People

The Meditation Research Program is led by Dr. Matthew D. Sacchet, Ph.D. and includes our core team in the Greater Boston metropolitan region of New England in the United States of America. The program also has team members around the world including in Belgium, New Zealand, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom.

In addition, we maintain a rich collaborative network with a global team of over 100 researchers. Our highly talented and multidisciplinary team is dedicated to furthering the understanding and practice of advanced meditation through foundational scientific research and applied education and training.

We regularly supervise undergraduate and graduate students, and welcome new and exciting collaborations with individuals at different career stages from the most junior to the most senior. Please be in touch if you think you might be a good fit to work with us.

Director

Matthew D. Sacchet, Ph.D.
Matthew D. Sacchet, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

Director, Meditation Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital

Faculty, Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Mass General Hospital

Faculty, Spirituality and Mental Health Program, McLean Hospital

Faculty, Mind Brain Behavior Interfaculty Initiative, Harvard University

Faculty, Harvard Brain Science Initiative, Harvard University

Biography

Postdoctoral Researcher

Winson Yang, Ph.D.
Winson Yang, Ph.D.

Texas Tech University

Program Manager

Ruby Potash, B.S.
Ruby Potash, B.S.

Northeastern University

Program Development

Logan Sullivan, C.A.G.S.
Logan Sullivan, C.A.G.S.

University of Barcelona

Brian Toomey, B.A.
Brian Toomey, B.A.

University of Rhode Island

Graduate Students

Caitlin Baten, M.A.
Caitlin Baten, M.A.
California State University Fresno
Umay Demir, M.S.
Umay Demir, M.S.

Utrecht University

Sebastian Ehmann, M.Sc.
Sebastian Ehmann, M.Sc.

University of Arizona

Hoki Fung, M.S.
Hoki Fung, M.S.

University College London

Saampras Ganesan, M.Eng.
Saampras Ganesan, M.Eng.

University of Melbourne

Rosalind McAlpine, M.Res.
Rosalind McAlpine, M.Res.

University College London

Idil Sezer, M.Sc.
Idil Sezer, M.Sc.

Sorbonne University

Hagar Tal, M.Sc.
Hagar Tal, M.Sc.

Maastricht University

Isaac Treves
Isaac Treves

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Research Assistants

Batool Abbasi
Batool Abbasi
Isidora Beslic
Isidora Beslic
Jasmine Ben-Joseph
Jasmine Ben-Joseph
Thomas Cahaly
Thomas Cahaly
Parker Conley
Parker Conley
Molly Haggerty
Molly Haggerty
Grace Mackin
Grace Mackin
Vanessa Naughton
Vanessa Naughton
Gabriella Roseman
Gabriella Roseman
Melissa Streifert
Melissa Streifert
Joseph Valenti
Joseph Valenti
Mihir Walvekar
Mihir Walvekar
Jason Zheng
Jason Zheng

Interested in joining our team as a postdoctoral researcher?

The Meditation Research Program of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General) is recruiting postdoctoral scientists. The successful candidate(s) will be hired with the academic appointment of Research Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

Academic Advisors

Richard J. Davidson, Ph.D.
Richard J. Davidson, Ph.D.

Founder and Director of the Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin Madison

William James and Vilas Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin Madison

Co-Founder and Co-Director, Health-Emotions Research Institute, University of Wisconsin Madison

Founder and Chief Visionary, Healthy Minds Innovations

Adam Gazzaley, M.D./Ph.D.
Adam Gazzaley, M.D./Ph.D.

Professor of Neurology, Psychiatry and Physiology, University of California San Francisco

Executive Director and Founder, Neuroscape, University of California San Francisco Medical Center

Co-Founder and Chief Science Advisor, Akili Interactive Labs

Co-Founder and Chief Scientist, JAZZ Venture Partners

Michael Pollan, Ph.D.
Michael Pollan, Ph.D.

Writer, journalist, and author, including of the book How to Change your Mind

John S. and James L. Knight Professor of Journalism, University of California Berkeley

Founder, Center for the Science of Psychedelics, University of California Berkeley

Professor of the Practice of Non-fiction and Lewis Chan Lecturer in the Arts, Harvard University

Affiliated Scientists

Kilian Abellaneda-Pérez, Ph.D.
Kilian Abellaneda-Pérez, Ph.D.

University of Barcelona

Guttmann Institute of Barcelona

Andrés Canales-Johnson, Ph.D.
Andrés Canales-Johnson, Ph.D.

University of Cambridge

Catholic University of the Maule

Puneet Kumar, Ph.D.
Puneet Kumar, Ph.D.

University of Oulu

Terje Sparby, Ph.D.
Terje Sparby, Ph.D.

Witten/Herdecke University

Steiner University College

Remko van Lutterveld, Ph.D.
Remko van Lutterveld, Ph.D.

Dutch Ministry of Defense

University Medical Center Utrecht

Karen Vasquez, M.D.
Karen Vasquez, M.D.

Massachusetts General Hospital

Harvard Medical School

Malcolm J. Wright, Ph.D.
Malcolm J. Wright, Ph.D.

Massey University

David Zarka, Ph.D.
David Zarka, Ph.D.

Free University of Brussels

Affiliated Harvard Faculty

Jagpreet Chhatwal, Ph.D.
Jagpreet Chhatwal, Ph.D.

Director, Institute for Technology Assessment, Massachusetts General Hospital

Associate Professor, Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School

Maurizio Fava, M.D.
Maurizio Fava, M.D.

Psychiatrist-in-Chief, Massachusetts General Hospital

Executive Director, Massachusetts General Hospital Clinical Trials Network and Institute

Associate Dean for Clinical and Translational Research, Harvard Medical School

Slater Family Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

Gregory L. Fricchione, M.D.
Gregory L. Fricchione, M.D.

Associate Chief of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital

Director, Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital

Founding Director, Chester M. Pierce Division of Global Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital

Mind Body Medicine Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

Randy L. Gollub, M.D./Ph.D.
Randy L. Gollub, M.D./Ph.D.

Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

Associate Director for Translational Research,

Division of Psychiatric Neuroimaging, Massachusetts General Hospital

Karestan C. Koenen, Ph.D.
Karestan C. Koenen, Ph.D.

Professor of Psychiatric Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Director, Biology of Trauma Initiative, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard

Director, Population Mental Health Laboratory and Concentration Epidemiology

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Sara W. Lazar, Ph.D.
Sara W. Lazar, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

Director, Lazar Lab for Meditation Research, Massachusetts General Hospital

Joshua L. Roffman, M.D./Ph.D.
Joshua L. Roffman, M.D./Ph.D.

Director, Early Brain Development Initiative, Massachusetts General Hospital

Co-Director, Mass General Neuroscience, Massachusetts General Hospital

Co-Director, Division of Psychiatric Neuroimaging, Massachusetts General Hospital

Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

Bruce R. Rosen, M.D./Ph.D.
Bruce R. Rosen, M.D./Ph.D.

Director, Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital

Vice Chair of Research in Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital

Scientific Director, Center for the Neuroscience of Psychedelics, Massachusetts General Hospital

Robbins Professor, Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School

Jerold F. Rosenbaum, M.D.
Jerold F. Rosenbaum, M.D.

Psychiatrist-in-Chief Emeritus, Massachusetts General Hospital

Director, Center for Anxiety and Traumatic Stress Disorders, Massachusetts General Hospital

Director, Center for Neuroscience of Psychedelics, Massachusetts General Hospital

Stanley Cobb Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital

David H. Rosmarin, Ph.D.
David H. Rosmarin, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

Director, Spirituality & Mental Health Program, McLean Hospital

Rudolph E. Tanzi, Ph.D.
Rudolph E. Tanzi, Ph.D.

Director, Genetics and Aging Research Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital

Vice Chair of Neurology, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital

Co-Director, McCance Center for Brain Health, Massachusetts General Hospital

Kennedy Professor, Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School

Collaborators (incomplete)

Selen Atasoy, Ph.D.
Oxford University
Laima Baltusis, Ph.D.
Stanford University
Marta Bianciardi, Ph.D. Massachusetts General Hospital
and Harvard Medical School
James H. Bishop, Ph.D. Stanford University School of MedicineJudson A. Brewer, M.D. Ph.D. Brown UniversityJosh Cain, Ph.D. Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies
Bruno A. Cayoun, D.Psych. Mindfulness-integrated CBT Training InstitutePeter K. Y. Chan, M.D. University of British ColumbiaAvijit Chowdhury, Ph.D. Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Leonardo Christov-Moore, Ph.D. Institute for Advanced Consciousness StudiesGeorge Deane, Ph.D. University of MontrealEric L. Garland, Ph.D. University of Utah
Gary H. Glover, Ph.D. Stanford University School of MedicineIan H. Gotlib, Ph.D. Stanford UniversityRoberto Goya-Maldonado, M.D. University of Göttingen
Andrea D. Grabovac, M.D. University of British ColumbiaNickolas Grabovac Meditation teacher and authorTiffany C. Ho, Ph.D. University of California, San Francisco
Akila Kadambi, Ph.D. University of California, Los AngelesEunmi (Jina) Kim, Ph.D. Korea Advanced Institute of Science and TechnologyMorten L. Kringelbach, D.Phil Oxford and Aarhus Universities
Andrew D. Krystal, M.D. University of California, San FranciscoRuben E. Laukkonen, Ph.D. Free University AmsterdamMichael Lifshitz, Ph.D. McGill University
Hesheng Liu, Ph.D. Medical University of South CarolinaPoorvi K. Mandayam, M.A. University of Nevada, RenoChristopher H. Miller, Ph.D. California State University, Fresno
Diego A. Pizzagalli, Ph.D. McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical SchoolNicco Reggente, Ph.D. Institute for Advanced Consciousness StudiesSoham Rej, M.D. McGill University
Joseph L. Sanguinetti, Ph.D. University of ArizonaHeleen Slagter, Ph.D. Free University AmsterdamMoria Smoski, Ph.D. Duke University
Christopher Timmermann, Ph.D. Imperial College LondonNolan R. Williams, M.D. Stanford University School of MedicineShinzen Young University of Arizona
Andrew Zalesky, Ph.D. University of MelbourneMartin Zhang, M.D. Ph.D. Massachusetts General Hospital
and Harvard Medical School
ALIUS Research Group COORDINATE-MDD Consortium Consortium Chair: Cynthia H. Y. Fu, M.D. Ph.D.
Emergent Phenomenology Research Consortium Consortium Director: Daniel Ingram, M.D.ENIGMA Depression, Bipolar, et cetera Selected Chairs: Lianne Schmaal Ph.D. and Paul Thompson Ph.D.
Multisite Resting-state fMRI Initiative (PsyMRI) Consortium Director: Martin Walter, M.D.

Alumni / Prior Mentees (incomplete)

Micah Breiger Research Assistant to M.D.
Harvard Medical School
M. Catalina Camacho Research Assistant to Neuroscience Ph.D.
Washington University in St. Louis
Sarah E. Chang Research Assistant to Neuroscience Ph.D.
University of California, Los Angeles
Carlos G. Correa Research Assistant to Neuroscience Ph.D.
Princeton University
Monica E. Ellwood-Lowe Research Assistant to Psychology Ph.D.
University of California, Berkeley
Yi Gu Res. Asst. to Elec. Comp. Engineering M.S.
University of Washington
Satish Jaiswal Visiting Scholar to Postdoctoral Researcher
University of California, San Diego
Monica Kullar Research Assistant to Neuroscience Ph.D.
University of Cambridge
Emily E. Livermore Research Assistant to Psychology Psy.D.
PGSP-Stanford Psy.D. Consortium
Adam R. Pines Research Assistant to Neuroscience Ph.D.
University of Pennsylvania
Omar Riaz Research Assistant to Software Engineer
Robotics/Controls Boston Dynamics
Anastasia Ryhanych Research Assistant to M.D.
University of California, San Diego
Praveen Suthaharan Summer Student to Neuroscience Ph.D.
Yale School of Medicine
Shane Walsh Research Assistant to Engineer
MathWorks (MATLAB)