Our team

We are a team of providers and researchers committed to better understanding basic symptoms

David Penn,  Ph.D is a Co-Investigator on the CONTE and NAPLS studies. He is Professor of Psychology at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a licensed clinical psychologist. He received his doctoral degree from the University of Nebraska- Lincoln. His primary research interests are in social cognition and psychosocial treatment for schizophrenia.  He is interested in how social cognition (i.e., emotion perception, attributional style, and theory of mind) changes across the course of schizophrenia (e.g., prior to illness onset, prodromal, first episode, and chronic), its neural basis, and how social cognition relates to social functioning. His research has had a particular emphasis on psychosocial treatment for schizophrenia, specifically, CBT for schizophrenia. 

  Karen Graham, MD is the Principal Investigator on the ZIP study. She is a board certified psychiatrist who worked at the UNC STEP (Schizophrenia Treatment and Evaluation Program) before coming to OASIS in 2006. Dr. Graham continues to be involved with clinical research involving young adults at risk for developing psychosis and those in early years of illness. Her current research involves understanding and preventing risk for antipsychotic associated obesity. She received her medical degree at McMaster University in Canada. She enjoys spending time with family, reading sci-fi books, playing with her cats and outdoor activities.

Aysenil Belger, PhD is the Principal Investigator of the CONTE study. She is the Director of Neuroimaging Research in Psychiatry, as well as Associate Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology at UNC and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Radiology Dept at Duke University and the Duke-UNC Brain Imaging and Analysis Center. Her research focuses on studies of the cortical circuits underlying attention and executive function in the human brain, as well as the breakdown in these functions in neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopment disorders such as schizophrenia and autism. 

Linmarie Sikich, MD. She is interested in early onset psychotic illnesses. The majority of her work is focused on evaluating and developing treatments for severe neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and schizophrenia. She is also interested in genetic factors that may influence treatment response.

Richard Keefe, PhD is a consultant for neurocognitive assessments. He is Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University Medical Center, and Adjunct Research Professor of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He graduated from Princeton University in 1980, and received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from NYU in 1990. He completed his clinical psychology internship at Yale   University in 1990.

Jennifer Nieri, LCSW is the study clinician for the NAPLS and ZIP studies. She is responsible for all study-related clinical assessments. She received her Masters in Social Work from the University of Maryland.

Andrea Pelletier, BA is the study coordinator for the NAPLS and ZIP studies. She is responsible the day-to-day coordination of the project, as well as data management, and neurocognition and social cognition testing. She received her BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.