“Dr. Sayette is friendly, intelligent, and helpful. He encouraged me to set up appointments with him, drop by for anything I needed help with, and ask questions about the lab, graduate school, and psychology in general. Working in his lab would be a great opportunity for any psychology student.”
Supervising Faculty: Michael A. Sayette Ph.D.
Contact: Eliza Marsh, M.S. (Ph.D. Student), EEL30@pitt.edu
Area of Research: Clinical Psychology, Health Psychology, Social Psychology, Psychological theories of alcohol use and abuse, alcohol and group bonding, cognitive and affective processes in addiction
Description of Research: The Alcohol & Smoking Research Laboratory (ASRL) investigates the neural and behavioral mechanisms of cigarette craving. Using functional MRI (fMRI) and behavioral assessments, we examine how craving emerges in response to smoking-related cues and how brain activity reflects these craving states. This work is part of a large NIH-funded project (R01AT010896, see here: https://reporter.nih.gov/search/7Iw3CntmckO9-QJyIfW_IA/project-details/…) that aims to identify the brain pathways involved in craving and to inform future craving-reduction strategies.
Duties of Students: Undergraduate students will gain hands-on experience working with human brain imaging data. Responsibilities may include:
- Manual preprocessing of MRI and fMRI data using AFNI
- Conducting quality control of imaging datasets
- Organizing and maintaining participant and imaging data
- Opportunities to observe live brain imaging sessions
- Exposure to programming tools such as AFNI, MATLAB and Python
Students who develop strong technical and conceptual skills may have the opportunity to contribute to more advanced analyses, literature reviews, or conference presentations. Semester long projects will be developed graduate contact (Eliza) and student.
Skills Gained:
- Foundational training in fMRI preprocessing and analysis
- Experience working with human neuroimaging datasets
- Exposure to scientific programming and open-science practices
Ideal Candidates
- We are seeking motivated students who:
- Have strong attention to detail and reliability
- Are interested in cigarette craving, addiction, and neuroimaging
- Can commit to approximately 8–10 hours per week for at least two terms
Additional Requirements:
- Overall GPA of 3.0 or higher
- 12 credits of Psychology (including current term)
- STAT 0200/1000/1100 Statistics
- PSY 0036 Research Methods Lecture
- PSY 0037 Research Methods Lab
Terms offered: Fall and Spring
Number of Students: varies by semester
To Apply: If you are interested in joining the lab in for the Spring 2026 term, please send your Resume/CV and Transcript to Eliza Marsh at EEL30@pitt.edu by December 20th, 2025. Apply here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfO5bG3fnDDXErvhhrpAvIHY_Wq2gS…