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Graduate Students          
           
Kathy S. Chiou   Deepa Ramanathan   John D. Medaglia  
   

John Medaglia graduated from Drexel University in 2008 with a B.S. in Psychology. He is currently a second year graduate student working with Dr. Frank Hillary at the Pennsylvania State University.

John's current interests are the evolution of human cerebellar neuroanatomy and contributions of the cerebellum to sensory and cognitive processing. He is developing his Master's thesis to investigate how the cerebellum moderates working memory functioning in the context of traumatic brain injury using fMRI functional connectivity analysis. He is further conceptualizing the development of a valid abstract speeded discrimination task to examine cerebellar processing in spatial working memory.

Kathy Chiou graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a major in psychology and minor in education. She is now a graduate student in the Clinical Psychology program at the Pennsylvania State University. Kathy is particularly interested in neuropsychology and cognitive processes, specifically as it pertains to traumatic brain injured populations. She also has interests in the use of neuroimaging methods, including functional magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion tensor imaging. Working in Dr. Frank Hillary’s lab, Kathy currently is undertaking projects that are relevant to information processing speed, working memory, and metacognition.

 

Deepa Ramanathan graduated from the University of Vermont in 2005 with a B.S. in biobehavioral psychology and minor in chemistry. She is currently a third year graduate student in the Clinical Psychology program at the Pennsylvania State University.

Deepa has interests in examining the long-term cognitive, psychiatric, and functional consequences of traumatic brain injury. She is currently in the process of collecting data for her Masters, which will examine the relationship between dispositional optimism and long-term outcomes following traumatic brain injury. Deepa also works with various neuroimaging techniques in Dr. Hillary's lab, and is especially interested in the utility of diffusion tensor imaging in predicting recovery and outcome from traumatic brain injury. In addition, she will be developing a minor project while working with Dr. Arnett in the sports concussion program.

 

           
Research Coordinators & Assistants          
           
Neal M. Fitzpatrick   Tia Bochnakova   Britney Wardecker  

Neal Fitzpatrick served as the research coordinator at the Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania from 2006 to 2008. He received a B.S. from the Schreyer Honors College at Penn State in 2006 in Psychology with a minor in Neuroscience. During his time at Hershey, he coordinated research for Dr. Hillary at the Medical Center involving inpatients and outpatients with traumatic brain injury (TBI), investigating the various aspects of biological changes observed after TBI. Neal was also active in editing and writing manuscripts and publications related to Dr. Hillary’s research, including writing in grant and research proposals, co-authoring a book chapter, preparing projects for presentation at major neuroscience conferences, and serving as a guest reviewer of literature for Dr. Hillary's recent book.

More recently, Neal has moved on to pursue an M.D. at Drexel University College of Medicine, where he is a second year student. He continues to lend his assistance to Dr. Hillary’s projects when possible, and he remains active in writing with Dr. Hillary’s publications.

 

Tia graduated from Penn State in December 2008 with degrees in biology and journalism. She is currently attending medical school at St. George's University in collaboration with Northumbria University in Newcastle, England.

While working as a research assistant in Dr. Hillary's lab as an undergraduate student, Tia conducted literature searches and learned to administer and interpret neuropsychological batteries to individuals sustaining traumatic brain injuries. She was also trained to analyze fMRI data

 

 

Britney Wardecker graduated in Spring 2009, with a B.S. in psychology, neuroscience option and a minor in biology. She will be applying to doctoral degree programs in Clinical Psychology this coming Fall.

Britney is currently working as a research assistant in Dr. Hillary's lab. She is learning to administer and interpret neuropsychological batteries to individuals with traumatic brain injuries. She assists in the processing of neuromaging data and also travels to Hershey Medical Center when possible in order to gain firsthand research experience. In addition to the research involved with Dr. Hillary’s laboratory, Britney’s interests include the clinical aspects of neuroscience in relation to individuals with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

 

       
           
Julia Slocomb          

Julia Slocomb graduated from Villanova University in 2008 with a B.S. in biology and a minor in english. She is a research coordinator at the Hershey Medical Center, and is currently involved in research for Dr. Hillary with inpatients and outpatients with traumatic brain injury (TBI), investigating the various aspects of biological changes observed after TBI. Julia also edits and writes manuscripts and publications related to Dr. Hillary’s research, including preparing projects for presentation at major neuroscience conferences.

In addition to the research involved with Dr. Hillary’s projects, Julia also develops, coordinates and conducts research studies relating to stroke, diabeties mellitus type II, multiple sclerosis, and a variety of other neurological disorders. Julia runs support groups for individuals sustaining TBI and stroke survivors and their families at Hershey Medical Center. Her future plans include medical school, where she hopes to pursue a career in neurology.