Principal Investigator

Sarah W. Feldstein Ewing, PhD

• Prochaska Endowed Professor, Psychology; Core Faculty, Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program, Department of Psychology; Clinical Psychology
• Affiliate Investigator, Laureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR)
• Lecturer (Adjunct), Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Ontario
• Adjunct Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University, RI
• Phone: 401.874.4251
• Email: feldsteinewing@uri.edu

Visit Dr. Feldstein Ewing’s URI Faculty page for additional information.

Postdoctoral Researchers

ANCHoR may consider postdoctoral applications from researchers who have or are pursuing their own funding. Those with a neuroimaging (MRI/fMRI, fcMRI, DTI) background, history of publications, and demonstrated ability to obtain funding are encouraged to contact us.

Current Lab Members

Graduate Students

Emily Kenyon, M.A.

Emily is a fourth year Clinical Psychology doctoral student. She earned her B.A. in psychology at Columbia University in 2016. She became a study coordinator in health services research at the VA Portland Health Care System to improve behavioral health care and develop preventive interventions for Veterans at risk for suicide. Emily completed her first year of graduate school at Oregon Health & Science University before continuing her graduate education at URI with Dr. Sarah Feldstein Ewing. She earned an M.A. at URI in 2022 with a thesis titled “A longitudinal analysis of adolescent cannabis use and related peer factors over 12 months.” Her current interests include substance use and health-risk behaviors; prevention/intervention science; patterns, transitions, and trajectories of clinical health outcomes; social determinants of health; and resilience across the lifespan.

Emily Carter, B.S.

Emily is a second year in the Clinical Psychology doctoral program. She graduated from the University of Rochester with her Bachelor of Science in Brain and Cognitive Science in 2019. After graduation, she worked as a Research Assistant on the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study at the Rochester site. Her current research interests are neurodevelopment, environmental impacts on the development of risk-taking behaviors, and neuroimaging methodology.

Annie Nields, B.S.

Annie is a first year student in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program. She completed her B.S. in Psychology and English at Yale University in 2021. After graduation, Annie worked at the Boston Children’s Hospital Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience as a study coordinator for a project funded by the Wellcome Leap Foundation examining executive function and emotion regulation development in the first three years of life. Her research focuses on relationships between social context, emotion regulation, and mental health across development.

Staff

Karen Hudson, M.C.R.

Karen received a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Oregon Honors College and a Masters in Clinical Research from Oregon Health & Science University. Karen has been managing Dr. Feldstein Ewing’s research programs since 2015, and is currently the Assistant Director of ANCHoR.

Ben Hyun, B.S.

Ben received his B.S. in Physics and Mathematics from University of California – Irvine. Having previously worked in musculoskeletal imaging, he is currently a Research Assistant in charge of ANCHoR’s neuroimaging data processing and analyses, and supports PI and graduate student projects in these areas.

Lab Alumni

Postdoc Alumni

Justin Caouette, Ph.D.

Justin earned his PhD in Human Development from the University of California – Davis in 2016. Prior to that, he graduated summa cum laude from Claremont McKenna College in 2008, with honors in Psychology. From 2016 to 2018, he was a postdoctoral researcher at OHSU, as well as a research fellow through the OHSU Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute (OCTRI) – Oregon Students Learning and Experiencing Research (OSLER) TL1 program. Justin’s research uses fMRI methods to study peer social influences on adolescent and emerging adult affective health (e.g., anxiety, depression) and behavioral health (e.g., substance use, sexual health). As of 2019, Justin is serving as the inaugural Associate Director of Prevention Science Academic Programs, within the College of Education at the University of Oregon.

Tara Chowdhury, Ph.D.

Tara earned her B.S. at UCLA in Neuroscience with a minor in Mathematics. During her PhD in Chiye Aoki’s lab at NYU, Tara studied a rodent model for anorexia nervosa, discovering that the rodent hippocampus undergoes large-scale dendritic remodeling during adolescence, and the experiences of exercise and food restriction had distinct effects on hippocampal circuitry. Tara went on to a postdoc in Bita Moghaddam’s lab at OHSU to study sex differences in the rodent reward system hoping to understand why men and women are vulnerable to different psychiatric conditions. Tara is primarily interested in understanding vulnerability to psychiatric illness. She joined Dr. Feldstein Ewing’s lab as a postdoctoral researcher from 2019 to 2020 to shift gears toward human subjects research and to explore how the insights and hypotheses from animal research can be used to improve adolescent mental health. Tara’s publications are available here [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1n90kxNYqzp5S/bibliography/public/].

Staff Alumni

Genevieve Dash, M.S.

Genevieve received her B.A. in Psychology from Reed College and her M.S in Counselor Education with specializations in Clinical Mental Health and Addictions counseling from Portland State University. She went on to pursue her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the University of Missouri, working in the Genetic Epidemiology Laboratory. Her research interests include adolescent psychopathology, motivational mechanisms underlying substance use, and etiology of addiction. She was a Research Assistant at OHSU from 2015-2017.

Adam Haight, M.S.W.

Adam obtained his B.A. in Sociology and Anthropology at Lewis and Clark College and his Masters in Social Work from Portland State University. Adam’s primary research and professional interests revolve around the relationship between developmental trauma and neurodevelopment in childhood, and the implications these experiences hold for later onset of psychopathology and addiction. Adam is also interested in and passionate about alternative models for addressing adolescent psychiatric distress in emergency medical settings.

Lindsay Hylek, B.A.

Lindsay graduated from Colby College with a B.A. in Psychology and Anthropology. Prior to OHSU, she spent two years working at Pacific Quest, an outdoor behavioral healthcare program, and one year researching Major Depressive Disorder at Massachusetts General Hospital. After completing her role as the MINA Project Coordinator at OHSU, she went on to pursue graduate study in social work in New York.

Sarah Lahanas, B.S.

Sarah received her B.S. in Psychology from Oregon State University in 2017 and was a Research Assistant at OHSU. She is interested in studying the neural and behavioral correlates of chronic substance use in order to inform treatment methods. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology or Behavioral Neuroscience in the future.

Clara Lewis, B.A.

Clara received her B.A. in Psychology from Reed College, and worked as the MINA Project Coordinator at OHSU. She is interested in the in the intersection of technology and the science of behavior change. She will pursue an MPH in Biostatistics.

Amy McDonald, M.S.W.

Amy has been working with children and youth in a variety of advocacy and support roles over the past 10 years. She received her B.A. in Social Work from George Fox University and her Masters in Social Work from Portland State University. Amy has worked extensively with youth involved in the criminal justice system and is interested in incorporating mindfulness into community-based alternatives to prison.

Naomi McFarland, B.S.

Naomi received her B.S. in Psychology from the University of Washington in 2018 and worked as a Research Assistant at OHSU. She is interested in studying the neural basis of addiction, brain trauma, and other neurological and psychiatric disorders that influence behavior. She hopes to pursue graduate or medical school in the future.

Marissa Renda, B.A.

Marissa is a native to Portland and received her B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Neuroscience from the University of Portland. She worked at OHSU as the MINA Project Coordinator.

Hannah Scheuer, M.S.W.

Hannah obtained her B.A. in Psychology from Reed College and her Masters in Social Work from Portland State University. Hannah’s ultimate goal is to become a LCSW and work in tandem with translational research projects to help inform treatment and prevention efforts. Her research interests include the study of adolescent neurodevelopment, the identification of potential neurobiological biomarkers and underpinnings of risk for addiction and psychopathology, and the mechanisms underlying the onset of psychopathology.

Vanessa Somohano, M.A., CADC I

Vanessa received her Master of Arts from Humboldt State University in Counseling Psychology. She is currently pursuing her PhD in clinical psychology at Pacific University, and was a Research Assistant at OHSU. Vanessa’s research interests include mindfulness-based interventions in community mental health and addictions treatment settings.

Nicky Tettamanti, B.S.

Nicky grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada and graduated from the University of Oregon in 2017 with a B.S. in General Science. She worked as a Research Assistant at OHSU, which combined her interests in neuroscience and mental health. Previously, she has worked as a medical scribe for a family practice clinic and as an intern for Nursing Students for Sexual and Reproductive Health. Her research interests include biopsychology, reducing health disparities, and sexual and reproductive health. After her time at OHSU, she went on to Columbia for graduate study in Public Health.

Dustin Truitt, B.A.

Dustin received his B.A. in Psychology and Philosophy from the University of New Mexico and was a Research Scientist at the University of New Mexico’s Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, and Addictions (CASAA) before Dr. Feldstein Ewing’s relocation to Portland. Dustin specialized in the MRI study components of the research, and continues to serve as honorary lab historian.

Volunteer Alumni

Jordan Alexander, B.A.

Jordan graduated from Reed College in 2017 with a BA in Psychology. His responsibilities as an OHSU volunteer included neuroimaging data preprocessing and general data management. Jordan is interested in adolescent decision making and risk prevention and he hopes to eventually pursue a PhD in clinical psychology.

Gabe Arden, M.A.

Gabe received his B.A. in Intensive Psychology from University of California, Santa Cruz in 2011 and moved to University of Arizona to work on studies led by Dr. David Sbarra in relationships, breakups, divorce, sleep and emotion. He completed his Masters in Experimental Psychology at San Jose State in 2014, with a thesis that focused on a multivariate analysis between alcohol consumption coping mechanisms and sexual behavior. Gabe worked in the private sector and community mental health before moving up to Portland in 2017. He was an OHSU volunteer who assisted with data entry projects.

Delaney McDaniel, B.A.

Delaney received her B.A. in Psychology from St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas in 2018. She volunteered at OHSU assisting with neuroimaging data preprocessing and QC projects. Delaney also works as a research assistant at OHSU’s Aging and Alzheimer’s Center. Her research interests include healthy aging, personality assessment, and diversity and inclusion. She hopes to pursue graduate education in industrial organizational psychology or clinical psychology.

Mason McLellan, B.A.

Growing up in Ashland and moving to Portland four years ago, Mason has lived in Oregon for most of his life. He finished his BA in Psychology with a minor in gender studies from Lewis & Clark College and worked as a volunteer at OHSU. He hopes to eventually pursue a PhD in clinical neuropsychology.

Linda Ortiz, M.S.

Born and raised in Hillsboro, Oregon, Linda received her B.A. from Marylhurst University in 2015. Her research interests include PTSD, social perception and influence, and assistance animals. She completed her Masters in Research Psychology at Pacific University and was a volunteer at OHSU, assisting with data entry and related tasks for MINA.

Jessie Willson

Jessie was a volunteer at OHSU while working towards her B.A. at Reed. She was drawn to the lab because of her interest in neuropsychology and her aspirations to become a researcher focusing on sexology following a graduate studies program.

Anna Young, B.A.

A native Oregonian, Anna recently received her B.A. in Psychology with a minor in religion studies from the University of Oregon before working as a volunteer at OHSU. She is interested in the interaction of physiological, environmental, and cognitive factors involved in the development of psychopathology. In the future, she aims to pursue a Ph.D. in clinical psychology .

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