Dr. Barbara Banz

Biography

Barbara Banz is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Yale School of Medicine, where she leads the Yale Developmental Neurocognitive Driving Simulation Research Center (DrivSim Lab). She earned her PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience from Colorado State University and completed a three-year T32 postdoctoral fellowship focused on addiction neuroscience in adolescents and young adults at Yale. Dr. Banz's early research involved neurocognitive and neuropsychological testing, electrophysiology, and functional magnetic resonance imaging to build profiles of college-aged drinkers. In 2017, she joined the DrivSim Lab as a postdoctoral associate, where her expertise in cognitive neuroscience is applied to studies related to youth alcohol use. Her ongoing research aims to develop profiles of alcohol and drug use in youth by translating neurocognitive functioning into real-world implications for young drivers. The multidisciplinary translational research program at DrivSim Lab focuses on bridging cognitive neuroscience with real-world applications, addressing significant public health issues related to brain health and safety for adolescents and young adults.

Research Interests