International Socioeconomics Laboratory
International Socioeconomics Laboratory
Portrait of Ms. Melisa Olgun

Melisa Olgun

Melisa Olgun is the Principal Investigator of the NYC Mental Health Research Group in the International Socioeconomics Laboratory, where she leads a project that analyzes the impact of COVID-19 on demand for mental health services. Currently, she is an incoming J.D. Candidate at Yale Law School. She previously completed her B.A. with high honors at Wesleyan University, where she double-majored in Neuroscience & Behavior and Science in Society. She served as a Research Assistant at the Schizophrenia Cognition Laboratory and researched the efficacy of cognitive remediation in schizophrenia. While there, she investigated the role of systemic oppression on medical marginalization; specifically, she analyzed the role of racism, classism, and the patriarchy with medicine to alter both the definitions and diagnoses of schizophrenia. Melisa also serves as a contributor to the National Curriculum in Reproductive Psychiatry, the first comprehensive medical curriculum that aims to teach reproductive psychiatry to mental health professionals.