Our Research Team
Gaelle E. Doucet , Ph.D., Principal Investigator
Gaelle.Doucet@boystown.org
Dr. Doucet is the Director of the Brain Architecture, Imaging and Cognition (BrAIC) Lab. She received her Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of Caen-Basse Normandie in France in 2010. From 2010 to 2017, she completed two postdoctoral fellowships focusing on the impact of neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders on the brain architecture. Dr. Doucet was an assistant professor in psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (New York, NY), before joining to Boys Town National Research Hospital. Her work involves the investigation of the brain architecture and its relation to cognition in health and disease and she has developed expertise in the use of resting-state fMRI to characterize the brain functional organization.
Callum Goldsmith, Research Assistant
Callum Goldsmith is a research assistant in the BrAIC Lab. His main roles involve the analysis of resting-state functional MRI and cognitive data during adolescence. He is currently working on his Bachelor’s in Psychology at Concordia University and will graduate in May of 2023, with additional minors in Sociology, Sports Psychology and Coaching. During his time at Concordia, he has acted as a Teacher’s Assistant for Intro to Research classes, as well as a being a member of the men’s soccer team. His future goals include obtaining a master in Sports Psychology, whilst still pursuing research as well as a clinical career.
Attakias Mertens, Postdoctoral Fellow
Attakias Mertens obtained his PhD in Psychology/Neuroscience and Behavior at the University of Nebraska-Omaha in 2023. Since he joined the BrAIC Lab, he is interested in using resting-state and task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to predict behavior and cognition. Overall, his goal is to implement these techniques to study the changes in executive functioning throughout the lifespan, including impacts seen in development, healthy aging, and neurological disorders.
Katrina Myers, Research Assistant
Katrina Myers is a Research Assistant in the BrAIC Lab. Her role is to recruit participants and run cognitive and behavioral assessments during studies. She received her B.S. in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science with an emphasis in Cognition and a minor in Spanish at the University of Arizona. She previously worked in The Child Cognition Lab and studied memory, language, and cognitive development in infants and toddlers. Katrina’s goal is to obtain a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience and continue to pursue research in different domains of cognitive development within the brain.
Derek Pavelka, Research Assistant
Derek Pavelka is a research assistant in the BrAIC lab. His role is to analyze resting-state fMRI, cognitive, and behavioral data by using various computational and statistical methods. He received his Bachelor of Science in mathematics and political science from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 2022 and is currently finishing a Bachelor of Science in neuroscience from there. His future goals include entering an MD/PhD program where he can further pursue a career in both clinical and research settings.
The BrAIC Lab team with the Summer Students 2023
