News
Conor Smithson successfully defends dissertation
Nov. 19, 2025—Conor Smithson from The Object Perception lab successfully defended his dissertation titled “The Structure and Correlates of Domain-general Object Recognition Ability” on 11/5, under the supervision of Dr. Isabel Gauthier. This work uses structural equation modeling to advance our understanding of the relations between a high-level visual ability for subordinate-level object recognition and a number of other...
Graduate Program in Psychology ranked 8th in the Nation in US News & World Report
Sep. 26, 2025—The Graduate Program in Psychological Sciences at Vanderbilt has cracked the top Ten of Doctoral Programs in Psychology in the 2025 US News & World Report survey. The Graduate Program ranks #8, tied with other schools such as the University of Pennsylvania and Northwestern University. The program has enjoyed a remarkable ascent in the rankings...
Marty Singer, PhD, Vanderbilt Alumni
Sep. 26, 2025—Marty Singer — PhD, Vanderbilt University, 1977 — was surprised recently by the announcement that the book he wrote, edited, and published in 1982, based on his PhD thesis, will soon be republished. It is noteworthy that Marty’s research on reading in the 1970s and his book on that work remains fresh and relevant to...
Allie Adamis: Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Recipient
Sep. 11, 2025—Congratulations to Allie Adamis who received the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) from NIMH. The award is to enable promising predoctoral students to obtain individualized, mentored research training from outstanding faculty sponsors while conducting dissertation research in scientific health-related fields relevant to the missions of the NIMH.
Jordan Gunn successfully defends dissertation
Aug. 27, 2025—Jordan Gunn passed his PhD dissertation defense under the direction of Sean Polyn, PhD, on August 19th, 2025. Congratulations, Dr. Gunn! His thesis, “Same Item, Distinct Contexts: Episode-Specific Reinstatement in Free and Serial Recall” makes substantial contributions to our understanding of human memory. This work examines (among other things) how repeated experiences are stored in memory:...
In Memoriam: Dr. Keith Clayton
Jul. 31, 2025—Remembering our Colleague, Keith Clayton We are deeply saddened to share the news of the passing of Keith Clayton. Keith Neil Clayton died peacefully in his sleep on December 18, 2024 in Nashville at the age of 90. He is survived by his children Norman, Elizabeth, and Ben, several grandchildren, and his former spouse Burneta...
Yihan (Sophy) Xiong wins Vivien Casagrande Neuroscience Travel Award
May. 9, 2025—Congratulations to Sophy Xiong, a graduate student in André Bastos’ lab, for being a co-winner of the Vivien Casagrande Neuroscience Travel Award, on the basis of her research on neuronal oscillatory mechanisms underlying attention and awareness. The Vivien Casagrande Neuroscience Travel Award is given in recognition of outstanding research by a graduate student or post-doctoral scholar to support their travel for presenting their research at a conference. This award honors...
Gabrielle Reimann successfully defends dissertation
May. 9, 2025—Gabrielle Reimann, under the direction of Professor Antonia Kaczkurkin, PhD, has successfully defended her dissertation! Congratulations Gabby! Delineating Neurobiological Subtypes Underlying Psychopathology: A Machine Learning Approach Traditionally, symptom-based classifications define mental health diagnoses. However, this approach can oversimplify clinical presentations, and these diagnoses often do not correspond with biological markers or meaningful clinical outcomes. A...
Allie Adamis wins Vanderbilt Award for Doctoral Discovery
Apr. 29, 2025—Congratulations Allie Adamis Allie has won the Vanderbilt Award for Doctoral Discovery. The College of Arts and Science Vanderbilt Award for Doctoral Discovery (VADD), previously named the Summer Research Award (SRA) program, is designed to help graduate students with outstanding potential to accelerate progress on their research. VADDs provide funding to support student research at...
Jon Kaas Festschrift 2025
Apr. 28, 2025—Celebrating the Career of Jon Kaas Our Department and the Vanderbilt Brain Institute celebrated Jon Kaas on April 12th, with a whole day symposium of esteemed scholars, long-term friends, local colleagues, and Jon’s extended family. Speakers of the symposium highlighted the personal growth and encouragement they experienced while working with Jon. Leading his team of...