Ilona Croy

is a psychologist who studies touch since more than 15 years. Her work focusses on how tactile signals are processed in the brain’s reward and social systems, how touch calms the sympathetic nervous system, and why some people are more—or less—comfortable with touch. Ilona enjoys working with large datasets and is committed to making scientific findings easy to understand.

Yvonne Friedrich

is a psychologist who is pursuing a PhD in touch research. She is especially interested in the role of touch in intimate relationships, including both romantic relationships and parent-infant interactions. Yvonne prefers study designs that reflect real-world contexts

studied physics and biology at the University of Hamburg and the LMU Munich. She wrote her doctorate in psychology at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences and the University of Leipzig. Her research deals with empathy, stress, and bonding in romantic couples as well as neural correlates of affective touch. In her spare time, she enjoys stargazing, dancing, and is interested in animal rights.

Melina-Elena Moutsia

is a psychologist pursuing her PhD in touch research, with focus on individual touch perception and the impact of interpersonal touch on stress and well-being. She is dedicated to studying touch beyond the lab within the context of everyday life. Supporting our cross-cultural goals for Work Package 1, Melina manages the coordination and communication of our over 35 research sites worldwide. 

Edgardo Silva

is a biomedical engineer and psychology PhD researcher. His work is focused on affective touch using cutting-edge technology to study human behavior and relationships.
Edgardo likes build tools and visualizations that turn complex datasets into clear, elegant narrative with aesthetic clarity.