People

Dr. Khena Marie Iyer Swallow

Khena is an associate professor of psychology at Cornell University, she received her Ph.D from the Washington University in St. Louis. Her research uses behavioral, neuroimaging, and eye-tracking methods to examine how changes in events structure memory and influence ongoing cognitive and perceptual processes.

 

Graduate Student Researchers

Adam Broitman uses a combination of EEG, MRI, and computational modeling techniques to investigate how attention modulates our ability to encode, organize, and retrieve memories. He also studies the influence of physical fitness and brain health on memory function in aging populations. Adam received his B.A. in psychology and French from the University of Rochester in 2014. Prior to joining the AMP lab, he held research positions in the Computational Memory Lab at the University of Pennsylvania and on the Cognitive Science Team at the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Systems Center. In his free time he enjoys traveling, playing guitar, and the filmography of Jean-Claude Van Damme.


Ruiyi (Iris) Chen received her B.S. in psychology from Beijing Normal University, China. She then graduated from Teachers College, Columbia University with a M.A. in Developmental Psychology. She has research interests in the role of emotion in perception and memory of human real-life experience. Her hobbies include calligraphy, painting, writing poetry, and cooking. She owns a cute cat, Kiwi.
Karen Sasmita is interested in how attentional fluctuations over time influence and are influenced by memory. Specifically, could variations in attentional state over time reflect a strategic bias in allocating more attentional resources to moments with the highest probability of information occurrence? Could this variation then indicate an attempt to maximise encoding of behaviourally relevant information? And how is his fluctuation in attentional state represented in hippocampal neural representations? Personal Website

Undergraduate Student Researchers

Anaisa Cespedes joined the lab in 2022. She is a junior majoring in Neurobiology and Behavior and minoring in Inequality Studies and Global Health. Her interests lie in episodic memory, neuroimaging, and how socioeconomic factors affect neurophysiology. Outside of the lab, she enjoys music, trying out new restaurants, and playing with her dog.
Lilyanna Gross is a senior psychology major and cogsci minor. She would like to understand how sensation is translated into perception. Specifically, the anatomy and physiology of all sensory systems (taste, touch, smell, sight, sound, proprioception), and how a broad range of cognitive or environmental factors may influence the translation of sensation into perception. Additionally, she wants to understand how certain cognitive processes, i.e., attention and memory, can influence our general cognitive abilities and processing power and efficiency.
Sahib Kaila is a current junior in the College of Human Ecology majoring in Nutritional Sciences. His research interests include how attention and environment can affect the brain's ability to encode memories. In his free time, Sahib can be found hiking, rock climbing, or watching his favorite movies.
Jackie Kim joined the lab in the summer of 2021.
Alice Lidman is a sophomore Biological Sciences major concentrating in Neurobiology and Behavior. Her research interests include neurophysiology and memory optimization, as well as the relationship between event segmentation and subsequent recall. Her hobbies include playing the piano, reading mystery novels, and swimming!
Siddiq Nanabawa is a junior in The College of Arts and Sciences majoring in Biology and on the premed path. His interest in neurobiology stems from his curiosity regarding the brain's mechanisms and processes which govern our everyday activities.
John Rosero is a senior at Cornell University majoring in Biology & Society with a minor in Business. He joined the AMP Lab in the fall of 2022. His research interests pertain to the effect emotional states have on cognitive and perceptual processing. Additionally, he is interested in using neuroimaging to evaluate the encoding, organization, and retrieval of memories.

Other Researchers

Elizabeth Riley spent part of her childhood in Ithaca, NY and has returned as a postdoctoral fellow in the AC Lab after getting her BS in Bioengineering from MIT and PhD in neuroscience from Boston University School of Medicine. She uses pupillometery, MRI (functional and structural) and neuropsychological tests to study the locus coeruleus, the norepinephrine system and their role in cognition and cognitive aging.

Lab Alumni

Hamid Turker graduated from Leiden University with a M.Sc. in Cognitive Neuroscience and received his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 2022. Hamid is now a postdoctoral researcher working with David Smith. Hamid's research interests include: how attention, reinforcement, and memory interact to shape learning, as well as how resultant episodic memories are actively involved in other aspects of cognition. To do so, he makes use of behavioral data, neuroimaging, computational modeling, and eye-tracking. Since 2017, he is the assistant curator of the Wilder Brain Collection. In his spare time, he enjoys playing guitar.
Roy Moyal worked on fMRI projects on the attentional boost effect in the AMP Lab and studied the time course of visual object perception using a combination of EEG, machine learning, and computational modeling, under the supervision of Dr. Shimon Edelman. He received his B.Sc. in Computer Science and Psychology from Tel Aviv University, Israel and his Ph.D. in Psychology from Cornell in 2022. Roy is now a postdoctoral researcher working with Thom Cleland. He is interested in the neural correlates of sensory awareness and in the mechanisms whereby attentional and predictive processes influence visual thalamocortical dynamics. When in the lab, he plays guitar, bass, and drums (after hours, of course).
Stav Atir completed her Ph.D in psychology in Dr. Melissa Ferguson's Automaticity lab in 2018. Stav's research interests include: self-control, overconfidence, self and other. She likes good coffee and cryptic crosswords.
Ami Agrawal worked in the lab from 2018-2019. She is a junior Mechanical Engineering major. Her research interests include the attentional boost effect, prosthetics, and neuroimaging. Outside of the lab, she can be found exploring Ithaca, reading, or figuring out how to make concrete float.
Daniela Baca Guitierrez is a graduate of the Panamerican University in Mexico City and was a member of the AMP lab in 2014. While apart of the AMP lab Daniela participated on a project involving the interaction of memory and attention during multitasking. She currently works as a kindergarten teacher in Mexico City and is hoping to do her masters degree next year, but not before traveling around the world studying gastronomy.
Katrina Bamba graduated in 2017 with a degree in Human Biology, Health and Society. She worked as a research assistant with Dr.Swallow for the last two years of her undergraduate career. Currently, she is pursing a Master degree in Health Administration at the Sloan Program at Cornell University and hopes to later work in a hospital setting.
Taylor Beauvais worked in the lab from 2017-2018. He graduated from the University at Buffalo in 2015 with a B.S. in Psychology and Sociology. Before joining the AMP lab he worked with Roswell Medical Center as a research analyst, and in the Adolescent Transitions lab here at Cornell as a lab manager. His research interests include the effect of non-complimentary response on event memory and perception. His hobbies including: cooking, soccer, running, and guitar.
Dina Busaba graduated in 2018 as a Psychology major concentrating in Biopsychology. Her research interests include neuroimaging, visual and perceptual learning, and neural compensation based on attention, perception, and memory. Outside of the lab, Dina enjoys traveling, experimenting with makeup, and looking longingly at cats.
Judy Chen was in the lab in the Spring and Fall of 2017. Her research interests include attentional effects on information processing and language learning. Her hobbies include jogging, baking, and drawing.
Catherine Coughlin graduated with a degree in Biological Sciences major concentrating in Neurobiology and Behavior in 2021. Her research interests include how culture and other factors influence memory. She is also interested in memory impairments and methods of treatment and rehabilitation. Some of her hobbies include writing, running, and music.
Joel Cruz graduated in 2020.
Deanna Earle graduated with a degree in Animal Science in 2020. Her research interests include how attention is impacted in those with developmental disorders and brain injuries in addition to how the lab's findings of the attentional boost effect relates to these populations. Her hobbies include running, playing tennis, and reading.
Aaron Earle-Richardson graduated in 2019 and subsequently worked in the lab on MRI analyses. He was a Bioengineering major in CALS minoring in biomedical engineering and neurobiology. His research interests include using information theory, data science, and statistics to map systems of learning and memory in the brain. Aaron’s hobbies include tennis, board games, hiking with dogs, and choral singing.
Mariel Emrich graduated in 2018 with a degree in Human Development. Her research interests include studying different ways to increase attention and subsequent memory, and how that is manifested in the brain using EEG and fMRI technology. Additionally, she is interested in how attention and memory are impaired in clinical populations and how these impairments can be minimized or eliminated.
Clara Freeman worked in the lab from 2013-2014.
Sosna Gellaw worked in the lab in 2018. Her research interests include the effects of multitasking on attention and memory. Her hobbies include exploring new places around town, volunteering, and watching basketball.
Ian Ghasemain worked in the lab in 2021.
Anya Ji worked in the lab from 2020-2022.
Jovan Kemp graduated with honors in psychology in 2017.
Pallavi Kenkare is a sophomore majoring in Biology & Society, with a minor in Law & Ethics. Her research interests include the effects of multitasking on memory and attention. Her hobbies are reading, painting, and playing tennis.
Patrick (Tae-Young) Kim graduated in 2016.
Allyson LaRosa graduated in 2017.
Anna Lee graduated in 2021.
Clara Lee graduated in 2018 with a major in Psychology and a minor in Philosophy. Her interests include neuroimaging research techniques in the field and the integration of technological advancement within patient treatment. Outside the lab, her hobbies mainly involve creative expression, especially through painting, writing, and music.
Kimberly Lee graduated in 2017 with a degree in Psychology and Information Science with minors in French and Business. Since graduating and leaving the AMP Lab, she has begun studying at Cornell Law School as a Juris Doctor candidate. While she finds legal studies fascinating, she hopes to one day return to academia in a research capacity.
Gandalf (Bohan) Li was a graduate student in the lab with research interests in: Time perception; attention; network theory; human-centered design; video game design; everything Tolkien.
Danny Lin graduated in 2016.
Logan Lin graduated in 2017.
Sichun Liu graduated from Cornell University in May 2017 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Psychology. She worked as an undergraduate research assistant in the AMP lab during her sophomore year directly under the supervision of Professor Swallow. She is currently working at Cornerstone Research, an economic consulting firm, as an analyst to provide financial and economic analysis for commercial litigation matters.
Sanweda Mahagabin graduated in 2022 with a degree in Biological Sciences with a concentration in Genetics, Genomics, and Development. She worked in the lab from 2021-2022. She currently works in the Grosenick lab at Weill Cornell and hopes to pursue a career in medicine.
Ashley Park worked in the lab from 2020-2021.
Alyssa Phelps joined the AMP lab as a research assistant in the summer of 2016 and worked with Dr. Swallow and graduate student Hamid Turker to produce an honors thesis titled “Attentional Boost Effect in the Hippocampus.” She graduated with honors from Cornell in 2017 and is working at the Boston University CTE Center to gain more clinical research experience before applying to graduate school.
Bella Poulos worked in the lab during the spring of 2017. Her research interests include attention, neurophysiology, memory, effects of physiology on brain functioning, and clinical research. Her hobbies include fly fishing, tying flies, swimming, collecting/identifying/drying wildflowers, ceramics, hanging out with her rabbit (Calypso).
Sofia Prieto worked in the lab from 2019-2022. Shemajored in biology with a concentration in neuroscience. Her research interests included studying memory and attentional changes based on external sources. She is also interested in combining her interests in emerging technology to track these behavioral and neural findings. Her hobbies include playing tennis, painting, and taekwondo.
Nicole Rabinowitz worked in the lab 2021-222.
Nicolas Ramos received his Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Cornell in 2015. After graduation, he worked for two years in a cognitive neuroscience laboratory at the University of Miami examining cognitive performance and mindfulness training. Nicolas is currently a first-year MBA student at the University of Florida concentrating in marketing, and will be interning with The Coca-Cola Company in the Summer of 2018.
Ariella Ratner graduated in 2019.
Leeah Richardson graduated in 2022.
Andrew Salib joined the lab in 2019 and graduated in 2021.
Haylee Schwartz graduated in 2018 with a major in Human Development and a minor in Health Policy. Her research interests include how our studies on the attentional boost effect are related to various disorders such as Alzheimer’s Disease and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Some of her hobbies are coloring, painting, and bike riding.
Santiago Roa Sierra worked in the lab as part of the CienciAmerica program during the summer of 2015.
Hyong Sop Shin graduated in 2017.
Xing Su graduated in 2019 with honors in Psychology and double majored Psychology and Economics. Her research interests include how culture and social factors influence attention and perception. Her hobbies include reading, drawing, and experimenting with makeup.
Liam Sullivan graduated in 2020 from the College of Arts and Sciences double majoring in psychology and philosophy. His research interests include attention regulation, the relationship between perception and mental illness, and identity theory. In his spare time, he enjoys distance running, reading, and guitar.
Victoria Tian worked in the lab in 2019. She was majoring in Global and Public Health Sciences. She is interested in what affects peopleÕs attention and perception of their environment and how these factors can influence their behavior, as well as how we can use this knowledge to design better health interventions. Her hobbies include playing the flute and walking around CornellÕs beautiful campus.
Ngoc Tran worked in the lab from 2021-2022.
Tu Tu worked in the lab in 2014.
Siddharth Venkatesh graduated in 2021 with a degree in Biology in Arts and Sciences. His research interests include using neuroimaging and eye-tracking technology to track event perception and the attentional boost effect, and how those images can be used for clinical treatment of neural conditions. Siddharth's hobbies inlcude: reading, watching action movies, and boxing
Andrea Wat was an exchange student from Australiain the lab in 2019. Her research interests include how attention and memory can be tied to forensic psychology in potentially explaining the fallibility of eyewitness testimonies. Favourite hobbies include watching movies, listening to music and looking inside fridges for food.
Melissa Yap graduated in 2021 majoring in Biology, with a concentration in Biochemistry. Her research interests include the influence of auditory and visual cues on perception and memory. Her hobbies include eating, cooking, and trying out new restaurants.
Yan Zhu worked in the lab from 2020-2022.