Brendan Merhab is currently interning at the Children’s Institute in Rochester, NY, where he analyzes data for a school-based therapy intervention aimed at children with mild to moderate developmental or behavioral challenges.
“These children are often overlooked by the school system because they are just below the threshold of meeting specific diagnostic criteria,” Merhab said. “The research examines three different intervention components and compares the length and order in which they are used to determine which approach is most effective.”
“After coming to Brockport, I took a research methods course and instantly fell in love with the more technical and scientific aspects of psychology.”
Brendan Merhab
Merhab’s path to SUNY Brockport started in San Diego, CA, where he grew up before moving to Rochester where he spent nine years working in real estate. He decided to return to school and transferred to SUNY Brockport to pursue a new career as a therapist.
“After coming to Brockport, I took a research methods course and instantly fell in love with the more technical and scientific aspects of psychology,” Merhab said. “The professors in the department are great, and I built strong relationships with a few of them, including Dr. Jack Peltz who helped me secure a summer internship at SUNY Upstate.”
Merhab participated in the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF), completing a 10-week paid internship at SUNY Upstate Medical University under the mentorship of Dr. Andrew Craig. The program provided housing and a $6,200 stipend, allowing him to focus fully on research. This experience was further enriched by various educational enrichment opportunities including journal clubs, lectures from distinguished faculty, and attending research conferences.
“Basically, you apply and match with a mentor in your area of interest,” Merhab said. “The lab and clinic I worked with focused on applied behavior analysis therapy (ABA), specifically for children on the autism spectrum, with severe behavior disorders.”
Working in a behavioral analysis lab under Dr. Craig, Merhab studied how certain behaviors return after reinforcement ends — a concept known as “resurgence.” During the program he also shadowed at the Golisano Center for Special Needs, where research from Dr. Craig’s lab informed treatment strategies.
“The clinic had no problem initially getting the children to disengage with a specific behavior,” Merhab said. “But once treatment ended and the child was sent back out into an environment that no longer reinforced prosocial alternatives, they often noticed a relapse, which Dr. Craig’s research aims to prevent.”
Following Merhab’s SURF experience, he was accepted into a PhD program in neuroscience at SUNY Upstate Medical University, where he will study the role that the loss of empathy plays in frontotemporal dementia. His future research team recently discovered a neural pathway in mice that is responsible for empathy response. The team aims to move toward clinical trials and apply these findings to human subjects.
“The psychology program at Brockport helped me build a strong foundation that I am excited to build upon.”
Brendan Merhab
“It’s going to be a major pivot from child therapy to dementia research,” Merhab said. “But the psychology program at Brockport helped me build a strong foundation that I am excited to build upon.”
Preparing to begin his PhD program next fall, Merhab said his experience at SUNY Brockport helped set him apart from students at larger institutions.
“During my summer internship I had the opportunity to interact with a lot of students and faculty from prestigious institutions,” Merhab said. “After hearing about their experiences, I am very grateful I went to Brockport, where the faculty have the time and energy to dedicate to each student.”