement laboratory on our project on adaptive cognitive testing and brain activity of participants with schizophrenia. She is originally from Pennsylvania and received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the Pennsylvania State University in 2016. She has previous research experience studying aging, as well as Alzheimer’s and dementia, as part of the Monongahela-Youghiogheny Healthy Aging Teamin Pittsburgh, PA. She has also worked as a Milieu Therapist at the UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital working with adults, teens and children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. In her spare time, she enjoys listening to music, attending concerts, and spending time in the mountains.

Lauren Sarabia

Lauren is a Professional Research Assistant originally from San Antonio, Texas. Lauren graduated from Colorado State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology and concentration in Mind, Brain, and Behavior. Before her current position, Lauren worked in multiple research labs investigating cognitive dysfunction associated with neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and motor processing in neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and childhood onset schizophrenia. Her primary research interests are in neuroimaging—Specifically, how it might explain the relationship between early life experiences, cognition, and neuropsychiatric outcomes.

Undergraduate Research Assistants

Reed Kellam

Reed is a senior studying psychology at Colorado State University. He is currently doing an internship at a behavioral health center as well as working as an undergraduate research assistant. Currently, he is working on a project studying cognitive aging in agricultural populations, and has interests in pharmacology and physiology as well. In his free time, he opts for camping next to a lake with a beer and a campfire.

Samantha Weed

Samantha is currently a junior studying Neuroscience with a concentration in Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience at Colorado State University. She is currently a professional research assistant, certified nursing assistant, and a mentor for the Neuroscience program. Her research interests include brain imaging and brain disorders. In her free time, she enjoys paddle boarding on the lake and hiking.

Elise Robb

Elise is currently a senior at Colorado State University studying Psychology with a concentration in Mind, Brain, and Behavior. Elise previously worked at the United States Air Force Academy in the NCAA DOD CARE study assisting in concussion research on cadets. Her research interests include the comorbidity of traumatic brain injury and PTSD in Veterans and active duty. Elise is currently involved in the Wisdom project studying brain indicators of healthy aging. Outside of the lab, Elise professionally dances for the Colorado Eagles Hockey team in Northern Colorado. Go Eagles!

Tayler Wilcken

Tayler Wilcken is currently a junior majoring in Psychology with a concentration in Mind, Brain and Behavior. While working as a research assistant in this lab, Tayler is also an RA in the Dabertrand Lab at CU Anschutz. After graduation, Tayler plans to apply to graduate school in hopes of eventually obtaining a PhD. Her research interests vary extensively, but include neuroimaging, neurodegenerative diseases, traumatic brain injury, aging, and various other areas of study. Outside of the lab, Tayler loves to travel and tries to spend as much time in Europe as possible.

Kenyon Perkins

Kenyon is a senior majoring in neuroscience with a concentration in cognitive and behavioral neuroscience at Colorado State University. Her research interests primarily include learning, memory, and neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s and schizophrenia. She is also fascinated by epigenetics, and how factors in the environment such as stress and recreational drugs can induce various behavioral phenotypes such as mood disorders and addiction. Other lab experience includes one that investigated the effects that cannabis has on anxiety, and another on motivation and attention with reference to addiction. In her free time, she enjoys creating digital art, rock climbing, and spending time with her orange cat.

Nichole Hiryak

Nichole is a senior completing a double-major in psychology and biological sciences with a concentration in pre-health at Colorado State University. She is interested in cognition throughout the lifespan and neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s. Nichole wants to eventually get into grad school to continue research and pursue a career in clinical neuropsychology. Outside of academics, Nichole enjoys hiking, reading, and has recently taken up crochet.

Jess Belich

Jess recently graduated from CSU with a B.S. in Psychology with a mind, brain, and behavior concentration. She worked in multiple research labs in various fields in her time at CSU. Her main research interests involve how positive psychology methods such as mindfulness affects the brain. She is also interested in studying the neural mechanisms underlying drugs such as psilocybin as therapeutic potential. Jess hopes to eventually get into a PhD program to continue researching. In her free time she loves to go to concerts and festivals, play the ukulele, and go camping. 

Rafaella Workman

Rafaella is a senior undergraduate student in the Psychology program with great interest in the therapeutic potential of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, neurodegenerative disease, and the cognitive-behavioral implications of traumatic brain injuries. She has spent her time at Colorado State University gaining hands-on experience with data analysis software, psychological task programming, neurocognitve measurement methods, and other research-based tools to broaden her framework of knowledge in the realms of psychology and neuroscience. In the lab, Rafaella is involved in the Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation pilot project. In the coming years, she hopes to enter a clinical neuropsychology graduate program and begin working in healthcare.