PhD Student, Healy Fellow, Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience
PhD Student, Cognitive Neuroimaging Lab (Dr. Xiong Jiang)
Research Interests: HIV, Depression, NeuroAI, Neuroimaging, Mental Health, Neurocognitive Disorders
Advisor: Dr. Xiong Jiang
Rotations: Dr. Xiong Jiang, Dr. Max Riesenhuber, Dr. Ella Striem-Amit
Prior Education: Emory University: BS Degree in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology; Double Major: Human Health with a Business Concentration in Healthcare Innovation from Goizueta Business School
JuanMartin Abreu-Melon is PhD student in the Interdisciplinary Program In Neuroscience (IPN). He graduated from Emory University in 2022 with a double major in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology and Human Health with a Business Concentration in Healthcare Innovation from Goizueta Business School. As an undergrad, he worked under the joint mentorship of Dr. Raymond Dingledine and Dr. Asheebo Rojas where he investigated the molecular basis of status epilepticus and epileptogenesis, worked on understanding how the brain is converted from a normal healthy brain to an epileptic one, and has co-authored papers related to early stage epileptic drug development and the epileptic effects of chemical nerve agents on animal models. Before joining the IPN, JuanMartin worked as a Healthcare Consulting Analyst for Huron Consulting Group where he advised large academic healthcare systems on how to optimize patient care coordination.
As a Healy Fellow here at Georgetown, JuanMartin is working under his mentor Dr. Xiong Jiang in the Cognitive Neuroimaging Lab to study the relationship between apathy and depression in patients with HIV. His main research project is focused on leveraging structural MRI data, resting state functional connectivity data, neuropsychological evaluation scores and cognitive performance metrics to develop a novel Multimodal Machine Learning Model to predict general cognitive decline in people with HIV and to better understand the neurobiological basis of how depression and apathy affects the brain of people with HIV. When he isn’t in the lab, JuanMartin enjoys traveling to new places, cooking, yoga sculpt, getting involved with the neuroethics community as a Neural Interfaces Affinity Group Lead at the International Neuroethics Society, and watching sports.