Alexander Wasserman, Ph.D.

Alex is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the NRLC funded under the addiction T32 training grant.  Prior to joining the NRLC, Alex earned his PhD in developmental psychology at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln.  There, he studied adolescent risk behavior through the lens of the dual systems model and developed a strong passion for advanced quantitative methods, particularly with structural equation modeling (SEM) and growth curve modeling.  

Alex’s focus at the NRLC is with the ongoing longitudinal project that is following at-risk adolescents who have a parent diagnosed with substance use disorder.  He hopes to elucidate processes (e.g., stress, poor quality parent–child relationship) that may dampen cognitive control and/or increase reward sensitivity and subsequently increase the risk of developing addiction problems.  He also hopes to acquire expertise in neuroimaging techniques to better understand the developmental neurobiology of addiction during his training at the NRLC.