Annika Barron ‘24

Annika Barron is currently working as a research assistant with Professor Laura Miller-Graff on her research in the fields of psychology and peace studies. Currently, Barron is assisting her on two main projects. The Pregnant Moms Empowerment Program is a study that aims to evaluate the effectiveness of group therapy for pregnant women who have recently experienced conflict with a partner, including psychological, sexual, and physical forms of abuse. She is also assisting with the Promoting Positive Family Relationships and Futures amidst Continuing Hardship, which is a family-based trauma healing intervention currently being implemented in Palestine. Barron's main responsibilities include observational coding, transcriptions, and general project management tasks. Additionally, Barron is working to complete her Glynn senior thesis and peace studies capstone, which aims to analyze restorative justice programs and policy through the lens of neuroscience. 

During her time as an ISP scholar and Notre Dame student, Barron has taken advantage of many opportunities to engage beyond research. Following her sophomore year, she received an Exploring the World Fellowship from the Kellogg Institute to engage with a community healthcare organization in Riobamba, Ecuador. In Fall 2022, Barron travelled to Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt as an official observer for the UN COP27 Climate Conference with the support of the Kellogg Institute. In Spring 2023, Barron studied abroad Jerusalem through the Notre Dame Jerusalem Global Gateway. Prior to arriving in Jerusalem, she travelled to Norway to learn more about their more restorative prison system with funding from the Nanovic Institute. Following her semester abroad, Barron was funded by the Nanovic Institute to complete an internship at the Centro Studi di Politica Internazionale (CeSPI) in Rome, where she focused on migration and mental health. Throughout her 4 years at Notre Dame, Barron has also been a member of the Student Government Department of Sustainability and has volunteered with several community organizations in South Bend. After a gap year, Barron plans to attend medical school at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where she has been accepted to an early admission medical program. 

Thesis Title: Restoration, Rehabilitation, and Reintegration in Neuroscience and Beyond
Thesis Advisor: Nancy Michael