Prerona Mukherjee, PhD Joins Staff as Post-Doctoral Research Associate To Investigate the Neurobiology of Schizophrenia

November 13, 2013 - Prerona Mukherjee, PhD has joined the staff of the department as a post-doctoral research associate. She will work with Roman Kotov, PhD and the epidemiology group on the Suffolk County Mental Health Project using structural and functional imaging to investigate the neurobiology of schizophrenia.

Dr. Mukherjee received her doctoral degree from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Edinburgh School of Medicine after earning her Master’s in Cognitive Science at Edinburgh and a Bachelor of Engineering degree at the University of Pune in western India. Her expertise is in social connectivity in schizophrenia and brain imaging.

As a research associate, she will be responsible for the management and analysis of phenotypic data and their correlations to brain images. She will collaborate with Aprajita Mohanty, PhD from the Department of Psychology on functional imaging and with Tony Jin and Christine DeLorenzo, PhD from the department’s brain imaging lab on structural imaging.

“We are fortunate to have identified a researcher with specific expertise in schizophrenia and imaging,” Dr. Kotov said. “Dr. Mukherjee’s experience in the neurobiology of schizophrenia is a perfect fit with our program.”

Dr. Mukherjee has had a long-term interest in schizophrenia which she describes as both “compelling” and “of immense importance.” “People with schizophrenia deserve to reach their maximum potential,” she said, “and understanding what happens in the brain can ultimately lead to better ways of managing the condition and improving quality of life.”