People

Principle Investigator

Richard E. Hartman, PhD

I am a professor of experimental psychology and direct the Behavioral Neuroscience Lab at Loma Linda University, an R2 health-sciences institute in southern California. I graduated from Missouri State University in 1993 with a BS in experimental psychology. I then enrolled in the Behavior, Brain & Cognition program at Washington University in St. Louis, where I studied rodent behavior and neurodegeneration under behavioral expert Dave Wozniak in John Olney’s lab. During this time, I helped Dave set up Washington University’s Animal Behavior Core facility. I defended my PhD dissertation (on the long-term cognitive effects of ischemic stroke in rats) on September 11, 2001, then did a 4-year postdoctoral fellowship in the lab of Alzheimer’s disease guru Dave Holtzman. While in the Holtzman lab, I worked with a number of transgenic and knockout mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease and learned biochemical/histological techniques for assessing biomarkers of neuropathology. I have been publishing papers characterizing rodent behavioral phenotypes since 2001. My first paper characterizing neuropathology following brain injury used a mouse model of traumatic brain injury. Since then, I have published papers characterizing brain injury resulting from early drug exposure, global ischemia, intracerebral hemorrhage, and impact trauma, as well as characterizing a number of transgenic mouse lines and neuroprotective strategies.

Lab Alumni

10 PhD dissertations

6 PhD clinical co-chair dissertations

10 PsyD doctoral projects

9 Master’s theses

Tom Cutting, PsyD

    • 2023 doctoral project – The Role of (R,S)-ketamine in Stress Resilience: A Literature Review (in preparation to publish)

Enoch Oduro, PsyD

    • 2022 doctoral project – Signaling pathways activated by phytochemical following brain injury (in preparation to publish)
    • Internship at New York University Langone Med Ctr/Rusk Institute

Sukhpreet Kaur, PsyD

    • 2022 doctoral project – Stem cell transplantation as treatment for traumatic brain injury (in preparation to publish)
    • Internship at California State Prison-Sacramento (Northern California DOC & Rehabilitation Consort)

Raghad Tabaza, PsyD

    • 2022 doctoral project – Impact of gut-brain axis and probiotics on Alzheimer’s disease (in preparation to publish)
    • Internship at Kaiser Permanente Medical Care, San Diego

Eugene Reznik, PsyD

    • 2022 doctoral project – A review of the ketogenic diet in the treatment of autism spectrum disorder (in preparation to publish)
    • Internship at Kaiser Permanente Medical Care, San Diego

Bianca Tolan, PhD

    • 2021 dissertation – xxxx (in preparation to publish)
    • Internship at VA Sepulveda Ambulatory Care Center, North Hills, CA

Amin Salek, PsyD

    • 2021 doctoral project – Placebo and nocebo –  A modern outlook (published)

Willie Hardeman, PhD

    • 2021 dissertation – The importance of timing in repeated traumatic brain injury (in preparation to publish)

Tori Togashi, PhD

    • 2020 dissertation – Effects of irradiation, polyphenols, and traumatic brain injury in Drosophila (in preparation to publish)
    • Internship at Phoenix VA Health Care System

Sasha Trofimova, PhD

    • 2020 dissertation – The effects of a polyphenol-rich diet in a Drosophila melanogaster model of traumatic brain injury (in preparation to publish)
    • 2022 School of Behavioral Health Research Excellence Award.

Andrea Briseño, PhD

    • 2019 dissertation – Exploring the effects of age in a Drosophila melanogaster model of traumatic brain injury (submitted for publication). She is currently a neuropsychology intern at the Loma Linda VA.

Dhira Patel, PsyD

    • 2019 doctoral project – Dietary approaches to the management of autism spectrum disorders (published).
    • Internal practicums at the LLU Behavioral Health Institute (main) and the Redlands Unified School District (supplemental). External practicums at UCLA Semel Institute (Neurodegeneration Track), Patton State Hospital (Neuropsychology Track), UCLA Semel Longevity Center Memory Care Program (supplemental) and Helping Hearts (supplemental). Internship at Patton State Hospital (Neuropsychology Track). Postdoc at the Henry Ford Health Systems (Clinical Neuropsychology Fellowship).

Nika Kalynovska, PhD

  • 2018 dissertation – The impact of prenatal and early life pomegranate supplementation on neural birth and death (in preparation to publish). She is currently a neuropsychology extern at City of Hope.

David Ross, PsyD

    • 2018 doctoral project – A review of the effects and mechanisms of phytochemicals on Alzheimer’s disease pathology (published)
    • David is expected to graduate with a PsyD in 2019 with 1 paper from the lab. He won the 2018 William James Excellence in Research award for his PsyD project. He is currently a neuropsychology post-doc at Kaiser.

Shina Halavi, PhD

    • 2018 dissertation (clinical co-chair) – Neurocognitive and psychosocial effects of repeated concussions in children and adolescents (in preparation to publish)
    • 2015 master’s thesis – The effects of human apoE3 and apoE4 expression on plaque deposition in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease (in preparation to publish)
    • Shina graduated in 2018 with 4 papers from the lab (so far) and is a neuropsychology postdoctoral fellow in Los Angeles as of 2019. She now runs her own clinical neuropsychology and therapy practice for kids and adults in Los Angeles, CA (www.theneuroscene.com).

Alphonso Smith, PhD

    • 2017 dissertation – The effects of seizure modeling and polyphenols on behavior in bang-sensitive drosophila (submitted for publication)
    • Alphonso graduated in 2018, did a pediatric neuropsychology fellowship at AMITA Health in Chicago, then was a clinical neuropsychologist and assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at Southern Illinois University Medical School, and (as of January 2022) is a professor of clinical neuropsychology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Department of Neurology

Jeff Murray, PsyD

    • 2017 doctoral project – Effects of pomegranate supplementation on physical recovery following ischemic stroke: A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial (published)
    • Jeff graduated in 2018 with 1 paper from the lab. He won several awards including the Psychology Dept. Excellence in Research and Dean’s awards. He did a neuropsychology post-doc at Kaiser, and is currently a neuropsychologist and assistant professor at the Loma Linda University School of Medicine.

Rochelle Jones, PsyD

    • 2017 doctoral project – The effects of single blast induced traumatic brain injury on white matter tracts in mice
    • Rochelle graduated in 2018.

John Bellone, PhD

    • 2016 dissertation – Neuropsychological effects of pomegranate supplementation following ischemic stroke: A randomized, placebo controlled, double blind trial (published)
    • 2013 master’s thesis – The effects of proton radiation on behavior in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease (published)
    • John graduated in 2016 with 6 papers from the lab. He won several awards including the Psychology Dept. Excellence in Research, Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research, and a NASA space radiation research competition. He completed his internship at Yale University and his postdoctoral fellowship at Brown University. He is a clinical neuropsychologist in a group practice in Orange County (as of 2019) and is the founder and co-host of the neuropsychology podcast Navigating Neuropsychology and co-author of the book Becoming a Neuropsychologist: Advice and Guidance for Students and Trainees

Nikita Bajwa, PhD

    • 2016 dissertation – The effects of mild concussions and pomegranates on inflammation and behavior
    • 2014 master’s thesis – The neuroprotective effects of a grape-enriched diet in mice with Alzheimer’s disease pathology and traumatic brain injury
    • Nikita graduated in 2016 with 4 papers from the lab and won the Psychology Dept. Excellence in Research award. She did postdoc at Loma Linda Veteran’s Administration and is currently on faculty at Los Angeles Valley College.

Michael Finlay, PhD

    • 2016 master’s thesis – Behaviorally-induced structural remodeling of the hippocampus
    • Michael graduated in 2018 and currently has faculty positions at Riverside/San Bernardino Indian Health Clinics, the Jerry Pettis VA, and California Baptist University as of 2019. He is currently Psychology Training Director at San Bernardino County Behavioral Health.

Pam Lorenzo, PhD

    • 2016 master’s thesis – The effects of proton radiation on cell numbers in the brain and swim strategies in the water maze
    • Pam is expected to graduate with a PhD in 2019. She is currently Vice President of Behavioral Health and Marketing at Welfie, a “health, wellness and fitness” company in San Diego.

Courtney Ray, PhD

    • 2016 master’s thesis – Analysis and mapping of water maze search strategies in Cobalt-60 irradiated rats
    • Courtney graduated in 2017.

Chinonyere Bello, PhD

    • 2014 dissertation (clinical co-chair) – Executive dysfunction as a predictor of clinical symptomatology in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome
    • Chinonyere graduated in 2015, did a behavioral health services postdoctoral fellow at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, and is currently a licensed clinical psychologist for Kaiser Permanante in San Francisco.

Melissa Dulcich, PhD

    • 2013 dissertation – Pomegranate supplementation improves affective and motor behavior in mice after radiation exposure (published)
    • Melissa graduated in 2013 with 5 papers from the lab and won the Psychology Dept. Excellence in Research. She went on to faculty positions at Cal State San Bernardino, Cal State Bakersfield, and is now Professor of Psychology at Weimar College in the Bay Area.

Earl Thorndyke, PhD

    • 2013 master’s thesis – A meta-analysis of rodent behavior in various brain injury and disease models (published)
    • Earl graduated in 2015 with 1 paper from the lab and did a neuropsychology postdoctoral fellowship at UCLA’s Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior.

Pam Perez, PhD

    • 2011 dissertation (clinical co-chair) – Parental factors impacting neurobehavioral late effects in Latino childhood cancer survivors
    • Pam graduated in 2011 and went on to faculty positions at California Baptist University, University of Redlands, and Brandman University.

Joel Kamper, PhD, ABPP-CN

    • 2011 master’s thesis – The long-term effects of juvenile traumatic brain injury on behavior in mice
    • Joel graduated in 2013 with 7 papers from the lab and won the Psychology Dept. Excellence in Research twice. He went on to become a neuropsychology postdoctoral fellow and is a staff neuropsychologist and Assistant Training Director at the James A. Haley VA in Tampa FL.

Sapna Patel, PhD

    • 2010 dissertation (clinical co-chair) – The effects of pomegranate supplementation on memory in heart surgery patients (published)
    • Sapna graduated in 2011 with 1 paper from the lab and won the Psychology Dept. Excellence in Research award. She went on to a neuropsychology postdoctoral fellowship at UCLA Medical Center and is a clinical neuropsychologist at Central Valley Neuropsychology in Bakersfield, CA as of 2019.

Warren Merrifield, PhD

    • 2007 dissertation (clinical co-chair) – The effects of episodic versus semantic memory processing on event-related potentials using magnetoencephalography
    • Warren graduated in 2007 and then joined the U.S. Army. He became a research psychologist and senior scientist at Walter Reed and a major in the medical service corp. He is chief technology officer at CerebraCell and chief executive office of Neurodetect in Santa Monica CA as of 2022.
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