Advisory Board and Editors Mental Health
Ksenija Bazdaric
Ksenija Baždarić is associate professor at the Department of Basic Sciencies Rijeka University Faculty of health Studies, Croatia. Her academic background lies both in social sciences and biomedicine. She received her master’s degree in psychology (2002) and PhD in social medicine (2012). She teaches medical informatics, statistics and scientific methodology. Her investigation for the PhD thesis ''The Value of Plagiarism Detection Procedure in a Biomedical Journal'' was focused on the detection of similar texts with web-services CrossCheck and eTBLAST in the Croatian Medical Journal (www.cmj.hr) during 2009-2010, and the development of standard operating procedure for detecting and dealing with plagiarism in biomedical journals. She became Research Integrity Editor at the Croatian Medical Journal (http://www.cmj.hr) in 2012 and Chief Editor of European Science Editing (http://www.ease.org.uk/publications/european-science-editing), the offical journal of the European Association of Science Editors (http://www.ease.org.uk/) in 2015.Her current research activities include open science.
Alessandra N Bazzano
Alessandra Bazzano studies behavior and health over the life course, focusing on maternal, newborn, and child health & nutrition in low income populations, with an emphasis on context, culture, equity, and human connection. Through a concurrent appointment at the Taylor Center for Social Innovation and Design Thinking, their scholarship explores human centered design approaches to health research. Dr. Bazzano's expertise, gained through two decades of work in international and domestic public health, includes developing and evaluating complex health interventions, design thinking, applied anthropology, qualitative methods, and formative research.
Chong Chen
My main research interest is to understand the cognitive and neural computational mechanisms of human decision-making and learning, and how they are dysregulated in neuropsychiatric diseases (in particular, major depressive disorders and anxiety disorders). I am also interested in exploring behavioral and psychological interventions (such as physical exercise and contact with natural environments) that help to enhance cognitive functions, build resilience, promote mental health, and/or have therapeutic effects for neuropsychiatric diseases. My research employs a range of methodologies, including psychometric tests, behavioral tests, cognitive theories-informed computational modelling, neuroimaging, and machine learning. By combining these techniques, I am currently conducting studies to predict the incidence of neuropsychiatric diseases in a public health setting and predict patients’ responses to various treatments to promote personalized medicine. Previously, I have also conducted basic research with rats using behavioral experiments and microdialysis and microinjection techniques, for the purpose of investigating the neurobiological (neuroendocrinological and neurotransmitter) basis of the antidepressant-like and anxiolytic-like effects of drugs and physical exercise. Based on these results, I have proposed “The Exercise-Glucocorticoid Paradox”, which describes the phenomenon that despite increasing the stress hormone cortisol, a mediator of the detrimental effects of stress on cognition and mental health, physical exercise enhances cognition and promotes mental health.
Katherine Compitus
Katherine Compitus is a Clinical Assistant Professor at NYU Silver School of Social Work as well as Chair of the Practice Curriculum Area and Director of the School’s Animal-Assisted Interventions post-masters program. She is a Colombian-American doctor of clinical social work, licensed bilingual clinical social worker, and biopsychologist. Her research focuses on trauma studies, specifically within the human-animal bond, with a focus on the disproportionate systemic oppression of people of color. This includes an examination of multiple aspects of society, including social policy, mental health services, crisis intervention and the social determinants of health. Dr. Compitus is the author of the Zooeyia blog on PsychologyToday.com where she discusses crisis intervention in the human-animal bond and she is the author of The Human-Animal Bond and Clinical Social Work Practice (Springer, 2021).
Dr. Compitus has worked extensively in clinical social work and is passionate about promoting health equity for people of color. She worked for several years in the psychiatric emergency room of Garnet Hospital, has provided bilingual family therapy in a school setting through Andrus, and was a social work manager at Montefiore Medical Group in the Bronx, where she co-managed 60 social workers at 23 sites. She is trained in multiple modalities including Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, CBT and DBT and is a Certified Hypnotherapist and Certified Family Trauma Therapist. Dr. Compitus is the founder and chairman of Surrey Hills Sanctuary, a non-profit organization providing veterinary social work services in New York State. Her work with animals includes providing animal-assisted therapy to adolescent and adult trauma survivors, as well as fundraising for people with pets who are in crisis. She also designed the curriculum and currently teaches NYU Silver’s Human-Animal Bond course, which includes a thorough examination of the dehumanization of people of color by oppressive institutions.
Dr. Compitus earned both her DSW and MSW from New York University. She also holds an MSEd and an MA in Biopsychology. Dr. Compitus has been an educator, working with children and families in the NYC area, for over 20 years. She previously taught elementary and early childhood education courses at CUNY BMCC and was an adjunct lecturer at Columbia University and Fordham University.
Neil Dagnall
Dr Neil Dagnall is a Professor in Applied Cognitive Psychology at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU). His research focuses on applied aspects of cognition, particularly thinking style and cognitive-perceptual factors that influence scientifically unsubstantiated beliefs (i.e., belief in the paranormal, conspiratorial ideation, pseudo-science, and urban legends), decision-making, and behaviour change. Neil also has an interest in psychometric scale development and evaluation, which has resulted in recent publications examining the structure and best use of established psychological measures. Relatedly, Neil works also in the performance field, particularly the development of non-cognitive skills. This has resulted in associations with sporting organizations. Neil’s work is acknowledged internationally as demonstrated by his good publication record (150 plus peer reviewed articles), a history of attracting funding (e.g., Bial Research Fellowships), commercial enterprises (e.g., Knowledge Transfer Partnerships), and an outstanding record of public engagement and knowledge exchange.
Kenneth Drinkwater
Dr. Kenneth Drinkwater is a Senior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University.
His research areas include the following:
- Cognition: perceptual processing, statistical processing, and memory.
- Parapsychology (anomalous experiences, general belief, parapsychology, conspiracy theories)
His other areas of interest are:
- Older Adults & Neuropsychology (TBI/Head injuries/parkinson’s/epilepsy)
- IQ/Intelligence and ability measurement/testing
- Projective methods - Rorschach/thematic apperception tests
- Learning Disabilities (spectrum disorders/autism/asperger’s)
Diann S Eley
Professor Diann (Di) Eley is the Director of MD Student Research in the Academy for Medical Education in the Medical School at The University of Queensland (UQ). Di chairs the MD Student Research Advisory Committee, and is the chairperson of the UQ Human Research Ethics Committee. Di’s research career began with an MSc in reproductive physiology at the University of Florida. She subsequently worked for nearly 20 years as a bench scientist in Kenya and the UK. In 2000, she began her academic career after receiving a PhD in health and exercise psychology at the University of Bristol. She moved to the School of Medicine at The University of Queensland in 2003.
The primary focus of Di’s research is medical education, research training and rural health workforce. Her specific area of research interest deals with personality and behaviour around student well-being and career choice. Di has over 130 peer-reviewed publications, and over 20 externally funded research projects in medical education and rural workforce. She leads the medical student research program at UQ and is responsible for the development and implementation of the Clinician Scientist Track, which encourages student interest and experience in research, and the MD-PhD program which facilitates medical students undertaking a research higher degree alongside their medical degree.
Ottavia M. Epifania
Dr. Ottavia Epifania is a Research Assistant within the Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Pedagogy, and Applied Psychology at the University of Padua.
Her research interests include Psychometrics, particularly in Item Response Theory.
Lia Fernandes
Associate Professor - University of Porto (UP)
UP Researcher, in charge of the Mental Health unit for the Gerontology and Geriatrics PhD Program - Centro Hospitalar São João / Faculty of Medicine, UP
Teaching also General Practice, Nursing, Psychology and Social Education in several Universities
Medical Doctor, Senior Graduate Assistant of Psychiatry in CHSJ and Family Therapist
Portuguese Association of Gerontopsychiatry/APG (President 2010-13); International Psychogeriatric Association/IPA (Board of Directors 2011-14 and Expert Advisory Council since 2014); Dementia Cerebral Aging Group Study/GEECD (Board of Directors 2008-10); Portuguese Society for Geriatrics and Gerontology/SPGG (Scientific Board since 2012); Portuguese Society of Family Therapy/SPTF (National Board 1997-00 and 2000-03); International Family Therapy Association/IFTA (Board of Directors 2009-12 and 2012-15).
Leonardo L Gollo
Leonardo is a Senior Research Fellow with training in Neuroscience and Physics. He works on Neuroscience, Computational Biology, Connectomics, and Complex Systems. His research focuses on computational and mathematical models of brain function.
Fanglin Guan
Prof. Fanglin Guan is Dean at Xi'an Jiaotong University. He is engaged in the integrated biological research of complex diseases, including tumor microenvironment and novel immunotherapeutic modalities, and research on the mechanisms and medical applications related to tumor cell vaccines, especially for the exploration of the mechanism of determining the biomarkers of complex diseases.
Andree Hartanto
Andree Hartanto is an Assistant Professor of Psychology from Singapore Management University. His research focuses on examining factors that contribute to interindividual variations and intraindividual changes in cognitive, emotional, and physical well-being. Andree’s work has been published in more than 60 peer-reviewed journal articles such as Cognition, Child Development, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, Emotion, and Social Science & Medicine.