Robert Melara is a psychophysicist and cognitive neuroscientist by training, with 30 years of experience as an investigator of normal and impaired processes of attention in humans. He has published over 70 peer-reviewed articles designed to identify the cognitive and neural mechanisms that govern attentive focus and distraction.
Dr. Melara has extensive experience using a range of laboratory techniques, statistical methods, and mathematical models that he implements in collaborative research projects with the graduate and undergraduate students he mentors in the biomedical and behavioral sciences. For the past 16 years, Dr. Melara has served as chairperson of the Department of Psychology. In this capacity, he has launched a host of local initiatives to facilitate the success of CCNY students in meeting their academic and career goals.
Education
- Ph.D., 1987, New School for Social Research
- M.A., 1982, New School for Social Research
- B.A., 1979, State University of New York at Stony Brook
Courses
- PSY 10200 Introduction to Psychology
- Prashad, N., Melara, R. D., Root, J. C., & Ahles, T. A. (2023). Pre-treatment breast cancer patients show neural differences in frontal alpha asymmetry. Clinical EEG and Neuroscience, 54(2), 189-197. https://doi.org/10.1177/15500594221074860
- López-Castro, T., Martin, L., Nickley, S., C. Saraiya, T., & Melara, R. D. (2023). Frontal alpha asymmetry in posttraumatic stress disorder: Group differences among individuals with and without PTSD during an inhibitory control task. Clinical EEG and neuroscience, 54(5), 472-482. https://doi.org/10.1177/15500594211046703
- Melara, R. D., Ahles, T. A., Prashad, N., Fernbach, M., Edelman, J. A., & Root, J. (2023). Longitudinal effects of breast cancer treatment on neural correlates of attention. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 38(1), 12-24. https://doi.org/10.1093/arclin/acac051
- Edelman, J. A., Ahles, T. A., Prashad, N., Fernbach, M., Li, Y., Melara, R. D., & Root, J. C. (2023). The effect of visual target presence and age on antisaccade performance. Journal of Neurophysiology, 129(2), 307-319. https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.00186.2022
- Fertuck, E. A., Fischer, S. A., & Melara, R. D. (2023). Atypical neural plasticity and behavioral effects of trustworthiness learning in borderline personality disorder features. Journal of Personality Disorders, 37(5), 542-558. https://doi.org/10.1521/pedi.2023.37.5.542
- Guzman, S., & Melara, R. D. (2024). Effects of Covid-19-related anxiety on overeating and weight gain in a diverse college sample. Journal of American College Health, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2024.2337009
- Nguyen, H., Kwok, H., & Melara, R. D. (2024). COVID-19 vaccine related anxiety partially mediates the association between COVID-19 related anxiety and student adjustment to college during the pandemic. Journal of American College Health, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2024.2362322
- Melara, R. D., Root, J., Edelman, J. A., Estelle, M.C., Mohr, I., & Ahles, T. A. (2024). Effects of Breast Cancer Treatment on Neural Noise: A Longitudinal Design. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology.
External support
- 8/1/22 – 7/31/27. Agency: NIH (NIGMS). Title: Bridges to the Baccalaureate Research Training Program (T34) for racial/ethnic minorities at the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) and the City College of New York (CCNY). 1 T34 GM137870-01A1. PI: Robert D. Melara
- 7/1/24 – 6/31/27. Agency: NSF. Title: CAUSE: CUNY Advancement in Undergraduate STEM Education. Award ID 2345337. PI: Robert D. Melara
