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Principle Investigator; Assistant Professor, The Department of Psychology, Brooklyn College of CUNY
Professional Bio I began my academic journey at Brooklyn College, where I earned a B.S. in Psychology and Biology. During this time, I spent several semesters in Dr. Andrew Delamater’s lab, where I was first introduced to learning theory and the neuroscience of associative learning. For my graduate work, I moved to the University of Michigan to join Dr. Carrie Ferrario’s lab, earning my PhD in 2019. My dissertation explored the plasticity-related mechanisms contributing to Pavlovian motivational processes, with a specific focus on the role of glutamatergic plasticity in the nucleus accumbens. I completed my first postdoctoral fellowship in Dr. Matt Lattal’s lab at Oregon Health and Science University (2019–2024), where my work centered on the psychological and neuronal mechanisms responsible for the persistent effects of traumatic memories on reward-seeking behavior. Seeking to further expand my molecular expertise, I joined the labs of Drs. Barb Sorg and Soren Impey for a second postdoctoral position (2024–2025). There, I contributed to the optimization of immunity purification protocols for isolating distinct cell types. This molecular training was the final pivotal step in rounding out a neuroscientific skillset that has allowed me to establish my own independent lab. In the summer of 2025, I returned to Brooklyn College of CUNY as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology. The Derman Lab is currently in its setup phase, and we anticipate being fully operational for experimental research by Summer 2026. For more details on our ongoing research programs, please see the Research page. Personal Bio Outside of the lab, my life is centered on my family; I am a wife and a mother to three beautiful children. I value these interpersonal connections above all else, and they drive everything I do. For personal recreation, I am a long-time enthusiast of strength training (specifically powerlifting), hiking, and tending to my indoor garden. I also find creative fulfillment in photography. While I primarily rely on my smartphone camera these days rather than high-level equipment, I find the medium deeply meaningful. I often marvel at how unique our current era is—for the first time in human history, we can maintain a direct, continuous record of our experiences, creating a rich "memory tapestry" of our lives through the digital frames in our homes.
Senior Research Assistant & Software Engineer
Mike serves as the Senior Research Assistant and Software Engineer for the lab, where he manages data analytics and digital infrastructure. Currently completing his B.S. in Computer Science at Oregon State University (holding a 4.0 GPA), Mike specializes in processing complex sequencing data and developing scientific computing tools, including the design and build of the lab's website. He brings a diverse academic foundation to his technical work, including graduate-level studies at the CUNY Graduate Center.