Current Team
Our team of researchers and clinicians is passionate about improving our understanding of personality and mental health using AI and advanced statistics with a focus on equity.
Faculty, Graduate Students,
& Research Technician
Josh Oltmanns, Ph.D.
Director
Josh is the Director of the Personality, Mental Health, and AI Laboratory at Washington University in St. Louis (WashU). He is a licensed clinical psychologist, an assistant professor of Psychological & Brain Sciences, and an Associate Editor at the peer-reviewed journal Assessment.
Pooja Heragu, M.A.
Graduate Student
Pooja is a fifth-year doctoral student in the clinical psychology program at Xavier University and is on clinical internship at the New Orleans VA. Pooja received her B.A. in psychology from the University of California, Berkeley in 2021. Her research interests include investigating racial disparities in assessment and mental health outcomes. Clinically, Pooja is interested in health psychology and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT).
Tu Do, M.A.
Graduate Student
Tu is a third-year clinical psychology Ph.D. student at Washington University at St. Louis. Tu received her B.A. in psychology from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities in 2021 and her M.A. in clinical science from American University in 2024. Her research interests include prediction of mental health outcomes and personality of minority populations using AI and machine learning.
Tong Li, M.S.
Graduate Student
Tong is a fourth-year PhD student in Computational & Data Sciences in WashU. She also earned her B.S. in Statistics at Northeastern University (China) and M.S. in Applied Mathematics at Johns Hopkins University. She worked as a research assistant in medical image analysis. Now, her research focuses on the intersection of AI and psychology, particularly in leveraging AI models for personality analysis and mental health diagnostics.
Tongyao Ran, M.S.
Graduate Student
Ran is a second-year doctoral student in Clinical Psychology at WashU. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Diplomacy at Beijing Foreign Studies University and received her M.S. in Counseling at Johns Hopkins University. Ran’s research interests revolve around personality pathology. Specifically, she aims to understand how individuals with personality pathology experience themselves and others, as well as what personality pathology truly entails. She is passionate about using multi-method approaches to address her research questions and is currently learning about natural language processing.
Rumesa Qalbani, B.A.
Research Technician
Rumesa Qalbani is recent graduate of Grinnell College (Class of 2025), and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a concentration in Statistics. She is a FGLI Pakistani-American pursuing research in Clinical and Personality Psychology. Rumesa plans to receive a doctoral degree in Counseling/Clinical Psychology and pursue trauma-informed clinical work. In her free time, Rumesa loves to spend time with her family in St. Louis and try different kinds of chai.
Undergraduate Research Assistants
Maddy Stikeleather
Maddy is a second-year undergraduate student majoring in Psychological & Brain Sciences with minors in Statistics and Children’s Studies. She is passionate about understanding human behavior and advancing mental health advocacy through research and evidence-based approaches. Additionally, she is interested in exploring the role of AI tools in the future of psychological research and practice. In her free time, she enjoys walking in Forest Park and trying new coffee shops.
Jacob Barron
Jacob Barron is a second-year undergraduate Cognitive Neuroscience student. Jacob sees himself working in biotechnology after college, sparked by a passion for exploring the intersection between technology and neuroscience.
Libby Hurwitz
Libby is a second-year undergraduate student double majoring in Communication Design and Psychology at Washington University in St. Louis. She is interested in the intersection of AI, design, and psychology and how emerging technology can be better designed to support human behavior. Through her work in the lab she hopes to gain experience conducting psychological research and deepen her understanding of practical applications of AI through a psychological and design-oriented perspective.
Bethany Anderson
Bethany Anderson is a freshman undergrad studying Psychological & Brain Sciences, Political Science, and Drama at Washington University in St. Louis. She loves the performing arts, but hopes to ultimately become a psychology professor with her own research lab dedicated to mental healthcare.
Vincent Sanchez
Vincent is a fourth-year undergraduate student at Washington University in St. Louis studying Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology (PNP). He is fascinated by what drives human thoughts, emotions, and behavior, with particular interests in clinical psychology and personality. After graduation, Vincent plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, where he hopes to continue exploring the connection between psychological research and clinical practice.
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Sanjna Pandit
Sanjna is a third-year undergraduate student majoring in Psychological & Brain Sciences on the pre-med track. Her research interests lie at the intersection of clinical psychology, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence, with a particular focus on aging and neurodegenerative diseases. She hopes to pursue a career as a physician-scientist, integrating clinical care with research to improve patient outcomes and advance the understanding of neurological and mental health disorders.
Sean Qin
Sean is a second-year undergraduate student studying statistics and computer science. He is fascinated by the speed of AI's evolution and wants to learn more about AI usage and how it will eventually integrate into other fields.
Lab Alumni
Former students and team members (and continued collaborators) who have matriculated to advanced graduate programs and careers!
Doctoral Graduates
Anton Mays, Psy.D.
Anton Mays earned his Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology from Xavier University in 2026 and his B.S. Degree in Psychology from Xavier University in 2021. He completed his doctoral internship at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center and is beginning his psychology residency at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System. His clinical and research interests include personality assessment, serious mental illness, psychological assessment, and treatment outcomes. Outside of his clinical and research work, Anton enjoys playing golf and saxophone.
Jocelyn Brickman, M.A.
Jocelyn is a fifth-year doctoral student in clinical psychology at Xavier University and is on clinical internship at the Indiana University School of Medicine. Jocelyn received her B.S. from the University of Michigan in 2019 where she studied Cognitive Science and Computer Science. Jocelyn’s research interests include utilizing technology to improve psychological assessment and treatment methods. Clinically, Jocelyn is interested in working with children, adolescents, and families.
Megan Mathur, Psy.D.
Megan earned her Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology from Xavier University in 2026. She completed her internship at University of Rochester's University Counseling Center and is now a staff psychologist at XXX. She received her B.A. in psychology from Case Western Reserve University in 2017. Prior to Xavier, Megan worked as a high school math teacher in Cleveland, Ohio. Her primary research interest is personality assessment. Clinically, she is interested in working with adolescents and young adults.
Cameron Mills, Psy.D.
Cameron earned his Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology from Xavier University in 2026. He completed clinical internship at Womack Army Medical Center and is preparing to begin his career as an active duty Army psychologist. Cameron's primary interests are post-traumatic stress disorder and the reduction of stigma around mental health in the military community. His research is focused on improving PTSD detection through the use of artificial intelligence.
Mentees and Research Assistants
Casey T. Grimes, M.Ed.
I am Casey Grimes, an ICF Professional Certified Coach, mentor coach, and University instructor. I design and pilot energy management strategies that help leaders and teams make better decisions, sustain high performance, and achieve lasting results.
Yuanyuan Yang, M.A.
Yuanyuan is a Ph.D. Psychology student at the University of Kansas. She earned her B.S. in Psychology and Applied Mathematics and Statistics and M.A. in Psychology at Stony Brook University. She is interested in how personality traits interact with psychopathological symptoms. She hopes to explore the structure and mechanism of psychopathology with advanced analytic methods . Further, she hopes to to develop clinical decision-making tools to facilitate clinical assessment and personalized treatment plan.
Christopher Khudari, M.A.
Christopher is a fourth-year doctoral student in Clinical Psychology at Rosalind Franklin University. He received his BA in Psychology from the University at Buffalo and his MA in Psychology from Stony Brook University. He worked as a project coordinator at Stony Brook Medicine on an AI study examining PTSD and health in World Trade Center Responders and served as a clinical interviewer for a HiTOP project. He completed the All of Us Research Scholar Program, and is currently completing his clinical placement practicum at the UI Health Craniofacial Clinic. He is broadly interested in how genetic risk factors and personality traits influence psychopathology and health outcomes.
Harrison Grisez, B.A.
My name is Harrison Grisez and I majored in psychology with a minor in philosophy at Xavier University. I hope to become a counseling psychologist in the workplace. I am excited to learn from this research!
Farah Weldon, B.A.
Farah Weldon is a first year in the Mental Health Counseling master's program at Xavier University. As an undergrad, she majored in Psychology with a minor in Applied Health Sciences. Farah sees herself working as a clinical psychologist with a focus geared towards young children and adolescents. She assisted in the AI Research Lab at Xavier University.
