Jerillyn Kent, PhD

Dr. Kent (she/her) received her PhD in clinical science with a cognitive neuroscience minor from Indiana University. She completed her clinical internship at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center and a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Kent’s graduate work investigated cerebellar abnormalities in individuals with psychotic disorders as well as in populations at elevated genotypic or phenotypic risk for psychotic disorders using both behavioral and neuroimaging measures. As a postdoc, Dr. Kent (1) expanded her investigation of motor function to include other aspects of motor behavior such as movement fluidity and motor inhibition; (2) explored the relationship of motor abnormalities to clinical phenomenology; and (3) developed interests in social cognition and cognitive control. Dr. Kent is currently working to translate her program of research into experimental interventions aimed at improving the symptoms of psychotic disorders.

For additional information, please see Dr. Kent’s profile page on the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences site.

Chloé Peyromaure de Bord, BA

Chloé (she/her) graduated from UCLA with a double major in psychology and human biology & society, and a French minor. Her previous research experience includes working as a research assistant in Dr. Chorpita’s Child FIRST lab investigating youth engagement in therapy in school mental health settings, and contributing as a research assistant to Dr. Adhikari’s work examining the neural circuits involved in fear and defensive behaviors in a mouse model. She was also an active member in UCLA’s HIV Counseling and Testing Coalition (HCAT), where she volunteered as an HIV test counselor providing free HIV testing services and risk reduction sessions to underserved communities. Chloé’s research interests are social cognition impairments in the psychosis spectrum, the neural underpinnings of psychotic disorders, and the mechanisms involved in the development of post-traumatic stress disorder. In the future, she hopes to go to graduate school to earn a PhD in clinical psychology.

Pan Gu, BA

Pan (she/her) is a PhD student in the cognition and neuroscience program (cognitive neuroscience track). After completing her BA in neuroscience at Colorado College, she worked as a research coordinator in the Psychiatry Department of the University of Michigan with Dr. Ivy Tso and Dr. Stephan Taylor for three years. She helped facilitate multiple research projects using neuroimaging, EEG, and brain stimulation methods to investigate social cognition in nonclinical participants and participants with psychosis. Pan’s research interest is in understanding the underlying neural mechanisms involved in psychosis, particularly those contributing to social cognition and other cognitive impairments.

Maitreyee Kulkarni, MS, MSc

Maitreyee Kulkarni has a bachelor’s degree in physical therapy and two master’s degrees, an MSc in medical anatomy from India and an MS in neuroscience from University at Buffalo. Her previous research experience includes working as a research assistant in the Division of Cognitive and Behavioral sciences for Dr. Thomas Covey examining the effects of working memory training on cortical source activity derived from event-related potentials (ERPs). Maitreyee has also worked as a research technician for the Laboratory of Computational Neuroimaging (LCN) under Dr. Lilla Zollei at Massachusetts General hospital, Boston. At LCN, she studied sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and worked on acquisition and analysis of ex-vivo 3T MRI, both structural and diffusion data at different resolutions (100um – 1mm). Maitreyee’s research interest lies in investigating neuroanatomical correlates of higher order cognitive functions such as working memory in individuals with psychotic disorders to develop specific structural targets for therapeutic interventions.

Sana Khan

Sana (she/her) is a Eugene McDermott Scholar and Collegium V Honors Student at The University of Texas at Dallas. Sana is a sophomore majoring in biology and a pre-med student. Previously, she contributed to research at UT Southwestern aimed at redeveloping and translating PACES, a self-management tool shown to assist patients with epilepsy, for Spanish-speaking epilepsy patients to create a culturally appropriate model. Sana also assisted with an electronic medical record study sponsored by the CDC at UT Southwestern aiming to determine the long-term effects of COVID-19. Currently, Sana volunteers in long-term memory care facilities and serves as an EMT on campus. Sana plans to go to medical school after graduation, and hopes that her undergraduate research experience will help her to better serve as a physician.

Vivek Nair

Vivek (he/him) is a junior premed healthcare studies major. He has previous research experience working in a molecular biology lab at the University of North Texas that focused on identifying genetic factors that contribute to Von Willebrand Disease in zebrafish. He has also assisted with research at the UT Dallas Center for BrainHealth. Vivek is currently volunteering at Baylor Scott and White Centennial Center as an emergency room assistant with clinical experience. After graduation Vivek hopes to attend medical school to pursue training in a neuroscience-related field and become a physician.

Safwan Naviwala

Safwan (he/him) is a junior majoring in biology and a pre-med student. This is his first research experience at UT Dallas. Previously, Safwan worked as an emergency room scribe at the Methodist Richardson hospital and as an assistant and scribe for a psychiatrist. Currently, Safwan is a teaching assistant for Dr. Uma Srikanth’s introduction to modern biology 1 class, a mentor in the UT Dallas Freshman Mentor program, and the freshman coordinator for the UT Dallas Muslim Student Association. Safwan volunteers at a local free clinic and is training to become a certified EMT. He is also part of the Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) program where he works with the nonprofit educational institute My Possibilities to develop a motorized accessory to help make playing instruments easier for adults with disabilities. After graduation, Safwan hopes to attend medical school and become either a neurologist or a psychiatrist.

Kajal Patel

Kajal (she/her) is a sophomore majoring in psychology and a pre-med student at The University of Texas at Dallas. This is her first research experience at UT Dallas. Currently, Kajal serves as the social media and marketing coordinator of United Missions Relief at UT Dallas and volunteers at local food banks. Kajal hopes that her undergraduate research experience will help her on her journey of pursuing medicine.