Georgia State University
Lab for the Study of Anxiety and Relationships (L-STAR)
Graduate Student
March 2017- Present
Principal Investigator: Erin, B. Tone, Ph.D.
Research: Investigate the neurobiological correlates of anxiety and depression. Specifically, the brain mechanisms associated with social behavior in these populations and how these mechanisms change as a result of clinical interventions (i.e. CBT, mindfulness, etc.).
Master's Thesis: Associations Between Pupillary Response Patterns to Emotional Faces and Self-Reported Social Anxiety.
Current Research Projects:
Lab for the Study of Anxiety and Relationships (L-STAR)
Graduate Student
March 2017- Present
Principal Investigator: Erin, B. Tone, Ph.D.
Research: Investigate the neurobiological correlates of anxiety and depression. Specifically, the brain mechanisms associated with social behavior in these populations and how these mechanisms change as a result of clinical interventions (i.e. CBT, mindfulness, etc.).
Master's Thesis: Associations Between Pupillary Response Patterns to Emotional Faces and Self-Reported Social Anxiety.
Current Research Projects:
- Assess the cognitive and psychological profiles of individuals in remission from Cushing's Syndrome
- Conduct meta-analyses on the associations among social anxiety, expressive suppression, and positive affect.
- Examine associations between interpersonal values and patterns of relating among socially anxious individuals.
- Examine the pupillary dilation profile associated with social anxiety.
- Examine the neurobiological correlates of change associated with CBT in socially anxious individuals.
The STAR lab celebrates 2019 graduate, Susanna McQuarrie. Yes, those are chickens in the background. Dr. Erin Tone raises chickens in her spare time. :)
MD Anderson Cancer Center: Keeling Center for Comparative Medicine and Research, Bastrop, TX
Research Assistant
May 2015 – August 2015
Principal Investigator: Eduardo Fernandez-Duque, Ph.D.
Research: Determining neuropeptide and hormonal correlates in pair-bonds and paternal behavior; exploring the socio-sexual behaviors of the socially monogamous owl monkey.
Responsibilities:
Research Assistant
May 2015 – August 2015
Principal Investigator: Eduardo Fernandez-Duque, Ph.D.
Research: Determining neuropeptide and hormonal correlates in pair-bonds and paternal behavior; exploring the socio-sexual behaviors of the socially monogamous owl monkey.
Responsibilities:
- Prepared bioassays for indexing olfactory communication.
- Collected fecal samples, monitored behavior, and trained Aotus nancymae and Aotus vociferans.
- Conducted power analyses using G-Power.
- Conducted preliminary statistical analyses and helped disseminate findings at staff meetings
Some sweet owl monkey participants. Copyright MDACC
University of Maryland Clinical and Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, College Park, MD
Research Assistant
May 2014 – August 2016
Principal Investigator: Edward Bernat, Ph.D.
Research: Developing measures for analyzing advanced brain physiology related to psychopathology and assessing the effects of clinical interventions in externalizing subjects.
Responsibilities:
Research Assistant
May 2014 – August 2016
Principal Investigator: Edward Bernat, Ph.D.
Research: Developing measures for analyzing advanced brain physiology related to psychopathology and assessing the effects of clinical interventions in externalizing subjects.
Responsibilities:
- Collected EEG data for various data collection protocols.
- Assisted in the development of a simultaneous EEG/fMRI system at the Maryland Neuroimaging Center (MNC).
- Analyzed datasets from undergraduate and clinical populations using Matlab in conjunction with time domain and advanced time-frequency decomposition techniques.
- Dynamic functional connectivity analyses over time using phase synchrony approaches.
- Assessment of differential effects of reward context on time-frequency delta and theta.
- Statistical analyses of temporal differences between gain and loss delta frequency bands, contributing to overall time-domain P300.
The incredibly supportive and kind, Dr. Edward Bernat.
Research Grants and Fellowships
National Science Foundation- Graduate Research Fellowship Program – Awarded 2017
Georgia State University, Neuroscience Institute, Brains and Behavior Fellowship Program- Awarded Fall 2016
National Science Foundation- Research Experience for Undergraduates - Awarded 2015
Georgia State University, Neuroscience Institute, Brains and Behavior Fellowship Program- Awarded Fall 2016
National Science Foundation- Research Experience for Undergraduates - Awarded 2015
Research Awards
American Psychological Association Psych-Science-in-3- First Place Winner 2019
American Psychological Association Travel Award- Awarded 2019
2019 Georgia State University- 3 Minute Thesis Competition- First Place and People's Choice Winner
American Education Research Association, Adult Literacy and Adult Education Special Interest Group, Early Career Award- Awarded 2018
PhD Affiliate Adult Literacy Research Center Travel Award- Awarded 2017
National Science Foundation- Graduate Research Fellowship Program – Honorable Mention 2016
Harper Travel Award- Support for Poster Presentation Travel Expenses- Received Spring 2016
University of Maryland Alumni Association Scholarship - Received 2015-2016
American Psychological Association Travel Award- Awarded 2019
2019 Georgia State University- 3 Minute Thesis Competition- First Place and People's Choice Winner
American Education Research Association, Adult Literacy and Adult Education Special Interest Group, Early Career Award- Awarded 2018
PhD Affiliate Adult Literacy Research Center Travel Award- Awarded 2017
National Science Foundation- Graduate Research Fellowship Program – Honorable Mention 2016
Harper Travel Award- Support for Poster Presentation Travel Expenses- Received Spring 2016
University of Maryland Alumni Association Scholarship - Received 2015-2016
I was humbled to win first place at Georgia State University's 3-Minute-Thesis Competition and APA's inaugural Psych-Science-in 3 Minutes competition, where I spoke about my work on pupil dilation in....3 minutes! :)
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Latzman, R.D., Green, L.M., Fernandes, M.A. (2017). The Importance of Chimpanzee Personality Research to Understanding Processes Associated with Human Mental Health. International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 30.
Tighe, E.L., Fernandes, M.A. (2019). Unraveling the Complexity of the Relations of Metalinguistic Skills to Decoding with Struggling Adult Readers: Shared, Independent, and Interactive Effects. Applied Psycholinguistics.
Tighe, E.L., Fernandes, M.A. (manuscript in preparation). Assessing Stability of Component Skill Predictors to Differing Reading Comprehension Levels of Adult Literacy students.
Fernandes, M.A., Tighe, E.L. (manuscript in preparation). Examining Patterns of Component Reading Skill Performance Among Struggling Adult Readers.
Tighe, E.L., Fernandes, M.A. (2019). Unraveling the Complexity of the Relations of Metalinguistic Skills to Decoding with Struggling Adult Readers: Shared, Independent, and Interactive Effects. Applied Psycholinguistics.
Tighe, E.L., Fernandes, M.A. (manuscript in preparation). Assessing Stability of Component Skill Predictors to Differing Reading Comprehension Levels of Adult Literacy students.
Fernandes, M.A., Tighe, E.L. (manuscript in preparation). Examining Patterns of Component Reading Skill Performance Among Struggling Adult Readers.
Miscellaneous Publications
Fernandes, M. A. (2015) Looking for a research job? Prepare to be proactive, patient, and persistent. American Psychological Association- Psychology Student Network, Vol. 3, No. 2.
Fernandes, M.A. (August, 2018) GPA Meets with a Georgia Legislator: A Graduate Student Experience. Georgia Psychological Association eNewsletter.
Arenson, M., Cloutier, R., Loughran, T., Fernandes, M.A. (January, 2019) Where Science Meets Policy Part 1: Involving Stakeholders in Every Step of Your Research. American Psychological Association of Graduate Students gradPSYCH Blog.
Fernandes, M.A., Cloutier, R., Loughran, T., Arenson, M. (March, 2019) Where Science Meets Policy Part 2: How to Write Academic Papers for a Broad Range of Stakeholders. American Psychological Association of Graduate Students gradPSYCH Blog
Arenson, M., Fernandes, M.A. (April 2019) Where Science Meets Policy Part 3: Writing About Your Science for Non-Scientific Audiences. American Psychological Association of Graduate Students gradPSYCH Blog
Fernandes, M.A., Mowle, E., Arenson, M. (May 2019) Where Science Meets Policy Part 4: Writing a Policy Brief. American Psychological Association of Graduate Students gradPSYCH Blog
Fernandes, M.A. (August, 2018) GPA Meets with a Georgia Legislator: A Graduate Student Experience. Georgia Psychological Association eNewsletter.
Arenson, M., Cloutier, R., Loughran, T., Fernandes, M.A. (January, 2019) Where Science Meets Policy Part 1: Involving Stakeholders in Every Step of Your Research. American Psychological Association of Graduate Students gradPSYCH Blog.
Fernandes, M.A., Cloutier, R., Loughran, T., Arenson, M. (March, 2019) Where Science Meets Policy Part 2: How to Write Academic Papers for a Broad Range of Stakeholders. American Psychological Association of Graduate Students gradPSYCH Blog
Arenson, M., Fernandes, M.A. (April 2019) Where Science Meets Policy Part 3: Writing About Your Science for Non-Scientific Audiences. American Psychological Association of Graduate Students gradPSYCH Blog
Fernandes, M.A., Mowle, E., Arenson, M. (May 2019) Where Science Meets Policy Part 4: Writing a Policy Brief. American Psychological Association of Graduate Students gradPSYCH Blog
Oral Presentations
Fernandes, M.A. (November 2018) Pupillary Response Patterns to Emotional Faces Associated with Varying Levels of Self-Reported Social Anxiety. Presented at the Georgia State University Clinical Psychology Annual Research Day in Atlanta, GA.
*Fernandes, M.A., *Bresin, K., *Michel, J., *Subramani, O., *Draheim, A. (February 2019) DBT: Finding the Middle Path. Presented at a Georgia State University Clinical Psychology Program Meeting in Atlanta, GA. (*equal contribution)
*Fernandes, M.A., *King, A., *Friederich, S. (March 2019) Mitigating Graduate Student Burnout. Presented at the Georgia Psychological Association Annual Meeting in Atlanta, GA. (*equal contribution)
Fernandes, M.A. (March 2019) Associations Between Pupillary Response Patterns to Emotional Faces and Self-Reported Social Anxiety. Winning presentation at the Georgia State University 3-Minute-Thesis competition and APA's inaugural Psych-Science-in-3 Minutes competition. Also presented at the November 2019 Georgia Board of Regents meeting.
*Fernandes, M.A., *Bresin, K., *Michel, J., *Subramani, O., *Draheim, A. (February 2019) DBT: Finding the Middle Path. Presented at a Georgia State University Clinical Psychology Program Meeting in Atlanta, GA. (*equal contribution)
*Fernandes, M.A., *King, A., *Friederich, S. (March 2019) Mitigating Graduate Student Burnout. Presented at the Georgia Psychological Association Annual Meeting in Atlanta, GA. (*equal contribution)
Fernandes, M.A. (March 2019) Associations Between Pupillary Response Patterns to Emotional Faces and Self-Reported Social Anxiety. Winning presentation at the Georgia State University 3-Minute-Thesis competition and APA's inaugural Psych-Science-in-3 Minutes competition. Also presented at the November 2019 Georgia Board of Regents meeting.
I spoke with the Georgia Board of Regents about my research. It was a timely topic as the Chancellor had just appointed a Mental Health Task Force to address the growing challenges of mental health on college campuses.
Fernandes, M.A., Talwar, A., Tighe, E.L. (August, 2019) Examining Patterns of Component Reading Skill Performance Among Struggling Adult Readers. Presented at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading in Toronto, Canada.
I gave my first international oral presentation at the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading conference in Toronto, Canada. Toronto was beautiful, diverse, and welcoming, as was SSSR.
Fernandes, M.A., Siegle, G.J., Tone, E.B. (Accepted) Atypical Pupillary and Attentional Responses to Ambiguous Affective Cues Among Individuals with Self-Reported Social Anxiety. To be presented at the International Neuropsychological Society 2020 Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado.
Fernandes, M.A. (Accepted) A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Association Between Social Anxiety and Expressive Suppression in Fernandes, M.A. (Chair) Interpersonal Anxiety and Individual Differences in the Ways We Keep Threats at Bay. To be presented at the Anxiety and Depression Association of America 2020 Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas.
Fernandes, M.A. (November, 2019) Fear is in the Eye of the Beholder- Common Thinking Traps Associated with Social Anxiety. Presented at the TEDxGeorgiaStateUniversity conference in Atlanta, Georgia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0S5fcv0TCcI&t=102s
Fernandes, M.A. (Accepted) A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Association Between Social Anxiety and Expressive Suppression in Fernandes, M.A. (Chair) Interpersonal Anxiety and Individual Differences in the Ways We Keep Threats at Bay. To be presented at the Anxiety and Depression Association of America 2020 Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas.
Fernandes, M.A. (November, 2019) Fear is in the Eye of the Beholder- Common Thinking Traps Associated with Social Anxiety. Presented at the TEDxGeorgiaStateUniversity conference in Atlanta, Georgia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0S5fcv0TCcI&t=102s
I had the unique opportunity to disseminate my research and clinical work with the TEDx community. It was an honor.
Conference Presentations
Fernandes, M. A., Ellis, J. S., Aviyente, S., Calhoun, V. D., Bernat, E. M. (March, 2016) Resting EEG Dynamics: Amplitude and Functional Connectivity Changes Over Time. Presented at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference in New York, NY.
Massey, A. T., Fernandes, M. A., Bernat, E. M. (March, 2016) Differential effects of reward context on time-frequency delta and theta. Presented at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference in New York, NY.
Howard, J.A., Fernandes, M.A., Latzman, R.D. (2016) Trait Personality Predicting Risky Sexual Behavior Six Years Later. Presented at the Southeaster Psychological Association Conference in Atlanta, GA in March, 2017.
Coile, S., Fernandes, M.A., Latzman, R.D. (2016) Gender specific associations among sexual sadism, narcissism, and sensation seeking. Presented at the Southeaster Psychological Association Conference in Atlanta, GA in March, 2017.
Latzman, R. D. & Fernandes, M.A. (March, 2017). Exploring associations between aspects of self-control and psychopathology-relevant outcomes. In D. Washburn (Chair), Society for Experimental Psychology and Cognitive Science Symposium: Executive Control. Paper presented at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Psychological Association, Atlanta, GA.
Fernandes, M.A., Tone, E.B. (February, 2018) Exploring associations among verbal language knowledge, social anxiety, and nonverbal processing in children. Presented at the 46th Annual Meeting of the International Neuropsychological Society in Washington, D.C.
Fernandes, M.A., Tighe, E.L. (April, 2018) Exploring the Independent and Interactive Effects of Metalinguistic Skills on Decoding with Struggling Adult Readers. Presented at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association in New York, NY.
Fernandes, M.A., Anderson, P., Mehta, N., Tone, E.B. (April, 2018) Exploring Associations Among Social Anxiety, Depression, and Performance Self-Evaluations. Presented at the 2018 Annual Anxiety and Depression Association of America in Washington, D.C.
Tighe, E.L., Fernandes, M.A. (April, 2019) Assessing Stability of Component Skill Predictors to Differing Reading Comprehension Levels of Adult Literacy Students. Paper to be presented at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association in Toronto, Canada.
Fernandes, M.A., Tone, E.B. (March, 2019) Pupillary Response Patterns to Emotional Faces Associated with Varying Levels of Self-Reported Social Anxiety. Presented at the 2019 Anxiety and Depression Association of American Annual Conference in Chicago, IL.
Murphy, K., Fernandes, M.A., Tone, E.B. (May, 2019). Associations Between Social Anxiety and Maladaptive Interpersonal Behaviors in Young Men and Women. Presented at the Georgia Psychological Association Annual Meeting in Atlanta, GA.
Murphy, K., Fernandes, M.A., Tone, E.B. (May, 2019). Social Anxiety as a Predictor of Problematic Patterns of Interpersonal Behavior. Presented at the Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference in Atlanta, GA.
Fernandes, M.A., Siegle, G.J., Tone, E.B. (August, 2019) Pupillary and Eye-Tracking Patterns to Emotional Faces Among Individuals with Self-Reported Social Anxiety. Presented at the 2019 American Psychological Association Annual Convention Meeting in Chicago, IL.
Fernandes, M.A., Siegle, G.J., Tone, E.B. (2019) Associations Between Pupillary Response Patterns to Patterns of Emotional Faces of Varied Intensity and Self-Reported Social Anxiety. Poster to be presented at the 2019 Annual Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Conference in Atlanta, GA.
Massey, A. T., Fernandes, M. A., Bernat, E. M. (March, 2016) Differential effects of reward context on time-frequency delta and theta. Presented at the Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference in New York, NY.
Howard, J.A., Fernandes, M.A., Latzman, R.D. (2016) Trait Personality Predicting Risky Sexual Behavior Six Years Later. Presented at the Southeaster Psychological Association Conference in Atlanta, GA in March, 2017.
Coile, S., Fernandes, M.A., Latzman, R.D. (2016) Gender specific associations among sexual sadism, narcissism, and sensation seeking. Presented at the Southeaster Psychological Association Conference in Atlanta, GA in March, 2017.
Latzman, R. D. & Fernandes, M.A. (March, 2017). Exploring associations between aspects of self-control and psychopathology-relevant outcomes. In D. Washburn (Chair), Society for Experimental Psychology and Cognitive Science Symposium: Executive Control. Paper presented at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Psychological Association, Atlanta, GA.
Fernandes, M.A., Tone, E.B. (February, 2018) Exploring associations among verbal language knowledge, social anxiety, and nonverbal processing in children. Presented at the 46th Annual Meeting of the International Neuropsychological Society in Washington, D.C.
Fernandes, M.A., Tighe, E.L. (April, 2018) Exploring the Independent and Interactive Effects of Metalinguistic Skills on Decoding with Struggling Adult Readers. Presented at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association in New York, NY.
Fernandes, M.A., Anderson, P., Mehta, N., Tone, E.B. (April, 2018) Exploring Associations Among Social Anxiety, Depression, and Performance Self-Evaluations. Presented at the 2018 Annual Anxiety and Depression Association of America in Washington, D.C.
Tighe, E.L., Fernandes, M.A. (April, 2019) Assessing Stability of Component Skill Predictors to Differing Reading Comprehension Levels of Adult Literacy Students. Paper to be presented at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association in Toronto, Canada.
Fernandes, M.A., Tone, E.B. (March, 2019) Pupillary Response Patterns to Emotional Faces Associated with Varying Levels of Self-Reported Social Anxiety. Presented at the 2019 Anxiety and Depression Association of American Annual Conference in Chicago, IL.
Murphy, K., Fernandes, M.A., Tone, E.B. (May, 2019). Associations Between Social Anxiety and Maladaptive Interpersonal Behaviors in Young Men and Women. Presented at the Georgia Psychological Association Annual Meeting in Atlanta, GA.
Murphy, K., Fernandes, M.A., Tone, E.B. (May, 2019). Social Anxiety as a Predictor of Problematic Patterns of Interpersonal Behavior. Presented at the Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference in Atlanta, GA.
Fernandes, M.A., Siegle, G.J., Tone, E.B. (August, 2019) Pupillary and Eye-Tracking Patterns to Emotional Faces Among Individuals with Self-Reported Social Anxiety. Presented at the 2019 American Psychological Association Annual Convention Meeting in Chicago, IL.
Fernandes, M.A., Siegle, G.J., Tone, E.B. (2019) Associations Between Pupillary Response Patterns to Patterns of Emotional Faces of Varied Intensity and Self-Reported Social Anxiety. Poster to be presented at the 2019 Annual Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Conference in Atlanta, GA.