People

  • Principal investigator

  • Susan Courtney

    Susan Courtney

    Professor

    Ph.D.

  • Graduate Students

  • Tara Ghazi

    Tara Ghazi

    PhD Candidate

    B.A., Cognitive Science; M.A., Psychological & Brain Sciences
    • 410-516-5649
    • tara.ghazi@jhu.edu
    • 143 Ames Hall
    • Research Interests: 
      Sex differences in neural activity (EEG) underlying working memory processes; changes in neural activity over the lifespan in the adult and aging brain.

      Before joining the Courtney Lab, 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.
  • Natalia Khodayari

    Natalia Khodayari

    PhD Student

    B.S., Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior - UC Davis

  • Undergraduate Research Assistants

  • Soowan Jeong

    Soowan Jeong

    Undergraduate Research Assistant

    • Research Interests: Effects of stress on working memory
  • Daniella Needleman

    Daniella Needleman

    Research Assistant

    • Research Interests: attention, working memory, EEG
  • Phillip Sumardi

    Phillip Sumardi

    Reseach Assistant

    • Research Interests: Plasticity, time perception, cognitive impairments, neurodegenerative disorders

  • Alumni ~ Research Scientists

  • Leon (“Leo”) Gmeindl

    Leon (“Leo”) Gmeindl

    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.

      Leo is now a faculty Research Scientist in Psychological & Brain Sciences.

  • Alumni ~ Graduate Students

  • Michelle DiBartolo

    PhD, Psychological & Brain Sciences

  • Li Guo

  • 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

  • Alumni ~ Postdoctoral Researchers

  • Brian Anderson

    Current Position: Assistant Professor, Texas A&M University

    PhD, Psychological & Brain Sciences - Johns Hopkins University

  • Thomas Hinault

    Ph.D.
    • thinaul1@jhu.edu
    • Research Interests: 
      Cognitive control; Cognitive aging; Arithmetic processing; Functional neuroimaging (EEG, MEG, fMRI).

  • Alumni ~ Lab Managers

  • Eunice Awuah

    Current Position: PhD student, Molecular Nutrition - Cornell University

    BA, Neuroscience - Johns Hopkins University
  • Eda Incekara

    Eda Incekara

    Alumni

    Neuroscience B.S.
    • einceka1@jhu.edu
    • Research Interests: working memory, cognitive aging, neurodegenerative diseases

  • Travis Kroeker

    B.S. Neuroscience

  • Alumni ~ Research Assistants

  • Eunice Awuah

    Current Position: PhD student, Molecular Nutrition - Cornell University

    BA, Neuroscience - Johns Hopkins University

  • Daniela Barrio

    Current Position: MHS, Mental Health - Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

    BA, Psychology & Public Health - Johns Hopkins University

  • Aura Elias

    BS, Neuroscience - Johns Hopkins University
    • Research Interests: Neurodegenerative diseases, memory and memory loss, mindfulness, and developmental disorders.

  • Myranda Gormley

    Research Assistant

    • mgormle3@jhu.edu
    • 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
  • Eda Incekara

    Eda Incekara

    Alumni

    Neuroscience B.S.
    • einceka1@jhu.edu
    • Research Interests: working memory, cognitive aging, neurodegenerative diseases
  • Nora Jandhyala

    Nora Jandhyala

    Alumni

    Neuroscience B.S.

  • Kevin Justus

    Post-Baccalaureate Student

    • Research Interests: 

  • Ian Kang

    Research Assistant

  • Vasilios Nicholas

  • Pranit Singh

  • Lucas Watling

    • lwatlin2@jhu.edu
    • Research Interests: sleep, memory, addiction, multi-sensory integration, stress, anxiety and depression, and neurodegenerative diseases

  • Alumni

  • Christopher Ackerman

    PhD, Johns Hopkins University

  • Brian Anderson

    Current Position: Assistant Professor, Texas A&M University

    PhD, Psychological & Brain Sciences - Johns Hopkins University

  • Eunice Awuah

    Current Position: PhD student, Molecular Nutrition - Cornell University

    BA, Neuroscience - Johns Hopkins University

  • Daniela Barrio

    Current Position: MHS, Mental Health - Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

    BA, Psychology & Public Health - Johns Hopkins University

  • Kara Blacker

    Current Position: Research Psychologist - Henry M. Jackson Foundation

    PhD, Brain and Cognitive Science - Temple University

  • Michelle DiBartolo

    PhD, Psychological & Brain Sciences

  • Cody Elias

    Current Position: Senior Health Care Consultant, Booz Allen Hamilton

    BA, Cognitive Science - Johns Hopkins University

  • Aura Elias

    BS, Neuroscience - Johns Hopkins University
    • Research Interests: Neurodegenerative diseases, memory and memory loss, mindfulness, and developmental disorders.

  • Chase Figley

    Postdoctoral Fellow

  • Leon (“Leo”) Gmeindl

    Leon (“Leo”) Gmeindl

    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.

      Leo is now a faculty Research Scientist in Psychological & Brain Sciences.

  • Myranda Gormley

    Research Assistant

    • mgormle3@jhu.edu
    • 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

  • Thomas Hinault

    Ph.D.
    • thinaul1@jhu.edu
    • Research Interests: 
      Cognitive control; Cognitive aging; Arithmetic processing; Functional neuroimaging (EEG, MEG, fMRI).

  • Brendan Hurst

  • Akiko Ikkai

    Current Role: User Experience Researcher, Apple

     PhD, Psychology - New York University
  • Eda Incekara

    Eda Incekara

    Alumni

    Neuroscience B.S.
    • einceka1@jhu.edu
    • Research Interests: working memory, cognitive aging, neurodegenerative diseases
  • Nora Jandhyala

    Nora Jandhyala

    Alumni

    Neuroscience B.S.

  • Kevin Justus

    Post-Baccalaureate Student

    • Research Interests: 

  • Ian Kang

    Research Assistant

  • Travis Kroeker

    B.S. Neuroscience

  • Leon Li

  • Li Guo

  • Rita Loiotile

    PhD, Psychological and Brain Sciences - Johns Hopkins University

  • Caroline Montojo

    Current Position: Director, Brain Initiatives at the Kavli Foundation

    PhD, Psychological and Brain Sciences - Johns Hopkins University

  • Vasilios Nicholas

  • Yi-shin Sheu

    Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

    PhD, Psychological and Brain Sciences - Johns Hopkins University

  • Pranit Singh

  • Antonio Vergara

    Current Position: User Experience Architect, R2Integrated

    BA, Biological Basis of Behavior & Psychology - University of Pennsylvania

  • Lucas Watling

    • lwatlin2@jhu.edu
    • Research Interests: sleep, memory, addiction, multi-sensory integration, stress, anxiety and depression, and neurodegenerative diseases

  • Kitty Xu

    Current Position: Quantitative User Experience Researcher, Pinterest

    PhD, Neuroscience & Cognitive Psychology - Johns Hopkins University