Exercise neuroscience PhD candidate Andrea Coca is spending the fall semester at the Health, Brain & Cognition Lab as a visiting researcher. Andrea’s focus at the lab will be learning more about functional MRI imaging and ways to analyze data. She will return to the University of Granada in her home country of Spain after Dec. 23

Andrea teaches physical activity and health at her university’s Faculty of Sport Sciences. She earned her bachelor’s degree in sports science at the university, along with two master’s degrees, one in physical activity research, the other in physical education instruction.

She was introduced to HBC Lab Director Michelle Voss by Kirk Erickson, PhD, a former colleague of Dr. Voss at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who now directs the Translational Neuroscience Research Center at the AdventHealth Research Institute in Orlando, Florida

Andrea expects to finish two manuscripts and her dissertation by June, as she completes her PhD program, She says the time abroad will be an asset as she seeks a teaching and research position in Spain.