Polina Vanyukov, PhD, is an accomplished Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Her extensive background and area of focus lies in computational descriptions of behavior, neural signals, decision-making, and cognitive processes, with a particular focus on identifying behaviors related to suicide. Much of her work involves using behavioral economic paradigms, such as the trust game, to identify alterations in cognitive processes and brain activity in suicide attempters.

Aside from her current research, Dr. Vanyukov has previously conducted research into eye movement control during decision-making, reading, and visual search tasks using behavioral methods, eye tracking, and event-related potentials (ERPs). She has also worked as a Laboratory Manager for the Dynamic Decision-Making Laboratory (DDMLab) at the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Vanyukov holds a Ph.D., as well as an M.S. in Cognitive Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh, and a B.S. in Logic and Computation from Carnegie Mellon University.