Department of Psychology

Tong is the Graduate Representative contact person for GSAS Events. She is a Ph.D. student in the SIM Lab, studying empathy and neural mechanisms underlying people's ability to understand another's emotions. Tong joined Grad Reps hoping to help facilitate communication between the faculty and the grad students, and to contribute to social events in the psychology department. In her free time, she enjoys going to music events in Boston and playing tennis.

Liz is the Graduate Representative contact person for departmental and social events. She is a PhD student in Dr. Margie Lachman's Lifespan lab, researching cognitive and voice biomarkers of dementia. Liz joined Grad Reps to further develop the "bridge" between faculty and graduate students in hopes of strengthening the genuinely supportive and friendly environment that attracted her to Brandeis. These duties include creating professional and personal resources for students, understanding and making developments from department-wide feedback, planning social and academic events, and providing a listening ear to any concerns. Outside of Grad Reps, Liz enjoys advising undergrads, playing music with friends, a fresh jar of Nutella, and naps.

Jourdan Parent is a Graduate Representative contact person for Faculty-Student communications. Jourdan is a third-year 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. Jourdan joined the graduate representatives to help incoming graduate students navigate their transition into the program and also advocate for current students in the continuing growth and development of the psychology programs. In her free time, Jourdan enjoys watching crime documentaries and going for walks with her dog.

Emily is a Graduate Representative contact person for Faculty-Student communications. She is a Ph.D. student in the Knight Lab studying factors that contribute to punitive public attitudes towards individuals who commit sex offenses. She joined the Grad Reps to help students voice their concerns and help make the Psych Department a supportive and welcoming place for everyone! In her free time, she is a competitive ballroom dancer, lover of long walks, and a big fan of the UK show Taskmaster.

Ashley Gilliam is the Graduate Representative contact person for Masters and PhD Support. Ashley Gilliam is a third 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. Ashley joined the grad reps because sheis a first gen student and wants to make it easier for others to navigate academia. Currently she is investigating the impact of acculturation on memory strategies. Outside of research, Ashley enjoys drawing, rock climbing, and playing with her dog

Xiaolin is the Graduate Representative contact person for survey information. 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. She Grad Reps to know more about the department, how things are planned and organized, and also to know more about people around her and knowing how to work with different people on different types of tasks.

Jinlin is the Graduate Representative contact person for Masters support.