Rayna Hirst is a Professor of Psychology and Director of Neuropsychology at Palo Alto University, where she has been on faculty since 2012. She completed her undergraduate education at Penn State University, and worked in the Neuropsychology Lab with Dr. Peter Arnett and Dr. Frank Hillary on the Penn State Concussion Study. She completed her M.A. and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the University at Albany, SUNY, with a focus on Neuropsychology and Addictions with Dr. Mitch Earleywine. Her predoctoral internship in psychology/neuropsychology was completed at the VA Ann Arbor/University of Michigan Healthcare System, under the supervision of Dr. Kenneth Adams, Dr. Linas Bieliauskas, and Dr. Henry Buchtel. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship at Dartmouth Medical School in the Brain Imaging Lab, and worked with Dr. Laura Flashman, Dr. Robert Roth, and Dr. Heather Wishart.

Dr. Hirst’s BRAIN lab (Behavioral Research and Assessment In Neuropsychology) conducts research on brain-behavior relationships and neuropsychological assessment. Current research topics include the influence of chronic cannabis use on cognition and medical/psychological symptoms, the neuropsychological effects of sport-related concussion, factors that influence the valid and reliable neuropsychological assessment of patients, and professional issues related to training and educating clinical neuropsychologists.