Lana Ruvolo Grasser

Lana Ruvolo Grasser is a second-year pre-doctoral candidate in Translational Neuroscience at Wayne State University (WSU). She is a 2017 graduate of Michigan State University with a BSc in Neuroscience and a minor in dance. Currently, she works with Drs. Arash Javanbakht and Tanja Jovanovic at the Stress, Trauma, and Anxiety Research Clinic at WSU. Her research focuses on trauma-related disorders, their neurobiology, and treatment, specifically in the context of the Syrian refugee crisis. Lana is passionate about the use of alternative therapies for treatment of PTSD and anxiety in this population, most notably Dance/Movement Therapy. Through her work, she hopes to demonstrate the efficacy of these interventions as well as the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms. Lana is grateful to the Syrian community in Southeastern Michigan with which she works and has learnt so much from. She strives to make community engagement and application a top priority in all of her research activities. At the STARC lab, Lana is also working on a neuroimaging study of cognitive context in fear conditioning and extinction learning, augmented reality exposure therapy for small animal phobias. She is a proud member of ADAA and has appreciated the collaborations, education, and friendships made possible during her training through the organization. Outside of the lab, Lana enjoys travelling, scuba diving, practicing yoga, and, of course, dancing.