Julianna Gerold

Phd Student, Integrative Neuroscience

National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program

Julianna Gerold is a first-year Ph.D. student in Integrative Neuroscience in the Department of Psychology at SBU, mentored by Dr. Turhan Canli. She earned her B.A. in Psychology from Boston College, where she explored perceptions of fairness in algorithmic decision-making. Before enrolling at Stony Brook, Julianna conducted clinical research at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, investigating brain MRI methods and cognition in healthy volunteers and those with neurodegenerative diseases. Her current research examines the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying vulnerability to financial exploitation via behavioral tasks and MRI.

Her purpose in applying to the NSF-GRFP was to support the development and execution of an interdisciplinary research program examining cognitive and neural vulnerability to financial exploitation in older adults. This fellowship will enable her to integrate behavioral and neuroimaging approaches to develop task-based measures of vulnerability. Through this work, she aims to advance her training as an early-career scientist committed to promoting financial autonomy and well-being across the aging lifespan.

Recognizing the critical need to promote the well-being and independence of older adults as this population expands globally, she looks forward to directly contributing to this goal by advancing understanding of the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying financial decision-making in the aging brain. Her long-term goal is to inform interventions and policies that enhance autonomy and reduce vulnerability to exploitation.

Nicolas is involved in the CIE Turner Fellowship on campus.