Alexander Danvers, PhD
Director of Treatment Outcomes
Alexander Danvers, Ph.D., is a psychologist with expertise in mobile sensing, machine learning, and psychophysiology. Dr. Danvers joined Sierra Tucson in 2022 from the U.S. Army Research Labs, where he was a civilian research scientist working on mobile sensing and artificial intelligence projects. Before that, he served as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oklahoma and the University of Arizona. He has taught courses in social psychology at the graduate and undergraduate levels at Oklahoma State University and Arizona State University.
At Sierra Tucson, Dr. Danvers oversees the Measurement-Based Care and Applied Neuroscience programs. His work on Measurement-Based Care involves providing customized reports on patient functioning to residents and treatment providers at Sierra Tucson, evaluating outcomes across Sierra Tucson’s various programs, and developing algorithms for predicting key treatment outcomes. His work on Applied Neuroscience involves managing a team that provides EEG brain maps, neurostimulation treatments such as TMS and tDCS, and HRV biofeedback training. In collaboration with partners in academia, he conducts research into the effectiveness of these neuroscience treatments, and into who might benefit most from specific treatment modalities. He is also responsible, in conjunction with the clinical and medical teams, for building new programming using emerging devices and technologies to treat the brain and nervous system.
Dr. Danvers received his Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Arizona State University in 2017. His areas of emphasis were applying dynamic systems theory to psychology, understanding the role of emotions in everyday life, and evolutionary approaches to human behavior. He has published over 25 scientific articles and book chapters, which have been collectively cited over 750 times. He has collaborated frequently across disciplines, including with law professors, anthropologists, philosophers, and medical doctors.
As someone who was inspired to enter science by reading popular press books, Dr. Danvers is also passionate about effective science communication. He has maintained an active blog at Psychology Today since 2018 titled “How Do You Know?” It explores details of the methods psychologists use to draw scientific conclusions, and has reached over half a million views. Dr. Danvers is excited to add his expertise to the excellent interdisciplinary team at Sierra Tucson.
