Research Assistant Professor
ana.alvesfrancisco@einsteinmed.edu
My training is in Clinical Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience. My current work focuses on characterizing brain function in rare genetic (22q11.2 deletion syndrome and cystinosis) and neuropsychiatric (schizophrenia) conditions. I focus on different processes (executive function, sensory processing) and mainly utilize EEG and neurocognitive tools to inform my research. My all-encompassing goal is to engage in efforts that are truly meaningful and clearly impact the populations I work with. Community outreach, translation of findings, and science communication are integral parts of what I do.
I enjoy statistics and am an average coder, shamelessly pro-R.
I am a science communicator (portfolio here), the creator of MhOOD (mental health outreach on display), co-founder of CODE, editor of the CNL, the lab's newsletter, and social media editor for Schizophrenia International Research Society.
Teaching is fun! I am an Adjunct at Yeshiva University, teaching science of cognitive and affective function.
I am a photographer [www.anafrancis.co/photography], and proud to be part of the Bronx Documentary Center.
Most of my projects attempt to deconstruct ideas about mental health and illness.
Current CV:
Publications
Francisco, A. A. (2022). 22q11. 2 Deletion Syndrome as a Neural Model for Schizophrenia. Biological Psychiatry, 92(5), 338-340.
Francisco, A. A., Foxe, J. J., Horsthuis, D. J., & Molholm, S. (2022). Early visual processing and adaptation as markers of disease, not vulnerability: EEG evidence from 22q11. 2 deletion syndrome, a population at high risk for schizophrenia. Schizophrenia, 8(1), 1-12.
Francisco, A. A., Berruti, A. S., Kaskel, F. J., Foxe, J. J., & Molholm, S. (2021). Assessing the integrity of auditory processing and sensory memory in adults with cystinosis (CTNS gene mutations). Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases, 16(1), 1-10.
de Sanctis, P., Malcolm, B.R., Mabie, P., Francisco, A.A., Mowrey, W., Joshi, S., Molholm, S., & Foxe, J.J. (2020). Neurophysiological markers of cognitive-motor impairment in multiple sclerosis: An EEGbased dual-task walking study. Clinical Neurophysiology, 13(5), 1119-1128.
Foxe, J.J., Del Bene, V.A., Ross, L.A., Ridgway, E.M., Francisco, A.A., & Molholm, S. (2020). Multisensory Audiovisual Processing in Children With a Sensory Processing Disorder (II): Speech Integration Under Noisy Environmental Conditions. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience, 14, 39.
Francisco, A.A., Foxe, J.J., Horsthuis, D.J., DeMaio, D., & Molholm, S. (2020). Assessing auditory processing endophenotypes associated with Schizophrenia in individuals with 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome. Translational Psychiatry, 10(1), 1-11.
Francisco, A. A., Foxe, J. J., Horsthuis, D. J., & Molholm, S. (2020). Impaired auditory sensory memory in Cystinosis despite typical sensory processing: A high-density electrical mapping study of the mismatch negativity (MMN). NeuroImage: Clinical, 102170.
Francisco, A. A., Horsthuis, D. J., Popiel, M., Foxe, J. J., & Molholm, S. (2020). Atypical response inhibition and error processing in 22q11. 2 Deletion Syndrome and Schizophrenia: Towards neuromarkers of disease progression and risk. NeuroImage: Clinical, 102351.
Francisco, A.A., Takashima, A., McQueen, J.M., van den Bunt, M., Jesse, A., & Groen, M. (2018). Adult dyslexic readers benefit less from visual input during audiovisual speech processing: fMRI evidence. Neuropsychologia, 117, 454-471.
Francisco, A. A., Jesse, A., Groen, M. A., & McQueen, J. M. (2017). A general audiovisual temporal processing deficit in adult readers with dyslexia. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 60, 144-158.
van den Bunt, M. R., Groen, M. A., Ito, T., Francisco, A. A., Gracco, V. L., Pugh, K. R., & Verhoeven, L. (2017). Increased Response to Altered Auditory Feedback in Dyslexia: A Weaker Sensorimotor Magnet Implied in the Phonological Deficit. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 60(3), 654-667.
Francisco, A. A., Groen, M. A., Jesse, A., & McQueen, J. M. (2017). Beyond the usual cognitive suspects: The importance of speechreading and audiovisual temporal sensitivity in reading ability. Learning and Individual Differences, 54, 60-72.
Vitevitch, M.S., Storkel, H.L., Francisco, A., Evans, K.J., & Goldstein, R. (2014). The influence of known-word frequency on the acquisition of new neighbors in adults: Evidence for exemplar representations in word learning. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 29(10), 1311-1316.
Francisco, A. A., Jesse, A., Groen, M. A., & McQueen, J. M. (2014). Audiovisual temporal sensitivity in typical and dyslexic adult readers. In Proceedings of the 15th Annual Conference of the International Speech Communication Association (Interspeech 2014) (pp. 2575-2579), Singapore.
Bramao, I., Francisco, A., Inacio, F., Faisca, L., Petersson, K.M., & Reis, A. (2012). Electrophysiological evidence for color effects in diagnostic and non-diagnostic color object recognition. Visual Cognition, 20(10), 1164-1185.
Araujo, S., Inacio, F., Francisco, A., Faisca, L., Petersson, K.M., & Reis, A. (2011). Component processes subserving rapid automatized naming in dyslexic readers. Dyslexia, 17, 242-255.