Education


Master of Social Work

Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC

Expected 2027


Bachelor of Arts, Psychology

Queens University of Charlotte, Charlotte, NC

2012-2015



Professional Development


Science Communications Workshop - 2023

Medical University of South Carolina


Science Communications - 2022

Alan Alda Institute


Leadership: Leading When You Are Not in Charge - 2021

Udemy


Data Science: Foundations Using R - 2020

Johns Hopkins University, Coursera



Volunteering


Pen Pal - 2023-Present

Letters to a Pre-Scientist


General Volunteer - 2018-2020

Low Country Food Bank


General Volunteer - 2018-2021

YALLfest


Restore Volunteer - 2015-2019

Habitat For Humanity


Event Volunteer - 2011-2012

Youth For Understanding


Mentor - 2008-2009

Big Brothers Big Sisters


Science News Articles


Thorn, R. (2023). Automated tool monitors patient health after transplant surgery. MUSC Catalyst.


Thorn, R. (2023). Analysis of N-linked Glycan Alterations in Tissue and Serum Reveals Promising Biomarkers for Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma. MUSC Catalyst.


Thorn, R. (2023). Bringing racial equity to kidney transplant evaluation. MUSC Catalyst.


Thorn, R. (2023). Differential prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) by gender and substance used in individuals with cannabis, cocaine, opioid, and tobacco use disorders. MUSC Catalyst.


Thorn, R. (2023). School-based wellness initiative shown to reduce average student BMI. MUSC Catalyst.


Thorn, R. (2023). Tackling a connective tissue disorder using nerve stimulation. MUSC Catalyst.

Work Experience


Lab Manager, MR Image Analyst

Medical University of South Carolina, Neurology, BRIDGE Lab

April 2018 - Present

  • MRI data analysis, data management, docs and SOPs upkeep, system administration, data collection, creating participant-facing communication, planning and leading meetings, and misc.


Social Work Intern

Medical University of South Carolina, South Carolina Alzheimer's Network

January 2026 - Present

  • Patient assessments, consensus meetings for the purposes of diagnosis, community outreach and education, respite day program participation


Social Work Intern

Agape Care Group

March 2025-August 2025

  • Patient assessments, patient companionship, grief counseling, working with social workers, chaplains, nurses, and hospice leadership, visited patients in numerous external facilities as well as in-home


SC-SWIFT Science Communication Intern

Medical University of South Carolina

February 2023-May 2024

  • Wrote articles for MUSC’s monthly newsletter, MUSC Catalyst, to communicate recently published scientific findings from MUSC researchers to a lay audience


Data Administrator

Environmental Express

August 2016-April 2018

  • Data collection and analysis for the purposes of preparing weekly revenue, manufacturing, sales, and inventory reports, developing techniques to collect, store, arrange, and interpret data, database maintenance, order processing, and miscellaneous report preparation


Science Teacher

Kennedy Charter Public School

June 2015-June 2016

  • Designed and implemented chemistry, biology, and environmental science lesson plans for grades 9-12 working with state and federal scholastic guidelines to meet educational standards


Peer-Reviewed Publications


Martin, E. L., Campbell, L. M., Thorn, K., Sahlem, G. L., McRae-Clark, A. L., & Benitez, A. (2025). Sex differences in normative modeling of cortical thickness in cannabis use disorder. Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports, 14, 100318. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dadr.2025.100318


Aghamoosa, S., Rbeiz, K. S., Horn, O., Thorn, K. E., & Benitez, A. (2024). The memory binding test in a longitudinal study of cognitive aging and preclinical disease. Neuropsychology, 38(6), 570–588. https://doi.org/10.1037/neu0000952


Dhiman, S., Hickey, R. E., Thorn, K. E., Moss, H. G., McKinnon, E. T., Adisetiyo, V., Ades-Aron, B., Jensen, J. H., & Benitez, A. (2024). Pydesigner v1.0: A Pythonic implementation of the designer pipeline for Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Journal of Visualized Experiments, (207). https://doi.org/10.3791/66397


Fountain-Zaragoza S, Horn O, Thorn KE, Zarina Kraal A, Benitez A. 52 Open Access, Normative Morphometric Software Indicate Neurodegeneration Associated with Episodic Memory Dysfunction in Amnestic MCI. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society. 2023;29(s1):461-462. doi:10.1017/S1355617723006021


Benitez, A., Jensen, J. H., Thorn, K., Dhiman, S., Fountain‐Zaragoza, S., Rieter, W. J., Spampinato, M. V., Hamlett, E. D., Nietert, P. J., Falangola, M. de, & Helpern, J. A. (2022). Greater diffusion restriction in white matter in preclinical Alzheimer disease. Annals of Neurology, 91(6), 864–877. https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.26353


Dhiman, S., Fountain-Zaragoza, S., Jensen, J. H., Fatima Falangola, M., McKinnon, E. T., Moss, H. G., Thorn, K. E., Rieter, W. J., Vittoria Spampinato, M., Nietert, P. J., Helpern, J. A., & Benitez, A. (2022). Fiber ball white matter modeling reveals microstructural alterations in Healthy Brain Aging. Aging Brain, 2, 100037. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbas.2022.100037


Martin, E., Thorn, K., Sahlem, G., McRae-Clark, A., & Benitez, A. (2022). P48. sex differences in cortical thickness in cannabis use disorder. Biological Psychiatry, 91(9). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2022.02.282


Dhiman, S., Teves, J. B., Thorn, K. E., McKinnon, E. T., Moss, H. G., Adisetiyo, V., Ades-Aron, B., Veraart, J., Chen, J., Fieremans, E., Benitez, A., Helpern, J. A., & Jensen, J. H. (2021). Pydesigner: A Pythonic implementation of the designer pipeline for diffusion tensor and diffusional kurtosis imaging. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.10.20.465189


Clinical Research Experience


2018 - 2021 | Research Specialist-I 

2021 - 2023 | Research Specialist-II

2023 - Present | Research Specialist-III

PI: Joseph Helpern, PhD, Andreana Benitez, PhD 

Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC


NIH/NIA, R01AG054159 (Benitez/Helpern) | 9/15/2017 – 11/30/2025

Quantitative Neuroimaging Assessment of White Matter Integrity in the Context of Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease | ($2,543,883)


Major Goal: To develop advanced diffusion MRI methods to distinguish normal aging from preclinical AD and to predict incident mild cognitive impairment and dementia in a longitudinal cohort study of 165 cognitively unimpaired older adults. 

Study Roles: Image Analysis, Data Management, Data Acquisition


2023 - Present | Research Specialist-III

PI: Andreana Benitez, PhD 

Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC


NIH/NIA, 1R01AG081237 (Benitez) | 5/15/2023 – Present

ITranscranial Magnetic Stimulation for MCI: A Phase II Dose-Response Study  | ($1,496,934)


Major Goal: To establish the dose-response curves of a safe and clinically feasible non-invasive brain stimulation technique iTBS-rTMS to improve both depression and cognitive function in MCI patients with comorbid depression. 

Study Roles: Image Analysis, Data Management


2022 - Present | Research Specialist-III

PI: Aimee McRae-Clark, PhD 

Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC


NIH/NIA, 5R01DA054617 (McRae-Clark) | 7/01/2021 – 11/30/2025

IGender and Sex Hormone Influences on Cannabis Use Disorder Remission | ($397,185)


Major Goal: The development and evaluation of new treatments for adults with cannabis use disorder (CUD).

Study Roles: Image Analysis, Data Management


2018 - 2019 | Research Specialist-I 

PI: Gonzolo Revuelta, PhD 

Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC


NIH/NIA, 5K23NS091391 (Revuelta) | 9/15/2015 – 8/31/2020

Identification of Gait and Imaging Markers for Freezing of Gait in Parkinson's Disease | ($981,701)


Major Goal: To assess the degree of structural connectivity in the locomotor pathway in three groups of PD patients characterized by their response to dopamine (non-freezers, dopa-responsive-freezers and dopa- unresponsive freezers) in order to determine how relevant gait parameters are associated with connectivity of the locomotor network. 

Study Roles: Image Analysis, Data Management