NCCIH Research Blog

Over the past few months, NCCIH has welcomed five new scientists to the Division of Extramural Research. These three program directors and two program analysts bring a wonderful range of expertise and experience to our team.

Wen Chen, Ph.D., program director, oversees NCCIH’s portfolio on: neurobiology and integrative physiology of mind and body programs and natural products; basic and clinical mechanistic studies of acupuncture, meditation, mindfulness, placebo effects, other types of mind and body interventions, and natural products; mechanistic studies of complementary approaches in the context of pain management; and integration of genetic and epigenetic approaches into the neurobiological and physiological studies of complementary approaches. Dr. Chen came to NCCIH from the National Institute on Aging, where she oversaw the research portfolio on sensory and motor disorders of aging.

Lanay Mudd, Ph.D., program director, develops and manages NCCIH’s grant portfolio centered on clinical studies on movement meditation, including yoga, tai chi, and qigong, and serves as representative to the NIH Common Fund initiative on Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity in Humans. Prior to joining NCCIH, Dr. Mudd was an assistant professor of kinesiology at Michigan State University, where she investigated the health benefits of physical activity during pregnancy and the development of interventions to improve health behaviors among pregnant women.

Eve Reider, Ph.D., program director, leads NCCIH’s initiative on military personnel, veterans, their families, and communities and oversees the prevention/health promotion and health services research portfolios. She came to NCCIH from the Prevention Research Branch of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, where her contributions included serving as acting branch chief; expanding the prevention portfolio for vulnerable populations and integration of drug abuse and HIV prevention in youth; and leading an interagency initiative on substance abuse and associated comorbidities in the military population.

Julia Berzhanskaya, Ph.D., program analyst, provides analytical support to the Division’s basic and clinical research branches and performs outreach and planning for the Center’s Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer and Big Data to Knowledge programs. Prior to NCCIH, Dr. Berzhanskaya was a research fellow at the Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study at George Mason University, where she conducted experimental and computational research on modulation of neuronal ensembles by electric fields, and a research scientist at George Washington University studying EEG markers in a fragile X animal model.

Ashlee Tipton, Ph.D., program analyst, provides scientific and administrative support to the Division’s basic and clinical research branches. She oversees R13 grant pre-submissions to NCCIH, awards for Certificates of Confidentiality, and the loan repayment program. Dr. Tipton came to NCCIH from the University of Maryland, College Park, where she was a postdoctoral associate in the Fischell Department of Bioengineering. Her research background includes studying targeted lymph node delivery of small molecule drugs using biomaterials to generate immunotherapy in rodent models of autoimmunity, and elucidating the mechanism by which renal T cells and gender contribute to hypertension in a rodent animal model.

Please join me in welcoming these outstanding scientists to the NCCIH team.