Assal Habibi is an Assistant Research Professor of Psychology at the Brain and Creativity Institute at University of Southern California. Her research takes a broad perspective on understating child development. She is interested in how biological dispositions and childhood learning experiences such as music training shape the development of cognitive, emotional and social abilities. She is an expert in the use of electrophysiologic and neuroimaging methods to investigate human brain function and her research have been published in peer reviewed journals including Cerebral Cortex, Music Perception, Neuroimage and PLoS ONE. Dr. Habibi completed her doctoral work at the UC Irvine Department of Cognitive Science, focusing on investigating the effects of long term musical training on pitch and rhythm processing by assessing brain activity during music listening in adult musicians, non-musicians and patients with auditory impairments. Currently, she is the lead investigator of a 5 -year longitudinal study, in collaboration with [...]

Laura Baker received her PhD from the University of Colorado (1983) in Psychology and Behavioral Genetics. Since 1984 she has been a faculty member in the Psychology Department at the University of Southern California. She teaches courses in Behavioral Genetics, Multivariate Statistics, Human Sexuality, and Contemplative Neuroscience. She is also Faculty in Residence  in Cowlings & Ilium at USC, where she lives and offers programs to enrich the lives of USC undergraduates living on campus. She is also a Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher (CIYT), and teaches Iyengar Yoga classes at USC at the Intro I and II levels.  Mindfulness Related Work:  Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher (CIYT) Teach classes in yoga at USC and nearby campus community Mindfulness Related Research:  Interest in investigating gene-environment interplay in mindfulness practices and their effects on mental health outcomes.  

Dr. Black’s research program focuses on human subjects clinical trials to test the effect of mindfulness-based interventions on alleviating health-related symptoms. His focus has been in the areas of cancer survivorship, addiction treatment, and underlying biological mechanisms of action.

Mark Miller is a clinical psychologist who earned his doctor of psychology at Pepperdine University.  He is currently a Coordinator at  Mindful USC, part of the Office of Campus Wellness and Crisis Intervention. Dr. Miller worked at the USC Student Counseling Services for 3 years prior to his work with Mindful USC, and is a teacher at InsightLA, a Los Angeles based mindfulness training center.  Dr. Miller has been a meditator for over 25 years and is interested in integrating psychology and mindfulness practices.