Program in Cognitive Affective Neuroscience (PICAN)
People
About PICAN Staff
The peope in our lab have a diverse range of skills, interests, and experience. Please click on someone to find out more.
PICAN
Staff
Meet Our People

Greg Siegle
Program Director

Laurie Compere
Post-Doc
Dr. Compère earned a PhD in Psychology at Paris Sorbonne University in Paris, France and has a title of clinician neuropsychologist in France. Her PhD focused on sex and gender differences in autobiographical memory by attempting to distinguish the biological and social factors underlying the observed differences between men and women in autobiographical memory, behaviorally and using fMRI. She is completing her postdoctoral training under the guidance of Dr. Young since October 2018 in the BAM lab of Pittsburgh University – School of Medicine, PA. Dr. Compère research focuses on investigating the therapeutic potential of real-time fMRI amygdala neurofeedback and individualized treatments in major depressive disorder. Given the differences in men’s and women’s prevalence of anxiety and mood disorder, her focus is on investigating how biological or social factors can explain those differences in depression prevalence.

Sara Foster
Post-Doc

Jake Armitage
Research Assistant
As one of the newer additions to the PICAN team, Jake makes use of his many talents and experiences to assist in conducting the MIND (Mechanistic Intervention and Neuroscience of Dissociation) study. Jake has recently moved back to the Pittsburgh region after many years spent out west. He’s curious about many things, but looks to investigate the neuropsychological impact of disingenuousness. Being a compulsive learner, Jake is always diving into new books, podcasts, classes, and the like.

Rebecca Krawczak
Project Coordinator
Rebecca is an avid traveler who loves to hike and spend time with those she loves. With a Bachelor’s of Science, she hopes to pursue clinical psychology. Rebecca also has a strong interest in developmental cognitive neuroscience and developmental psychopathology, child-parent interactions, romantic attachment, and friendship development and maintenance.

Marlene Strege
Post-Doc

Haolun Li
Graduate Student

Aditi Choudhary
Undergraduate
Aditi is an undergraduate honors student studying Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh. She is passionate about destigmatizing Mental Illness and researching the biological bases of brain functions. In her free time, she enjoys painting and is an avid miniaturist.

Gia Canovali
Clinician
Gia is a Licensed Social Worker with a passion for helping those who struggle with their mental health and reducing the stigma around mental illness. Gia earned her Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor in Biology from Penn State in 2017. She went on to pursue her MSW at California University in Pennsylvania in 2019. Her experience includes working with children, adolescents, and adults with a variety of mental health disorders, including OCD, anxiety, and depression. Additionally, Gia is interested in learning more about the neural mechanisms of mental illness. Outside of work, Gia enjoys fashion, baking, and cats.

Min Zhang
Post-Doc

Alexa Bennetch
Post-Doc
Alexa is a Research Specialist for the CART and SLATE studies with Dr. Brant Hasler at the Center for Sleep and Circadian Science. Alexa works closely with Dr. Siegle for fMRI scan procedures and analysis.
