Graduate Students
PhD Students
Addam is a PhD student in the Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Lab. His research uses various tracking techniques (i.e., reaching/pointing, mouse tracking, eye tracking) to explore the interaction of cognition and motor control. His current projects include exploring the impact of sensory degradation on cognitive performance, improving cognitive performance in autonomous vehicles, and utilizing Virtual Reality to develop countermeasures to decrease discomfort caused by motion sickness. Outside of research he enjoys hiking, video games, and all things cats.
Emily Calobrisi is a PhD student in the Knight Lab. She completed the Psychology Master's program at Brandeis in 2021 and graduated from Tufts in 2017. Her research focuses on the factors that influence people's perceptions of sex offender recidivism risk and associated post-prison dispositions. In her free time she is a competitive ballroom dancer.
Jillian E. Franks is a PhD student in the Brain, Body, and Behavior program. She received her BS in neuroscience from Rhodes College in 2018 and her MA in psychology with an emphasis in behavioral neuroscience from the University of Missouri in St. Louis in 2021. Her research focuses on prejudice, discrimination, stereotypes, and implicit biases. In addition, she is interested in studying the neural mechanism underlying empathy and intergroup interactions using EEG. In her free time, Jillian enjoys live theater, swimming, and dancing.
Read GSAS Interview on Geeking Out with...Jillian Franks.
Ashley Gilliam is a fourth year Ph.D. student. She has received a B.S. degree in Psychological Sciences (Neuroscience minor) and a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from Western Kentucky University in addition to her M.A. in Psychology from Brandeis University. Her research interests center around culture and cognition, especially studying within-culture variation (e.g., acculturation, SES, rural/urban differences) and non-WEIRD populations. Currently she is investigating the impact of acculturation on memory strategies. Outside of research, Ashley enjoys drawing, rock climbing, and playing with her dog
Rachel is a PhD student in the Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Lab. During the first few years of her PhD, she continued to pursue her research interest on multisensory integration during human balancing and spatial orientation. Currently, she is investigating the risk factors and adaption in human postural control. She received a BA degree in psychology with a minor in cognitive science from UCLA (summa cum laude, along with College Honors), and a MA degree in experimental psychology from Brandeis University. She worked for the UCLA Center for Mental Health in Schools and has assisted with a variety of research on multisensory integration, language processing in brains and animal behaviors. Outside the lab, Rachel is into fashion, making YouTube videos, EDM, playing the instruments (she plays 10+ of them with a current focus on electric guitar), food, social, reading, business collaborations and many more!
Tong is a third-year PhD student in the SIM lab. She graduated from Centre College with her B.A. in Psychology in 2018. Her current projects focus on empathy, inter-brain synchronization and portable EEG. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, playing tennis, walking her cat and letting her curious cat meet other dogs.
Liz researches abnormal cognitive aging with a focus on prevention through technology. She is a PhD student in Dr. Margie Lachman’s Lifespan Developmental Psychology Lab. She completed her psychology undergraduate degree at Harvard College under the research guidance of Dr. Richard McNally and later worked at the Framingham Heart Study in Dr. Rhoda Au's neuropsychology group. Her broad research aim is to identify earlier-life risk factors for dementia through digital and cognitive biometrics. To learn more, visit her research website.
Outside the lab, she enjoys mentoring students, playing her cello, and listening to the Radio Lab podcast.
Broadly, Quynh is interested in executive functions, reward processing, and psychopathology. She has previously studied the neural circuitry of reward loss in rodents and the socio-emotional development of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Her current research in the CoPE Lab examines how stress and executive function deficits, among other factors, can confer risks for psychopathology. Outside the lab, Quynh can be found doing yoga, trying new recipes, and drinking lots of coffee.
Jourdan is a Ph.D. student in the Neurochemistry and Cognition Lab. She graduated from Boston University with a B.A. in Neuroscience. Her research projects use MR and PET imaging techniques to understand how individual differences in catecholamine function are related to higher-level cognition and brain network activity in healthy older adults. Currently, she is working on several projects focused on assessing how local and long-range functional connectivity is associated with changes in catecholamine synthesis capacity, Alzheimer’s Disease pathology, and cognitive function in aging.
Hannah is a PhD student in the Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Laboratory. Her interests are the age-related cognitive differences in postural balancing and interplays between associative learning and sustained attention. Currently, her focus is on the differentiation and application of the strategies on postural control in a balancing task (balancing an inverted pendulum with a joystick).
Xiaolin Qiao is a PhD student in the Howard Lab studying the effect of mental imagery on learning and decision making. She is also interested in the underlying neural mechanism of these processes.
Diane is a Ph.D. student in Dr. Raymond Knight's lab. Her area of study lies at the intersection of sexual aggression and psychopathology. As a Masters student at Brandeis her thesis explored the latent factor structure underlying a commonly utilized static risk assessment tool. For her doctoral work she is interested in studying how disgust sensitivity and pain tolerance manifest in sexual and non-sexual sadism. In her spare time she enjoys rock climbing and traveling with her husband, brewing beer, and snuggling her Shih Tzu, Reign of Terror.
Kylie is a first year PhD student in Dr. Margie Lachman’s Lifespan Laboratory. She completed her psychology undergraduate degree at Framingham State University with a minor in neuroscience. During her time at Framingham State, she conducted a series of experiments investigating altruistic decision making under the guidance of Dr. Michael Greenstein. Kylie later went on to work as a Research Assistant in Dr. Andrew Budson’s Center for Translational Cognitive Neuroscience. Currently, her research aims to examine how control beliefs and intraindividual variation contribute to age-related declines in health and cognition. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and pets, hiking, and binge-watching anything and everything on TV.
Katherine Seavey is a Ph.D. student in the Knight Lab. She graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a B.A. in Psychology in 2016. After graduating, she worked for four years as a research assistant at the Center for Technology and Behavioral Health at Dartmouth College before starting the Ph.D. program at Brandeis University. Her research focuses on the role of friendships for individuals who have experienced sexual victimization. In her free time, she enjoys knitting, going to the beach, and cuddling with her cat.
Luke is PhD student currently with the Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Lab. Previously investigating
subjective extrapolation of human movement variability during a cyclic reaching task at Cleveland state
University, he now seeks to understand how people learn to model and predict the gravitational
trajectory of objects. His expertise focuses on quantifying motor performance to assess the motor
adaptation process and understanding how we as humans utilize internal models to guide our
predictions of motion.
Mercedes is a Ph.D. student in the Vision Lab. She studies mechanisms of time perception and the effects of multisensory integration on attention and decision-making. Her current projects include psychophysical investigations of visuo-haptic perception, computational modeling of perceptual decision-making, and EEG studies of temporal processing in multiple sensory modalities.
Master's Students
Kassandra Doran is a second year MA candidate in the Knight Lab. May 2021 she graduated from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, summa cum laude, with a BS in psychology and minors in biology, neurobiology and social justice. Her prior research experience consists of an Honors Thesis conducted under Dr. Inmaculada Ibáñez-Casas correlating abstract thinking skills in leadership positions along with a summer internship at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center supporting the Center for Rehabilitation Sciences Research. Kass has also had multiple poster presentations at APA and NEPA. In the Knight lab, she is looking at hypersexaulity and ADHD in terms of impulsivity. Outside of the program, she is a 6am Jazzercise instructor and enjoys being outside- especially hikes in the ADK mountain range!
Hailey Fuchs is a first-year MA student in the Aging, Culture, and Cognition Lab. She earned a BS in psychology from Plymouth State University in 2023. Her experience with research, including an undergraduate honors thesis, has primarily centered around memory and learning. She is interested in research that combines aspects of developmental, social, and cognitive psychology. In her free time, she enjoys thrifting, playing games with friends, and watching documentaries.
Elena is a first year Master's student in Dr. Robert Sekuler's vision lab. Previously, she completed her undergraduate education at the University of Rhode Island with her BA in Biology and BS in Psychology. Elena's thesis is focused on researching age-related changes in visual perception and cognitive processes. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her friends, skiing, and going to the beach.
Xukun is a master’s student in the Howard Lab. She is interested in understanding the neural mechanism of learning. Prior to coming to Brandeis, Xukun worked as a mental health coordinator at a middle school. She is looking to explore learning behavior from a neuropsychological perspective. Outside of research, Xukun enjoys gardening, fishing, and cooking.
Weiran is a Master’s student in the CARD Lab. She received her BS in Psychology, Neurobiology, and Philosophy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research interests concern the risk and protective factors associated with mood disorders in adolescence and young adults. Besides psychology, Weiran is into museums, novels, perfumes, helping others, and evolving her own beliefs.
Tina is a Master's student in the Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Laboratory. She received her BA in psychology and studio art from Furman University in 2021. Her previous research experiences include sleep and memory consolidation and social service for different groups of people. Currently, her interests focus on the multisensory integration process involved in spatial orientation and a more complex cognitive process of spatial perception. Outside of research, she enjoys art, movies, music, games, cooking, and baking.
Mai Jiaying Xu, originally from Qingdao, China, moved to Seattle on her own at the age of 15. She is currently a Master’s student in Dr. Raymond Knight’s sexual violence and psychopathology research lab at Brandeis University. After transferring from the University of Washington, Mai earned her BA in Psychology and Philosophy from Brandeis in 2023. During her sophomore year, she served as a research assistant in the Psychology Department at the Chinese National Academy of Science. Presently, Mai is interning at the PPOC department of Boston Children’s Hospital and is in the process of applying to Psychology PhD programs. Outside of her academic and professional pursuits, Mai finds companionship in her three-year-old ragdoll cat, Pomegranate (Pomu), who currently resides with her in Waltham.