
Lab Members
Principal investigator

Lab Manager

Sooyeon Park
Lab Manager/ Undergraduate Research Assistant
spark197@jhu.eduResearch Interests: Memory & attention, neurodegenerative diseases, cognitive impairments, and phantom limb pain
Current Graduate Students


Natalia Khodayari
PhD Student
B.S., Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior - UC Davis
141 Ames Hallnkhodayari@jhu.edu
Research Interests: Attention, Memory, and Perception; EEG
Undergraduate Research Assistants


Rishi Bachani
Undergraduate Research Assistant
rbachan1@jhu.eduResearch Interests: Attention, Working Memory, Perception


Nicholas Doupsas
Undergraduate Research Assistant
ndoupsa1@jhu.eduResearch Interests: Memory, attention, higher cognition, decision making


Huixin Huang
Undergraduate Research Assistant
hhuan100@jhu.eduResearch Interests: Working memory, emotion, computational psychiatry


Adrian Li
Undergraduate Research Assistant
tli101@jh.eduResearch Interests: Working memory, Attention, Perception


Adina Mosa
Undergraduate Research Assistant
ayiliha1@jh.eduResearch Interests: Cognitive impairments, social brain, decision making, attention



Sooyeon Park
Lab Manager/ Undergraduate Research Assistant
spark197@jhu.eduResearch Interests: Memory & attention, neurodegenerative diseases, cognitive impairments, and phantom limb pain


Joshua Seewald
Undergraduate Research Assistant
jseewal1@jh.eduResearch Interests: Working Memory, Language Processing, Neurodegenerative Diseases
Previous Research Scientists (Alumni from 2019)
Leon (“Leo”) Gmeindl Ph.D.
Alumni
Ph.D.
Research Interests: Leo received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in Cognition & Perception Psychology, with a specialization in Cognitive Neuroscience. He joined Hopkins as a postdoc and then staff Research Scientist in the Courtney and Yantis laboratories. He has conducted research on working memory, attention, and perception in healthy young adults, and in multiple sclerosis and aging populations, using behavioral and neuroimaging methods.
Previous Graduate Students (Featured Alumni since 2014)
Michelle DiBartolo
Current Position: Director of User Research at The Knot Worldwide
PhD, Psychological & Brain Sciences


Tara Ghazi Ph.D.
Ph.D.
B.A., Cognitive Science; M.A., Psychological & Brain Sciences
143 Ames Hall410-516-5649
tara.ghazi@jhu.edu
Research Interests: Broadly, I'm interested in understanding how different information structures may impact what we humans pay attention to and remember in the short-term. My research in the Courtney Lab has employed both EEG and Behavioral methods to study differences in human behavior and the neural activity underlying behavior. ~ Before coming to Hopkins to pursue a PhD, Tara studied at the University of California, Berkeley, where she received her B.A. in Cognitive Science. She also spent time as a student researcher at the University of Cambridge, England. Her past behavioral research explored the relationship between viewing physical gesture and memory of episodic events.
Caroline Montojo
Current Position: Director, Brain Initiatives at the Kavli Foundation
PhD, Psychological and Brain Sciences - Johns Hopkins University
Kitty Xu
Current Position: Quantitative User Experience Researcher, Pinterest
PhD, Neuroscience & Cognitive Psychology - Johns Hopkins University
Previous Postdoctoral Researchers (Featured Alumni)
Brian Anderson Ph.D.
Current Position: Associate Professor, Texas A&M University
PhD, Psychological & Brain Sciences - Johns Hopkins University
Research Interests: Learning & Attention
Kara Blacker Ph.D.
Current Position: Research Psychologist at the Naval Medical Research Unit
Research Interests: fMRI, EEG, Cognitive Training, Gaming
Chase Figley Ph.D.
Current Position: Associate Professor of Neuroscience, University of Manitoba
Thomas Hinault Ph.D.
Current Position: Principal Investigator at NIMH, Caen, France
Ph.D.
Research Interests: Cognitive control; Cognitive aging; Arithmetic processing; Functional neuroimaging (EEG, MEG, fMRI).
Akiko Ikkai Ph.D.
Current Position: Research Scientist at Apple
Previous Lab Managers (Featured Alumni since 2014)
Eunice Awuah
After leaving JHU, Eunice obtained a PhD in Molecular Nutrition from Cornell University
BA, Neuroscience - Johns Hopkins University
Eda Incekara
Alumni
Neuroscience B.S.
einceka1@jhu.eduResearch Interests: working memory, cognitive aging, neurodegenerative diseases
Travis Kroeker
After leaving JHU, Travis went on to pursue a Master's Degree in Human-Machine sciences
B.S. Neuroscience
Previous Research Assistants (Recent Alumni since 2018)
Daniela Barrio
Current Position: MHS, Mental Health - Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
BA, Psychology & Public Health - Johns Hopkins University
Aura Elias
After graduating, Aura began a gap year before continuing on to Medical School
BS, Neuroscience - Johns Hopkins University
Research Interests: Neurodegenerative diseases, memory and memory loss, mindfulness, and developmental disorders.
Myranda Gormley
After graduating, Myranda continued on to Medical School
Research Interests: Cognition, attention & memory, psychopharmacology, neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases.
Madeline Halpern
Current Position: MS, Biomedical Sciences - Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
BS, Neuroscience - Johns Hopkins University
Nora Jandhyala
After graduating, Nora began Medical School
Neuroscience B.S.
njandhy1@jhu.eduResearch Interests:
Soowan Jeong
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Research Interests: Effects of stress on working memory
Kevin Justus
Post-Baccalaureate Student
Research Interests:



Daniella Needleman
Undergraduate Research Assistant
dneedle4@jhu.eduResearch Interests: attention, working memory, EEG
Phillip Sumardi
After graduating, Phillip begin his gap year before continuing on to Medical School
Research Interests: Plasticity, time perception, cognitive impairments, neurodegenerative disorders
Lucas Watling
lwatlin2@jhu.eduResearch Interests: sleep, memory, addiction, multi-sensory integration, stress, anxiety and depression, and neurodegenerative diseases
Alumni
Christopher Ackerman
PhD, Johns Hopkins University
Cody Elias
Current Position: Senior Health Care Consultant, Booz Allen Hamilton
BA, Cognitive Science - Johns Hopkins University
Leon (“Leo”) Gmeindl Ph.D.
Alumni
Ph.D.
Research Interests: Leo received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in Cognition & Perception Psychology, with a specialization in Cognitive Neuroscience. He joined Hopkins as a postdoc and then staff Research Scientist in the Courtney and Yantis laboratories. He has conducted research on working memory, attention, and perception in healthy young adults, and in multiple sclerosis and aging populations, using behavioral and neuroimaging methods.
Brendan Hurst
Akiko Ikkai
Current Role: User Experience Researcher, Apple
PhD, Psychology - New York University
Leon Li
Rita Loiotile
PhD, Psychological and Brain Sciences - Johns Hopkins University



Daniella Needleman
Undergraduate Research Assistant
dneedle4@jhu.eduResearch Interests: attention, working memory, EEG