Media, Awards, Announcements

Julien Musolino, Joseph Sommer, and Pernille Hemmer signed a book deal with Cambridge University Press. The book, provisionally titled The Science of Beliefs: A multidisciplinary Approach, is a unique edited volume dedicated to the scientific understanding of beliefs. The book includes chapters from leading international scholars in a range of disciplines such as psychology, linguistics, economics, political science, psychiatry, and anthropology, among others. The volume will contain chapters

The NJACE is a network of community members, researchers, and service providers whose mission is to improve autism research and clinical care throughout the state of New Jersey, revamp autism training initiatives across the state, educate society about autism unmet needs, and to make New Jersey a national leader in these endeavors. Dr. Elizabeth Torres and one of her pre-med students have put together a series of podcasts featuring and celebrating minorities in science and STEM. The first few

Dr. Richard Contrada of both the Social and Clinical areas of the department has received the 2020 Excellence in Health Psychology Mentoring Award from the Society for Health Psychology. Richard is a social/health psychologist whose research over the past four decades has advanced our understanding of psychosocial and emotional factors involved in the development and course of cardiovascular disease. A major focus has been the psychophysiology of stress and emotion, including the role of

A new paper by Dr. Barker and collaborators from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Stanford, and the University of Colorado at Boulder was recently published in cell reports. The work uses intersectional genetics to specifically target the recently discovered dualGABA-glutamate neurons in the brain's ventral tegmental area. The findings of the paper provide insights into how these neurons participate in the processing of reward and aversion.

A team of RU faculty has been awarded a $3 million National Science Foundation grant to help train graduate students in the area of Socially Cognizant Robotics. The faculty team is led by Kristin Dana (Electrical and Computer Engineering, PI); Kostas Bekris (Computer Science, co-PI); Clinton Andrews (Planning and Public Policy, co-PI); Jacob Feldman (Psychology, Cognitive Science, co-PI); Jingang Yi (Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, co-PI); Pernille Hemmer (Psychology, Cognitive Science,

The Neuroscience Scholars Program (NSP) will welcome its 2020-2022 cohort on August 1, 2020. With the addition of 123 scholars who accepted, the total current cohort (including 2019-2021) now encompasses 215 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. Combined with Program’s past scholars (dating back to 1981), the NSP alumni network now encompasses nearly 1,200 underrepresented neuroscience researchers at all career stages! Keith Perkins of the Psychology Department is the only student from Rutgers

Congratulations to Elena Rotondo, M.S., for publishing her research on learning-induced neurophysiological plasticity in the auditory system in LEARNING & MEMORY (August 2020 issue). The findings show that an epigenetic regulator of histone acetylation can make memories more detailed with sensory information. The effects are correlated with extraordinary neurophysiological plasticity in both the auditory cortex and the subcortical auditory system. This is her first publication from the

 Nurturing Students’ Character is an easy-to-use guide to incorporating social-emotional and character development (SECD) into your teaching practice. The links are clear—elementary and middle school students have better odds of academic success if you nurture their social and emotional skills. Drawing on broad field experience and the latest research, this book offers intuitive techniques for infusing your everyday teaching and classroom management with SECD opportunities. With topics ranging from

Congratulations, Nick! You survived all the trials of graduate school (and then some). Your research into the neural mechanisms of substance use disorder was a tour de force, which has prepared you for the rigors of postdoctoral research at the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute on Drug Abuse in Baltimore. The Department wishes you and your wife Sarah a very happy future.

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR RETIREMENT, BONITA!

After nearly three decades of service at Rutgers University and over twenty years in the Psychology Department, we are happy to say congratulations to Bonita Holt-Griffith on her well-deserved retirement. 

As the undergraduate student advisor, you have been the face of the department to thousands of students each year. You have touched a multitude of our students in so many positive ways. For many undergraduate students, you have been a guiding light to