Jacob Finney is an undergraduate research assistant at Indiana University Bloomington pursuing degrees in Neuroscience and Exercise Science, alongside an Individualized Major Program (IMP) in Human Performance & Resilience with Dr. Kei Kawata as his faculty sponsor. He is also completing minors in Psychology and Chemistry alongside Honors Notation through the Hutton Honors College. On a pre-med track, Jacob's long-term goal is to pursue an MD/PhD. In the Clinical Neurotrauma Laboratory, Jacob's primary responsibilities support a Department of Defense (DoD)-funded study examining the effects of repetitive head impacts and concussion-related exposures on brain health and functional outcomes. He also provides supplementary assistance with the lab's NIH R01-funded OMEGA study on an as-needed basis.

Jacob contributes to human-subject research operations and study execution, supporting participant visits and ensuring consistent study workflows. A significant portion of his work involves preparing participants for standardized study procedures and supporting data acquisition during visits, along with collecting baseline measures that include oculomotor and vestibular assessments. These measures are used to evaluate functional outcomes related to neurotrauma exposure. Like other members of the DoD study team, Jacob is trained across study procedures to support multiple aspects of data collection as needed. Broadly, he is driven by translational neuroscience and human performance, with a focus on research that helps people recover and become more capable and resilient. He plans to pursue medical training and continue building research experience that advances evidence-based approaches to neurotrauma prevention, assessment, and rehabilitation.