Current Research Assistants

	Lauren Hickey Research assistant, 2013-2016 Lauren is an MDiv candidate at Boston University School of Theology, with a prior background in international affairs. Her research interests include psychological anthropology in studying religious experience, as well as meditation and states of consciousness. She is currently working with Dr. Wesley Wildman on the Dimensions of Spirituality Project.
	Dustin Clark Research assistant, 2014-2016 Dustin is a full-time Neuroimaging Analyst at the Veteran’s Affairs Hospital in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts working on the Neuroscience and Religious Cognition Project. He earned his M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University focusing on computational methods in neuroscience after researching the physiology of personality and the neuroscience of emotion and attention at University of Florida. His research interests include the physiological maintenance of empathy and theory of mind as well as cortical modulatory effect of psychotherapies and the therapeutic alliance.
	Karishma Smart Research assistant, 2014-2016 Karishma is a Boston University graduate student pursuing a MS in Medical Sciences. She is working on the Neuroscience and Religious Cognition project. Her current research interests include cognition in Parkinson's disease. She hopes to pursue a career in clinical neuroscience research.
	Chisom Chukwumerije Student Intern, 2015-2016 Chisom is a Boston University student studying Psychology and Biology. She is contributing towards a study on dreams.
	Victoria Pae Student Intern, 2015-2016 Victoria is a Boston University undergraduate student working part-time on the Religious and Cognition Project. Currently, she is playing an integral role in the research for a study on dreams.
	Adonai Sebastian Student Intern, 2015-2016 Adonai is a Boston University undergraduate studying Neuroscience working on dreams and Parkinson's projects.

Former Research Assistants

	Colleen Wong Research assistant, 2013-2014 Colleen is an undergraduate pursuing a major in neuroscience and a minor in religious studies at Boston University. Her research interests include understanding the role of agency in mental health issues; the ways in which human beings cultivate resilience;  and global peace and conflict studies. She hopes to pursue a career in cross-cultural psychiatry. Colleen can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
	Ari Fodeman Research assistant, 2013-2014 Ari Fodeman is a graduate (Spring, 2014) from American Univeristy in Washington, D.C. with a major in Psychology and a second interdisciplinary major in "Ideology, Worldivews and Experimental Epistemology." He is a research assistant at both Dr. McNamara's Neuroscience and Religious Cognition Lab and Dr. Doan's Advanced Cultural and Emotional Intelligence Lab. His primary research interests concern interdisciplinary methods, extreme ideologies, radicalization, and conflict management. He plans to pursue a career in conflict research and management. Ari can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
	Clarinda Blais Research assistant, 2014-2015 Clarinda is a Boston University undergraduate in philosophy, religion, and journalism working on the Neuroscience and Religious Cognition project.
	Amenechi Chioma Research assistant, 2014-2015 Amenechi is a Boston University undergraduate in neuroscience working on the Neuroscience and Religious Cognition project.
	Alina Gusev Research assistant, 2014-2015 Alina is working part-time on the Neuroscience and Religious Cognition project.
	Michelle Potter Student Intern, 2014-2015 Michelle is a Simmons College undergraduate working on the Neuroscience and Religious Cognition project.
	Allison Richards Student Intern, 2014-2015 Allison is a Simmons College undergraduate working on the Neuroscience and Religious Cognition project.