CONTACT INFORMATION Email: auv27@psu.edu Phone: 314.610.8078 Address: 1400 Martin St. Unit # 3096 State College, PA 16803 Curriculum Vitae Alicia Vallorani EDUCATION PhD Candidate, Developmental Psychology, Social & Affective Neuroscience The Pennsylvania State University May 2021 State College PA MS, Experimental Psychology Thesis title: Neural processing differences in alexithymia and autism spectrum disorder: An event related potential study of social exclusion Aug 2016 Macomb, IL BA, Psychology Knox College Thesis title: Does facial masculinity predict differential investment in feminine versus masculine featured females? Jun 2011 Galesburg, IL SCHOLARSHIP Publications Constantino, J., Zhang, Y., Holzhauer, K., Sant, S., Long, K., Vallorani, A., Malik, L., & Gutmann, D. H. (2015). Distribution and within-family specificity of quantitative autistic traits in nf1. The Journal of Pediatrics, 167(3), 621 626. Licis, A. K., Vallorani, A., Gao, F., Chen, C., Lenox, J., Yamada, K. A., Duntley, S. P., & Gutmann, D.H. (2013). Prevalence of sleep disturbances in children with neurofibromatosis type 1. Journal of Child Neurology, 28(11), 1400 1405. Presentations Vallorani, A., Kelly, K. M, & Boo, J. A. (2016, May). Anxious, social and thinking introversion: Understanding introversion subtypes through the lens of alexithymia. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
2 Boo, J. A., & Vallorani, A. (2016, May). Differences in belonging needs in social versus anxious introverts. Poster presented at the Psi Chi division of the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL. Vallorani, A., McFadden, S. L., Sunami, N., Nielsen, S. E. (2016, April). Autism spectrum disorder traits, not alexithymia traits, explain reduced attention to exclusion. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Social and Affective Neuroscience, New York, NY. Boo, J. A., & Vallorani, A. (2016, April). Do introverts need to belong? Poster presented at the annual Undergraduate Research Conference, Macomb, IL. Vallorani, A., Sunami, N., McFadden, S. L., & Omura, M. (2015, October). Communication skills and positive affect recognition: The roles of alexithymia and autism traits. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Social Neuroscience, Chicago, IL. Sunmi, N., Kelly, K. M., Vallorani, A., Kiebel, E. M., Berg, P. C., Hester, C. McFadden, S. L. (2015, October). Loneliness moderates n1 response to aggressive words following ostracism. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Social Neuroscience, Chicago, IL. Vallorani, A., Sunami, N., McFadden, S. L., & Omura, M. (2015, September). The effects of autism communication skills deficits and alexithymia on positive affect recognition. Poster presented at the annual Iowa State University 2015 Neuroscience Research Day, Ames, IA. Vallorani, A., Sunami, N., McFadden, S. L., & Kelly, K. M. (2015, May). Emotionally blind with a social mind: Exploring the paradox of alexithymia. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL. Vallorani, A., Sunami, N., McFadden, S. L., Omura, M., Wilson, A. J., Berg, P. C., & Robinson, L. K. (2015, April). Attention versus recognition: Differences in emotion processing deficits in autism spectrum disorder and alexithymia. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Social & Affective Neuroscience Society, Boston, MA. Sunami, N., Vallorani, A., McFadden, S. L., Omura, M., Kiebel, E. M., & Kelly, K. M. (2015, April). Rejection sensitivity is related to altered neural processing of fear. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Social & Affective Neuroscience Society, Boston, MA. Vallorani, A., Sunami, N., McFadden, S. L., & Kelly, K. M. (2015, March). Loneliness and Emotional Intelligence: Factors underlying social deficits in individuals with alexithymia. Paper presented at the annual Graduate Research Conference, Macomb, IL.
3 Vallorani, A., Sunami, N., McFadden, S. L., Omura, M., Wilson, A. J., Berg, P. C., & Robinson, L. K. (2015, March). Emotion processing: Differences between individuals with autism spectrum disorder and alexithymia. Paper presented at the annual Graduate Research Conference, Macomb, IL. Vallorani, A. (2011, April). Does facial masculinity predict differential investment in feminine versus masculine featured females? Paper presented at the 38th annual Illinois-Iowa Undergraduate Psychology Empirical Research Conference, Monmouth, IL. Vallorani, A., Walker, N., Salehin, S., Niehoff, K., & Warner, C. (2010, November). It s in the red: Does the color red affect sexual attraction across the sexes? Paper presented at annual Knox College Evolutionary Psychology Poster Presentations, Galesburg, IL. AWARDS AND FUNDING Jim Ackil Neuroscience Award Outstanding independent research project in neuroscience $150 February 2016 Graduate Student Research and Professional Development Grant Grant for research materials $500 October 2015 Graduate Student Research and Professional Development Grant Travel grant for presentation of outstanding research project $750 March 2015 Jim Ackil Neuroscience Award Outstanding independent research project in neuroscience $150 February 2015 Oliver D. & Josephine Ellison Loomis Scholar Academic achievement scholarship Aug 2009 Jun 2011 Knox College RESEARCH EXPERIENCE Lab Manager, Brain and Behavior Lab Department of Psychology, Develop hypotheses with team members about how Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) may be related to Alexithymia and affect social-emotional processing Develop hypotheses with team members about how personality traits such as loneliness and rejection sensitivity affect socialemotional processing Aug 2014 May 2016 Dr. Sandra McFadden
4 Program study tasks into Superlab, including Cyberball Manipulation and Go-Nogo paradigm Collect and clean Event Related Potential (ERP), Facial Electromyography (femg), electrodermal response (EDR) and heart rate data using AcKnowledge and MATLAB software Collect and clean emotional stroop, emotion-labeling and Cyberball task data using E-Prime and SuperLab software Analyze ERP, self-report and task data using SPSS Use SONA system to schedule and credit participants Graduate Researcher, Interpersonal Relationships Lab Department of Psychology, Designing study to assess Social Monitoring System in relation to the STAR Model of Introversion Designed an online study to test how the STAR Model of Introversion is related to need to belong, loneliness, rejection sensitivity and Alexithymia Designed an online study to test how need to belong, loneliness and rejection sensitivity might be related to Alexithymia and ASD Analyze self-report using SPSS Use SONA system to schedule and credit participants SONA Administrator, Manage approvals of all ongoing Psychology Department studies Provide general research support, including survey creation, SPSS assistance, protocol formation and research tutoring Add users, studies and researchers to SONA Assist students with selecting research requirement fulfillments and provide research credits as applicable Clinical Research Assistant II, Gutmann Lab Department of Neurology, Washington University in St. Louis Developed 7 protocols with a team of physicians and therapists designed to target an array of genetic and behavioral issues associated with NF1 Managed over 15 ongoing clinical studies by submitting updates, revisions and renewals to the IRB Built multiple databases using ClinPortal and RedCap software Participated in weekly clinics as the primary recruiter of participants for ongoing studies Aug 2014 May 2016 Aug 2015 May 2016 Dr. David Lane May 2012 Aug 2014 Dr. David Gutmann
5 Assisted team members in completing developmental screenings on participants including the peds:dm, Connor s Brief and the SRS-2 Managed all collected biospecimens including blood and skin samples Managed all data entry and cleaning for the team biostatistician. Participated in publication development by creating figures as well as assisting with writing and editing manuscripts Used Adobe Photoshop and Reader Pro as well as Microsoft Office Excel, Word Processor, PowerPoint and Publisher to complete daily responsibilities TEACHING EXPERIENCE Graduate Teaching Assistant, Advanced Research Methods Department of Psychology, Provided outside tutoring to graduate students in writing and comprehension of classwork Assist with formulation of research ideas and hypotheses Jan 2016 May 2016 Graduate Teaching Assistant, Advanced Statistics Department of Psychology, Provided outside tutoring to graduate students Grade tests Assist in development of homework assignments Aug 2015 Dec 2015 Dr. Collin Harbke Graduate Teaching Assistant, Advanced Social Psychology Department of Psychology, Graded essay tests Jan 2015 May 2015 Graduate Teaching Assistant, Human Social Behavior Department of Psychology, Graded written assignments Jan 2015 May 2015 Graduate Teaching Assistant, Research Methods in Psychology II Department of Psychology, Assisted undergraduate students in designing, analyzing data and writing manuscripts for independent research studies Provided outside tutoring in writing and comprehension Graded written assignments Conducted review sessions prior to exams Aug 2014 Dec 2014
6 PROFESIONAL DEVELOPMENT Guest Lectures Music, the mind and performance anxiety 1 hour lecture for the Music and Well-Being Lecture Series Apr 2015 Academic Credit Lectures Embodied cognition as memory recall 75 minute lecture for Memory Systems course March 2016 Benefits of hearing voices: Evolutionary psychology and hormones 45 minute lecture for Social Behavior course Jan 2015 Neural basis of social emotional development in adolescents 50 minute lecture for Current Research in Psychology course Dec 2014 Disorders and musical creativity: The role of dopamine and serotonin 10 minute lecture for Neural Basis of Behavior course Nov 2013 Washington University, STL Aggressive tendencies: Can we treat at risk individuals with acetaminophen? 10 minute lecture for Neurobiology course Jul 2013 Washington University, STL PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS Society for Social Neuroscience Social & Affective Neuroscience Society Sigma Xi Honors Society Psi Chi Honors Society Jul 2015 present Nov 2014 present Jun 2011 present May 2011 present SERVICE Professional Group Leader, WIU Psychology Graduate Student Orientation Graduate Student Representative, WIU Research Committee Judge, WIU Undergraduate Research Conference Research Assistant, fellow WIU student s field research study Aug 2015 Aug 2014 May 2016 Apr 2015, Apr 2016 Aug 2014 Nov 2014 Community Volunteer, Club NF: play-based therapy for children with NF1 Volunteer, Beat NF: jazz music therapy for toddlers with NF1 May 2012 May 2016 Oct 2013 May 2016