PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
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Candace Raio, Ph.D.Candace Raio is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at New York University Grossman School of Medicine where she serves as PI and Director of the Stress and Affective Neuroscience (SAN) Lab. She received her PhD in experimental psychology from NYU’s Department of Psychology and completed her postdoctoral training in decision neuroscience at NYU’s Neuroscience Institute. Her work focuses on how stress exposure affects the cognitive, neural and computational mechanisms that support affective regulation and decision-making. The ultimate goal of her work is to inform treatment for stress-related psychiatric disorders and behaviors in which stress serves as a key precipitating factor. She is the recipient of the APS Rising Star Award, the Society for Neuroeconomics Early Career Award, the Anxiety and Depression Association of America’s Leadership Award, and was recently elected as a member of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. Her research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health as well as a NARSAD Young Investigator Award from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation.
Email: [email protected]
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POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS
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Priyamvada earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Biological Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, India, and her Ph.D. in Neuroscience and Psychology from Indiana University Bloomington, USA. She is interested in the cognitive and neural mechanisms of decision-making, as well as the experiential characteristics of decisions, and approaches these questions through a combination of cognitive and computational modeling, neuroimaging, neurostimulation, and empirical philosophy. Here at SAN Lab, she is focusing on decisions that require self-control and the cognitive mechanisms involved in estimating its cost. Outside of research, she loves learning about history, going on long runs, and spends her time writing for her blogging website and watching lots of movies.
Email: [email protected]
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RESEARCH COORDINATORS
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After graduating from the University of Toronto with a specialization in psychology, Nancy went on to earn a Master’s degree in clinical psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research interests lie on the intersection between trauma, stress, memory, and resilience. Before joining the SAN Lab in 2023, her research focused on using individual differences approach in examining the relationship between stress and fear memory. Beyond the lab, you can often find her working out in the gym, reading fiction at coffee shops, or playing guitar at bars in Brooklyn.
Email: [email protected]
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Ariana received a B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Child & Adolescent Mental Health Studies from New York University in 2025. Prior to joining the lab, she conducted her undergraduate honors thesis at The West Interpersonal Perception Lab studying the difference between perceived versus desired levels of status between men and women in the workplace. Her current research interests involve emotion, social neuroscience, decision making, and stress. Outside the lab her hobbies include reading, going to the movies, and trying out new restaurants around the city.
Email: [email protected]
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VOLUNTEERS
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ALUMNI
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Kleio Jiang, B.A. | Research Data Associate
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Kleio received her BA in Psychology and Cognitive Science from Vanderbilt University, with minors in Data Science and Communication Studies. During her undergrad, her research focused on induced forgetting and adolescent trauma and coping strategies. After joining the SAN Lab in 2023, her research lies in self control and decision making. In the future, she strives to explore the field of behavioral data science and moral psychology. Beyond the lab, she enjoys spending time and connecting with her family and friends, whether it be in person at a coffee shop or online in a co-op game.
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Email: [email protected]
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Email: [email protected]
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Sophia Asad Jafri | Volunteer |
