Members

Krista Lisdahl, PhD

medinak@uwm.edu

Faculty Page - View CV - Publications

Dr. Lisdahl (formerly Medina) serves as the Director of the UWM Brain Imaging and Neuropsychology (BraIN) laboratory. She completed a Clinical Neuropsychology Internship at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center, as well as a NIDA-funded two-year Postdoctoral Fellowship in Clinical Neuropsychology at the University of California, San Diego under the mentorship of Susan F. Tapert. Dr. Lisdahl's main specialization is in clinical neuropsychology, addiction, adolescent brain development, and neuroimaging. At UWM, she teaches courses in Neuropsychology, Brain Development, Assessment, Psychopathology, and Drugs & Behavior/ Psychopharmacology. She is also the Chair of Women in Neuropsychology (http://www.scn40.org/piac-win.html) Subcommittee within the APA Society for Clinical Neuropsychology.

Recent Honors:

  • 2013: Received a UW-Milwaukee Graduate School/Foundation Research Award.

  • November 2012: Named a Kavli Fellow by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and invited to attend the Japanese-American Kavli Fronteirs of Science Symposium.

  • July 2012: Received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) from President Obama and the National Institute of Health (NIH).

  • 2011: Received the NIDA Division of Clinical Neuroscience and Behavioral Research, Behavioral and Brain Development 2011 Outstanding Early Career Investigator Award.

GRADUATE STUDENTS

Julia Harris M.A.

harri585@uwm.edu


Julia is a 1st year doctoral student studying clinical psychology at UWM. She graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.S. in Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience. Later, she received her M.A. at American University working with Dr. Laura Juliano studying mindful strategies for smoking cessation. Additionally, she worked with Dr. Ethan Mereish at American University on studies investigating minority stressors that LGBTQ youth and adults experience and the effects on mental health and substance use. During her M.A., she worked as a special volunteer at NIDA working with Drs. Lorenzo Leggio and Mehdi Farokhnia on research investigating the biobehavioral correlates that contribute to racial disparity in relation to alcohol use among Black and White individuals.Julia is primarily interested in researching the etiology, development, and progression of substance use disorder with a particular focus on minority health and health disparities. Specifically, she is interested in investigating the neurobiological substrates of racial differences underlying substance use, utilizing both neuroimaging and biobehavioral/neuropsychological measurements.


Ashley Stinson

stinsone@uwm.edu

Ashley is a 2nd year doctoral student studying clinical psychology at UWM. She graduated from the University of Alabama with a B.S. in Psychology and minors in Human Development and Addiction and Recovery. Prior to graduation, she spent the summer of 2017 working as a research assistant at University of Missouri-Columbia in the MU Alcohol Research Training Program and summer of 2018 as a NIDA intern at the Minnesota Center for Twin and Family Research at the University of Minnesota. Ashley’s primary research interests include examining how early adverse life experiences and other environmental factors contribute to the development of substance use disorders and the influence these factors may have on neurological and cognitive functioning in adolescents. She is also interested in examining these topics in the context of diverse cultural backgrounds.

Ryan Sullivan

rmsul@uwm.edu

Ryan is a 3rd year doctoral student studying Clinical Neuropsychology at UWM. He graduated from Stony Brook University in 2018 with a B.A. in Psychology and Sociology. Ryan has previously worked on research at Yale Psychiatry with Drs. Brent Moore and Frank Buono studying illicit substance use treatment in methadone/buprenorphine populations. Additionally, he has worked on research at Stony Brook Psychiatry with Drs. Roman Kotov and Greg Perlman on longitudinal studies of female adolescent major depressive disorder onset and first-episode psychosis patients; and, with Dr. Scott Moeller on reviews and analyses of substance use literature.Ryan is primarily interested in researching etiology, manifestation, and maintenance of substance use disorder and affect-related comorbidities that may follow and/or precede onset. To that end, he is interested in examining these processes with neuroimaging, neurocognitive, and behavioral measures—specifically investigating brain-behavior relationships from a neurodevelopmental perspective. He is additionally interested in statistical methodology and complex modeling in this field. Ryan will continue to pursue these research goals while working towards a career as a clinical neuropsychology researcher in the field of addiction.

Kaitlynne Leclaire, MS

leclai22@uwm.edu

Kaitlynne is a 4th year doctoral student studying clinical neuropsychology at UWM. She graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2015 where she received her Bachelor's degree in Psychology and a minor in Political Science. Upon graduating from UMass, she worked as a clinical research coordinator at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston for 2 years. She assisted with a multitude of longitudinal and cross-sectional studies in multiple sclerosis to identify clinical, radiological, and molecular markers that correlate with disease severity and progression. She also co-managed pilot studies that focused on positive psychology and cognitive remediation in this population. More recently, she worked with Dr. Ira Driscoll in the Neurobiology of Aging lab at UWM to better understand brain changes as early predictors of cognitive deficits and dementia.
Kaitlynne’s current research interests include examining cognitive development across the lifespan and how health factors may influence this process. She is also interested in utilizing neuroimaging & neuropsychological methodologies to better understand these changes. Ultimately, Kaitlynne aims to become a board-certified clinical neuropsychologist.

Alex Wallace, MS

walla228@uwm.edu

Alex is a 5th year Ph.D. student studying clinical neuropsychology at UWM. He earned his B.S. in Psychology from University of Iowa and a minor in Human Relations. After college, he worked as a research assistant in the Iowa ADHD and Development Lab and the Cognitive Brain Development Lab studying adolescent brain development, substance use, and risky behavior.
Alex’s research interests focus on the intersection between externalizing disorders, specifically in comorbid substance use and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. This interest extends to how early substance use initiation and escalation affect cognition and both structural and functional brain development. Additionally, Alex is interested in how health factors, such as exercise, affect brain development of adolescents and young adults and how these changes in brain development alter neurocognition.
Alex is currently on externship at the pediatric and adult neuropsychology placement at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Alex hopes to continue to expand his understanding of neurodevelopment across the lifespan in order to pursue a post-doc in clinical neuropsychology.
Megan Kangiser

Megan Ritchay (Kangiser), MS

kangiser@uwm.edu

Megan graduated from Creighton University with a B.A. in Psychology. She previously worked in a behavioral pharmacology lab at Creighton University examining relationships between environmental enrichment, adolescent nicotine exposure, and sensitivity to stimulant use in adulthood using rodent models, as well as studying pharmacotherapies for methamphetamine misuse.
Megan’s current research interests include examining the effects of marijuana, alcohol, and nicotine use on cognitive functioning and brain structure in young adults using neuropsychological and neuroimaging methods. She is also interested in understanding the relationship between substance use, brain structure and function, and gender, and the underlying mechanisms of these effects.
Megan completed year-long advanced externships in adult neuropsychology at the Medical College of Wisconsin and the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center. She begins her predoctoral internship in the Neuropsychology Track at the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center in Fall 2020. She aims to become a board certified clinical neuropsychologist.

STAFF & RESEARCH ASSISTANTS

Erick Bernal

Phlebotomist, SURF Awardee

Christine Kaiver

Lab CoordinatorBA in Psychology from UWM

MaryBeth Groth Mals

BA in Psychology from UWMMaster's of School Social Work student at UWM

Bridgette Knecht, BA

BA in Psychology from UWM

Jocelynn Jarvis

McNair & SURF AwardeeUndergraduate Majoring in Psychology/Philosophy at UWM

Hailey Wirtz

SURF AwardeeBS Honor's College Degree in Psychology at UWM

Michael Esson

SURF Awardee

Karina Montoto

McNair ScholarUndergraduate Majoring in Psychology at UWM

Tory Clearwater

Undergraduate Majoring in Psychology at UWM

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANTS

Natalia Sotelo

SURF Awardee

Jose De La O Arechigo

SURF Awardee

Josh Levelius

Caitlin Nelson

Natalie Wilcox

SURF Awardee

Bo Malames

Sofia Mattson

Kennedy Onell

Evelyn Doan

Steve Sparacino

Suhailah Amer

LAB ALUMNI

Kyle Jennette

Kyle Jennette, PhD

jennette3@uwm.edu

Kyle earned his B.A. in Psychology from Flagler College, and M.A. in Gerontology from the University of South Florida (USF). While completing his Master’s, he worked as a board certified psychometrist for the USF College of Medicine and its affiliated hospitals. He then took a position as lead clinical research coordinator for Emory University’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. As a clinical neuropsychology PhD student at UWM, Kyle completed an advanced neuropsychology externship in both the Health Psychology Service in the Department of Transplant Surgery at Froedtert Hospital and the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center. Kyle began a predoctoral internship with emphasis in Adult Neuropsychology at the University of Chicago Medicine 2019.
Kyle’s current research interests focus on the influence of aerobic fitness on functional connectivity in the brain and subsequent effects on cognition, especially executive function, learning, and memory. He is also interested in neuropsychological test development and novel applications of common assessments to better predict risk for, and course of, cognitive function and impairment across the lifespan.

Kristin Maple, PhD

Kristin earned a B.S. in Biology with a Psychology minor from Gonzaga University in 2011. After college, she worked as a research assistant for Dr. Bonnie Nagel at Oregon Health & Science University, studying adolescent brain development. She joined the UWM BraIN Lab in 2013 and received her PhD in clinical neuropsychology in 2019. She completed her internship at the Baltimore VA in 2018-2019 and began her post-doctoral fellowship in clinical neuropsychology at the Minneapolis VA in 2019.
Kristin is interested in the relationship between substance use and neurocognition and emotional processing.

Skyler Shollenbarger, PhD

Skyler graduated from the University of Cincinnati (UC) in 2008 with his bachelor's in psychology. Following graduation, he worked as the research coordinator for the Alcohol and Anxiety Lab at UC. He joined the UWM BraIN lab in 2011 and received his doctorate in clinical psychology in 2017. He is currently a post-doctoral fellow at Henry Ford Health System Clinical Neuropsychology Fellowship Program.
Skyler's research experiences have broadly focused on addiction and substance use, and specifically how substance use impacts brain structure, functioning, and mental health outcomes. Skyler employs multifactorial approaches (e.g. neuroimaging, genetics, neurocognitive testing, self-report measures) to address particular research questions.

Tasha Wade (Wright), PhD

Tasha graduated with her bachelors from Point Loma Nazarene University and began as a student in the UWM BraIN lab in 2012. She received her PhD in clinical neuropsychology in 2018 after completing an internship at the VA Puget Sound American Lake. She started as a post-doctoral fellow at UCSD with Dr. Kara Bagot in 2018.
Tasha is interested in the neurological and biopsychosocial factors in the etiology and effects of substance abuse.
Dr. Price is an Assistant Professor of Surgery and Psychiatry and Transplant Psychologist within the Division of Transplant Surgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW). She serves as a core faculty member within the APA-approved MCW Health Psychology Residency (Internship) Program. Additionally, she developed the Neuropsychology and Intervention Clinic within the Transplant Mental Health program and provides supervision of neuropsychological assessment and psychological treatment through the MCW Health Psychology Practicum. She completed APA-approved doctoral training in Clinical Psychology and Neuropsychology at the University of Cincinnati (PhD) and Boston Consortium in Clinical Psychology (Clinical Internship). She then completed a T32 postdoctoral fellowship at McLean Hospital–Harvard Medical School specializing in neuroimaging and addiction. Dr. Price’s clinical practice utilizes biopsychosocial assessment to inform clinical intervention among those with critical medical illness. Her research examines neurocognitive correlates of addiction and psychiatric disease states, towards the identification of at-risk cohorts and optimization of transplant outcomes.

Alicia Thomas, PhD

Alicia was a post-doctoral research associate at UWM in the psychology department until 2018. She received her bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Biomedical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio and Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN respectively. After completing her Master’s degree Dr. Thomas spent 6 years with GE Healthcare, designing applications for cardiac imaging equipment. She received her doctoral degree in 2014 from the Pharmacology Department at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
Alicia's research focuses using the application of multimodal brain imaging to better characterize consequences of chronic drug use during adolescence. More specifically, her work examines the effect of marijuana and alcohol use on brain function and neural connectivity. Her research interests also include determining whether lifestyle factors like BMI or activity level moderate the effects of chronic drug use.
Dr. Padula is a Research Health Science Specialist at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System (MIRECC) and Instructor (Affiliate) at Stanford School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Dr. Padula completed her undergraduate work and research assistant positions at UCSD and received her masters and doctorate degrees at the University of Cincinnati in psychology with an emphasis in neuropsychology. She fulfilled her APA-accredited clinical internship in neuropsychology at Patton State Hospital and is an alumni of the APA-accredited Sierra Pacific MIRECC postdoctoral fellowship with an emphasis in geropsychology. She ultimately wants to improve treatment outcomes for Veterans suffering from addiction by leveraging the power of where neuroscience and clinical psychology intersect.

PREVIOUS STAFF

Kelah Hatcher

BA in Psychology from UWMMaster's of Social Work student at UWM

Marin Schmitt

BA in Journalism and minor in Political Science from UWM; MS in Psychology from Arizona State University Public Health PhD student at UWM

Megan Herdt

BA in Psychology From ElonEducational Psychology PhD student at UWM

Lukas Dommer, BA

Lukas was a SURF awardee working on the ABCD Study as an undergraduate at UWM. He graduated with a bachelors in Psychology in May 2019 and is spending the summer at FIU working at a camp with adolescents. In 2020 he was accepted to the University of Minnesota School Psychology doctoral program.

Angelina Lochner, BA

Angelina started in 2015 as an undergraduate volunteer in the BraIN lab and worked her way up to a Child RA for the ABCD Study. She graduated from UWM in 2018 and began the Master's of Social Work program at UW-Madison in the Fall of 2019.

Sarah Lehman

BA in Psychology from UWM

Kristen Leer

Kristen Leer is a senior undergraduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, triple-majoring in Psychology, Classic Civilization, and Religious Studies. As a Senior Excellence in Research Awardee, McNair Scholar, and Honors College student, Leer has presented at multiple national conferences – as well, being awarded for her research. Her recent work has investigated the psychological processes in youth, and her Honors senior thesis investigates the evolution of schizophrenia through the five editions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and its influence on cultural representations in cinema. Most recently, Leer is writing for the 20th-anniversary publication for the 2000 film Gladiator. Leer hopes to start graduate school in Psychology this Fall 2020.

Danny Mulligan, BA

Danny began in the clinical psychology PhD program at Wayne University with Dr. Christopher Trentcosta in Fall 2018. Dr. Trentcosta does longitudinal research examining the development of self-regulation skills and emotional competence in children at risk due to low SES and other environmental factors. He’s also on a project looking at fetal fMRI data and self-regulation issues at age 4.

Jenna Ausloos, BA

Jenna received her undergraduate from UW-Madison and began working in the BraIN lab in 2017 as a child RA. She started as a graduate student at the joint Clinical and Rehabilitation Psychology Ph.D track working in Dr. Eun-Jeong Lee's lab in the Fall of 2018. She will be studying transition age youth with ASD.

Erika Gilbart, BA

Erika graduated from UWM with a B.A. in Psychology in 2013. She worked full-time in the Brain Lab as a research intern until 2017. Erika is interested in the development and treatment of addiction, substance use, effects of drugs on the brain (particularly during adolescence), neuropsychology, and neuroimaging techniques.

Bridget Stemper, BA

BA in Psychology from UWM

Ellie Hase

Mia Rudolph-Schulta, BA

BA in Women's and Gender StudiesCertificate in LGBT StudiesCurrently: Master's of Public Health CandidateFocus: Community and Behavioral Health Promotion