Nnenne Ogbonnaya is currently a master's student at Teacher’s College, Columbia University. They graduated from Kean University in Union New Jersey with a B.A. in psychology and a minor in American Sign Language. Before applying for Teacher’s College, they worked diligently at the New York State Psychiatric Institute-Columbia Medical Center since 2016 within various research groups ranging from child epidemiology to clinical geriatrics. Nnenne has also worked briefly within the New York Police Department’s Psychological Section, this helped them broadening their interest and helping them to become more of a diligent Research Aide.
During their undergraduate they completed their bachelor thesis on the police academy training looking at how training is supposed to be implemented in society verses how it actually is implemented and seeing how police officers perceive their own job within society. Their current research interest has evolved to include but are not limited to using virtual immersive environments to further understand ongoing psychosis and behaviors particularly within marginalized and incarcerated populations. Nnenne believes that tracking neuropsychological activity will dramatically set at ease the mental discomfort for marginalized and incarcerated people that they believe needs this intervention the most. Therefore reducing the rate of recidivism and opening more creative paths to rehabilitation.
As a research assistant in the Cogburn Research Lab, Nnenne contributes their skills through conducting literature reviews, assisting with the studies as well as providing practical help dealing with possible academic problems.
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