Dr. Samantha Abram is an early career scientist at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center (SFVAMC), and soon to be Assistant Professor at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Dr. Abram earned her BA in psychology from Washington University in St. Louis, her PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Minnesota, and she completed an advanced post-doctoral training program at the SFVAMC and UCSF in the area of schizophrenia research. Dr. Abram’s research focuses on why some people struggle to make decisions that lead to enjoyable outcomes, particularly individuals with schizophrenia and depression. She is also interested in how certain behaviors and brain areas are similarly involved in decisions across humans and non-human animals. To probe these topics, Dr. Abram utilizes behavioral and neuroimaging methods, including fMRI and EEG. She is currently incorporating non-invasive brain stimulations into her research to learn how to alter or enhance signals that help decision-making, such as brain signals that correlate with memory ability. Dr. Abram’s long-term goal is to develop treatments that are better tailored to a given individual. Dr. Abram has benefited from excellent mentorship throughout her career and looks forward to helping others in their research career journeys.