RESEARCH TEAM
GRADUATE STUDENTS
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS
SARA MCMULLIN, MS
Graduate Student
Webster University, '14
Sara is a fourth year student in the cognitive neuroscience program. She is interested in exploring decision making, addiction, and chronic stress across the lifespan.
Her master's thesis focused on stress physiology, risk perception, and risk-taking behavior in gambling disorder. Her dissertation work explores the influence of life stress severity, timing, and type on decision making under stress in older adults.
Karen Rieffel
Senior Research Assistant
Neuroscience, '20
Sannitha Baragada
Senior Research Assistant
Neuroscience, '20
Amila Dzananovic
Senior Research Assistant
Psychology (Philosophy minor), '20
Osha Chesnutt-Perry
Junior Research Assistant
Neuroscience, '21
TONY BUCHANAN, PHD
Principal Investigator
Dr. Buchanan's research focuses on the intersection between stress and behavior. Dr. Buchanan's work has focused on the role that stress plays in learning and memory, and more recently, decision making. Dr. Buchanan's work has been funded by the Templeton Foundation, the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Center for Responsible Gaming, and the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression.
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He received his Ph.D. in Biological Psychology from the University of Oklahoma and went on to a postdoctoral fellowship in Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Iowa. He is currently Associate Professor of Psychology and Co-Director of the Neuroscience Program at Saint Louis University.
ASHLEY DOONAN, MA
Graduate Student
Eastern Illinois University, MA '16
McKendree University, BA '14
Ashley is a first year student in the cognitive neuroscience program. Her research explores the role of stress on decision making and it's application to addictive behavior.
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Ashley received her master's in Clinical Psychology from EIU, where she specialized in the treatment of traumatic stress and substance use disorders. Her master's thesis examined the impact of chronic and acute stress on mechanisms of visual attention. Before starting at SLU, Ashley worked at the University of Michigan as a data curator in the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR).
Monica Rao
Sophomore Research Assistant
Biostatistics, '22
Rithika Somasundaram
Sophomore Research Assistant
Psychology (Pre-Law), '22
Zeshan Ali
Sophomore Research Assistant
Neuroscience, '22