vita

Last Updated March 1, 2026

Download full CV (PDF): DebbieYee_CV.pdf

Academic Appointments

Assistant Professor, University of Iowa
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences
August 2026 - Present

Postdoctoral Research Associate, Brown University
Department of Cognitive and Psychological Sciences
Carney Institute for Brain Science
September 2019 - August 2026

Education & Training

Ph.D., Psychological & Brain Sciences
Washington University in St. Louis August 2013 - August 2019
Dissertation: Neural Mechanisms of Motivational Incentive Integration and Cognitive Control

B.S., Brain & Cognitive Sciences
Massachusetts Institute of Technology August 2007 - June 2011

Current Research Funding

NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award (2024–2029)
Neurocomputational mechanisms of serotonin, sustained stress, and mental effort allocation

Selected Publications

Weber L., Yee D.M., Small D., Petzschner F. (2025). The interoceptive origin of reinforcement learning. Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

Yee, D.M. (2024). Neural and Computational Mechanisms of Motivation and Decision-making. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

Yee, D.M., Leng, X., Shenhav, A., Braver, T.S. (2022). Aversive Motivation and Cognitive Control. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews.

Yee, D.M., Crawford, J.L., Lamichhane, B., Braver, T.S. (2021). Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex Encodes the Integrated Incentive Motivational Value of Cognitive Task Performance. Journal of Neuroscience.

Yee, D.M., Braver, T.S. (2018). Interactions of Motivation and Cognitive Control. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences.

View complete publication list →

Recent Honors & Awards

  • NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00), 2024–2029
  • Brown Postdoctoral Excellence Award for Community, 2025
  • Society of Biological Psychiatry Early Career Travel Fellowship, 2026
  • ARC Scholar (on R25), 2022-2024
  • NIH Computational Psychiatry Training Fellowship (T32), 2021–2023

Skills & Expertise

Methods: fMRI, computational cognitive modeling, psychopharmacology

Programming: R, MATLAB, Python, bash

Neuroimaging: fMRIPrep, AFNI, SPM, XNAT

Contact

Email: debbie_yee@brown.edu
Twitter: @debyee
Bluesky: @debyee.bsky.social
GitHub: @debyee