Director

Fadel Zeidan, PhD | Contact​

Laboratory Director, Dr. Fadel Zeidan, is an Associate Professor of Anesthesiology at UC San Diego. He is also Co-Founder and Neuroscience Director of the newly formed UC San Diego Psychedelic Health and Research Initiative. His research is focused on determining the active mechanisms that mediate the relationship between self-regulatory practices and health.

Postdoctoral Research Fellows

Jon Dean, PhD | Contact

Jon obtained his B.A. in Chemistry from Youngstown State University and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Molecular and Integrative Physiology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Jon is particularly interested in the brain mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effects of contemporary and integrative health interventions on ailments such as chronic pain, anxiety, stress, and depression. To that end, he is eager to expand the basic science graduate work he conducted on psychedelics and the neural correlates of consciousness to human/patient populations. When he's not #sciencing, Jon likes to hike, enjoy a craft beer, play some guitar, and is going to learn to surf one of these hours.

Allison Lim, PhD | Contact

Originally from the Bay Area, CA, Allison graduated with a BS in Chemistry (Harvey Mudd College) and a PhD in Material Science (Colorado School of Mines). Currently, she is continuing her pursuit of interdisciplinary projects as a postdoctoral researcher in the Nanoengineering department under Prof. Darren Lipomi. She is collaborating with the Zeidan group on a wearable device for haptic-assisted meditation. She seeks to bridge the seemingly disparate fields of chemistry, engineering, psychology, and anesthesiology by integrating wearable devices into traditional meditation techniques. If she's not in the lab, try checking the mountains or desert; she's probably hiking, running, or climbing around! 

Valeria Oliva, PhD | Contact

Valeria is originally from Rome (Italy), where she completed her BS in Biological Sciences and her MS in Neurobiology at La Sapienza University. She then moved to Bristol (UK) for her PhD, where she used fMRI to investigate the brain mechanisms behind the attentional modulation of pain. She is primarily interested in understanding how different psychological states can alter our perception of the world, especially in the context of pain. In San Diego she is investigating the brain mechanisms behind pain relief after training in mindfulness meditation. In her free time, she likes hiking, making fresh pasta, practicing karate and juggling.

Anaheed Shirazi, MD | Contact

Anaheed is psychiatry resident at UCSD and joins our lab as a resident physician researcher during her PGY4. She was a postdoctoral scholar for the UCLA NIH T32 Training Program in Translational Neuroscience of Drug Abuse (TNDA) prior to residency and has been involved in a number of research projects. She finds herself most passionate in the intersection of addiction and integrative psychiatry.  Anaheed enjoys cultivating integrative mind-body techniques such as meditation, guided imagery and movement. Her favorite hobbies include hiking, backpacking, beach volleyball and painting. She also enjoys playing the Iranian Daf and reading Persian poetry which keeps her culturally connected with Iran, where she was born and raised before emigrating to the United States.

Graduate Students

Ethan Hurwitz, M.A. | Contact
​Psychology

​Ethan is a PhD student in Experimental Psychology at UCSD researching the cognitive mechanisms underlying psilocybin therapy. His work investigates the role of cognitive flexibility and how probabilistic models of cognition can be used to bridge the levels of analysis in psychedelic science.

Alex Jinich | Contact
Cognitive Science

​Alex is a cognitive science PhD student at UCSD researching the cognitive modulatory mechanisms active in pain regulation and the effects of culture and narrative on the nervous system. He is motivated by contributing to our understanding of how meditation and other novel therapeutic techniques help to reduce pain and improve wellbeing. He is from Mexico City, holds an honors bachelor’s degree from Columbia University, and loves underwater photography.

Mikaila P. Reyes | Contact
Clinical Research

Mikaila is a Clinical Research Master's student at UCSD with interests in non-pharmaceutical means of improving the quality of life in cancer patients and understanding the neural mechanisms by which mindfulness can alter consciousness. She graduated from UCSD in 2020 as a member of the NCAA DII Softball team with a major in Physiology and Neuroscience and a minor in Cognitive Science. Mikaila aspires to incorporate mindfulness and clinical research in a future career as an oncologist. In her free time, she enjoys spending time at the beach, painting, exercising, and listening to audiobooks.

Research Technicians

Lora Khatib | Contact
Senior Research Technician

Lora graduated from UC Berkeley with a bachelor's in psychology and has spent the past two years working in human subject research. She is passionate about exploring the cognitive and neural factors that underlie conditions such as PTSD, depression, and chronic pain to discover novel treatments that target multiple dimensions of mental distress. Lora is aspiring to pursue a Ph.D. and is excited to contribute to the investigation of integrative approaches to pain relief, such as mindfulness meditation and psychopharmacology. When she is not at work, Lora loves spending most of her time at the beach running, surfing, or reading.

Gabriel Riegner | Website | Contact
​Senior Research Technician

Gabriel graduated from the University of Southern California in 2019 with a bachelor's in neuroscience and cognitive science. There he worked with Dr. Assal Habibi at the Brain and Music Lab on a longitudinal project studying the effects of music training on children's brain and cognitive development.  Additionally, he led a project on memories for musical melodies using a signal detection model. Now at UCSD Gabriel is excited to apply the framework of cognitive neuroscience to uncover the mechanisms involved in the experience of pain. Otherwise, you'll find him hiking around his hometown in Arizona or surfing the Baja coastline.

Jacob Ross | Contact
Research Technician

Jacob is a 3rd-year undergraduate student at UCSD majoring in Neurobiology. He plans to pursue a PhD and focus primarily on better understanding the physiological roll that endogenous DMT plays in the human body. He hopes that his future research will help improve the lives of veterans struggling with a variety of physical and psychological disabilities secondary to military service. Jacob enjoys early morning snorkeling at La Jolla Cove, and exploring outdoor spaces with his Tamaskan named Omee. 

Coordinators

Dwayne Mosbey | Contact
​Program Coordinator

Dwayne is a 2018 graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara where they majored in Global Studies with a focus on International Development and minored in German. They have given keynote speeches for a variety of conferences focusing on the "Power in Speech: Private, Public, and Hidden Meanings."  They began working as the Program Coordinator for the Zeidan in 2021  where he assists with a variety of research initiatives pertaining to mindfulness, gun violence, and wellness. 

Mindfulness Instructors

Helen Kim, MD | Contact
Certified Mindfulness Facilitator

Helen is a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction teacher in training. In her previous life she was a board certified psychiatrist in Korea for 15 years, working for underserved communities. During this time she witnessed suffering in the lives of her patients and felt a strong pull towards the field of mindfulness and self-compassion as a way to heal and alleviate suffering. 
With the guidance of the founding director, Dr. Steve Hickman, Helen was able to join the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness. At the center, Helen learned various Mindfulness-Based programs from many great teachers. In their teachings she discovered a rich, grounding foundation for her life, filled with awareness, acceptance, ease, and compassion. On her journey of self-discovery and healing, she is witnessing, over and over, her growth and transformation as a human being. Helen is committed to sharing what she has learned with others who may be on their own journey of self-discovery and healing.

Jennifer Miller, PsyD | Contact
Director of Mindfulness Research

Dr. Jennifer Miller is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist—PSY17908. Dr. Miller began her mindfulness training in 2010 under the direction of Dr. Steve Hickman, Allan Goldstein, and Lorraine Hobbs. She teaches Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction at the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness. Dr. Miller is the owner of Mindsmith, A Psychological Professional Corporation in La Mesa, CA, specializing in mindful psychology; offering mindfulness-based treatment of depression, anxiety, and stress disorders. Dr. Miller is also a Co-Founder, Co-Director, and Teacher at "A Mindful Way Through…" Programs. These programs are designed specifically with women's needs in mind. Dr. Miller is married and has two spirited elementary school children. Practicing mindfulness has been and continues to be a daily blessing in this full life.

Sara Schairer​ | Contact
Certified Mindfulness Facilitator

Sara Schairer is the founder and executive director of Compassion It, a nonprofit organization and global social movement whose mission is to inspire daily compassionate actions and attitudes. A facilitator of the Compassion Cultivation Training® (CCT) course developed at Stanford University, Sara leads trainings for audiences of all walks of life, from big tech leaders to inmates. She led compassion trainings in Africa sponsored by the Botswana Ministries of Health and Education and spent a week at a Rwandan refugee camp working on unleashing compassion within its healthcare system.​
Sara gives talks and leads experiential workshops on compassionate leadership, self-compassion, burnout prevention, and mindfulness. She also created the one-of-a-kind reversible Compassion It wristband that prompts compassionate actions on six continents, 50+ countries and all 50 states. Sara is a contributing author to the book The Neuroscience of Learning and Development: Enhancing Creativity, Compassion, Critical Thinking and Peace in Education, and writes for Deepak Chopra’s Center for Wellbeing website.

Lucas LeardMann​ | Contact
Certified Mindfulness Facilitator

Lucas attended his first meditation retreat in 2002 and has been cultivating a mindfulness practice ever since. He has a teaching credential and has been a teacher, trainer, and group facilitator for many years. For Lucas, mindfulness has been integral to learning new ways of relating to the inevitable stresses of teaching, work, parenting, and daily life, as well living life with more presence, connection, and ease. With two kids at home, he explores daily how mindfulness and compassion inform his role as father and husband. Lucas has found a calling in the work of sharing mindfulness with others.

Junior Research Technicians

Alessandro Allen

Alessandro is a third-year undergraduate student at UCSD studying Neurobiology. He has a broad range of interests within neuroscience including understanding mental illness, understanding consciousness, and exploring the practical applications of mindfulness-meditation. He hopes to pursue these interests in his career after college. Alessandro loves soccer, music, and spending time in nature.

Subber Dhillon

Hi everyone! My name is Subber, I graduated from UCSD in ‘22 and received my B.S. in neurobiology. I am fascinated with learning about the neural networks associated with empathy and compassion and hope to pursue a career involving this type of work in the future. I am currently a volunteer here at the ACTRI and couldn’t be more happy to be here! 

Daniel Barrows

Daniel recently transferred from Santa Monica College and is completing his final year as a neurobiology undergraduate at UCSD, applying to the BS/MS program. He is looking forward to pursuing his master’s and would like to focus on the psychopharmacology of psychedelics. He's also excited to learn more about meditation/pain research and computational neuroscience. In his off time, Daniel enjoys playing music, traveling, soccer, surfing, and hiking. 

Alejandro Dauguet

Alejandro graduated from UC San Diego in 2021 with a double major in neurobiology and linguistics. His interests across both fields spanned the concepts of neurodegeneration, the structure of consciousness, and the mechanisms of integrative medicine in bettering nervous structure and function. He plans to attend medical school in the near future to pursue his interest in neurology and adopt a platform for the application of potential therapeutics in mindfulness and psychedelics. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, naturalism, meditation, soccer, and learning foreign languages.

Richard Fuentes

Richard is a 4th-year undergraduate student at San Diego State University pursuing a major in interdisciplinary studies, with an emphasis in biology, communications, and psychology. His research interests include the neuroscience of integrative medicine, its clinical application, and the psychopharmacology of psychedelics and their potential therapeutic applications. Richard plans to further his involvement in medicine and research involving psychiatry and neuroscience. In his free time, Richard likes to push the limits by practicing jiu-jitsu.

Carolina Lopez

Carolina is a current 3rd year undergraduate student at UCSD majoring in Human Biology and minoring in Psychology. She plans to pursue an MD/PhD where she can apply her research interest in non-pharmacological based therapy treatment to help treat patients with varying clinical conditions. During her free time, she enjoys reading, going on runs, and spending time with her English Bulldog Rex.

Alexandra Uvarova

Alexandra is a senior undergraduate student at UCSD majoring in Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience. Alexandra is looking to expand her knowledge on non-pharmacological therapeutic practices and integrative medicine to treat patients with neuropsychological conditions. Alexandra has been practicing meditation for over seven years and is deeply interested in the applications of mindfulness in therapy. She loves playing beach volleyball, hiking, rock climbing, and practicing yoga and mediation in her free time.

Alexandros Alexiou, CPhT

Alexandros is a 2nd-year undergraduate student at UCSD majoring in Biochemistry and minoring in General Biology and Management Science. His work as a certified pharmacy technician has given him first hand experience in seeing how politics and stigma surrounding addiction impact the healthcare provided to patients with chronic pain. He hopes to address the U.S. opioid epidemic by advocating for a more responsible approach to pain management and anesthesia once he receives his MD. In his free time, Alexandros enjoys playing the viola, biking, and reading finance and self-help books.

Zhongkai Wu

My name is Zhongkai Wu and I am a data analyst at UCSD.  I enjoy working with people across different disciplines, and bring them together towards understanding the brain and treating neurodegenerative diseases.  I am fascinated by how internal states such as emotions and stress levels affect our decisions and outside of work I enjoy doing Jujitsu, snorkeling and swing dancing.

Associate Investigators

 Laura Case, PhD | Contact

Laura is an Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology at UC San Diego. She received her PhD in Psychology and Cognitive Science from UC San Diego in 2013 and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the neuroscience of affective touch at the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH). Laura’s research uses brain imaging, noninvasive brain stimulation, and pharmacologic manipulation to test brain mechanisms involved in painful and pleasant touch perception in healthy individuals and individuals with chronic pain. Other research interests include psychological and neural mechanisms of manual therapies, mind-body therapies, and placebo. 

 Krishnan Chakravarthy, MD, PhD | Contact

Dr. Chakravarthy is an assistant clinical professor who specializes in multi-modal pain management. He is Director of Clinical Pain Research at the UCSD Center for Pain Medicine.  He completed sub-specialty fellowship training in pain management at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School and residency training in anesthesiology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD. He interned in general medicine at Griffin Hospital (Yale Affiliate) in Derby, Connecticut. He earned his MD, PhD degrees at Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in Buffalo, NY. Dr Chakravarthy’s research interests in pain medicine include incorporating new technology into advancing pain care. He is currently focusing on using nanotechnology as a novel system to develop new drug delivery and point of care device platforms to manage chronic pain, and small molecule drug development. Dr Chakravarthy is also a founder of several biotechnology startup companies in the nanotechnology and pharmaceutical pain space.  He is the recipient of several national research and clinical awards including the American Society of Pain and Neuroscience Young Innovator Award for outstanding research, clinical, and advocacy work in pain medicine.