News

Joonkoo Park receives CAREER award to explore how our brains process numbers and magnitude

April 14, 2017

Assistant Professor and Honors Faculty Joonkoo Park, Psychological and Brain Sciences, received a five-year, $751,000 NSF faculty early career development (CAREER) to address basic research questions about how our brains process numbers and magnitude and how such processes give rise to more complex mathematical thinking. He recently co-authored a paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that reports where in the brain numerical quantity evaluation is processed. Science magazine, NewsMedical.net, Science Daily, News Office release

Professor Emeritus Jerrold Meyer proposes less invasive diagnostic test for Cushing’s Syndrome

April 14, 2017

Neuroscientist Jerrold Meyer, Psychological and Brain Sciences, is co-author of a recent paper in Endocrine: International Journal of Basic and Clinical Endocrinology that describes a promising new noninvasive method – measuring levels of the hormone cortisol in hair samples – of testing for Cushing’s syndrome, a disorder of excessive cortisol secretion. Meyer, whose lab conducted all cortisol measurements used in the study, collaborated with endocrinologists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Though other researchers have explored using cortisol in hair samples to study patients with Cushing’s syndrome, the authors believe theirs is the first study to correlate serum and urinary cortisol levels with the hair assay to validate it as a new diagnostic tool. News Office release

Agnes Lacreuse selected as section member at the Center for Scientific Review, National Institutes of Health

April 12, 2017

Congratulations to Agnes Lacreuse PhD who has been selected for a 4-year term as a member of the Neuroendocrinology, Neuroimmunology, Rhythms and Sleep Study Section at the Center for Scientific Review, National Institutes of Health! She will be contributing to the national biomedical research effort through grant application reviews, recommendations and status surveys of field research. This honorable position is representative of Dr. Lacreuse’s accomplishments in her field of study.   

Jeff Starns selected as CRF Family Research Scholar

March 1, 2017

Jeff Starns, associate professor in Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience, has been selected as a 2017-18 Center for Research on Families (CRF) Family Research Scholar.  Jeff will develop a grant proposal on Bayesian reasoning as a life skill.  Congratulations Jeff!

Christina Metevier selected for CNS Outstanding Advisor Award

February 24, 2017

We are excited to announce that Professor Christina Metevier has been selected as this year’s recipient of the CNS Outstanding Advisor Award for her exceptional contributions to undergraduate advising in PBS.  Students who have worked with Professor Metevier in the advising office and the classroom know firsthand that this recognition is very well-deserved given her endless enthusiasm, knowledge, and dedication to student success.  Congratulations Christina!

Joonkoo Park selected as APS Rising Star

January 30, 2017

​Joonkoo Park, assistant professor in Developmental Science, has been selected as a 2016 Rising Star in the Association for Psychological Science!  APS Rising Stars reflect the best and brightest of psychological science, and we are very proud to have him on our faculty.  Congratulations Joon!

Aggie Mitchkoski retires from PBS

January 27, 2017

January 27 was Aggie Mitchkoski's last day with us in PBS.  She's retiring after 16 years of dedicated service and friendship.  We will miss her dearly, but wish her well in all of her new adventures!

Rudd Adoption Research Program to Offer 2017 Summer Institute

December 21, 2016

The Rudd Adoption Research Program will offer a Summer Institute, planned for May 21-26, 2017 on the campus of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. This summer institute is for graduate students and recent PhDs who are planning careers in adoption research. Topics will include data organization and management, longitudinal analysis, analyzing family and couple-level data, considering culture in adoption research, community engagement, and translation and dissemination of research findings. The methodological topics will be interspersed with discussions of adoption in global perspective, balancing the personal and professional, the history of adoption, research funding, and more.

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