Javiera P. Oyarzun
New York,NY
Summary
Experienced scientist with extensive training in human behavior research, specializing in the gut-brain axis, sleep, memory, stress, and anxiety. My postdoctoral work at Harvard refined my understanding of cognitive health as a bidirectional body–brain dynamic. Driven by a passion for improving lives through science-based strategies, I aim to develop innovative tools to rehabilitate those struggling with cognitive and mental health issues. I am committed to supporting underserved populations, including midlife women and older adults. I believe the future of health lies in collaborative, personalized brain-and-body approaches to treatment and prevention.
Overview
13
13
years of professional experience
Work History
Postdoctoral Fellow in Psychology
Harvard University
Cambridge, USA
01.2021 - Current
Investigated the association between gut microbiota composition and memory performance in a German cohort of 650 healthy and depressed individuals.
- Established a collaborative partnership with the University of Marburg to leverage their data.
- Employed advanced bioinformatics workflows (BioBakery) in R for microbiota research, utilizing multivariable modeling (PERMANOVA) and machine learning techniques to generate robust, data-driven insights.
Created and instructed the undergraduate course MBB 980CC: The Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis: How Gut Microbes Modulate Human Cognition and Mental Health.
Investigated the predictive power of written language on memory-driven emotional states, using machine learning and specialized software for quantification and analysis.
Postdoctoral Fellow in Psychology
New York University
New York, USA
01.2018 - 01.2020
Conceived and implemented a novel study line to investigate the gut microbiota in the context of human cognition.
- Designed and implemented controlled behavioral experiments in humans to assess cognitive functions and mental health.
- Recruited and trained research assistants to execute behavioral experiments, coordinate participant recruitment, record and maintain data in a structured format, oversee regulatory compliance for human studies, and manage stool sample collection and storage processes.
- Developed deep expertise in gut-brain axis research by conducting comprehensive literature reviews and continuous monitoring of emerging findings.
- Set up, collected, and analyzed heart rate variability (HRV), eye blink rate, stress-induced salivary cortisol release, and skin conductance responses.
- Assessed psychological profiles using questionnaires for depression, anxiety, anhedonia, apathy, stress perception, tolerance to uncertainty, childhood trauma, sleep quality, and dietary habits.
Won NYU's competitive 'Partners Program,' securing a data scientist student to support a research project. I acquired a BioBank dataset and supervised the student to evaluate whether we could predict psychological profiles from gastrointestinal symptoms.
Proposed and co-created a collaborative online study during the pandemic, ensuring that everyone could continue working remotely while contributing to and gathering data relevant to our research.
Grad Student
University of Barcelona
Barcelona
02.2012 - 07.2017
Established new behavioral techniques to study memory processes.
- Conceived, set up, and ran a nap study using the Target Memory Reactivation (TMR) technique during slow-wave. Analyzed memory performance, slow oscillations, and spindles related to memory reactivation.
- Set up and used the Continuous Flash Suppression (CFS) technique to present stimuli to participants implicitly.
- Set up, run, and analyze a fear conditioning task, using skin conductance responses to read out fear/sympathetic activation and mild electric stimulation to induce threat anticipation.
Education
Ph.D. - Psychology
University of Barcelona
Barcelona, Spain01.2017
B.A. - Biology
Pontifical Catholic University
Santiago, Chile01.2009
Skills
- Scientific expertise: Human cognition, sleep, and the gut-brain axis
- Cognitive and mental health assessment
- Experimental design
- Data Analysis Using R
- Project management
- Data-Driven Research
- Extensive teaching experience
- Scientific written and oral communication
- Cross-Disciplinary Teamwork
Languages
Spanish
Native language
English
Native/ Bilingual
A1
Catalan
Intermediate (B1)
B1
Portuguese
Limited
A1
Communication Skills
- Author of 9 peer-reviewed publications, including seven as first author.
- Wrote 10 grants and funding agency fellowships.
- Secured funding throughout career: R21 (NIH), Hodgson Fund (Harvard University), TL1 Training Program (Clinical and Translational Science Institute, NYU), Research and Teaching Grant (University of Barcelona)
- Presentations include 10 posters and 11 invited presentations and conference talks
Affiliations
- Harvard University
Publications
- Oyarzun, J.P., Kuntz, Morgan XC, Davachi L, Hofmann S, Kircher T, Hahn T, Huttenhower, C., and Phelps, E.A. (2022). Face recognition is associated with gut microbiota composition in a German population. (in prep)
- Oyarzun, J.P., Kuntz, Morgan XC, Davachi L, Huttenhower, C., and Phelps, E.A. (2022). Item recognition is associated with gut microbiota composition in healthy humans. Preprint at bioRxiv.
- Beech, A., Fan, H., Shu, J., Oyarzun,J., Nadel, P., Karaman, O.T., Vranos, S., Phelps, E.A., and Kredlow, M.A. (2025). Using natural language processing to identify patterns associated with depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Affective Disorders 376, 113–121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2025.01.139.
- Castillo, J., Fan, H., Karaman, O.T., Shu, J., Stussi, Y., Kredlow, M.A., Vranos, S., Oyarzún, J.P., Dorfman, H.M., Sambrano, D.C., et al. (2024). Overestimating the intensity of negative feelings in autobiographical memory: evidence from the 9/11 attack and COVID-19 pandemic. Cognition and Emotion 38, 1048–1063. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2024.2346757.
- Kredlow, M.A., Oyarzún, J.P., Fan, H., Meksin, R., Hirst, W., and Phelps, E.A. (2024). Emotion language use in narratives of the 9/11 attacks predicts long-term memory. Emotion 24, 808–819. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0001287.
- Oyarzun, J.P., Kuntz, T.M., Stussi, Y., Karaman, O.T., Vranos, S., Callaghan, B.L., Huttenhower, C., LeDoux, J.E., and Phelps, E.A. (2022). Human threat learning is associated with gut microbiota composition. Preprint at bioRxiv, https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.06.13.495985 https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.06.13.495985.
- Oyarzún, J.P., Càmara, E., Kouider, S., Fuentemilla, L., and de Diego-Balaguer, R. (2019). Implicit but not explicit extinction to threat-conditioned stimulus prevents spontaneous recovery of threat-potentiated startle responses in humans. Brain and Behavior 9, e01157. https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.1157.
- Oyarzún, J.P., Morís, J., Luque, D., Diego-Balaguer, R. de, and Fuentemilla, L. (2017). Targeted Memory Reactivation during Sleep Adaptively Promotes the Strengthening or Weakening of Overlapping Memories. J. Neurosci. 37, 7748–7758. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3537-16.2017.
- Oyarzún, J.P., Packard, P.A., de Diego-Balaguer, R., and Fuentemilla, L. (2016). Motivated encoding selectively promotes memory for future inconsequential semantically-related events. Neurobiol Learn Mem 133, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nlm.2016.05.005.
- Oyarzún, J.P., and Packard, P.A. (2012). Stress-induced gist-based memory processing: a possible explanation for overgeneralization of fear in posttraumatic stress disorder. J. Neurosci. 32, 9771–9772. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2318-12.2012.
- Oyarzún, J.P., Lopez-Barroso, D., Fuentemilla, L., Cucurell, D., Pedraza, C., Rodriguez-Fornells, A., and Diego-Balaguer, R. de (2012). Updating Fearful Memories with Extinction Training during Reconsolidation: A Human Study Using Auditory Aversive Stimuli. PLOS ONE 7, e38849. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0038849
Work Availability
monday
tuesday
wednesday
thursday
friday
saturday
sunday
morning
afternoon
evening
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Interests
Emotional and physical health
Aging and cognition
Women's health
Peri-menopause
Work Preference
Work Type
Full TimeWork Location
HybridImportant To Me
Career advancementWork-life balanceCompany CulturePaid time offHealthcare benefitsPersonal development programsTeam Building / Company RetreatsPaid sick leave401k matchTimeline
Postdoctoral Fellow in Psychology
Harvard University
01.2021 - Current
Postdoctoral Fellow in Psychology
New York University
01.2018 - 01.2020
Grad Student
University of Barcelona
02.2012 - 07.2017
Ph.D. - Psychology
University of Barcelona
B.A. - Biology
Pontifical Catholic University
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