Kathryn J. Devaney
149 13th St. Rm. 2301
Charlestown, MA USA
(978) 460-1805
kdevaney nmr.mgh.harvard.edu

Education

University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Bachelor of Science, Psychology, 2005


Research Experience

November 2005 - present
Post-Baccalaureate Research Assistant in Dr. Roger Tootell's vision lab at the A.A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging.
Investigated visual perception and cognition in humans and macaques with 1.5, 3 and 7 Tesla fMRI. Designed, programmed, analyzed and interpreted various projects including: retinotopic mapping, functional categorization of visual images, and functional investigation of visual areas (e.g. fusiform face area and parahippocampal place area).

February 2005 - May 2005
Independent Research Assistant in Dr. Kyle Cave's visual attention laboratory, UMass Amherst Department of Cognitive Psychology.
Semester Independent Study: Object-Mediated Inhibition of Return of Visual Attention. Investigated the timecourse of inhibition of return mediated by objects and locations in 60 human subjects. Conceived and designed an experiment and worked with a programmer to implement it - analyzed reaction time data and summarized results in a poster, talk and thesis paper.

September 2004 - January 2005
Undergraduate Research Assistant in Dr. Kyle Cave's visual attention laboratory, UMass Amherst Department of Cognitive Psychology.
Helped to design an experiment being conducted by a rotating Neuroscience and Behavior graduate student. Helped to administer this study and the experiments of other graduate students to undergraduate subjects. Performed project testing, data analysis, instructed human subjects.

January 2003 - May 2003
Independent Research Assistant in Dr. Katherine V. Fite's visual neuroscience laboratory, UMass Amherst Department of Neuroscience and Behavior.
Semester independent study: Morphology and distribution of dorsal raphe nucleus neurons receiving retinal projections in the mongolian gerbil. Analyzed morphology of visual projections from the retina, SCN and LGN to the dorsal raphe nucleus of the hindbrain at a single-cell level.


Teaching Experience

September 2004 - December 2004
Undergraduate teaching assistant for Dr. Marvin Daehler, UMass Amherst Department of Psychology.
Assisted Dr. Daehler with his Developmental Psychology class. Fielded students' questions during class time and encouraged students to learn beyond the course. Held office hours and conducted full-class review sessions.


Relevant Skills

* Statistical analysis software (EXCEL, SPSS and SYSTAT).
* Extensive experience with FreeSurfer and FS-FAST
* Some knowledge of Matlab
* Proficient with Linux and UNIX (some scripting)
* Functional MRI of humans at 1.5 Tesla, 3 Tesla, and 7 Tesla, and macaques at 3 Tesla
* Rodent handling, anesthesia and perfusion.
* Immunocytochemistry (DAB/peroxidase methods) and tissue preparation including sectioning and mounting procedures.

Relevant Coursework

* Graduate-level courses in the biology of vision, scientific studies of consciousness, cognitive psychology, also weekly lab meetings and presentations.
* Undergraduate-level courses in: cognitive psychology, learning and memory, neuroscience, neurobiology, consciousness, animal biology, physics, general chemistry and calculus.
* Audit of HST 584 (Magnetic Resonance) and HST 583 (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) at MIT.


Papers

Devaney KJ, Rajimehr R, & Tootell RBH (in preparation) Localization of 'place biased' activity in visual cortex of humans and monkeys

Rajimehr R, Devaney KJ, Young JC, Bilenko NY, Postelnicu GM, & Tootell RBH. (submitted) The Parahippocampal Place Area responds selectively to high spatial frequencies in humans and monkeys

Tootell RBH, Devaney KJ, Postelnicu GM, & Ungerleider LG. (PNAS, in press) FMRI mapping of a morphed continuum of 3D shapes within inferior temporal cortex

Posters and Talks

Tootell RBH, Devaney KJ, Postelnicu GM, & Ungerleider LG. (2007). Cortical fMRI maps in response to 3D morphs between head and house (talk, Vision Science Society Annual Meeting, May 2007)

Devaney KJ, Cave KR (2005) Object-mediated inhibition of return of visual attention (poster, University of Massachusetts Undergraduate Research Conference, May 2005)

References, transcripts and independent research papers are available upon request.

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