Our Collaborators

Dr. F. Alex Feltus is Professor and Associate Chair of Genetics and Biochemistry at Clemson University. His work integrates genomics, computational biology, artificial intelligence, and advanced computing to address challenges in precision medicine and biological discovery. Over a 30-year academic career, he has authored nearly 150 scholarly works, attracted more than 12,900 citations, and secured over $13.6 million in research funding. A scientist, educator, and entrepreneur, Dr. Feltus develops technologies and research ecosystems that connect biological knowledge, computing, and human expertise. His current work focuses on agentic AI for education and scientific discovery, particularly precision oncology and ancestry-aware genomics.

https://www.clemson.edu/science/academics/departments/genbio/about/profiles/ffeltus

Dr. Lin is a psychiatrist, epidemiologist, and machine learning researcher at Saint Louis University whose work focuses on improving outcomes for individuals with autism and other neurodevelopmental and psychiatric conditions. His research integrates large-scale clinical, genetic, neuroimaging, and electronic health record data with artificial intelligence to better understand suicide risk, developmental resilience, and personalized interventions. He has led and collaborated on multidisciplinary projects spanning psychiatric epidemiology, precision medicine, and digital health, with a strong emphasis on translating data-driven discoveries into clinically meaningful tools that improve patient care. Dr. Lin is also dedicated to mentoring the next generation of physician-scientists and data scientists through interdisciplinary education and collaborative research.

https://sites.google.com/view/psyepislu/home

Dr. Messias was born and raised in Brazil, where he completed medical school and practiced family medicine in rural areas before moving to Baltimore for residency training. He completed a psychiatry residency at the University of Maryland, in 2001, and preventive medicine training at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in 2003. While at Hopkins, he also received a master's in public health and a PhD in Psychiatric Epidemiology. Since graduation he has held academic positions at his alma mater in Brazil, and later in Georgia and Arkansas where he was medical director of the Walker Family Clinic and responsible for the House Staff Mental Health Service at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in Little Rock. Dr. Messias served as VP and Medical Director for Beacon Health Options, overseeing the mental health care received by Arkansas Medicaid recipients. At UAMS he also served as Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and was the inaugural program director for the Baptist-UAMS psychiatry residency program. Dr. Messias has over 70 publications in scientific journals, has published several book chapters, and edited a volume on schizophrenia for psychiatrists and a textbook on Positive Psychiatry, Psychology and Psychotherapy, he also launched and was editor-in-chief of the UAMS medical literary journal Medicine and Meaning. Dr. Messias has been the recipient of many research and teaching awards. He is currently the Chair of Psychiatry at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine.

Dr. Kinsella is board certified in internal medicine, neurology, neuromuscular and autonomic medicine. He is an Adjunct Professor of Neurology at St Louis University and Chair of Neurology at SSM Neuroscience Institute. His awards include SLU Resident Teacher of the Year in 2006, Best Teacher-US Psychiatric Congress 2009, and Best Doctors in the US annually since 2005. Dr. Kinsella’s specialty interests include autonomic dysfunction and neuropathy, dizziness and vertigo, headache, and nutritional and autoimmune peripheral neuropathies. He co-authored and edited the book Psychopharmacology for Neurologists, and an article on physician burnout entitled “Confessions of a Mostly Happy Doctor” in KevinMD.com He enjoys sailing, spinning, triathlons, guitar, watercolor and spending time with his wife and family in Innsbrook, MO.

Dr. Walsh is a researcher, clinician, and strategist working at the intersection of behavioral health, medicine, and innovation. As Head of Research at the Truitt Institute, she leads research focused on translating emerging ideas in neuroscience, trauma, resilience, and behavioral health into rigorous evidence and clinically meaningful applications. Her broader academic work spans suicide prevention, psychiatric epidemiology, integrated care, and the ways social and digital environments shape health and help-seeking. She brings to this work an earlier career in entrepreneurship, venture capital, emerging technology, and business strategy, where she advised founders and executives, built companies and partnerships, and wrote extensively about innovation. Across disciplines, her work centers on turning complex questions into research, tools, and systems that can meaningfully improve people’s lives.

Owen obtained his undergraduate degrees in Biochemistry and Neuroscience from Loyola University New Orleans. He is currently working towards an MD/PhD at Brown University. He is interested in computational neuroscience and his clinical interest is pediatric neurosurgery. A former student and research assistant of Dr. Casanova's, Owen continues to collaborate with the Casanova Lab on evolutionary genomics projects.

Dr. Bruce Lieberman is Senior Curator of Invertebrate Paleontology, Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, and Director of the Paleontological Institute at the University of Kansas. His research uses the fossil record, particularly fossil arthropods such as trilobites, together with phylogenetics, GIS, and ecological niche modeling to investigate macroevolutionary processes, including evolutionary radiations, mass extinctions, evolutionary stasis, and the biotic and abiotic forces shaping evolution.

https://biodiversity.ku.edu/people/bruce-lieberman

Dr. Randi Hagerman is a developmental and behavioral pediatrician specializing in fragile X syndrome, fragile X premutation-associated conditions, autism, and other neurogenetic disorders. Her research focuses on targeted treatments for fragile X-related conditions and autism, as well as molecular biomarkers and the mechanisms underlying these disorders.

https://health.ucdavis.edu/mind-institute/team/598/randi-hagerman---pediatric-child-development---behavior-sacramento

Dr. Paul Hagerman is a molecular geneticist and professor at the UC Davis MIND Institute whose research focuses on the molecular basis of neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. His work has contributed substantially to understanding the regulation and expression of the FMR1 gene and the mechanisms underlying fragile X syndrome and related conditions.

https://basicscience.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/hagerman_lab/index.html

Dr. Puelles is a Spaniard born in Tenerife (Canary Islands) in 1948. Speaks English, German, and French. He studied medicine in Granada and, after working successively in anatomy departments in Sevilla, Badajoz, and Cadiz (southern Spain) became a neuroanatomy professor in Murcia (Spain) in 1980 (retired in 2018; emeritus since then). He is well known for his developmental and comparative molecular studies across vertebrates (some 300 publications), the development of the segmental prosomeric brain model (collaboration with JLR Rubenstein), as well as influential genoarchitectonic forebrain studies (developmental models of telencephalic pallium and subpallium plus the amygdala, hypothalamus, diencephalon, midbrain, and hindbrain).

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Luis-Puelles