Principle Investigator
Nick Trapp, MS, MD
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
Dr. Trapp is a psychiatrist and neuroscientist at the University of Iowa who specializes in procedural treatments for neuropsychiatric conditions. He is currently the director of the interventional psychiatry service. He grew up in Cary, Illinois in the suburbs of Chicago. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame where he received bachelor's degrees in Sociology and Preprofessional Studies and remains an avid Notre Dame football fan. He completed medical school at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, NE, followed by residency training in psychiatry at Washington University in St. Louis. He completed a 2-year neuromodulation and neuroscience fellowship program at the University of Iowa in 2019, where he is currently serving as an Assistant Professor. Most recently, he completed a 1-year Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Neurology fellowship at Stanford University. Dr. Trapp’s research focuses on clinical and translational projects related to brain stimulation. Interests include neuropsychiatry, neurostimulation, traumatic brain injury, device development, clinical trials, treatment-resistant mood disorders, scientific communication, education, and neuroimaging. Non-clinical interests include sports, hiking, reading, travel, and spending time with his wife and kids.
Research Team
Joel Bruss
Imaging Specialist & Research Manager
Joel has over a decade of experience in lesion mapping studies as well as structural and functional imaging. Current projects focus on quantifying lesion load in white matter tracts and processing fcMRI data.
Libby Lyu
Volunteer Research Assistant
Libby is a recent graduate in Psychology with a minor in Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Iowa. She plans to work with the lab to expand her research skills before heading to graduate school in pursuit of a PhD in Clinical Psychology. Libby is interested in the relationship between gender and disease, especially in underserved populations. In her free time, Libby spends time with her cat.
Karin Nielsen
Clinical Trials Research Associate
Karin has a Master of Science in Counseling Psychology and has worked in industry-sponsored clinical trials as a research coordinator and clinical rater. She also has experience as a licensed mental health therapist and supervisor in community mental health. Other interests include gardening, hiking and art history.
Ben Pace
Research Associate
Ben comes to the Trapp Lab after a stint in the Department of Psychiatry at the UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. He has a Master of Science in Applied Cognition & Neuroscience from the University of Texas at Dallas and a Bachelor of Science in Biopsychology from Spring Hill College in Mobile, AL. Broadly, his research interests include the use of neuroimaging and neuromodulation to elucidate the cognitive processes of the healthy and non-healthy brain. Outside the lab, he can be found running the trails of the Iowa City area with and without his dog.
Postdocs and Students
Jackson Richards, MD, PhD
Psychiatry Resident
Jackson is a categorical resident in the University of Iowa’s Psychiatry Residency Program. A native of Salt Lake City, he earned a bachelor’s degree in biology, his medical degree, and a doctorate in oncological sciences from the University of Utah. He became interested in psychiatry and neuroscience through his clinical exposure to patients suffering from severe mental illness. He is in the Physician Scientist Training Pathway and the Research and Interventional Psychiatry Tracks within the residency program. His clinical and research interests are in neurostimulation, particularly TMS. Outside of medicine and science, he enjoys being outdoors and spending time with his wife, daughters, and family dog.
Josh Tatz, PhD
Postdoctoral Scholar
Josh received a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience and Bachelor of Art in Music from Drake University. From there, he went to Washington D.C. to complete a PhD in Behavior, Cognition, and Neuroscience at American University. His doctoral work focused on how the availability and quality of sensory information shapes memory and perception. He then returned to the great Hawkeye state for a first postdoc with Dr. Jan Wessel (in Neurology/Psych and Brain Sciences) to examine the neural mechanisms of cognitive control. In Fall of 2024, Josh joined the Trapp lab to study the neural mechanisms of transcranial magnetic stimulation, drawing on the unique insight provided by combining TMS with intracranial EEG in patients undergoing pre-surgical monitoring for epilepsy. In particular, Josh is interested in identifying whether the benefits of neuromodulation to individuals with psychiatric disorders reflect increased cognitive control ability, and if so, whether identifying the precise neural circuits responsible can lead to more targeted therapies. Apart from 'neurosciencing', Josh enjoys exploring the outdoors with his kids.