Nina Christie

I am a second year graduate student at the University of Southern California studying Brain and Cognitive Sciences in the Psychology Department. I am advised by Dr. John Monterosso and Dr. Antoine Bechara. I am the co-curator for the Brain and Cognitive Science Seminar Series and the President of the Graduate Association for Students in Psychology. I am a triathlete, competing relay-style alongside my brother and sister, and I am passionate about research and understanding the human mind.

My unique position as the advisee of Dr. Monterosso and Dr. Bechara has allowed me to conduct this project: their expertise in behavioral neuroeconomics and addiction neuropsychology respectively have helped me to develop this project from its inception to its current status in data collection. I am a researcher studying addiction through the lens of a behavioral neuroscientist. I am interested in questions about decision-making, impulsivity, and delay-discounting, specifically as they relate to decisions about drug use. I am interested primarily in the neural underpinnings of these various processes, and how these neural correlates produce behavior.

My work in the field of addiction has only just begun, and I am the first author on a book chapter "The Neurobiology of Substance Addictions" to come out in the Cambridge Handbook of Substance and Behavioral Addictions in 2019. I have one manuscript in review, and another in the works. I am motivated to advance the field of addiction.

I am also passionate about teaching; I want to inspire the next generation of researchers. I designed and taught my own class through USC Summer Programs: My Mind & Me: An Introduction to Mental Health focusing on practical implications, reading scientific writing, and how to use science to improve daily life.

August 2018