CARES Lab Members
Lab Director
Casey Brown, PhD
Principal Investigator
Casey Brown is an Assistant Professor at Georgetown University in the Department of Psychology and the Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience. She earned her PhD in clinical psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, after completing her clinical internship at the University of California, San Francisco. Before graduate school, she served as the Project Coordinator of the Virginia Affective Neuroscience Laboratory and received her BA in psychology and cognitive science from the University of Virginia.
Casey’s research examines how we share, understand, and influence one another’s emotions. She’s interested in how these interpersonal emotional processes are beneficial for health, and how these processes go awry and contribute to depression. Her research uses an interdisciplinary and multi-method approach to inform and advance interventions that improve socio-emotional functioning. She works with individuals who have neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases, as well as neurotypical individuals, and studies a number of different forms of social connections across the lifespan, with a particular focus on aging in dyads. Her work is currently funded by an R00 Pathway to Independence Award from the National Institute on Aging.
Graduate Students
Neke Nsor
Neuroscience PhD candidate
Neke grew up in CA, where she attended undergrad at UC-Berkeley and earned a degree in psychology with a minor in disability studies. She then received her masters in neuroscience and education from Columbia University. She is a Phd candidate in the IPN program at Georgetown. Her research focuses on understanding the cognitive and non-cognitive symptoms of neurodegenerative disorders in high risk populations. When Neke is not in the lab, you can catch her at a museum or at a restaurant trying new foods.
Annika Allen
Incoming Psychology graduate student
Annika graduated from William & Mary in 2022 with a B.S. in Psychology and in Kinesiology & Health Sciences. Before joining the CARES lab, she worked in the W&M Autism Lab and as a lab manager for the Cognitive Aging and Memory and Integrative Cognitive Neuroscience labs at Tufts University. As a graduate student on the LCN track, her research interests center around the impact that emotion and interoceptive processes have on social relationships and health, as well as methods to improve socio-emotional functioning across the lifespan.
Matthew Kiely
Incoming Psychology graduate student
Matt graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 2020 with a B.S. in Biological Sciences (General Biology) and a minor in Neuroscience. Before starting as an LCN student, he worked in the Developmental Social Cognitive Neuroscience Lab at UMD as an undergrad RA and as a postbac, the Magnetic Resonance Physics of Aging and Dementia Unit at the National Institute on Aging as a postbac, and the Lab for Neurodevelopment of Reading and Language at UMD as a project manager. He is interested in the neuroscience surrounding interpersonal relationships, empathy, and interactions in naturalistic contexts.
Lab Staff
Anna Toledo
Post-Baccalaureate Research Fellow
Anna graduated from Wake Forest University in 2023 with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Neuroscience. She worked in a cognitive lab during her undergraduate studies, where she completed her Honors Thesis. Anna was awarded a Diversity Supplement from the National Institute on Aging, and will be working with Dr. Brown to investigate the effects of emotion regulation on the well-being and executive functioning of dementia caregivers. In her free time, Anna likes to do yoga, paint-by-numbers, and hang out with friends.
Navya Yarrabothula
Lab Manager
Navya is the current lab manager. She received a Bachelor's of Science degree in Clinical Psychology from University of California, San Diego in 2023. She worked at the Empathy and Emotion Lab at UCSD and completed her honor's thesis there. Navya is interested in interpersonal emotion regulation and the costs of regulating someone else's emotions. In her free time, she loves talking about new TV shows, playing ukulele, and taking up new DIY projects!
Research Assistants
Pierson Cohen
Research Assistant
Pierson is a Junior in the College, majoring in Psychology. He enjoys reading, listening to music, and traveling. He likes learning languages, such as Japanese and Italian. He is also passionate about culture and the arts, and is an assistant editor in the Georgetown Voice’s Leisure section.
Maeve Pierson
Research Assistant
Maeve is a sophomore at Georgetown from Boise, Idaho, studying psychology on the pre-med track. She hopes to pursue a career as a pediatrician and loves to cook, run, ski, travel and listen to “nerdy psychology podcasts” in her free time.
Madumitha Parthasarathy
Research Assistant
With a background in clinical psychology, Madumitha strives to help people’s overall mental well-being. Her passion and expertise lies in research, where she like to seek evidence-based solutions to navigate our complex world.
Zaynab Ibrahim
Research Assistant
Zaynab studied psychology at Williams College and has a strong interest in both the clinical and developmental research areas. She enjoys reading novels, spending time with family and friends, and learning languages such as Arabic and Japanese. She hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in Psychology in the future.
Kriti Mukherjee
Research Assistant
Kriti is a student in the School of Health, studying Healthcare Management and Policy on the Pre Medical track and minoring in Studio Art. She is interested in the fields of Neurobiology, Neuroscience, and Psychology. She plans to pursue a career in medicine.
Nishita Paruchuri
Research Assistant
Nishita is a rising junior in high school. She is passionate about the interdisciplinary relationship between neuroscience and psychology, and hope to become a neurosurgeon. Her main interests are emotion perception and regulation in neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders. In her free time, she loves to bake and read!
Vineet Sekhon
Research Assistant
I'm Vineet Sekhon, a postgraduate with a Master's in Clinical Psychology from India. Eager to pursue a Ph.D. in psychology, I'm captivated by interpersonal relationships, resilience, and emotional regulation. Aiming to contribute meaningfully to psychological research, my journey is fueled by curiosity and a desire to unravel the complexities of human behavior. In my free time, I find solace in reading and groove to the melodies of KPOP.
Nathaniel Drexler
Research Assistant
Nathaniel is a Senior at Northwestern University, majoring in Psychology and Philosophy. He enjoys reading bad fantasy novels and backpacking in his free time. He plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology post-graduation, and his areas of interest include mood and anxiety disorders.
Samie Adapa
Research Assistant
Samie is a rising senior at Oakton High School in Northern Virginia. She is passionate about neurology and hopes to pursue a career in medicine in the future. Outside of school, Samie enjoys playing the guitar, reading, and listening to music.
Eli Kales
Research Assistant
Eli is a senior at Georgetown University, majoring in psychology with minors in journalism in Spanish. Eli is originally from Bethesda, Maryland, and hopes to pursue a PhD in clinical psychology following graduation. His primary research interests include mood and anxiety disorders and neurodegenerative disorders, as well as the application of knowledge about clinical psychology and mental health to improve well-being and behavioral health outcomes. In his free time, Eli enjoys trying new restaurants with friends, watching soccer, and walking around DC.
Srilakshmi Venkatesan
Research Assistant
Srilakshmi (Sri) is a rising senior at Hopkinton High School. Her interests lie in the intersections of anthropology, neuroscience, and psychology, hoping to major in a combination of such studies. As she continues to explore her passions, she aspires to advocate for social change to benefit neurological care.
Saranya Gadwala
Research Assistant
Saranya is a senior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, in Northern Virginia. She hopes to pursue a career in the field of medicine, specifically psychiatry or neurology. In her free time, Saranya can be found drawing, listening to music, or spending time with friends.
Raha Montazeri
Research Assistant
Raha is a rising senior at Woodson High School. She hopes to pursue a pre-med track in college and further a career as a pediatric neurosurgeon. She is passionate about neurology, psychology, genetics, and the overall health of her population. She enjoys figure skating, crocheting, and seeing her friends and family in her free time
Raha Montazeri
Research Assistant
Raha is a rising senior at Woodson High School. She hopes to pursue a pre-med track in college and further a career as a pediatric neurosurgeon. She is passionate about neurology, psychology, genetics, and the overall health of her population. She enjoys figure skating, crocheting, and seeing her friends and family in her free time
Lab Alumni
Hannah Cozad
Former Lab Manager
Current Graduate Student in Clinical Psychology
