EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
The Executive Committee of the Neurocognitive Therapies and Translational Research Special Interest Group (NTTR SIG) is leading the way in translating research on the neurobiological underpinnings of mental illness to improve current treatments and develop novel interventions. Our mission is to help bridge neuroscience and clinical applications. We aim to produce and disseminate translational neuroscience research, to foster communications on the intersection of neuroscience and clinical practice within the ABCT organization and the larger clinical science community.
SIG CHAIR
Mary Woody Ph.D.
Mary Woody, Ph.D. directs the Human Emotion, Attention, and Resilience in Translational Neuroscience (HEART) lab in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, where she is an Associate Professor and licensed psychologist. She has been a member of the NTTR SIG since 2013, when she first found this unique intellectual home for the clinical application of neuroscience.
Her research asks how adolescents attend to and process emotional information, and how affect-biased information processing serves as both a mechanism and a treatment target for adolescent depression and anxiety. Integrating clinical psychology, biological psychiatry, biomedical engineering, and community-engaged methods, she has developed novel community-informed neuroscience paradigms and EEG-based brain-computer interfaces to inform and improve interventions for diverse adolescents and their families.
She received her B.S. in Psychology and Women & Gender Studies from the University of Miami and her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Binghamton University (SUNY). She completed her doctoral clinical internship at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, as well as NIMH-funded postdoctoral (T32) and career development (K23) awards at the University of Pittsburgh.
As Chair, she is thrilled to continue advancing the SIG's mission to bridge the gap between basic and applied science in the treatment of psychiatric disorders and to support members at all career stages in connecting neuroscience with clinical practice!
TREASURY CHAIR
Nastasia McDonald, BA
I am a PhD student in the Biobehavioral Health Program at Penn State University. My research broadly focuses on the neural and biological mechanisms underlying stress, anxiety, and depression, and examining how these processes interact to shape health outcomes. I am also interested in how cultural factors influence appraisal processes, symptom presentation, and, consequently, treatment efficacy. I am excited to serve as treasurer of the NTTR SIG. I look forward to helping the SIG grow and furthering their mission of translating neurocognitive techniques into clinical practice.
OUTREACH CHAIR
Abigail (Abby) Szkutak, M.S., M.Phil.
I am doctoral candidate in Clinical Psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University
working under the mentorship of Douglas Mennin and am currently completing my Predoctoral
Internship at the Warren Alpert Medical School/Brown University Consortium (2026-27). My
research sits at the intersection of affective neuroscience and clinical psychology, with a focus
on understanding how treatment mechanisms operate across evidence-based interventions and
how we can optimize, personalize, and expand access to care through translational research. I
joined the SIG in 2020 and was fortunate to serve as the Student Representative from 2022-25,
where I coordinated the SIG’s annual translational neuroscience mentorship program. Now, as
the SIG's Outreach Chair, I hope to continue fostering mentorship, collaboration, and
community-building across career stages. I am especially passionate about creating
opportunities for trainees and early-career researchers to connect, collaborative, and engage in
meaningful interdisciplinary work.
REPRESENTATIVE-AT-LARGE
Maria Kryza-Lacombe, Ph.D.
I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at UC San Francisco and a Staff Neuropsychologist at the San Francisco VA. My research focuses on identifying the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying emotional and cognitive dysfunction and resilience in older adults, with the goal of informing mechanism-based prevention and intervention strategies that support resilience and wellbeing across the aging process. I am also particularly interested in neuroscience-informed psychoeducation and its potential to reduce stigma, enhance engagement, and enrich clinical care.
I joined the NTTR SIG as a student member in 2017 and have remained deeply committed to its mission to advance the clinical translation of cognitive and affective neuroscience. Over the past several years, I have had the privilege of serving the SIG in multiple roles—including Website Manager, Student Representative, and Membership Chair. Across these roles, I have worked to foster community, amplify the SIG's visibility, and develop and implement the SIG's Mentorship Program, which has supported networking and professional development for both student and professional members. I am honored to continue serving the SIG as Representative-At-Large, with a focus on strengthening collaborations across career stages, increasing the visibility and impact of NTTR work, and ensuring that the needs of our diverse membership are heard and addressed.
MEMBERSHIP CHAIR
Nikki Puccetti, Ph.D.
I am a currently a postdoctoral fellow at Ohio State University’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health working with Dr. Jay Forunier. Previously, I earned my BA in Psychology at OSU, received my PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Miami in Florida, and completed my predoctoral clinical internship at OSU with a focus on mood, anxiety, and mindfulness in adult psychopathology.
Emotions are universal, yet highly complex, dynamic, and variable within and between individuals. My research aims to clarify how the brain governs the temporal unfolding of emotions, especially persistent negative affect. Because emotions and thoughts are deeply intertwined, I also cognitive styles that can impact the time course of negative emotion, such as repetitive negative thinking. Most recently, I have focused on the role of negative self-referential thoughts and beliefs in the maintenance of depression and the prediction of depression relapse. Nikki is particularly passionate about using fMRI, behavioral experiments, and ecological momentary assessment (e.g. smartphone surveys) to connect patterns of brain activity and lab-based behavior to meaningful, real-world experiences. These multimodal, naturalistic measurements will improve the accuracy and precision of models that identify vulnerable individuals and inform clinical disorder treatment.
Trained as both a clinician and a neuroscientist, I am very enthusiastic to support the NTTR SIG and their mission to leverage basic neuroscience and neuroimaging to refine models of psychopathology and its treatment. As Membership Chair, I will work hard to grow the SIG, welcome new members, and foster connections within the SIG.
SIG FOUNDER
Jan Mohlman, Ph.D.
Dr. Mohlman conducts research that seeks to explain how processes of aging (e.g., hearing loss, progressive brain disease, deficits in cognitive skills) impact the presentation and treatment of anxiety in later life. This line of inquiry places particular importance on the executive system (e.g., complex cognitive skills such as reasoning, dividing attention, and metacognition) because these skills decline in later life, and are known to be involved in the management and regulation of emotion, anxiety in particular. Dr. Mohlman’s work also extends to treatment outcome research, applying methodology from affective and cognitive neuroscience to inform studies of 1) cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and 2) the presentation of anxiety and related clinical problems. Recent research interests also include emotional contrast and technophobia in older adults. Dr. Mohlman along with Drs. Thilo Deckersbach and Adam Weissman, was the editor of the SIG’s recent book entitled, From Symptom to Synapse: A Neurocognitive Perspective on Clinical Psychology published by Routledge.
STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE
Marvin Yan, M.A.
I am currently a PhD candidate in the Clinical Science & Psychopathology Research Program at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities working with Drs. Bonnie Klimes-Dougan and Kathryn Cullen. Broadly, my program of research uses neuroimaging/neuromodulation to better understand the neural circuitry underlying depression and suicidal thoughts/behaviors. Recently, I have started becoming more interested in rethinking how we collect and analyze data from participants, and started exploring machine learning analytical techniques along with wearable device data collection. I am thrilled to take on the role of Student Representative to continue managing the mentorship program and other initiatives aimed at benefiting student members of the NTTR SIG.
WEBSITE MANAGER
Serena Gu, M.A.
I am currently a PhD student in the Clinical Science Program at Washington University in St. Louis, mentored by Dr. Kirsten Gilbert. My current work bridges clinical science and neuroimaging, with an emphasis on developmental clinical science. I am particularly interested in investigating transdiagnostic mechanisms of internalizing psychopathology, specifically anxiety, mood, and eating disorders, and understanding how these symptoms alter reward and loss processing and learning. I joined the NTTR SIG in 2025 to help update the website and get involved with SIG events and initiatives.
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
Michael Liuzzi
UPDATE Bio
SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE:
Greg Siegle, Ph.D., Senior Advisor to the Chair
Angela Fang, Ph.D., Past-President
Ryan Jacoby, Ph.D.
Andrew Peckham, Ph.D.
Thilo Deckersbach, Ph.D., Past-President
Rudi De Raedt, Ph.D.
GOVERNANCE ARCHIVES:
Former SIG Officers
Jan Mohlman, SIG Founder and Former Chair
Thilo Deckersbach, Former Chair, Former Membership/Treasury Chair
Adam Weissman, Former Chair, Former Membership/Treasury Chair
Rebecca Price, Former Chair
Kristen K. Ellard, Former Chair
Marlene Strege, Former Chair
Kean Hsu, Former Representative-At-Large/Outreach Chair
Jonathan Stange, Former Student Representative
Andrew Peckham, Former Student Representative, Former Website Manager
Elissa Hamlat, Former Student Representative
Peter Hitchcock, Former Social Media Manager
Berda Gilmore, Former Newsletter Designer