The Department of Psychology is thrilled to introduce several new faces among our faculty and staff as we prepare for the start of a new academic year.  Among them are three new faculty members:

Polymnia Georgiou – Dr. Georgiou will be joining us as an Assistant Professor with a research focus on understanding the pathophysiology of mental disorders associated with dysregulation of the brain reward system, including drug addiction and mood disorders.  Dr. Georgiou completed her PhD at the University of Surrey, UK.

Dr. Georgiou will recruit a new graduate student for Fall 2023 admissions.

Jeffrey Lopez Rojas – Dr. Lopez-Rojas brings an interest in the various neurological and biomechanical functions of social recognition and signals, aiming to understand the brain’s core mechanisms that support social cognition.  Dr. Lopez-Rojas holds a PhD from Otton von Guricke University Magdeburg, Germany and will be joining UWM as an Assistant Professor.

Dr. Lopez-Rojas will recruit a new graduate student for Fall 2023 admissions.

Gabriela A. Nagy – Dr. Nagy completed her PhD in Clinical Psychology at UWM in 2017 and will be joining us as an Assistant Professor investigating ways in which to reduce the mental health care inequities experienced by minoritized communities, working extensively with immigrants and refugees from Latin America.

Dr. Nagy will recruit new graduate students for Fall 2023 admissions for both the Clinical PhD and Health Masters programs.

We are also pleased to welcome three new teaching faculty who will begin instruction this fall:

Alicia Barr – Dr. Barr holds a PhD in Pharmacology and Toxicology from the Medical College of Wisconsin.  She additionally holds a BS in Biomedical Engineering at Case Western and an MS in Biomedical Engineering from Vanderbilt.

Jeffrey Cooley – Dr. Cooley completed his PhD in Psychology at UWM, where he majored in Cognition and Perception and has many years of teaching experience at UW-Oshkosh, Mt. Mary, Cardinal Stritch, and at UWM in the Mathematical Sciences Department.

Maria Lechtreck – Dr. Lechtreck holds a BS from the University of Montvallo in Alabama, and recently completed her PhD in Psychology at the University of Alabama Birmingham with a concentration in Behavioral Neuroscience.

Finally, Aaron Derner has joined our administrative team as an Administrative Assistant.  Aaron is supporting day-to-day departmental operations and can be found in Garland Hall, rm. 224.