Roman Family Center for Decision Research Leadership & Staff

Faculty Director
John Templeton Keller Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science and Neubauer Family Faculty Fellow

Executive Director
Email
(773) 702-7307

Amy Boonstra is executive director of the Roman Family Center and oversees programming and initiatives. With her team, she leads the center’s infrastructure, program development, fundraising, and partnerships. Amy has a PhD in sociology from the University of Michigan and an AB from the University of Chicago.

Director, Labs Services
Email
(773) 702-2621

Rebecca (Becky) oversees the center's research labs and partnership data collection sites. Becky has a PhD in quantitative psychology from the Ohio State University, with focus in the study of judgment and decision making, and she is also an Adjunct Professor of Behavioral Science at Booth.

Director of Operations and External Relations
Email
(773) 834-5284

Mark provides leadership for all strategic communications, public relations, and external-facing programs sponsored by the Center, in addition to helping oversee operations at Mindworks. He helps tell the story of behavioral science, including its profound ability to provide wisdom and improve lives.

Research Application Developer
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Kaushal assists faculty by developing, programming, and troubleshooting computer-based study materials. He focuses on web-based programming and provides support for studies on Qualtrics using Javascript, PHP, and other relevant languages. Kaushal received his BA in Psychology and MS in Computer Science from the University of Chicago.

Assistant Director, Virtual, Pop-Up, and Campus Labs
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Lucia Agajanian supports research and operations in the Campus, Virtual, and Pop-up labs. She helps with operational strategy, accounting, data quality, and general management for the lab spaces. Lucia received her BA in Radio/TV/Film and Psychology from Northwestern University, and she will begin pursuing her MSW at the University of Chicago in fall 2024. 

Research Professional, Hyde Park & HOPE Lab
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Ryan Bruno helps to facilitate research for faculty, principal researchers, and collaborators of the Roman Family CDR. He holds a B.S. in Neuroscience from DePaul University. He also works as a Research Professional for Emma Levine and Jane Risen. He is interested broadly in how we can form accurate beliefs about the world, and why we often fail to do so. He is particularly interested in the psychology of unfounded beliefs, dishonesty, and how our beliefs influence ethical decision making. 

Research Professional, Mindworks
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Brian works to promote positive visitor experiences at Mindworks and also coordinates with Roman Family CDR faculty collaborators to facilitate research operations. Brian earned his BA in psychology from Pepperdine University and has an MA in the social sciences with a psychology concentration from the University of Chicago.

Research Professional, Epley Lab
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Janice manages the Epley Lab, where she oversees research projects conducted by Nicholas Epley and his collaborators. She also provides support for center's labs and supervises research assistants. Janice received her BA in Psychology from Adelphi University Honors College and her MA in Social Sciences from UChicago.   

Research Professional, Mindworks
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Yui helps facilitate research, trains and manages research assistants, and helps ensure the Mindworks visitor experience is engaging and interactive. Yui has her BS in Health Sciences from DePaul University and her MS and OTD from UIC.

Director, Mindworks
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Jasmine Kwong oversees research operations at Mindworks, the world’s first behavioral science discovery center in downtown Chicago. She leads the Roman Family Center's engagement strategy and programming for students, alumni, and the general public. Jasmine has an MBA and AB from the University of Chicago.

Associate Director, Mindworks
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Don manages research professionals who carry out research operations in the Mindworks Labs and oversees the operations that support research. Don is a part-time MBA student at Booth and previously served as Lab Manager for Nicholas Epley.

Research Professional, Mindworks
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Dylan helps to advance research for faculty, researchers, and collaborators at the Roman Family Center for Decision Research. Dylan gained his BS in Psychology (Neuroscience Track) and BA in Philosophy from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and he earned his MA (Psychology Concentration) from the University of Chicago.

Research Professional, Campus & Virtual Labs
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Zen serves as a research project manager for studies conducted by faculty, graduate students, and principal researchers.

Associate Director, Operations
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Tricia Nicholson helps organize and oversee workshops, talks, and other events. She is also responsible for contracts accounting and other day-to-day managerial tasks. Tricia received a BS in Neuroscience from the University of Chicago.

Associate Director, Communications
Email

Chris implements the center's communications strategy to attract new research participants and amplify the innovative work of our faculty, labs, and researchers. He manages the center’s social media, email marketing, event promotions, and other communications efforts.

Chief Scientist

Eliana is a Principal Researcher at the Roman Family Center for Decision Research and serves as the Chief Scientist at Mindworks. Eliana studies the ways in which people's beliefs tend to be miscalibrated and how these beliefs might lead people to make suboptimal decisions. Eliana completed her PhD in Management & Organization at the Kellogg School of Management in 2023.

Lab Research Assistant, Mindworks
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Andrea supports operations and research projects conducted at Mindworks. Andrea joined the center as a research assistant through the HBCU & HSI Bridge Scholarship Program at the Graham School after graduating from the University of Puerto Rico with a BA in Psychology.

Associate Director, Campus & Virtual Labs
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Nina supports researchers who conduct studies in the Campus & Virtual Labs, manages research operations, and mentors research assistants in data collection methodology. They have a PhD in Linguistics and Anthropogeny from UCSD. Prior to joining Roman Family CDR, Nina worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Chicago Department of Psychology. 

Principal Researcher, Statistical Consultant
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Rui provides statistical consulting services for researchers affiliated with the Roman Family Center. Additionally, she assists in evaluating the appropriate analytical approach given the real-world conditions in which data were collected; evaluates the relative appropriateness and performance of distinct statistical methods for specific datasets, and assists researchers in applying and interpreting these methods to their datasets in novel and sophisticated ways.

Assistant Director, Mindworks
Email

Katerina helps manage the day-to-day operations at Mindworks as well as the research projects that come through the lab. She also manages the lab's outreach efforts. Katerina previously worked for the center as a research assistant while completing her MA at the University of Chicago.

Senior Web Applications Developer
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Adam develops and troubleshoots research applications. He focuses on both client- and server-rendered, modern web app frameworks and is lead developer of the MyCDR study management platform. Adam received his BA in Psychology from the University of Notre Dame and is a certified professional programmer.

Lab Research Assistant, Mindworks
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Jenna supports operations and research projects conducted at Mindworks. Additionally, she assists in centering and supporting the Mindworks visitor experience. Jenna comes from a hospitality background, has her BA in International Relations from Grand Valley State University, and her MA from the University of Chicago.