Naga Thovinakere
Applied Research Fellow
Naga is a PhD candidate in the Integrated Program in Neuroscience at McGill University, where her research explores the neurobiological mechanisms underlying long-term adherence to health behavior change and habit formation. She holds a BSc from McMaster University, where she investigated the behavioral and sociocultural factors shaping organ donation decisions.
Her work sits at the intersection of behavioral science and intervention design, translating neural and cognitive insights into flexible, evidence-based frameworks that inform real-world product and program development. This commitment to translational science extends beyond the lab: Naga has designed a board game for older adults that makes the science of behavior change accessible and actionable.
A trained stand-up comedian, Naga brings the same iterative creativity to science communication that she does to her research: finding the unexpected angle, testing what lands, and refining until it resonates.
