Paul Glimcher, PhD

Julius Silver Professor of Neural Science

Professor of Neuroscience, Psychiatry, Psychology and Economics

Chair, Department of Neuroscience

Director, Institute for Translational Neuroscience (ITNS)

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Kenway Louie, MD PhD

My research revolves around the neural computations that underlie learning and decision-making. In particular, I am interested in neural coding - how the activities of populations of neurons represent and process the variables that guide the behavior of the organism. Current research centers on how reward, value, and choice intersect in time-discounted decision-making. Away from the lab, my thoughts drift to mountaintops, open highways, and days by the sea.

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Hannah Zimmermann, M.A.

Research Project Manager & Lab Manager

With an M.A. in Clinical Psychology and ongoing Master of Social Work studies, both from NYU, I bring a strong clinical psychology foundation combined with years of direct research project management experience with diverse populations. I have been leading clinical research operations over the last 5 years for the Chair of the Dept. of Neuroscience at NYU Langone Health, Dr. Paul Glimcher; including management of multi-site clinical trials, collaboration on federal grant development for portfolios up to $25M, and oversight from end-to-end IRB processes, regulatory compliance, and budget execution for an 18+ person team. By bridging clinical insight, hands-on neuroimaging experience, and high-level operational authority over large clinical studies, I offer the balance of experience in psychiatric disorders, scientific literacy, and thorough organization required to reach my goals of eventually managing an interdisciplinary Conte Center initiative. Long-term, I aspire to create a group practice specializing in an integrated approach to psychotherapy & psychodynamic modalities in combination with targeted treatment plans for psychosomatic pain/diseases.

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Yessica Alcantara, B.A.

Executive Assistant to Paul W. Glimcher

I graduated from Skidmore College in 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Anthropology with a focus on Medical Anthropology. After college, I began working at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center as an office coordinator where I managed the clinical and research practices of two colorectal oncologists. In 2021, I moved on to an Administrative Assistant role supporting the Chief of Geriatrics, Dr. Beatriz Korc-Grodzicki. In this role I helped run the Cancer and Aging Interdisciplinary Team (CAIT) Clinic which provided geriatric assessments to patients 65 and older before starting a chemotherapy or radiation regimen. In July 2023, I joined the Neuroscience Institute as the executive assistant to the chair, Dr. Paul Glimcher. I currently provide administrative support to Dr. Glimcher and his lab.

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Paige Miller, B.S.

Research Coordinator

I recently received my B.S. in neural science from New York University in May 2025. I began research in my first year, working as a research assistant for the Cognition and Brain (CAB) in the Psychopathology Lab, working with those with severe and persistent schizophrenia and type II bipolar disorder. I have been a research assistant for the Developmental Cognition and Neuroimaging lab, working on prenatal methamphetamine exposure clinical study, and the ADD/ADHD neuroimaging study. My primary interests include neuropsychology and psychiatry. I am currently working in the Glimcher lab assisting on the SOAR clinical trial focusing on Opioid Use Disorder and our ASTOP clinical trial focusing on PTSD.

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Aysu Secmen, Ph.D.

I received my Ph.D. in Mathematics from Texas A&M University, and my undergrad in Mathematics from Bogazici University. After 19 years of work experience in quantitative trading and research in Wall Street, I am currently a postdoc in Glimcher Lab while simultaneously pursuing my M.A in Psychology at NYU, in the Cognition, Perception and Neuroscience track. My research interest is understanding decision-making in addiction, with a focus on quantifying the risk factors that predispose an individual to transition from occasional opioid use to opioid use disorder. Outside of the lab, I am a hiking and mountaineering enthusiast. I enjoy hiking in remote corners of the world with my family, climbing to the top of the mountains, and pushing myself out of my comfort zone.

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Aadith Vittala

I'm a current MD/PhD student at NYU, and I graduated from Rice University with a BS in Physics and BA in Biochemistry. My research interests include computational neuroscience and psychiatry. In the Glimcher lab, I work on a project studying decision making in patients with depression. Outside of lab, I like to read sci-fi novels, play the piano, and search for the tastiest falafel in the city.

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Duc Nguyen

I’m a current PhD student in the CNS program at NYU. I am interested in studying about individual differences in decision making when facing the same situation. Currently, I am working with other people in the lab on a project to build a circuit model to explain the mechanism of neural values coding and choice behavior. Outside of work, I enjoy watching and playing sports (mainly soccer).

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Lexin Avery Liang

I am a PhD student in psychology at NYU, and I received my Bachelor’s in psychology from the University of Sydney. My research investigates group dynamics in decision-making, as well as how limited cognitive resources shape internal representation of values and probabilities in risky decision-making. Outside of academia, I enjoy photography and knitting.

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Frank DeVita

I hold a dual B.A. in Biology and Philosophy from Boston University, an M.A. in Biotechnology from Columbia, and am currently a graduate student in the NYU Center for Bioethics. My research interests are in philosophical aspects of choice, including attitudes like belief and desire and their connection to behavior, decision theory under uncertainty, risk, and parity, and topics in ethics about how we ought to act that connect with the neuroscience of decision-making. In the Glimcher Lab, I assist on projects about the neurobiology of political partisanship, the dynamics of the reference point in major depression, and accuracy in decision-making. In my free time, you can find me playing electric guitar, hiking in the Hudson Valley, and reading or thinking about philosophy. In the future, I plan to pursue a PhD working in the philosophy of mind and language and/or cognitive science.

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