Introducing 3 New CREST Network Members and 3 New Trainees!

We’re delighted to announce the addition of three new members and three new trainees to the CREST network! Please join us in congratulating Dr. John-Jose Nunez, Dr. Fabiano Gomes, and Dr. Adrienne Benediktsson in becoming network members. As well as Georgia Caruana, Bryn Manns, and Jeff Brozena in becoming trainees.

Read their bios to learn more about their contributions:

New Members

From left to right John-Jose Nunez, Fabiano Gomes and Adrienne Benediktsson

Dr. John-Jose Nunez

Dr. John-Jose Nunez is a staff psychiatrist and clinical research fellow at the Mood Disorders Centre at The University of British Columbia, and is a staff psychiatrist and fellow at BC Cancer. His research aims to use computational methods like artificial intelligence to help patients with mood disorders such as bipolar disorder and depression, and patients experiencing both cancer and mental illness.

Dr. Fabiano Gomez

Dr. Fabiano A. Gomes is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster University and an academic psychiatrist in the Mood Disorders Treatment and Research Clinic at St Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton. He completed his psychiatry residency, Master’s Degree and PhD in Psychiatry at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. He was the Head of the Mood Disorders Program at the University of Brasilia Teaching Hospital prior to relocating Canada.

Dr. Adrienne Benediktsson

Dr. Adrienne Benediktsson received her PhD. in Neuroscience in 2007. She completed postdoctoral work at the University of Pennsylvania, Tufts’ University, and the Hotchkiss Brain Institute at the University of Calgary. Now she is an Associate Professor in the Biology department at Mount Royal University in Calgary. Her research focus has been understanding the structure and function of a type of brain cell called an astrocyte using various forms of microscopy.

New Trainees

From left to right Georgia Caruana, Bryn Manns and Jeff Brozena

Georgia Caruana

Georgia Caruana is a senior PhD Candidate in the Mood Psychosis Spectrum Group, in the Department of Psychiatry at The University of Melbourne. Supervised by Associate Professor Tamsyn Van Rheenen, her doctoral research is centred on understanding cognition in bipolar disorder, with a particular interest in how biological, psychological and social factors may converge to impact thinking skills.

Bryn Manns

Bryn Manns is a former employee at CREST.BD who executed data collection and contributed to content development for the PolarUs study. Bryn is also a 2nd-year graduate student in Clinical Psychology at the University of Colorado Boulder. She currently researches emotional regulation processes and emotional experiences in bipolar and unipolar mood disorders. She is especially interested in investigating how emotion regulation unfolds in naturalistic settings and how interoceptive processes may influence emotion regulation abilities.

Jeff Brozena

Jeff Brozena is a PhD candidate at Penn State University in the Wellbeing and Health Innovation Lab advised by Dr Saeed Abdullah. Jeff works at the intersection of human-computer interaction and mental health and is currently investigating how financial technologies might support financial stability for individuals living with bipolar disorder.