Francesco Versace
Department of Behavioral Science, Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences
About Francesco Versace
My current line of research focuses on identifying the psychophysiological underpinnings of smoking and obesity, the two major causes of preventable disease and disabilities in the United States. By leveraging the spatial and temporal resolution of brain imaging techniques such as dense sensor array event-related potentials (ERPs) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), my studies aim at characterizing the dysfunctional brain mechanisms that mediate maladaptive responses to rewards and reward-related cues. The ultimate goal of my work is to develop neurocircuitry-informed, tailored interventions for smoking cessation and weight-loss.
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Associate Professor, Department of Behavioral Science, Division of OVP, Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2003 | Universita' di Trieste, Trieste, ITA, PHD, Experimental Psychology |
| 1997 | Universita' di Bologna, Bologna, ITA, Laurea, Psychology |
Experience & Service
Academic Appointments
Associate Professor, Department of Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, Division of Basic Science Research, Oklahoma Tobacco Research Center and Stephenson Cancer Center, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, 2015 - 2017
Assistant Professor, Department of Behavioral Science, Division of OVP, Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2011 - 2015
Instructor, Department of Behavioral Science, Division of OVP, Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2007 - 2011
Research Assistant Professor, Department of Department of Psychology, The University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 2006 - 2007
Other Appointments/Responsibilities
Laboratory Coordinator, Universita' di Trieste, Trieste, 2000 - 2003
Teaching Assistant, other supervisory teaching (outside current institution), Universita' di Trieste, Trieste, 2000 - 2003
Research Assistant, Universita' di Padova, Padova, 1999 - Present
Thesis Supervisor, other supervisory teaching (outside current institution), Universita' di Trieste, Trieste, 1998 - 2003
Institutional Committee Activities
Committee Co-Chair, Scientific Review Committee #2 (SRC 4) from September 2022, Content Expert Member on the Scientific Review Committee #4 (SRC 4), Psychosocial, Behavioral and Health Services Research Committee # 2 (PBHSRC), 2022 - 2023
Member, Radiology Chair Search Committee, 2018 - 2019
Member, Department of Behavioral Science Faculty Search Committee, 2018 - Present
Professional Memberships
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Webber HE, de Dios C, Wardle MC, Suchting R, Green CE, Schmitz JM, Lane SD, Versace F. Electrophysiological responses to emotional and cocaine cues reveal individual neuroaffective profiles in cocaine users. Exp Clin Psychopharmacol 30(5):514-524, 2022. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33630644.
- Versace F, Sambuco N, Deweese MM, Cinciripini PM. Electrophysiological normative responses to emotional, neutral, and cigarette-related images. bioRxiv, 2022. e-Pub 2022.
- Gibney KD, Kypriotakis G, Versace F. Individual differences in late positive potential amplitude and theta power predict cue-induced eating. bioRxiv, 2022. e-Pub 2022.
- Robinson JD, Cui Y, Karam-Hage M, Kypriotakis G, Versace F, Ait-Daoud Tiouririne N, Anthenelli RM, Cinciripini PM. Topiramate decreases the salience of motivationally relevant visual cues among smokers with alcohol use disorder. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 46(3):384-395, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35037278.
- Versace F, Kypriotakis G. Neuroaffective profiles are associated with e-cigarette use. bioRxiv, 2022. e-Pub 2022.
- Delgado-Rodríguez R, Versace F, Hernández-Rivero I, Guerra P, Fernández-Santaella MC, Miccoli L. Food addiction symptoms are related to neuroaffective responses to preferred binge food and erotic cues. Appetite 168:105687, 2022. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34509546.
- Deweese MM,Versace F, Kypriotakis G, Dirba D, Daniel CR, Schembre SM. Satiety does not affect neuroaffective electrophysiological responses to food-related or emotional visual cues. Behav Neurosci 135(4):571-580, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33844564.
- Frank DW, Cinciripini PM, Deweese MM, Karam-Hage M, Kypriotakis G, Lerman C, Robinson JD, Tyndale RF, Vidrine DJ, Versace F. Toward precision medicine for smoking cessation: developing a neuroimaging-based classification algorithm to identify smokers at higher risk for relapse. Nicotine Tob Res 22(8):1277-1284, 2020. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31724052.
- Kypriotakis G, Cinciripini PM, Versace F. Modeling Neuroaffective Biomarkers of Drug Addiction: A Bayesian Nonparametric Approach using Dirichlet Process Mixtures. J Neurosci Methods 341:108753, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32428623.
- Gibney KD, Kypriotakis G, Cinciripini PM, Robinson JD, Minnix JA, Versace F. Estimating statistical power for event-related potential studies using the late positive potential. Psychophysiology 57(2):e13482, 2020. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31608456.
- Frank DW, Stevens EM, Versace F.. A neurophysiological measure of reward sensitivity and its association with anhedonia in psychiatrically healthy adolescents and young adults. Int J Psychophysiol 141:56-64 doi: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2019.05.002, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31071360.
- Versace F, Frank DW, Stevens EM, Deweese MM, Guindani M, Schembre SM. The reality of "food porn": larger brain responses to food-related cues than to erotic images predict cue-induced eating. Psychophysiology 56(4):e13309 doi: 10.1111/psyp.13309, 2019. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 30556253.
- Stevens EM, Frank D, Codispoti M, Kypriotakis G, Cinciripini PM, Claiborne K, Deweese MM, Engelmann JM, Green CE, Karam-Hage M, Minnix JA, Ng J, Robinson JD, Tyndale RF, Vidrine DJ, Versace F. The late positive potentials evoked by cigarette-related and emotional images show no gender differences in smokers. Sci Rep 1(9):3240, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 30824792.
- Versace F, Stevens EM, Robinson JD, Cui Y, Deweese MM, Engelmann JM, Green CE, Karam-Hage M, Lam CY, Minnix JA, Wetter DW, Cinciripini PM. Brain responses to cigarette-related and emotional images in smokers during smoking cessation: no effect of varenicline or bupropion on the late positive potential. Nicotine Tob Res 21(2):234-240 doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntx264, 2019. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 29220524.
- Zhu H, Versace F, Cinciripini PM, Rausch P, Morris JS. Robust and Gaussian spatial functional regression models for analysis of event-related potentials. Neuroimage 181:501-512, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 30057352.
- Deweese MM, Codispoti M, Robinson JD, Cinciripini PM, Versace F. Cigarette cues capture attention of smokers and never-smokers, but for different reasons. Drug Alcohol Depend 185(185):50-57 doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2017.12.010, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29427915.
- Cinciripini PM, Green CE, Robinson JD, Karam-Hage M, Engelmann JM, Minnix JA, Wetter DW, Versace F. Benefits of varenicline vs. bupropion for smoking cessation: a Bayesian analysis of the interaction of reward sensitivity and treatment. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 234(11):1769-1779, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28275830.
- Versace F, Engelmann JM, Deweese MM, Robinson JD, Green CE, Lam CY, Minnix JA, Karam-Hage MA, Wetter DW, Schembre SM, Cinciripini PM. Beyond cue reactivity: non-drug-related motivationally relevant stimuli are necessary to understand reactivity to drug-related cues. Nicotine & Tobacco Research 19(6):663-669, 2017. PMID: 28486715.
- Robinson JD, Versace F, Engelmann JM, Cui Y, Gilbert DG, Waters AJ, Gritz ER, Cinciripini PM. Attentional bias to smoking and other motivationally relevant cues is affected by nicotine exposure and dose expectancy. J Psychopharmacol 30(7):627-40, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27097731.
- Engelmann JM, Versace F, Gewirtz JC, Cinciripini PM. Individual differences in brain responses to cigarette-related cues and pleasant stimuli in young smokers. Drug Alcohol Depend 163:229-35, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27141838.
- Versace F, Kypriotakis G, Basen-Engquist K, Schembre SM. Heterogeneity in brain reactivity to pleasant and food cues: evidence of sign-tracking in humans. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 11(4):604-11, 2016. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26609106.
- Deweese MM, Robinson JD, Cinciripini PM, Versace F. Conditioned cortical reactivity to cues predicting cigarette-related or pleasant images. Int J Psychophysiol 101:59-68, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 26826400.
- Miccoli L, Delgado R, Guerra P, Versace F, Rodríguez-Ruiz S, Fernández-Santaella MC. Affective pictures and the open library of affective foods (OLAF): tools to investigate emotions toward food in adults. PLoS One 11(8):e0158991, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27513636.
- Zhang L, Guindani M, Versace F, Engelmann JM, Vannucci M. A spatio-temporal nonparametric Bayesian model of multi-subject fMRI data. Annals of Applied Statistics 10(2):638-666, 2016.
- Meyer MJ, Coull BA, Versace F, Cinciripini P, Morris JS. Bayesian function-on-function regression for multilevel functional data. Biometrics 71(3):563-74, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 25787146.
- Deweese MM, Claiborne KN, Ng J, Dirba DD, Stewart HL, Schembre SM, Versace F. Dispensing apparatus for use in a cued food delivery task. MethodsX 2:446-57, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26870667.
- Cui Y, Versace F, Engelmann JM, Minnix JA, Robinson JD, Lam CY, Karam-Hage M, Brown VL, Wetter DW, Dani JA, Kosten TR, Cinciripini PM. Alpha oscillations in response to affective and cigarette-related stimuli in smokers. Nicotine Tobacco Research 15(5):917-24, 2013. e-Pub 2012. PMID: 23060019.
- Cinciripini PM, Robinson JD, Karam-Hage M, Minnix JA, Lam C, Versace F, Brown VL, Engelmann JM, Wetter DW. Effects of varenicline and bupropion sustained-release use plus intensive smoking cessation counseling on prolonged abstinence from smoking and on depression, negative affect, and other symptoms of nicotine withdrawal. JAMA Psychiatry 70(5):522-533, 2013. PMID: 23536105.
- Versace F, Lam CY, Engelmann JM, Robinson JD, Minnix JA, Brown VL, Cinciripini PM. Beyond cue reactivity: blunted brain responses to pleasant stimuli predict long-term smoking abstinence. Addiction Biology 17(6):991-1000, 2012. e-Pub 2011. PMID: 21967530.
- Cui Y, Robinson JD, Versace F, Lam CY, Minnix JA, Karam-Hage M, Dani JA, Kosten TR, Wetter DW, Brown VL, Cinciripini PM. Differential cigarette-related startle cue reactivity among light, moderate, and heavy smokers. Addictive Behaviors 37(8):885-9, 2012. e-Pub 2012. PMID: 22571920.
- Lam CY, Robinson JD, Versace F, Minnix JA, Cui Y, Carter BL, Wetter DW, Cinciripini PM. Affective reactivity during smoking cessation of never-quitters as compared with that of abstainers, relapsers, and continuing smokers. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology 20(2):139-50, 2012. e-Pub 2011. PMID: 22039752.
- Engelmann JM, Versace F, Robinson JD, Minnix JA, Lam CY, Cui Y, Brown VL, Cinciripini PM. Neural substrates of smoking cue reactivity: a meta-analysis of fMRI studies. Neuroimage 60(1):252-262, 2012. e-Pub 2011. PMID: 22206965.
- Versace F, Engelmann JM, Jackson EF, Costa VD, Robinson JD, Lam CY, Minnix JA, Brown VL, Wetter DW, Cinciripini PM. Do brain responses to emotional images and cigarette cues differ? An fMRI study in smokers. The European Journal of Neuroscience 34(12):2054-63, 2011. e-Pub 2011. PMID: 22097928.
- Versace F, Minnix JA, Robinson JD, Lam CY, Brown VL, Cinciripini PM. Brain reactivity to emotional, neutral, and cigarette-related stimuli in smokers. Addiction Biology 16(2):296-307, 2011. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 21182573.
- Lang PJ, Wangelin BC, Bradley MM, Versace F, Davenport PW, Costa VD. Threat of suffocation and defensive reflex activation. Psychophysiology 48(3):393-6, 2011. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 20667037.
- Robinson JD, Lam CY, Carter BL, Minnix JA, Cui Y, Versace F, Wetter DW, Cinciripini PM. A multimodal approach to assessing the impact of nicotine dependence, nicotine abstinence, and craving on negative affect in smokers. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology 19(1):40-52, 2011. PMID: 21341922.
- Cinciripini PM, Minnix JA, Green CE, Robinson JD, Engelmann JM, Versace F, Wetter DW, Shete S, Karam-Hage M. An RCT with the combination of varenicline and bupropion for smoking cessation: clinical implications for front line use. Addiction 113(9):1673-1682. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29679432.
Abstracts
- Webber, HE, Yoon JK, de Dios C, Suchting R, Green CE, Lane SD, Vincent J, Dang V, Wardle MC, Kypriotakis G, Versace F, Schmitz JM. Brain Reactivity Bias Toward Drug Versus Pleasant Cues is Associated with Drug Demand in Individuals With Cocaine Use Disorder. Poster presentation submitted to the annual meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence, 2022.
- West T, Scaggiante B, Ceccherini R, Foladore S, Generali D, Versace F, Cavallero, C. The relevance of chemobrain in breast cancer survivors: An Italian exploratory study to measure incidence and psycho-social impact. Cancer Research 82(4_Supplement):10-12, 2022.
- Webber HE, Cavanagh JF, Green CE, Versace F, Lane SD, Schmitz JM. Time frequency analysis of the reward positivity in cocaine use disorder: A pilot study. Poster presentation submitted to the annual meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, 2022.
- Deweese MM, Frank D, Stevens E, Guindani M, Schembre S, Versace F.. Larger late positive potential responses to food-related cues than to high-arousing pleasant images predict cue-induced eating. Psychophysiology 55(s1):s22, 2018. e-Pub 2018.
- Engelmann JM, Versace F, Cinciripini PM.. Effect of the imminent possibility of smoking on brain responses to smoking-related stimuli. Psychophysiology 55(s1):s22, 2018. e-Pub 2018.
- Robinson J, Engelmann J, Cui Y, Versace F, Gilbert D, Waters A, Cinciripini P.. Nicotine dose and dose expectancy facilitate stimulus categorization, but not automatic affective evaluation of cigarette stimuli. Psychophysiology 54(s1):s97, 2017. e-Pub 2017.
Grant & Contract Support
| Title: | Neurobehavioral assessment of reward sensitivity in young smokers |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Bayesian method for fMRI: modeling heterogeneity in brain dysfunctions |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Co-Investigator |
| Title: | Incentive salience and the neuropsychological underpinnings of cue-induced smoking relapse |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NIDA |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Genetic substrates of a novel neural biomarker for smoking cessation |
| Funding Source: | AACR and Johnson Lung Cancer Innovation Science Grant |
| Role: | Collaborator |
| Title: | Endophenotypic differences in cue response may predict the ability to transition from combustible cigarette to electronic cigarette use |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NIDA |
| Role: | Co-Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Predicting vulnerability to prescription opioid abuse using neuropsychological endophenotypes |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NIDA |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Multi-Parametric MRI Assessment of Brain Connectivity and Spectroscopic Biomarkers in Patients with a Substance Use Disorder |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NIDA |
| Role: | Co-Mentor |
| Title: | Resisting food temptation: how do affective and cognitive brain systems interact? |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NIDA |
| Role: | Sponsor |
| Title: | Comparative Effectiveness of Virtually Delivered Sequential Smoking Cessation Treatment |
| Funding Source: | PCORI |
| Role: | Co-Investigator |
| Title: | A Randomized Controlled Trial of Exenatide as an Adjunct to Nicotine Patch for Smoking Cessation and Prevention of Post-Cessation Weight Gain |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NIDA |
| Role: | Co-Investigator |
| Title: | Bayesian neurobehavioral phenotyping: from mechanism identification to personalized neuromodulation treatments |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NIDA |
| Role: | Co-Investigator |
| Title: | MD Anderson Faculty Institutional Recruitment for Sustainable Transformation (FIRST) Program |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Research Mentor |
| Title: | Toward a precision medicine approach to reducing cue-induced overeating: neurocircuitry-informed transcranial magnetic stimulation. |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |