I am a second year, neuroscience PhD student at Wake Forest School of Medicine, and am interested in studying traumatic and mild traumatic brain injuries (TBI and mTBI). I am currently conducting research in an imaging lab, where we employ multiple imaging modalities to effectively examine changes to the brain. I have worked with youth, high school, and collegiate athletes to study changes induced by repetitive head trauma from competing in a collision sport. Ultimately, my goals are to examine the short term neurological changes from this observed head impact exposure as well search for methods to alleviate the long term ramifications that have been seen in athletes who have finished their careers. I have spent countless hours collecting and examining bio mechanical and neurological data in previous studies and intend to utilize that skill set in this current endeavor.

Nabila Farhin Jahan explores the characteristics and effects of contemplative states and practices (e.g., mindfulness, self-inquiry, meditation) on human functioning and wellbeing. Personally, and as a clinical psychology graduate student at Virginia Commonwealth University, she is particularly interested in investigating impacts of social conditioning, language, thought- and identity-formation on mindful awareness, compassion, and healthy living. Residing in both Bangladesh and the US, with exposure to Eastern and Western cultures, Nabila integrates both contemplative lenses in her exploration. She also applies modern technology to investigate and disseminate contemplative teachings/practices, while promoting their accessibility to underserved populations through individual/group therapy and discussions.

Amanda Shallcross is a board-certified naturopathic physician with clinical and research expertise in preventative and integrative behavioral medicine and public health. Her research utilizes multiple methodologies including laboratory tasks, experience sampling, behavioral coding, and autonomic nervous system responding. 

The overarching goal of her work is to adapt and test mindfulness-based interventions for individuals with co-morbid mood disorders and chronic disease, with an emphasis toward making mindfulness-based interventions more available, accessible, and affordable for individuals with diverse backgrounds (e.g., racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse populations). Her career development award (K23) supported by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health is focused on testing the effects of a telephone-delivered mindfulness intervention for patients with co-morbid depression and chronic disease. She is also Co-Investigator of two randomized controlled trials that focus on adapting and testing a telephone-delivered mindfulness intervention for individuals with chronic disease and elevated psychological distress. 

Gunes Sevinc is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital & Harvard Medical School. Her current research interests include the relationship between mindfulness meditation and moral cognition. She is specifically interested in the structural and functional changes associated with mindfulness practice as they relate to moral reasoning and prosocial behaviors. Currently, she works with Dr. Sara Lazar and utilizes multivariate neuroimaging analysis methods to investigate the effects of mindfulness practice in improving cognition.

I am a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of British Columbia and BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver. Specifically, I am affiliated with a Reproductive Mental Health Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness. I have a background and have been involved in projects in the fields of mental health, neuropsychopharmacology, e-mental health and application of technology in health, addiction, mindfulness and resilience. My prior training includes teacher training in MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction), and PhD in e-mental health. My research interests are: mental well-being, mental health care and prevention; awareness, compassion, mindfulness and other ways to support human flourishing; interpersonal dynamics of mindfulness. Currently, my biggest passion are research projects exploring mindfulness and contemplative practices offered to perinatal families. And examining ways that can lead to flourishing relationships, healthier parent-infant interactions, attachment, as well as support healthy early development of the child.

“But how does meat get contents?” My favorite philosophy professor would repeatedly shout at our class. He was echoing the hard problem of consciousness – how can a physical substance such as the brain give rise to the beautifully diverse and colorful phenomenological experiences we enjoy as human beings? This question is part of the insatiable curiosity that led me to doctoral training in Clinical Psychology. To this project, I bring nearly nine years of experience from diverse research involvements gained across laboratories at the University of Minnesota and University of Wisconsin. To inform the contemplative aspects of this project, I have nurtured a yoga practice rooted in mindfulness for 8 years, and am a certified yoga teacher. There is much left to learn about the role of the body in the already complicated puzzle of brain-behavior connections. Somehow, the (as-of-yet) insurmountably complex constellation of neurons, glia, muscles, gut, and other physical matter (i.e., “meat”) inexplicably gives rise to the vast non-physical experiential contents of thoughts, feelings, motives, and sensations we know as human beings. Through a research career, I hope to continue to disentangle relationships between the mind, brain, and body to advance our understanding of emotion and stress. 

My research interests have centered on adapting and assessing mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) for vulnerable populations, especially individuals with substance use and co-occurring disorders (SU-CoDs), as well as determining the mechanisms of change of such interventions. I received my B.A. in Psychology at Long Beach State University, followed by my M.A. in Counseling Psychology at Humboldt State University. After receiving my graduate degree, I worked full-time at an outpatient chemical dependency clinic, where I facilitated mindfulness-based women’s trauma groups. My interest in mindfulness-based approaches to treating addiction was growing, and I was aware that it was a developing area of research in the field of SU-CoDs. I wanted to contribute to the development of and research in mindfulness-based approaches for acutely vulnerable subpopulations with SU-CoDs, thus, I decided to pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. Since entering the PhD program at Pacific University, I have been involved in several research projects with my primary mentor, Dr. Sarah Bowen. In 2018, I was awarded an R36 Dissertation grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (1R36DA043554-01) for my dissertation research on implementing a trauma integrated adaptation of Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention for women diagnosed with Substance Use Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.