Curriculum Vitae MERAGE GHANE Email: mghane@vt.edu EDUCATION (August 2012- Present) Virginia Polytechnic and State University Doctoral Candidate: Clinical Science APA & PCSAS Accredited (August 2010-August 2013) San Diego State University, San Diego, California M.A. General Psychology Focus: Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience Thesis Title: Attention Networks in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Study using Resting State Functional Connectivity and the Attention Network Test Degree Received: (June 1, 2008) Elmhurst College, Elmhurst, Illinois B.S. in Psychology and English Writing GRANTS AND FUNDING 2017-2019: NIH Pre-doctoral Intermural Research Training Fellowship Description: This mechanism allows students enrolled in PhD training programs to enhance their dissertation research through collaboration with a PI at NIH. The fellowship includes full stipend, insurance, and available resources at NIH to conduct research and gain extensive training aimed at the next generation of scientific leaders. PUBLICATIONS Published Richey, J. A., Ghane, M., Valdespino, A., Coffman, M. C., Strege, M. V., White, S. W., & Ollendick, T. H. (2016). Spatiotemporal Dissociation of Brain Activity Underlying Threat and Reward in Social Anxiety Disorder. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, nsw149. http://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsw149 1
Richey, J.A., White, B.A., Valdespino, A., Ghane, M. & Schmidt, N.B. (2014). Attentional control mediates fearful responding to an ecologically valid stressor. Anxiety Stress and Coping. Under Review Jangraw, D.C., Gonzalez-Castillo, J., Handwerker, D.A., Ghane, M. Functional Connectivity Neuromarker of Sustained Attention Generalizes to Predict Recall in Naturalistic Reading Task. Under review: Neuroimage. Ghane, M., Valdespino, A., Richey, J.A., Salience detection and executive control as domain general processes underlying perceptual and reward-based decision-making. Under review: Frontiers of Decision Neuroscience. Valdespino, A., Antezana, L., Ghane, M., Richey, J.A., The role of the insula in interoception and theory of mind across psychiatric disorders. Under review: Frontiers of Human Neuroscience. In Preparation Ghane, M., Nair, A., Keown, C., & Müller, R.A. (In Prep). Resting State Functional Connectivity and Behavioral Modulation of the Attention Networks in Autism Spectrum Disorders. Ghane, M., Kishida, K., Richey, J.A., Müller, R.A. (In Prep). Intrinsic functional connectivity in valuation and salience-sensitive networks provide a neural classifier for Autism Spectrum Disorder. Ghane, M., Japee, S., Richey, J.A., Ungerleider, L. (In Prep). Influence of static and dynamic manipulations of perceptual and reward uncertainty on subjective value in decision-making. Richey, J.A., Ghane, M., Valdespino, A., Coffman, M.C., Strege, M., Sullivan-Toole, H., Antezana, L. (In Prep). Neural bases of trust and cooperation in social anxiety disorder HONORS AND AWARDS 2016: National Institutes of Health Summer Intermural Research Training Award 2015; 2014: Virginia Tech Graduate Travel Award; $500 Each 2015; 2014: Association for Behavior and Cognitive Therapies: Neurocognitive Treatments and Translational Research SIG Poster Competition; Second Place Winner 2014: Virginia Tech Center for Autism Research Student Research Award - $500 2014: VT Center for Students with Disabilities: Excellence in Access and Inclusion Award 2
PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATIONS Conference Symposia Ghane, M. & Richey, J.A. (2015, November). Altered social decision-making in social anxiety: Fear of negative evaluation and its contribution to social goal selection. In J.A. Richey (Chair) and T.H. Ollendick (Discussant), Does Social Anxiety Disorder fit in the Research Domain Criteria (RDoc)? Opportunities and challenges within the NIMH vision for translational research. Symposium conducted at the 49 th Annual Meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT), Philadelphia, PA. Oral Presentations Ghane, M. (April 22, 2016) Intrinsic connectivity of salience and value-sensitive networks provides neural classifier for autism spectrum disorders. Presentation delivered at Virginia Tech Bioblitz Presentation Series. Ghane, M. (March 17, 2016) The use of clinical neuroscience to understand and treat anxiety disorders. Presentation delivered at Virginia Tech Neuroscience Club Open Lecture Series. Ghane, M. (October 21, 2014) Visual attention and value-based social decision making in autism. Presentation delivered as a part of the Virginia Tech Neuroscience Club Speaker Series. Ghane, M. (October 4 th, 2013) Attention networks in autism spectrum disorders, evidence for atypical modulation and functional connectivity. Presentation delivered at the Virginia Tech Biological Psychology Brown Bag Series. Poster Presentations Ghane, M., Japee, S., Richey, J.A., Ungerleider, L.G., The impact of sustained and dynamic uncertainty on simultaneous perceptual- and reward-based decision making. Poster submitted to Society for Neuroscience. (May 2017). Jangraw, D.C., Gonzalez-Castillo, J., Handwerker, D.A., Ghane, M., Rosenberg,M., Panwar,P., Bandettini, P.A., Functional connectivity-based neuromarker outperforms gaze, pupillary, and fmri activation-based markers in predicting reading comprehension. Poster submitted to Society for Neuroscience (May 2017). 3
Jangraw, D.C., Gonzalez-Castillo, J. Handwerker, D.A., Ghane, M., Rosenberg, M., Panwar, P., Gutierrez, B., Bandettini, P.A., Functional Connectivity-Based Predictors of Naturalistic Reading Comprehension. Poster accepted: Human Brain Mapping (Dec, 2016) Green, A., Valdespino, A. Ghane, M., & Richey, J.A., A quantitative behavioral marker of inequity preference: Implications for the development and maintenance of anxiety. Poster submitted to Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) (November, 2016) Ghane, M., Jangraw, D., Handwerker, D., Gonzales-Castillo, J., Panwar, P., Rosenberg,M., Bandettini, P., Whole-brain functional connectivity as a marker of sustained attention. Poster presented at ABCT: Neurocognitive Treatments And Translational Research SIG, October, 2016. Ghane, M., Jangraw, D., Bandettini, P., (July, 2016). Whole-brain functional connectivity as a task-independent marker of sustained attention. Poster presented at the NIH summer poster symposium, Bethesda, Maryland. Ghane, M., Richey, J.A., Müller, R.A., Kishida, K.T. (April, 2016). Elastic Net classification of Autism Spectrum Disorder: Individual-level differences using intrinsic functional connectivity of salience- and valuation-sensitive networks. Poster presented to the Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS) meeting, New York, New York. Ghane, M., Richey, J.A., Müller, R.A., Kishida, K.T. (November, 2015). Insight into Heterogeneity: Resting-state functional connectivity across value- and salience sensitive regions stratifies individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Poster presented at the 49 th Annual Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) Meeting, Neurocognitive Therapies/Translational Research SIG, Chicago, Illinois. Ghane, M., Richey, J.A., Müller, R.A., Kishida, K.T. (October, 2015). Intrinsic functional connectivity in valuation- and salience-sensitive networks provide a neural classifier for Autism Spectrum Disorder. Poster accepted for presentation at the Society for Neuroscience, Chicago, Illinois. Ghane, M., Richey, J.A., Müller, R.A. (March, 2015). Dysregulated Functional Connectivity of Attention and Valuation Networks: Implications for Decision Making in Autism. Poster presented at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, San Francisco, California. Ghane, M., Coffman, M., Richey, J.A. (November, 2014). Connectivity of visual attention and valuation networks in autism spectrum disorders: Implications for social functioning. Poster presented at the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive 4
Therapies (ABCT) Annual Meeting, Neurocognitive Therapies/Translational Research SIG, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ghane, M., Keehn, B., Nair, A., Abbot, A., Keown, C.L., Richey, J.A.,Townsend, J., Müller, R.A. (May, 2014). Attention networks and sociocommunicative abilities in ASD: Functional connectivity and behavioral performance. Poster presented at the International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR) Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia. Richey, J.A., White, S.W., Gracanin, D., Coffman, M., Ghane, M., Gad, K., and Laconte, S. (May, 2014). A computer-assisted social intervention for college students with ASD: Assessment of longitudinal changes in white matter integrity in a small, randomized controlled trial. Poster presentation presented at the International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR) Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia. Ghane, M., Valdespino, A., Richey, J.A., (November, 2013) Dentato-thalamic resting state functional connectivity in autism spectrum disorders. Poster presented at the Society for Neuroscience (SFN) 43 rd Annual Meeting, San Diego, California. Ghane, M., Valdespino, A., Coffman, M., Richey, J.A., (October, 2013) The Strength of Cerebello-Thalamic Connectivity as a Function of Age in Autism Spectrum Disorder. Poster presented at the Computational Psychiatry Convention, Miami, FL. Ghane, M., Valdespino, A., Richey, J.A., (May 2013) Vector Autoregressive Modeling of Cerebellar-Thalamic Connectivity in Autism Spectrum Disorder. Poster presented at the Association for Psychological Science (APS) 25 th Annual Convention, Washington, D.C. Hu, S., Ghane, M., Valdespino, A., Richey, J.A., Harrison, D., (May 2013) Traumatic Frontal Lobotomy in Amotivational Apathetic Syndrome: Limitations of Standardized Neuropsychological Assessments. Poster presented at the Association for Psychological Science (APS) 25 th Annual Convention, Washington, DC. Valdespino, A., Ghane, M., Richey, J.A., (May 2013) A Novel Prototype for Real-Time Neurofeedback and Brain-Computer Interface. Poster presented at the Association for Psychological Science (APS) 25 th Annual Convention, Washington, DC. Ghane, M., Valdespino, A., Richey, J.A., (March, 2013) Vector Autoregressive Modeling of Cerebellar-Thalamic Connectivity in Autism Spectrum Disorder. Poster presented at the Central Virginia Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience (CVCSN) 25 th Annual Symposium, Roanoke, Virginia. Ghane, M., Nair, A., Keehn, B., Keown, C., Townsend, J., Mueller, R.A., (March, 2012) 5
Attention Networks in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): A Functional Connectivity MRI Study. Poster presented at the Cognitive Neuroscience (CNS) 19 th Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois. Nair, A., Ghane, M., Khan, A., Maximo, J.O., Schuster, R., Mueller, R. A., (Feb, 2012) Neuropsychological correlates for thalamo cortical connectivity in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Poster presented at the International Neuropsychological Society (INS) 40 th Annual Meeting, Montreal, Canada. Keehn, B., Shih, P., Nair, A., Khan, A., Ghane, M., Westerfield, M., Lincoln, A., (May, 2011) Attention capture in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Combined fmri-eeg Study. Poster presented at the International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR) 10 th Annual Meeting, San Diego, California. RESEARCH EXPERIENCE (January 9, 2016 Present) Pre-doctoral Intermural Research Training Fellow National Institutes of Health (NIH; NIMH) Bethesda, MD Laboratory of Brain and Cognition Supervised by: Dr. Leslie Ungerleider (NIMH) & Dr. Shruti Japee (NIMH) Description: Pre-doctoral trainee, receiving co-mentorship on dissertation work, training in functional neuroimaging and computational modeling of decisionbehavior, contributing to lab projects. (June 03, 2016 August 15 th, 2016) Summer Internship Program in Biomedical Sciences National Institutes of Health Bethesda, MD Supervised by: Dr. Peter A. Bandettini (NIMH) Description: Visiting scholar in the Laboratory on Brain and Cognition, receiving training on gold standard fmri and fcmri methodologies at the Section on Functional Neuroimaging Methods. (June 02, 2014- July 15 th, 2014) Graduate Trainee and Visiting Scholar Indiana University Bloomington, IN Supervised by: Dr. Olaf Sporns Description: Visiting scholar in the Computational Cognitive Neuroscience Lab to acquire knowledge and training in graph theoretical and computational methods of neural connectivity. (August 2012- Present) Graduate Research Assistant (Doctoral Level) Virginia Polytechnic and State University, Department of Psychology 6
Blacksburg, Virginia Social Clinical Affective Neuroscience Lab Supervised by: Dr. John A. Richey Project Details: Focus on understanding the intersection between decisionmaking and social-affective cognition using multi-modal neuroimaging and behavioral phenotyping in clinical (e.g. Social Anxiety and Autism Spectrum Disorders) and healthy populations. (August 2010-July 2013) Graduate Research Assistant (Masters Level) NIH R01 Grant Funded San Diego State University, Department of Psychology, San Diego, California Supervised by: Dr. Ralph-Axel Mueller Project Details: Focus on understanding the neuro-phenotype of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders using multimodal imaging (EEG, fmri, fcmri, and DTI), eye tracking, and neuropsychological assessment. (November 2009- June 2010) Research Assistant NCI R01 Grant Funded Study University of Illinois in Chicago, Institute of Health Research and Policy, Chicago, Illinois Supervised by: Dr. Robin Mermelstein & Dr. Kathleen Diviak Project Details: Longitudinal study on the progression of smoking and addictive behaviors in adolescents and young adults. (January 2009-August 2010) Co-researcher University of Tehran, Department of Psychology; Tehran, Iran Elmhurst College, Department of Psychology; Elmhurst, Illinois Supervised by: Dr. Helga Noice (Elmhurst College) & Dr. Javad Hatami (University of Tehran) Project Details: Study titled: The Effect of Culture on Memory of the Self: An Analysis of University Students in Iran, the United States, and Afghanistan. Responsibilities included study design, translation of project across languages and cultures, obtaining IRB approval and U.S. data collection. (February 2006- December 2008) Research Assistant: NIH/NIA Grant Funded Study Elmhurst College, Department of Psychology Elmhurst, Illinois Supervised by: Dr. Helga Noice Project Details: Research on memory directed towards at-risk elderly that included an arts/acting intervention aimed at improving cognitive and affective functioning. Responsibilities included administering pre and post-test materials and scoring cognitive/affective measures. 7
RELEVANT TRAINING Quantitative Coursework Regression ANOVA Multivariate Statistics Psychometrics (included SEM, PCA, ICA) Decision Neuroscience (Instructors: Drs. Brooks King-Casas & Pearl Chiu) fmri Methods (Instructor: Dr. Stephen LaConte) Programming and Statistics Bash, R, Matlab, Python (Basics), SAS, SPSS, PsychToolBox Imaging Analysis Software AFNI (Trained by Bob Cox & AFNI team), FSL, SPM (Basics) Programmatic Training Computational Psychiatry Workshop June 26 th -27 th, 2017 National Institutes of Health Computational Psychiatry Course July 24 th -25 th, 2017 University College London TEACHING EXPERIENCE (Fall 2016) Graduate Teaching Assistant: Lifespan Development Graduate Teaching Assistant: Abnormal Psychology (Spring 2016) Instructor of Record: PSYC-2064 Nervous Systems & Behavior (Fall 2015) Instructor of Record: PSYC-2064 Nervous Systems & Behavior (Spring 2015) Instructor of Record: PSYC-2064 Nervous Systems & Behavior 8
(Fall 2015) Instructor of Record: PSYC-2064 Nervous Systems & Behavior Description: Planned course curriculum, material, and assignments. Emphasis on the use of novel and multi-modal pedagogical strategies to increase student engagement, critical thinking, and real-world application CLINICAL EXPERIENCE Clinical Practicum (Current) Clinical Extern: Neurodevelopmental Assessment Track National Institutes of Health Neurodevelopmental and Behavioral Phenotyping Service Bethesda, Maryland Primary Supervisor: Dr. Audrey Thurm, LCP Summary: Receive training, administer assessments, and conduct behavioral evaluations in neurodevelopmental populations. Focus is primarily on younger children/older individuals with significant intellectual/adaptive impairments. Sample populations include: Intellectual Disability, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Williams Syndrome, Phelan- McDermid Syndrome, sex chromosome aneuploidies, Smith-Lemli-Opitz Syndrome, mitochondrial, and metabolic disorders. (August 2012-May 2016) Graduate Student Assessor and Clinician Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Psychological Services Center, Virginia Tech Autism Center Blacksburg, Virginia Summary: Provide empirically supported and evidence based treatments to adults and children with a variety of clinical/developmental disorders. Conduct well-established and standardized assessments for research, educational and clinical purposes. Practicum Team: Trauma and Stress-Related Disorders (Graduate Clinician and Peer Supervisor) Supervisor: Dr. Russell T. Jones Practicum Team: Child & Adolescent Anxiety and Developmental Disorders Supervisors: Dr. Thomas H. Ollendick and Dr. Susan White Practicum Team: Family Systems and CBT 9
Supervisor: Dr. Lee Cooper Practicum Team: Neuropsychology Supervisor: Dr. David Harrison (August 2014-December 2014) Clinical Extern Carilion Hospital Inpatient Child and Adolescent Treatment Facility Roanoke, Virginia Summary: Rounds, assessments, milieu, and group therapy as part of a multi-disciplinary treatment team for children and adolescents admitted to an acute short-term inpatient rehab facility. Also provided consultation to adult inpatient treatment teams when needed. Supervisor: Dr. Gary A. Curtis (August 2012- Present) Graduate Assessor and Research Assistant Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Social Clinical Affective Neuroscience Lab Blacksburg, Virginia Summary of Responsibilities: Conduct standardized and well-validated cognitive and clinical assessments on individuals with Social Anxiety and ASD, as well as their typically developing peers, for research purposes. All work completed under the supervision of a licensed clinical psychologist. (August 2012-August 2013) Graduate Clinician Neurorestorative: Virginia Brain Injury Rehabilitation Center Blacksburg, Virginia Summary of Responsibilities: Conduct focused group therapy with adult patients suffering from moderate to severe brain injuries. Treatment focused on emotion regulation and social skills. All work supervised by center staff as well as a licensed clinical neuropsychologist. (August 2010-July 2012) Graduate Assessor and Research Assistant San Diego State University Brain Development and Imaging Laboratory, NIH R01 Funded Research Summary of Responsibilities: Performed standardized cognitive and neuropsychological assessments for research with adolescents and young adults with ASD as well as controls. Peer-supervised by a clinical psychology PhD student, who was supervised by a licensed clinical psychologist. Clinical Training 10
(February 2015) Using the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM-5 in Clinical and Research Practices with Children and Parents Dr. Anne Marie Albano, Columbia University Medical Center (March 2014) Clinical Training in the Assessment and Treatment of Pediatric OCD and Anxiety Dr. Marty Franklin, University of Pennsylvania (August 2013) ADOS-2 Clinical and Research Training Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Virginia Tech Center for Autism Research Blacksburg, Virginia Summary: Received clinical and research level training on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-2 by ADOS certified research trainer Dr. Donald Oswald from Virginia Commonwealth University. (August 2012) ADOS-2 Clinical and Research Training (Toddler Module Included) Emory University Atlanta, Georgia Summary: Received clinical training on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-2 and accompanying toddler module. PEER AND AD-HOC REVIEW EXPERIENCE Peer Reviewer Association for Psychological Science Student Caucus RISE Award Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Ad-hoc Reviewer PLOS ONE (3) Behavior Therapy (1) Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review (1) Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders (1) Social Cognitive Affective Neuroscience (1) SERVICE/LEADERSHIP ACTIVITIES 11
Professional Service (2017) NIH Post-bacc Poster Day Lead Judge NIH Summer Internship Program: Journal Club Leader Title: Computational Psychiatry: Where math, brains, and behavior meet to improve mental health diagnosis and treatment PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS Professional Positions (2015-2017) Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS) Elected Member of the Trainee Association Planning Committee Social Media Coordinator Membership Association for Psychological Science (APS) Society for Neuroscience (SFN) International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS) Association for Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies (ABCT) ABCT Neurocognitive Therapies and Translational Research SIG (NT/TR) Computational Psychiatry (CP) 12