Melissa Franch, PhD
Publications in progress
bioRxiv and
in review
Melissa Franch1*, Kalman A. Katlowitz1, Elizabeth A. Mickiewicz1, James L. Belanger1, Raissa K. Mathura1, Hanlin Zhu1, Xinyuan Yan1, Taha Ismail1, Ana G. Chavez1, Assia Chericoni1, Danika Paulo1, Eleonora Bartoli1, Tomasz M. Frączek1, Nicole R. Provenza1,2,3,4,6, Sameer A. Sheth1,2,3,4, and Benjamin Y. Hayden1,2,3,4,5. Neural Signatures of Impaired Semantic Contextualization in Autism Spectrum Disorder. (2026). bioRxiv
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.03.16.712048v3
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Nature Neuroscience
Melissa Franch, Elizabeth A. Mickiewicz, James L. Belanger, Assia Chericoni, Ana G. Chavez, Kalman A. Katlowitz, Raissa Mathura, Danika Paulo, Eleonora Bartoli, Suzanne Kemmer, Steven T. Piantadosi, Nicole R. Provenza, Andrew J. Watrous, Sameer A. Sheth, and Benjamin Y. Hayden, (2026). A population code for semantics in human hippocampus. Nature Neuroscience. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-026-02436-4
Nature
Franch, M., Yellapantula, S., Parajuli, A., Kharas, N., Wright, A., Aazhang, B., Dragoi, V. (2024). Visuo-frontal interactions during social learning in freely moving macaques. Nature.
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Nature Neuroscience
Shahidi, N., Franch, M., Parajuli, A., Schraeter, P., Wright, A., Pitkow, X., Dragoi, V. (2024). Population coding of strategic variables during foraging in freely-moving macaques. Nature Neuroscience. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-024-01575-w
Interdisciplinary
Neurosurgery
Monsivais, D., Choi, H. A., Kitagawa, R., Franch, M., & Cai, C. (2018). A retrospective analysis of surgical outcomes for acute subdural hematoma in an elderly cohort. Interdisciplinary Neurosurgery, 14, 130-134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.inat.2018.07.010
Funding
2026-2031
Simons Foundation Fellows to Faculty Award ($820,000)
2026-2027
Autism Research Institute Research Grant Award ($50,000)
2025-2028
NIH NIDCD F32 Diversity Predoctoral Fellowship ($228,612)
2022-2023
NIH NRSA F31 Diversity Predoctoral Fellowship ($202,812)