Denisse Paredes is postdoctoral scholar in Psychology in Dr. Kate Wassum’s lab, where she investigates how to reverse stress-induced overreliance of habits. Dr. Paredes obtained her B.S. in Neuroscience and Psychology from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. She then obtained her PhD at UT Health San Antonio, where she developed a rodent model of adjunct exposure therapy with ketamine to reverse stress-induced cognitive flexibility deficits. She later completed postdoctoral training in Dr. Michael Drew’s lab at UT Austin. Her work aims to elucidate the neurobiological mechanisms of behavioral therapies for the treatment of traumatic stress.
This project investigates how helicopter surveillance contributes to inequitable sleep disturbance across Los Angeles. Drawing on over 20 million flight trajectory points, the team integrates public records, community knowledge, and advanced machine learning to identify unreported law enforcement helicopter flights and analyze their disproportionate presence over specific neighborhoods. By combining these data with demographic and spatial information, the study explores how nighttime helicopter noise may affect neurological and psychosocial health outcomes. Conducted through a community-engaged framework with partners across South and East LA, the project connects environmental neuroscience with urban justice and public policy. Dr. Paredes has been specifically focused on understanding the educational impacts of these chronic noise exposures.
This project investigates how helicopter surveillance contributes to inequitable sleep disturbance across Los Angeles.
PI: Nick Shapiro, DPhil
