Over the past 15 years my research has focused on understanding the consequences moderate and severe traumatic brain injury taking perspectives from cognitive neuroscience and clinical rehabilitation. To examine the broad consequences of TBI on patient outcome, we use large databases to understand the factors that influence TBI outcome including behavioral (e.g., alcohol use) and demographic (e.g., gender, age) risk factors for TBI and outcome stratification. In addition, the work in my lab has used functional MRI and connectivity modeling to understand systems-level plasticity after moderate and severe traumatic brain injury.  Over the past decade the functional MRI literature has shifted to focus on examining connectivity in brain networks which now compliments the first generation of fMRI studies focused on the localized responses during perturbation (i.e., task). During this transition I have led collaborative efforts to employ these methods, pioneering the first TBI studies using brain connectivity measures and advanced statistical analyses (e.g., graph theory) and the few studies in the literature examining brain network changes longitudinally after TBI.  Since we published the first longitudinal graph theory study in 2009, we have continued these efforts examining early recovery windows using longitudinal methods including data collection at multiple hospital facilities. In addition our most recent work focuses on the commonly observed phenomenon of hyperconnectivity following injury and linking these effects over the life-span as possible predictors of neurodegeneration including recent collaborations to investigate these effects in mild cognitive impairment.

I am a fifth year graduate student in Dr. Frank Hillary’s lab. I received my B.S. in Biopsychology from Tufts University in 2019. My undergraduate research primarily focused on examining the effects of localized lesions on language and learning through both zebra finch and rat models. Broadly, I am interested in the chronic effects of brain injury, specifically as they relate to risk for abnormal aging later in life. For my Master’s, I examined the effects of depression on cognitive decline and hippocampal volume in older adults with a lifetime history of moderate to severe TBI. My other projects in the lab have examined acute hospital outcomes for older adults with pre-existing stroke history. For my dissertation, I am examining whether a symptom-based approach to mood disturbances in TBI recovery is better suited to predict social outcomes and neural network changes compared to more traditional models, which treat such disorders as distinct and unitary syndromes.

Liz Rebuck

I am the Research Coordinator in the Hillary Lab. I received my B.A. in Psychology from The University of New Hampshire in 2021. As as undergraduate, I worked for two years as a research assistant working on a variety of projects that included the psychophysiology of emotions, cognitive appraisals, and the prevention of interpersonal violence in schools. Currently, I also have a role as an interviewer for the CIRCLES study which focuses on familial aggression in the home. In the future, I plan to pursue a Phd in clinical psychology to satisfy my need for acquiring knowledge and helping others.

Spencer Chase

I graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in 2022 with a B.S. in Experimental Neuroscience. I have previous done behavioral and computational work looking at learning and memory in those diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. I have also analyzed the impact of cigarette smoking on the white matter and pial surfaces of the brain through various fMRI scanning protocols. I am currently working in both the Cognitive Aging and Neuroimaging Laboratory with Dr. Nancy Dennis, as well as the Clinical Neuropsychology Laboratory with Dr. Frank Hillary to further explore my interests in neuroimaging and statistical analysis. In my free time I like to run, play video games, learn about technology, and travel.

Jason Staph

Currently an independent collaborator in the Hillary Lab. After spending a little more than 20 years in various technology positions in several industries, I'm working to balance a full time career against a complete pivot back to my passion; neuropsychology. I'm particularly interested in applying my technology skillset to the more computational tasks in fMRI studies. I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up.

Adriana Méndez-Fernández

I completed my bachelor's degree in Special Education with emphasis on Behavioral and Emotional Disorders at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus in June 2022. After my graduation, I became a research assistant at Penn State University and have been engaged in projects associated with: The relation of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder to aggression in the household; the interactions between parents and children when exposed to stressful circumstances; the portrayal of women who have experienced Intimate Partner Violence; Traumatic Brain Injuries’ effects in women who have experienced Intimate Partner Violence. In a future, I hope to pursue PhD in Clinical Psychology.

I’m Wes Meyer, a Junior at Penn State University Park pursuing a psychology/neuroscience major with a philosophy minor. As I learn more about psychology, the more I become more confident in my intent to pursue a medical degree in Neurology. Neuroscience is interesting to me due to the current lack of understanding concerning the brain. Feeling as though I am helping build the current knowledge regarding brain function is incredibly exciting, allowing me to look forward to all the work I do in the lab. 

I am a Junior pursuing my BS In Psychology with an emphasis in Neuroscience. I am particularly interested in abnormal psychology, the impact it has on daily functioning and the areas of the brain that are being affected. Outside of school, I enjoy reading and spending time with my friends and family. After graduation, I plan to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology with a specific specialization in neuropsychology.

Rida Hamid

I am a third-year Schreyer Scholar pursuing a BS in Biobehavioral Health with minors in Global Health and Biology. Through my time at the lab, I have found great interest in learning about the effects of traumatic brain injury on neural networking and mental health. I also wish to better explore access and equity within imaging research. Beyond my role as a research assistant, I also participate in Ethics in Science and Medicine, Days for Girls, and the Nittany AI Challenge. After graduation, I plan on attending medical school to further pursue my interests in healthcare.

Quinn Pritchard

I am a third-year Schreyer Honors scholar pursuing a BS in Biology with a minor in German. I am interested in how the anatomical damage caused by traumatic brain injuries can affect the physiological functioning of the brain and how these alterations in functioning can be compensated for by emerging therapies. Outside of being a research assistant, I am involved in Alpha Kappa Psi, a professional, co-ed business fraternity. After graduation, I plan on integrating my passions for science and business into a career in consulting or pharmacy.

Einat is currently a neuropsychology postdoctoral fellow at UC San Diego. She completed her clinical internship at the UCSD/VA San Diego training program. She earned her B.S. in Cognitive Neuroscience from Brown University in Providence, RI in 2015. During her undergraduate years, she spent 3 years working as a research assistant in the Advanced Baby Imaging lab and one year working in the Memory and Aging Program at Butler Hospital in Providence, RI. For her Master's thesis, she examined dynamic resting-state connectivity changes in individuals with MCI and healthy older adults. Another project she led involved examining changes in resting state connectivity following behavioral intervention in patients with mild cognitive impairment. Her dissertation investigated the relationship between connectivity, cognitive reserve, and behavior in individuals with TBI and MCI.

Umi graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Johns Hopkins University. He later earned a doctoral degree in clinical psychology from Pennsylvania State University in 2017. His doctoral work in the Hillary Lab focused on functional connectivity and cognition in chronic moderate-to-severe TBI (msTBI), and his master's thesis provided some of the first data on resting-state connectivity alterations after msTBI. Clinically, he developed expertise in the evaluation of TBI, neuropsychiatric disorders, and neurodegenerative dementias. Umi completed a pre-doctoral internship in clinical neuropsychology at Brown University and a postdoctoral fellowship within the VA Boston Healthcare System before joining Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute (Philadelphia, PA) in 2019. As Director of the Brain Trauma Behavior Laboratory (https://mrri.org/brain-trauma-and-behavior-laboratory-bratbehavior-lab/), Umi continues his work in the neuropsychology/imaging of msTBI, with special interests in pre- and post-injury biopsychosocial factors contributing to long-term health.

Arnab Roy was a post-doctoral student in Dr. Frank Hillary’s lab. He has a B.E. in Electronics and Telecommunications from Mumbai University, Maharashtra, India, M.S. in Computer Science, and Ph.D. in Bioengineering from Binghamton University, NY, U.S.A. His current research involves developing computational techniques for discovering regional-pairs in the resting-brain that show aberrant functional connectivity after traumatic brain injury (TBI) and understanding the manner in which the connectivity strength between these regions evolve during the recovery period. He is also interested in studying the non-stationary patterns of functional connectivity associated with TBI.

John Medaglia graduated from Drexel University in 2008 with a B.S. in Psychology. He completed his post-doctoral work at the University of Pennsylvania, and after winning the NIH Director's Early Independence Award, continued on at the University of Pennsylvania in the Department of Psychology as a Research Assistant Professor. John's primary interest is the contribution of the cerebellum to working memory processing in distributed neural systems. His Master’s thesis investigated cerebellar relationships with forebrain regions and performance during working memory. His dissertation incorporates person-specific techniques for examining changes in neurocognitive processes following traumatic brain injury. He applies graph theory and effective connectivity approaches to fMRI time series to examine network changes and contributions to performance. Other interests include conceptual issues in the generalizability of aggregated statistical findings, neural network simulations, and dynamic systems approaches to brain functioning and cognition. In his remaining few hours, John enjoys sports, martial arts, strategy games and music. 

Deepa Ramanathan graduated from the University of Vermont in 2005 with a B.S. in biobehavioral psychology and minor in chemistry. Deepa is interested in long-term cognitive, psychiatric, and functional consequences of TBI. Her master's thesis examined the relationship between dispositional optimism and long-term outcomes following TBI.  For her dissertation, she used data from the Pennsylvania Trauma Systems Foundation to describe the epidemiology of TBI in Pennsylvania, with a focus on examining short-term TBI outcomes in the elderly and in urban and rural locations.  Deepa completed her clinical internship in neuropsychology at the James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital in Tampa, FL.  She completed her Postdoctoral Residency in Rehabilitation Neuropsychology at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD. Deepa is now working as the inpatient rehab neuropsychologist for the TBI/stroke unit at Inova Mount Vernon Hospital. She also has an appointment as an Assistant Professor at Hopkins, teaching didactics to the rehab psychology and neuropsychology residents.

Kathy Chiou graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 2004 with a major in psychology and a minor in education.  Kathy has interests in examining metacognitive processes and factors that contribute to performance differences in this domain following moderate to severe TBI using neuropsychological assessment and neuroimaging methodologies.  She completed a master's thesis examining the relationship between executive functioning and metacognitive performance after moderate to severe TBI.  She expanded upon this work in her dissertation by using VBM and DTI methodologies to investigate the contribution of structural integrity to metacognitive performance following injury.  Kathy completed her clinical internship in neuropsychology at the University of Florida Health Science Center in Gainesville, Florida.  She completed her post-doctoral fellowship at Kessler Research Foundation in West Orange, NJ, and then took a tenure-track faculty position where she is now an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.

Undergraduate Student Alumni

• Monica Benson

• Rianne Addler

• Laura Boyden

• Jerry French, Jr.

• Bobby Mullin

• Danielle Feger

• Ashley Todd

• Abby Renko

• Suraj Mital

• Emily Bryer

• Sohayla Rostami

•  Isabella Castro Colmenares

Research Coordinator Alumni

• Neal M. Fitzpatrick

• Tia Bochnakova

• Britney Wardecker

• Julia Slocomb

• Tyler Snider

• Rich Garcia

• Mariah Hallman

• Diana Priestley