OUR TEAM

Meet our Principal Investigator, graduate students, and lab manager!

Bruna Martins-Klein

Principal Investigator

Aarthi Ganapathi

Graduate Student

Joanna Ladopoulou

Graduate Student

Madhavan Anbuchelvan

Lab Manager

BRUNA MARTINS-KLEIN, Ph.D

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Dr. Bruna Martins-Klein, Ph.D is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology, and Director of the Neural Vitality Laboratory at the University of Southern California.

Her research explores factors that build resilience, emotion regulation, and cognition across the lifespan. She integrates neuroimaging (fMRI functional connectivity, MVPA), ECG (heart rate variability), eye tracking (pupilometry), self-report, and measures from daily life, to track how emotion-cognition interactions promote flexibility and adaptive functioning.

The goal of this work is to identify actionable targets that build emotional resilience in healthy individuals and to develop interventions in clinical populations that help buffer the emotional impact of mood disorders, cognitive decline, and Alzheimer's disease.

Dr. Martins-Klein is also a licensed clinical psychologist who supervises Ph. D-level trainees providing emotional support to adults across the lifespan. Her orientation integrates Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), to increase emotional awareness and engagement in goals grounded in personal values.

She received her B.S. from the University of Pittsburgh, her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Southern California, with a specialization in Clinical Aging, and completed her clinical internship and postdoctoral fellowship in Geropsychology at the VA Boston Healthcare System.

Aarthi Ganapathi

GRADUATE STUDENT

Aarthi is a second-year graduate student in the Clinical Science PhD program at USC. She received her bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience with a minor in Cognitive Science from UCLA in 2019. Her primary research interests include emotional coregulation and neural mechanisms of dyadic coping and well-being across the lifespan. Specifically, she is interested in tracking the unique biobehavioral responses of older adults when helping close loved ones regulate their emotions and cope with stressors. In her free time, Aarthi loves singing, gardening, and rewatching Studio Ghibli movies.

Joanna Ladopoulou

GRADUATE STUDENT

Joanna is a first-year student in USC's clinical psychology program. She graduated from Harvard College in 2020 with a Bachelor's in Integrative Biology. Joanna is broadly interested in identifying the neural correlates of psychological resilience across the adult lifespan. Her current research uses precision neuroscience techniques to identify brain regions involved in the recall and reappraisal of autobiographical memories. Joanna is also interested in the interaction between social cognition and emotion regulation mechanisms, as well as the effects of mindfulness and creativity on the aging brain.

Madhavan Anbuchelvan

LAB MANAGER

Madhavan graduated from USC in 2024 with a bachelor's degree in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention. During his academic journey, he developed a deep interest in understanding the complexities of human health, particularly in the context of aging and disease progression. His passion for learning led him to work in musculoskeletal research, where he focused on the mechanisms of fat infiltration following rotator cuff injuries. His current research interests lie at the intersection of aging, neurodegeneration, and health span. In his free time, you can find Madhavan watching a Warriors game or excited for the upcoming USC football season!