McGill Laboratory of Affiliation and Prosociality
LAB DIRECTOR | DR. JENNIFER BARTZ
Principal Investigator
Graduate Students
Postdoctoral Collaborators
Lab Coordinator
| JENNIFER BARTZ |
Dr. Bartz completed her Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology in 2004 with John Lydon at McGill University. She then went on to a Post-doctoral fellowship with Eric Hollander at the Seaver Autism Center in the Department of Psychiatry at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, NY. In 2007 she became an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Mount Sinai, and in 2011 she retuned to McGill University, and is now an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology.
| KRISTINA TCHALOVA |
Kristina is a PhD student in Social Psychology at McGill University. Her research examines the neurobiological substrates that contribute to the formation and maintenance of social bonds, as well as the influence these mechanisms exert on emotional and physical health. Kristina holds a BSc in Psychology from the University of Toronto and an MA in Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles. Kristina is funded by doctoral fellowships from SSHRC and the Healthy Brains for Healthy Lives initiative sponsored by the CFREF.
EMAIL: kristina.tchalova@mail.mcgill.ca
twitter: @k_tchalova
| AMY GREGORY |
Amy's research focuses on identifying situational factors and individual differences that impair demonstrated empathic accuracy. She is also interested in the relational consequences of fluctuations in empathic accuracy and cognitive empathy, which a specific interest in support provision.
EMAIL: amy.gregory@mail.mcgill.ca
| WILLIS KLEIN |
Willis is a PhD student in Experimental Psychology at McGill University. He is interested in the epistemic function of close relationships. His research focuses on better understanding the psychological consequences of gaslighting and how to recover from epistemic abuse. He is also interested in how close relationships alter the self-concept. Willis holds a BSc in Psychology and Cognitive Science from the University of Toronto.
EMAIL: willis.klein@mail.mcgill.ca
| JULIETTE DUPERTUYS |
Juliette received her B.Sc. at McGill University in 2022 and is currently working as a lab coordinator for Professor Bartz. She is interested in the role of oxytocin in affiliation and prosociality, and in the effect of stress on interpersonal processes.
EMAIL: juliette.dupertuys@mail.mcgill.ca
| TANYA PROCYSHYN |
Tanya is interested in the biological variables (hormones, genes) that underlie individual differences in social traits and their relationship to autism spectrum phenotypes. She completed her PhD in Psychiatry at the Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, and is currently a Parke Davis Exchange Post-Doctoral Fellow (University of Cambridge) pursuing research related to oxytocin in collaboration with Dr. Bartz at McGill.
EMAIL: tlp30@cam.ac.uk
Current Undergraduate Research Students
Molly Feffer (McGill Science Undergraduate Research Award recipient, 2022)
Katya Kredl (NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award recipient, 2022)
| JENNIFER HEYMAN |
Jennifer is a PhD student in Experimental Social Psychology at McGill University. Her research examines how technology influences in-person social interactions. Specifically, she is looking at how the different forms of digital technology (e.g., social media, cell phones) influence both personality and emotion accuracy amongst new acquaintances and romantic partners.
EMAIL: jennifer.heyman@mail.mcgill.ca
Collaborators
Dr. Niall Bolger
Dr. Sue Carter
Dr. Melanie Dirks
Dr. Ian Gold
Dr. Eric Hollander
Dr. Christopher Hopwood
Dr. Lauren Human
Dr. Heejung Kim
Dr. Harold Koenigsberg
Dr. Alexander Kolevzon
Dr. Matthew Lieberman
Dr. John Lydon
Dr. Meghan Meyer
Dr. Jeffrey Mogil
Dr. Debbie Moskowitz
Dr. Kevin Ochsner
Dr. Jens Pruessner
Dr. Signy Sheldon
Dr. A. Ting Wang
Dr. Jamil Zaki
Dr. Phyllis Zelkowitz
Dr. David Zuroff
Past Postdoctoral and Graduate students
| GENTIANA SADIKAJ |
Dr. Gentiana Sadikaj completed her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at McGill University in 2012. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship under Dr. Bartz's supervision in 2017, and she is currently an assistant professor at Concordia University. Broadly speaking, Genta is interested in understanding (1) person and situational influences on personality processes involving perception of others, affect, and interpersonal behavior, (2) intrapersonal and interpersonal consequences of personality processes, and (3) perception accuracy. Presently, she is examining whether specific polymorphisms in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) influence interpersonal dynamics between romantic partners in naturally occurring interpersonal situations.
| SONIA KROL |
Dr. Sonia Krol completed her PhD student in Clinical Psychology at McGill University under the supervision of Dr. Bartz. She also completed her BA in Psychology at McGill University. Broadly, Sonia is interested in the relationship between the self and social behaviour. Specifically, she studies how one’s sense of self—the extent to which one knows who they are—influences self-other distinction, particularly in the context of empathy.
EMAIL: sonia.krol@mail.mcgill.ca
| Cecile (Cici) Sunahara |
Cecile completed her M.Sc. at McGill University under the supervision of Dr. Bartz investigating the neurobiological and social cognitive underpinnings of human affiliation and prosociality. Cici is completing her PhD in Clinical Psychology at Southern Methodist University under the supervision of Dr. Benjamin A. Tabak where she aims to continue exploring the psychological and neurobiological mechanisms which support our ability to connect with others.
| JONAS NITSCHKE |
Jonas completed his PhD in Experimental Psychology at McGill University under the supervision of Dr. Bartz. Jonas is completing his post doctoral research in the Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit at University of Vienna under the supervision of Dr. Claus Lamm. He is interested in how stress influences our self-perceptions and how we interact with our social environment.
EMAIL: jonas.nitschke@mcgill.ca
WEB: jonasnitschke.com
twitter: @jonasnitschke
Past Lab Coordinators
Talya Azrieli, B.A. (M.Sc. student at Concordia University)
Emma Galarneau, M.Sc. (PhD student at University of Toronto)
Alexa Meilleur, M.Sc. (Doctoral student at Université du Québec à Montréal)
