Marieta Pehlivanova, PhD

Marieta Pehlivanova, PhD is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. She holds a PhD in Experimental and Cognitive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor’s degree in Statistics from American University. Before transitioning to her current academic research career, Dr. Pehlivanova pursued a career as a biostatistician in a medical research non-profit organization. Her research at the University of Virginia primarily focuses on near-death experiences and children’s reports of purported past-life memories. She is interested in various aspects of these experiences, including cognitive, personality, environmental and genetic factors contributing to their occurrence, veridical perceptions reported by experiencers, their impact on individuals, cross-cultural comparisons, and the development of support resources within healthcare settings for those who have such experiences. Some of Dr. Pehlivanova’s research has been funded by the BIAL Foundation and published in scientific outlets such as Frontiers in Psychology, Journal of Neuroscience, Mortality, and the American Journal of Cardiology. Dr. Pehlivanova is a member of the Advisory Board of the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS), the leading international organization dedicated to raising awareness about near-death-like experiences through research, education, and support for experiencers.