Education
Texas State University — M.A. in Psychological Research (2025)
- Department of Psychology
- Advisor: Amitai Abramovitch, Ph.D.
- Thesis: Creative Thinking and its Clinical and Neurocognitive Correlates in an Analogue Sample of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Texas State University — B.A. in Psychology (2022)
- Minor: Business Administration
Publications
+ denotes co-first authorship.
- +Curran, C., Wu, K.C., Harris, L., et al. (under review). Characterizing Momentary Suicidal Thoughts in Adults with Restrictive Eating Disorders and Suicidality. Archives of Suicide Research.
- Carter, J., +Curran, C., & Smith, A. (under review). A Psychometric Analysis of the Fearlessness About Suicide Scale Across Age Groups. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behaviors.
- Abramovitch, A., Borrelli, D., Curran, C., & Dar, R. (2025). Impulsivity in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders.
Talks
- Curran, C., Harris, L., Wu, K.C., et al. (2026). Interoception and Mood Instability in Relation to Non-Suicidal Self-Injury among Individuals with Restrictive Eating Disorders. Suicide Research Symposium.
- Wu, K.C., Torres, R., Harris, L.M., Curran, C., Cash, E.D., Smith, A.R., & Levinson, C.A. (2026, April 17). Effects of Heart Rate Variability and Agitation on Suicidality Among Adults with Restrictive Eating Disorders [Data Blitz/Talk]. Suicide Research Symposium (SRS).
Conference Presentations
National Conferences:
- Curran, C., Abramovitch, A., Borreli, D., & Dar, R. (2025, November 22). Disentangling a Debate: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Self-Reported Impulsivity in OCD [Poster Presentation]. 59th Annual Convention of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT), New Orleans, LA.
- Abramovitch, A., Borrelli, D.F., Curran, C., Dar, R. (2025, May 23) Impulsivity in OCD: A Systematic Review and Meta Analysis. Talk presented at the 8th Biannual Meeting of the European Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (EABCT) Special Interest Group on Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Assisi, Italy.
- Shepard, M., Curran C., Deason, R. (2024, November 23). The Impact of Music on Source Memory and Related Confidence After a Delay. [Poster Presentation]. Psychonomic Society, New York City, NY, USA.
- Curran, C., Abramovitch, A., & Moritz, S. (2024, November 15). What Do Experts Think? An International Investigation on Classification and Diagnosis of Body-Focused Repetitive Behavior Disorders. [Poster Presentation]. 58th Annual Convention of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT), Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Regional Conferences:
- Curran, C., Shepard, M., Cheves, K., Sneed, C., Westerberg, C., & Deason, R. (2025, April 18). Using EEG to Examine Sleep’s Role in Memory Consolidation of Music-Paired Information [Poster Presentation]. Psychology Research Showcase, San Marcos, TX.
- Kang, T., Curran, C., Shepard, M., & Deason, R. (2025, April 8). Neural Correlates of Musical Mnemonics. [Poster Presentation]. Graduate Student Research Conference, San Marcos, TX.
- Shepard, M., Curran, C., Saucedo, B., Buchanan, A., & Deason, R. (2024, October 18). Music, Memory, and Confidence: Effects of Delay on Source Recall. [Poster Presentation]. ARMADILLO Conference, College Station, TX.
- Curran, C., Abramovitch, A. (2024, April 12). The Nature of Creative Thinking in an Analogue Sample of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Proposed Study. [Poster Presentation]. Psychology Day, San Marcos, TX.
- Shepard, M., Curran, C., Deason, R. (2024, April 2). Enhancing confidence in memory using music. [Poster Presentation]. Graduate Student Research Conference, San Marcos, TX.
- Shepard, M., Curran, C., Solis, A., Buchanan, A., Deason, R. (2023, October 7). Examining music-related enhancements for source memory and confidence judgments. [Poster Presentation]. ARMADILLO Conference, San Marcos, TX.
- Shepard, M., Solis, A., Curran, C., Conway, G., Deason, R. (2023, March 31). Using music to enhance source memory for new information. [Poster Presentation]. Southwestern Psychological Association Convention, Frisco, TX.
Scholarships and Grants
Texas State Tuition Grant
- $1,950 awarded per semester to graduate students demonstrating financial need.
- 08/2024, 01/2025
Bobcat Cares Grant
- $1,100 awarded to students demonstrating financial need.
- 09/2021
Academic Awards
Academic Excellence Award
- Awarded to psychology students who have demonstrated exceptional academic performance.
- 04/2024
Dean’s List
- Awarded to undergraduate students with a 3.5+ GPA for that semester.
- 05/2019, 05/2022, 12/2022
Research Experience
Project Coordinator
- Research on Eating Disorders & Suicidality (REDS) Lab
- Auburn University, Auburn, AL
- PI: April Smith, Ph.D.
- Focus: Evaluating transdiagnostic mechanisms associated with eating disorders and suicide via an R01-funded longitudinal EMA study, and understanding the effects of an interoception intervention on military servicemembers.
- 06/2025 – Present
Graduate Research Assistant
- Memory and Cognition Laboratory
- Texas State University, San Marcos, TX
- PI: Rebecca Deason, Ph.D.
- Focus: Examining source memory and judgments of learning involved with novel musical stimuli via behavioral and EEG experiments.
- 01/2022 – 08/2025
Graduate Research Assistant
- Neuropsychology and Psychopathology Lab (NPL)
- Texas State University, San Marcos, TX
- PI: Amitai Abramovitch, Ph.D.
- Focus: Studying a variety of topics including obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), misophonia, body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs), and transdiagnostic neurocognitive phenomena (C-Factor).
- 01/2024 – 06/2025
Graduate Research Assistant
- Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory
- Texas State University, San Marcos, TX
- PI: Carmen Westerberg, Ph.D.
- Focus: Investigating elements of sleep in the context of memory performance through behavioral and EEG experiments.
- 08/2024 – 05/2025
Paid Research Assistant
- Translational Health Research Center
- Texas State University, San Marcos, TX
- PI: Melinda Villagran, Ph.D.; Elizabeth Ekren, Ph.D.
- Focus: Interdisciplinary approach to examining contributors to healthcare access and quality, particularly in rural Texas using large-scale multi-organizational studies.
- 06/2024 –08/2024
Teaching Experience
Academic Coach
Social Psychology (PSY 3331)
- Texas State Global via Instructional Connections, LLC
- Instructor: Dea Mitaj, M.A. (96 undergraduate students)
- 03/2026 – 05/2026
Introduction to Psychology (PSY 1300)
- Texas State Global via Instructional Connections, LLC
- Instructor: Macy Hicks, M.A. (41 undergraduate students)
- 01/2026 – 03/2026
Social Psychology (PSY 3331)
- Texas State Global via Instructional Connections, LLC
- Instructor:_ Sierra Kaiser, M.A. (30 undergraduate students)
- 10/2025 – 12/2025
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Introduction to Statistics Lab (PSY 2101)
- Texas State University, San Marcos, TX
- Supervisor: Carmen Westerberg, Ph.D. (12 undergraduate students)
- 06/2025 – 08/2025
Graduate Instructional Assistant
Introduction to Statistics (PSY 2301)
- Texas State University, San Marcos, TX
- Instructor: Maria Czyżewska, Ph.D. (95 undergraduate students)
- 03/2025 – 05/2025
Graduate Assistant
Multivariate Statistics (PSY 5312)
- Texas State University, San Marcos, TX
- Instructor: Jérémy Wilson-Lemoine, Ph.D. (23 graduate students)
- 01/2025 – 05/2025
Graduate Assistant
Univariate & Bivariate Statistics (PSY 5311)
- Texas State University, San Marcos, TX
- Instructor: Jérémy Wilson-Lemoine, Ph.D. (21 graduate students)
- 08/2024 – 12/2024
Graduate Instructional Assistant
- Cognitive Processes (PSY 3341)
- Texas State University, San Marcos, TX
- Instructor: Rebecca Deason, Ph.D. (25 undergraduate students)
- 01/2024 – 05/2024
Clinical Experience
Rehabilitation Educator
- Rehab Without Walls, Kingsbury, TX
- Description: Facilitated prescribed cognitive and physical exercises for geriatric clients with traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) and assisted clients with activities of daily living (ADLs).
- 01/2023 – 09/2023
Projects
Reconnecting to Internal Sensations and Experiences (RISE)
- Auburn University, Auburn, AL
- Organizer: April Smith, Ph.D.
- Purpose: An intervention designed to promote interoceptive awareness, thereby promoting psychological and physiological wellbeing.
- Project: Adapting and implementing this intervention in collaborations with the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) and DenverHealth for research and application on a range of populations, namely active-duty service members and adolescents.
- 06/2025 – Present
NeuroHackademy
- University of Washington eScience Institute, Seattle, WA
- Organizers: Ariel Rokem, Ph.D. & Noah Benson, Ph.D.
- Purpose: To teach and promote open science methods in neuroscience using tools such as Python and GitHub.
- Project: TLDR: A proof-of-concept Python application that utilizes machine learning to compile Zotero libraries and display summarized information.
- 08/2024
Organization Memberships
Clinical Psychological Science Special Interest Group
- Member
- 11/2024 – Present
Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology
- Member
- 11/2024 – Present
Psi Chi International Honor Society
- Historian—Texas State University Chapter
- 11/2021 – Present
- 05/2022 – 12/2022
Volunteer Experience
Bobcat Build
- Volunteer
- 04/2019, 04/2022
ARMADILLO Conference
- Volunteer
- 10/2023
Annual Great Texas River Clean Up
- Volunteer
- 03/2024
University Lecture Series by ARIA (Alliance of Researchers in Aging)
- Volunteer
- 09/2024
Pre-Clinical & Counseling Careers Seminar (Psi Chi)
- Mock Interviewer
- 10/2024, 03/2025
Auburn Student Research Symposium
- Poster Judge
- 03/2026
Relevant Skills
- SPSS Statistics
- Muse S EEG
- Python
- Neuropsychological Assessments
- R
- Microsoft Office Software
- BioSemi ActiveTwo System (EEG/ECG/EDA)
- Zotero Citation Software
- EMSE Brain Data Editor
- Qualtrics Data Management
- Clinical Assessments (SCID, MINI)
- REDCap Surveys
- Suicide Risk Assessments
Languages
-
English Native
-
Spanish Native
Links
LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/cristian-curran-9a5606172
GitHub https://github.com/cmcurran410
Substack https://cmcurran.substack.com/
Google Scholar Google Scholar Profile