Psychology Researcher Exploring Consciousness and Well-Being.
Advancing contemplative science, cognitive neuroscience, and spiritually-integrated approaches to mental health.
About Me
I am a psychology researcher dedicated to understanding consciousness, mindfulness, spiritual development, and their impact on psychological well-being. My work lies at the intersection of contemplative practice, neuroscience, and humanistic psychology—bridging empirical rigor with lived inner experience. I investigate how meditation, spiritual awakening, and neurodivergence shape resilience, cognition, and mental-health outcomes.
Selected Publications
The spiritual core of the hard problem: consciousness as foundational, not emergent
A theoretical argument proposing that consciousness is fundamental rather than emergent, integrating philosophy with contemporary psychological science.
Spirituality, neurodiversity, and mental health: understanding unique spiritual expressions among neurodivergent populations
An exploration of how autistic and ADHD individuals uniquely experience spirituality and how these expressions relate to well-being.
Mindfulness and Cognitive Flexibility: A Review of Behavioral and Neural Evidence
A comprehensive review of behavioral and neural evidence showing how mindfulness training enhances executive functioning and adaptive thinking.
Selected Publications
The Psychology of Habit Change: A Behavioral Science Perspective on Meditation as a Mechanism of Change
A behavioral-science analysis of how meditation supports long-term habit transformation through attention, awareness, and self-regulation.
Enlightenment: A theoretical and philosophical exploration within psychology
A conceptual model examining enlightenment as a psychological construct grounded in phenomenology, philosophy, and contemplative science.
The mindful experimenter: Meditation as a methodological tool for enhancing scientific observation and reducing cognitive bias.
An argument for using meditation as a scientific tool to reduce cognitive bias and improve the quality of observation and judgment in research.
Research Projects
Mindfulness, Safety, and High-Reliability Performance (Temple University)
I am currently working with Professor Ravi Kudesia at Temple University on a multidisciplinary project examining how mindfulness supports safety, attention, and decision-making across high-risk sectors, including healthcare, aviation, construction, and military environments. My contributions include literature synthesis, mechanism mapping, and developing an annotated database of empirical findings that inform a forthcoming theoretical model of mindful organizing and risk reduction.
Comparative Consciousness Studies (Stony Brook University)
With Professor Sthaneshwar Timalsina, I analyze cross-cultural and philosophical models of consciousness, synthesizing insights from Indian philosophical traditions with contemporary cognitive science. I develop structured summaries, thematic syntheses, and conceptual frameworks that support future publications, seminars, and interdisciplinary research bridging phenomenology and neuroscience.
HeadsUp: Cognitive-Assistive mTBI Diagnostic Device (Independent PI)
As principal investigator, I designed and developed HeadsUp—an IoT-enabled cognitive-assistive device for early detection of mild traumatic brain injury. This multi-year project integrates sensor-based monitoring, neuropsychological assessment, and predictive analytics to identify disruptions in cognition, attention, and balance. I conducted pilot testing, IRB-aligned data collection, and statistical validation to evaluate accuracy, usability, and clinical relevance.
Spirituality, Trauma, and Post-Traumatic Growth (Under Peer Review). I am developing mechanism-based frameworks that examine how spiritual practices, meaning-making, and contemplative insight contribute to resilience and post-traumatic growth. These works are currently under review in journals such as the Journal of Positive Psychology and Journal for the Study of Spirituality, proposing testable models to guide future empirical research.
