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Current Lab Members

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Luana Colloca, MD, PhD, MS

MPower Distinguished Professor, Pain and Translational Symptom Science Department, University of Maryland School of Nursing

Director, CTSA TL1 Program University of Maryland School of Medicine

Adjunct Professor University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD - Departments of Anesthesiology and Psychiatry (secondary appoint.)

Chair, PAIN and PLACEBO SIG - International Association for Study of Pain (IASP)

Treasurer, Society for Interdisciplinary Placebo Studies (SIPS)

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Yang Wang, MS, PhD

Yang Wang received her BA in English from China University of Political Science and Law, Beijing, China and both a Master of Science and Ph.D. in Psychology from Southwest University, Chongqing, China. Her research interests include exploring the influences of expectations on pain perceptions within healthy and clinical participants. She is a current Assistant Professor at the Colloca Lab working on the influence of vasopressin on observationally- induced analgesia.

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Adria Suhr, BS

Adria Suhr obtained her Bachelor of Science in Psychological Science with a Spanish minor from the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vermont. She has years of experience in reproductive health care from patient care to project management. As the research coordinator, she works closely with the Principal Investigator in multiple projects.

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Titilola Akintola, PhD

Lola received her doctorate in Toxicology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore where she investigated opioid-induced conditioning effects and placebo effects in animal and clinical models of chronic pain, respectively. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Section on Affective Neuroscience and Pain at the National Institutes of Health. Her interests include exploring the mechanisms of cognitive & affective modulators of clinical outcomes in chronic pain and substance use disorder paradigms. She currently works as a research staff scientist in the Colloca lab overseeing multiple projects including virtual reality effects in pain and substance use disorders.

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Katia Matychak, MS

Katia earned her Bachelor of Science from Temple University, majoring in cellular and molecular neuroscience. She also earned her Master’s degree in Cellular and Molecular Biomedical Science from the University of Maryland, Baltimore. In college, Katia started working in a lab that studies ion channels through X-ray crystallography and patch-clamp electrophysiology, and from there she knew she wanted to work in research. She continues her dedication to research as a clinical research coordinator, streamlining lab projects. 

Post-Doctoral Fellows

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Roni Shafir, PhD

Post Doctoral Fellow

Roni completed her B.A. in Psychology and the Interdisciplinary Program in Humanities at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and both her M.A. in Psychobiology and her PhD in Psychology at Tel-Aviv University, Israel. Currently, she is a postdoctoral fellow at the Colloca lab. Roni's main interest is in exploring how placebo and nocebo effects shape psychological, physiological and neural responses to pain experience, as well as individuals' self-regulation of such responses.

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Carmen-Édith Belleï-Rodriguez, Ps. Ed., PhD

Post Doctoral Fellow

Carmen completed her BA in psychoeducation and psychology and her M.Sc. in psychoeducation clinic and research at the University of Montreal, Canada. She completed her Ph.D. as well as a first postdoctoral fellowship in Health Science Research at the University of Sherbrooke, Canada. She is currently undergoing a postdoctoral fellowship at the Colloca Lab. Her research interests include the non-pharmacological strategies in pain treatment, such as the effect of expectations, placebo and nocebo.

PhD Students

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Nandini Raghuraman, MS

PhD Student (Epidemiology)

Nandini Raghuraman received her B.tech in Biotechnology from Anna University, Chennai, India and got her Master’s in Medical and Research Technology from University of Maryland Baltimore. She completed her Master's Thesis work with Dr. Colloca on Pain Perception in the Brain with Electroencephalography as a neuroimaging technique and is currently a PhD student in the lab working on sociodemographic factors that influence placebo hypoalgesia, observational learning of analgesia, and virtual reality and pain modulation projects. 

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Emily Werthman, MSN, RN

PhD Student (Nursing)

Emily Werthman is the burn program coordinator at the Johns Hopkins Burn Center, where she has practiced clinically for ten years. She holds a BA in history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and BSN and MSN degrees from Notre Dame University of Maryland. She is currently studying the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and burn pain as a first year student in the PhD program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.

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Jewel White, BA

PhD Student (Neuroscience)

Jewel White is a PhD student in Neuroscience at the University of Maryland, Baltimore School of Medicine. She received her B.A. degree in biology with a minor in psychology at the University of Virginia and completed her postbaccalaureate studies in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at the University of Georgia, where she focused on the cellular mechanisms of learning and memory following substance use. Her research interests include the neural mechanisms of pain modulation and substance use disorders. As a part of the Colloca Lab, her research focuses on observation and pain reduction.  

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Lakota Watson, BA

PhD Student (Neuroscience)

Lakota Watson is a PhD student in Neuroscience at the University of Maryland, Baltimore School of Medicine. Lakota obtained two BAs in neuroscience and psychology from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 2018. They went on to complete their postbaccalaureate training in the laboratory of Dr. Joseph Cheer at UMB where they studied the effects of endocannabinoid signaling on pro-social behavior in mice and avoidance of aversive stimuli in rats. Lakota's research interests include substance use disorders, social behavior, and individual differences in placebo susceptibility.

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Mumtahana Nabi, BDS, MPH

PhD Student (Molecular Epidemiology)

Mumtahana Nabi is a PhD student in Molecular Epidemiology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore School of Medicine. She obtained her BDS (Bachelor of Dental Surgery) degree from the Dhaka Dental College in Bangladesh. She also received two MPH degrees in Epidemiology from the University of Massachusetts Lowell and Northern University Bangladesh. Her prior research experience provided a strong foundation in both quantitative and qualitative analytical skills using SAS and R.  She is passionate about understanding the role of genetic and environmental influences underlying pain mechanism, variation in pain perception and response to treatment, particularly in the orofacial region. Her long-term goal is to improve pain management for cancer patients in developing countries through a better understanding of interaction between genetic and environmental factors, especially those from disadvantaged groups.

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Rebecca Aitken, BS

PhD Student (Neuroscience)

Rebecca is a neuroscience PhD student at the University of Maryland, Baltimore School of Medicine. She completed her B.S. in integrative neuroscience at SUNY Binghamton University in 2021. Following graduation, Rebecca spent two years at the Georgetown University Center for Functional and Molecular Imaging as an MRI technician and research assistant. There, she studied functional connectivity in adolescent development and substance use. Rebecca is currently a rotation student in the Colloca lab, and her research interests include social factors mediating individual differences in pain, as well as neurobiological mechanisms underlying the placebo effect.

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James Cottam, BSc (Hons), MSc

PhD Student (Epidemiology)

James Cottam received his Bachelor of Sciences with Honours from the University of Edinburgh, UK, before completing a Master of Sciences at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK. He performed his master’s thesis ascertaining the reliability of data measuring seasonal malaria chemoprevention coverage. James is currently a PhD student in Epidemiology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. His current research interests include health disparities, social determinants of disease and differential responses to treatment.  

The Colloca Summer Fellowship

Based on the MPower Distinguished Professorship, this award aims to recognize the early steps of successful young scholars.
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Avni Kaushik

2023

Avni Kaushik is a freshman and Banneker/Key Scholar at the University of Maryland majoring in neuroscience and computer science. As a Colloca Summer Fellowship Scholar, she looks forward to gaining research experience in the lab regarding chronic pain and pain modulation. Avni's research interests include understanding pain perception in the brain and the science behind the placebo effect.

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Salim Muhammed

2022

Salim Muhammed has a passion for the field of medicine, particularly in relation to pain and sleep disorders. His dedication to becoming a healthy practitioner has been unwavering. Muhammed shows exceptional skills and a remarkable ability to handle multiple tasks with precision, motivation, diligence, and natural talent.

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Anna Han

2022

Anna Han is a sophomore at Johns Hopkins University majoring in computational neuroscience and Medicine, Science, and the Humanities. She was selected for the Colloca Summer Fellowship on the basis of her achievement, skill, and passion for discovery. She is excited to develop her research experience by exploring avenues of learning related to virtual reality and pain response. In the future, she plans to attend medical school and possibly become a physician-scientist.

Student Interns

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Eric Duan

Eric Duan is a Junior at Glenelg High School in Howard County, Maryland. He was selected for the Colloca Lab as a member of his school's Gifted/Talented Mentorship Program, and hopes to deepen his passions in neuroscience and the placebo effect with respect to pain. Eric is also active in competitive chemistry and aspires to pursue neuroscience in the medical field in the future. 

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Jaya Daulat

Jaya Daulat is a Junior at Glenelg High School in Howard County, Maryland and is part of the Gifted/Talented Research Program at her school, chosen by her teacher to pursue this internship. She hopes to continue her studies in neuroscience in the future, with the desire to major in neuroscience or chemistry in undergraduate studies in two years.

MPower Scholars

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Lucy Van Eron

MPower Scholar SON, 2023

Lucy Van Eron is an undergraduate student at the University of Maryland, College Park. She will be starting at the University of Maryland, School of Nursing as a BSN student in Fall of 2023. As an undergraduate intern in the lab, her research interests include pain perception in the brain and pain reduction in patients.

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Joshebel Abase

MPower Scholar SON, 2023

Joshebel Abase will be attending the University of Maryland School of Nursing in the Fall of 2023 with hopes of eventually becoming a nurse anesthetist. Her research interest is on pain management and, specifically, how provider care affects pain perception in patients.

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Lindsey Baldwin

MPower Scholar SON, 2023

Lindsey Baldwin is a rising junior on the nursing pathway at the University of Maryland. She will be matriculating from the University of Maryland College Park into the University of Maryland School of Nursing in the fall of 2023. As a future nurse she hopes that, through her work in the Colloca Lab, she will gain knowledge on pain perception that will help her to provide the best of care to patients experiencing pain.

Lab Alumni

Former Post Docs

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Lieven A. Schenk, PhD

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Yang Wang, MS, PhD

Former Clinical Research Coordinators

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Nathaniel (Nate) Haycock, MS

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Taylor Ludman, BS

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Daniel Shelton

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Maxie Blasini

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Rachel Massalee, MS

Former Physician Partners

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Nathalie Peiris, MD

Former PhD Students

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Rachel (Roxy) Cundiff-O'Sullivan, MA, PhD

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Sharon Thomas, CRNA, MS, MSN, PhD

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Titilola (Lola) Akintola, BS, PhD

Former Rotating PhD Students

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Nicole Corsi, MS, PhD

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Samuel Krimmel, BA, PhD

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Susweta Roy, MS

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Christina Tricou, BA, PhD

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Suleyman Aslan, MS

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Phylicia Cooper, BS

Former Medical Students

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Elizabeth Olsen, BA

Former PRISM Scholar

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Esther Chan, BS

Former PRISM Scholar

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Aniruddha Rao, BS

Former PRISM Scholar

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Alexis Green, BA

  

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Susie Park, BS

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Ariana Taj, BA

Former PRISM Scholar

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Dina Elsaesser, BS

  

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Uwagbale (Uwa) Okojie, BS

 

Former Research Assistants

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Kristina Park, MS

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Charlene Tugwete

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See Eu Lee

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Kathryn Smith

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Ria Patel

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Samuel Philips

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Mazine Anjorin

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Yasmine Bedjaoui, MS

Former MPower Scholars

https://mpower.maryland.edu/ 

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Zachary Lupuloff, BSN

MPower Scholar SON, 2016

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Chika Okusogu

MPower Scholar SON, 2018

Federal Work Study Student

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Rohan Laljani

MPower Scholar SOM, 2020

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Jeril Varghese

MPower Scholar SON, 2020

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Kira Mazel

MPower Scholar SON, 2021

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Jane Quackenbush

MPower Scholar SOM, 2022

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Salim Muhammed

MPower Scholar SOM, 2022

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Shiva Movsav

MPower Scholar SON, 2017

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Alexis Saunders

MPower Scholar SON, 2019

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Julianne Austin

MPower Scholar SON, 2020

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Desai Oula

MPower Scholar SOM, 2020

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Michelle Soltz

MPower Scholar SON, 2021

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Nhi Tran

MPower Scholar SON, 2022

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Manmeet Sandhu

MPower Scholar SON, 2022

Former Colloca Summer Fellowship Scholars

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Nya Anderson

2022

Former Student Interns

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Anurag Gottipati

Former High School Intern

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Emily Sun

Former High School Intern

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Margaret (Maggie) Yin

Former High School Intern

Harvard Class of 2025

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Angela Han

Former High School Intern

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