OUR TEAM
Meghan H. Puglia, PH.D.
Principal Investigator
Assistant Professor of Neurology
Meghan earned her B.S. in Psychology with a concentration in Neuroscience from Penn State University in 2009, her M.A. in Cognitive Psychology from the University of Virginia in 2015, and her Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from UVA in 2019. Her research interests include (1) merging human neuroscience and behavioral epigenetics to understand individual differences in human behavior; (2) designing and executing infant longitudinal studies merging multilevel, multidimensional techniques to understand environment-gene-brain-behavior interactions throughout development; and (3) employing innovative methodological approaches to analyze “big data” generated with neuroimaging, longitudinal, and genetics data sets.
GRADUATE STUDENTS
Cabell Williams
Cognitive Psychology
Cabell studies the environmental influences of epigenetic modifications and how these changes may lead to individual differences in the neurological processing of social cues throughout infancy. She received her B.S. in Neuroscience with a minor in Psychology from George Mason University and her M.S. in Clinical Research from UVA. Prior to her time as a doctoral student, she spent time in a lab studying the effects of parenting mindfully on adolescents’ emotional development, academic success, and risk-taking behaviors and in a clinic where she studied how to create a state of “peak performance” using EEG based neurofeedback.
STAFF
Que Nguyen
Lab Manager
Winnie Chang
Project Coordinator
Madelyn Nance
Lab Technician
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
Hanna Aklil
Behavioral Neuroscience 2028
Cori Bereznay
Behavioral Neuroscience 2026
Janie Brockenbrough
Cognitive Science & Applied Statistics 2027
Carrington Davis
Echols Interdisciplinary Major 2026
Carter Duncan
Psychology 2025
Lauryn Kumpe
Psychology & English 2026
Beverly Lundeen
Neuroscience & Cognitive Science 2025
Emily Mundy
Neuroscience 2025
Haylee Ressa
Neuroscience & English 2025
Macie Tran
Neuroscience & Cognitive Science 2026
Diana Zhang
Neuroscience & Public Health 2027
Sam Barnett
Biology 2025
Geanette Boggs
Nursing 2028
Campbell Coleman
Neuroscience & Physics 2025
Kaley Dawson
Neuroscience 2025
Elise Harris
Cognitive Science 2025
Lucy Lee
Biology & Psychology 2028
Jessica Medlin
Cognitive Science 2025
Leslie Murphy
Behavioral Neuroscience 2026
Jordyn Sizemore
Cognitive Science 2025
Shriya Varada
Neuroscience 2025
Charly Beasley
Cognitive Science 2026
Katie Boron
Human Biology 2026
Chloe Cooper
Neuroscience 2025
Emily Douglas
Neuroscience 2027
Zoë Kitchings
Biology 2025
Kate Littlejohn
Biology 2027
Emily Mortman
Psychology & Cognitive science 2025
Gray Powell
Neuroscience 2027
Sophia Stewart
Behavioral Neuroscience 2026
Liv White
Cognitive Science 2026
LAB ALUMNI
ALLISON BELKOWITZ
Lab Manager
2021 - 2024
MADELEINE AMES
Neuroscience 2024
2021- 2024 Undergraduate Research Assistant
2023 Minerva Award
2023 - 2024 Distinguished Majors Program
NASEEB CHHINA
Global Public Health & Psychology 2024
2023- 2024 Undergraduate Research Assistant
HELENA CULLEN
Psychology 2024
2022- 2024 Undergraduate Research Assistant
EMILY DAVIS
Cognitive Science & Spanish 2024
2022- 2024 Undergraduate Research Assistant
AVERY DOUGALD
Neuroscience 2024
2021 - 2024 Undergraduate Research Assistant
2022 Assistant Project Coordinator
2022 Harrison Undergraduate Research Grant
2023 - 2024 Distinguished Majors Program
SKYLAR GOODOVE
Neuroscience 2024
2022- 2024 Undergraduate Research Assistant
2022 Raven Fellowship
MATT IMMORDINO
Global Public Health & Spanish 2024
2022- 2024 Undergraduate Research Assistant
BRIDGET RODIG
Cognitive Science 2024
2023- 2024 Undergraduate Research Assistant
2023 - 2024 Distinguished Majors Program
ASHLEY TRINH
Neuroscience 2024
2022- 2024 Undergraduate Research Assistant
2023- 2024 Social Media Manager
OLIVIA PRENDERGAST
Psychology 2023
2022 - 2023 Undergraduate Research Assistant
NIKITHA SHAH
Cognitive Science 2025
2023 - 2023 Undergraduate Research Assistant
SONI BAE
Psychology 2023
2021 - 2023 Undergraduate Research Assistant
SUNJAL PATEL
Cognitive Science & South Asian Studies 2024
2022 - 2023 Undergraduate Research Assistant
VINEE VERMA
Cognitive Science 2024
2020 - 2022 Undergraduate Research Assistant
MELISSA ABEL
Cognitive Science & Spanish 2023
2022 - 2023 Undergraduate Research Assistant
KAYLYN FEELEY
Cognitive Science 2023
2022 - 2023 Undergraduate Research Assistant
MADELINE FORD
Cognitive Science 2023
2021 - 2023 Undergraduate Research Assistant
2022 - 2023 Distinguished Majors Program
CHLOE HOANG
Cognitive Science 2023
2022 - 2023 Undergraduate Research Assistant
ANNA MCSHERRY
Psychology 2023
2022 - 2023 Undergraduate Research Assistant
MADISON MONROE-MOHAJERIN
Neuroscience & Psychology 2023
2021 - 2023 Undergraduate Research Assistant
2023 Minerva Award
2022 - 2023 Distinguished Majors Program
2022 - 2023 College Council Semester Scholars Award
2022 - 2023 College of Arts and Sciences Research Grant
2023 Raven Fellowship
2024 Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Council Grant
BIANKA SMEULDERS
Cognitive Science 2023
2022 - 2023 Undergraduate Research Assistant
KAROLINA STRAZNIKIEWICZ
Psychology 2023
2021 - 2022 Undergraduate Research Assistant
LOREN BLACK
Kinesiology 2024
2022 Undergraduate Research Assistant
GIANNA RODGRIUEZ
Biology 2023
2022 Summer Research Intern
JACQUELINE SLOBIN
Global Public Health 2021
2021 - 2022 Project Coordinator
2020 - 2021 Undergraduate Research Assistant
AVERY DAHL
Cognitive Science 2022
2021 - 2022 Undergraduate Research Assistant
2021 - 2022 Distinguished Majors Program
SCARLET OMAIS
English & Biology 2022
2020 - 2021 Undergraduate Research Assistant
HANNAH SHARPE
Biology 2021
2019 - 2021 Undergraduate Research Assistant
PAYTON ST. LOUIS
Chemistry 2022
2019 - 2021 Undergraduate Research Assistant