People

Rany Abend, PhD

Director

I am an associate professor in the School of Psychology and the School of Medicine at Reichman University. I received M.A. degrees in psychobiology and in clinical psychology, and a PhD in psychology, from Tel Aviv University, and conducted my post-doctoral research at the National Institute of Mental Health (Bethesda, MD).

I am primarily interested in developing interdisciplinary frameworks, integrating clinical, developmental, and translational/evolutionary perspectives, to better understand the mechanisms underlying psychopathology.

‣ Faculty page

‣ Google Scholar page

Shir Ben-Zvi

Post-doctoral Researcher - lab manager

I am a post-doctoral researcher in the Neuroscience of Psychopathology lab. I received Master degrees in neurobiology from the Hebrew University and in Rehabilitation psychology from Tel Aviv Yaffo Academic College, and completed my PhD in neurobiology atTel Aviv University.

I am interested in conducting translational research that combines insights from both clinical practice and neuroscience, in order to develop more effective methods for diagnosing and treating anxiety.

Ya'ira Somerville

Lab Manager, Clinical Research Coordinator

I graduated from the Psychology B.A. Hons. program at Reichman University where my thesis explored the impact of multi-sensory psycho-cognitive interventions on inflammatory markers and psychological health in aging populations. I am interested in understanding the neurobiological basis of risk for, and resilience to PTSD in order to develop more targeted and efficacious treatment modalities and better predict treatment outcomes.

I am especially passionate about improving the current understanding and treatment of military-related trauma, and PTSD following Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).

Ido Shitrit

Doctoral Student

I am a doctoral student under the joint supervision of Prof. Rany Abend, and Prof. Tomer Shechner at Haifa University’s Developmental Psychopathology Laboratory.

My research focuses on understanding developmental differences in fear learning mechanisms and how they relate to anxiety disorders. Specifically, in collaboration with the Developmental Psychopathology Lab I examine variations in psychophysiological measures to uncover insights into how fear responses develop and manifest in different individuals, with the ultimate goal of informing targeted interventions for anxiety.

Ayelet Levinkron

Doctoral Student

I am a doctorate student, working under joint supervision of Prof. Rany Abend and Prof. Ruth Feldman. I have a B.Sc. in Computer Science and Psychology from the Sagol School of Neuroscience at Tel Aviv University. My research uses functional MRI to study the influence of different types of early life adversities on brain development, focusing on the neural mechanisms underlying social interaction.

This research aims to better understand the relationship between chronic stress exposure and mental health outcomes in adulthood.

Omer Dayan

Research Assistant, Task Development and Neuroimaging Analysis Lead

I recently graduated from the computer science and cognitive sciences B.Sc. program at Reichman University. I am passionate about designing and developing novel lab-based tasks to examine the neurobiological, cognitive and affective mechanisms which underpin anxiety, PTSD, and other forms of psychopathology.

I am particularly interested in harnessing insights from physiological data and advanced neuroimaging techniques to enhance our understanding of the mechanisms which drive clinical conditions.

Tal Tsarfaty

Research Assistant, Physiology Analysis Lead

I am a M.Sc. student in Biomedical Engineering at Tel Aviv University, with a B.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering from Afeka College of Engineering. My research focuses on the technical analysis of physiological signals, integrating my background in engineering with my interest in neuroscience and psychology.

I believe in the power of multidisciplinary research to approach complex problems from multiple perspectives and advance our understanding of brain function and behavior.

Shahar Kretsch Bourvine

Research Assistant - M.A. Clinical Psychology Student

I am currently studying clinical psychology at The Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yaffo where I completed my B.A. in psychology, and previously studied statistics and data analysis. I am fascinated by the relationship between brain structure and function, and psychopathologies, particularly with respect to conditions that remain challenging to treat.

I am passionate about unraveling the neural mechanisms underlying treatment-resistant mental health conditions, with the goal of developing more targeted therapeutic approaches based on our understanding of brain networks and connectivity patterns.