Faculty
Arthur Kramer, Ph.D.
Director of the Center for Cognitive & Brain Health
Department of Psychology
Dr. Kramer is Professor of Psychology and Director of the Center for Cognitive & Brain Health at Northeastern University. He previously served as Senior Vice Provost for Research and Graduate Education at Northeastern University. He also previously served as the Director of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science & Technology and the Swanlund Chair and Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Illinois. Professor Kramer’s research projects include topics in aging, cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and human factors.
Charles Hillman, Ph.D.
Associate Director of the Center for Cognitive & Brain Health
Department of Psychology, Department of Physical Therapy, Movement & Rehabilitation Sciences
Dr. Hillman is interested in understanding the role of lifestyle behaviors on brain and cognition to maximize health and well-being, and promote the effective functioning of individuals across the lifespan. He is particularly interested in the role of childhood physical activity and excess adiposity on cognitive (including academic achievement) and brain outcomes, and uses a variety of neuroimaging tools in his research.
Susan Whitfield-Gabrieli, Ph.D.
Director of the Northeastern University MRI Center
Department of Psychology
Dr. Whitfield-Gabrieli’s primary mission is to understand the brain basis of psychiatric disorders and to promote translation of this knowledge into clinical practice. Towards this end, she employs multimodal neuroimaging techniques to investigate the pathophysiology of psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders such as schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, and ADHD. Dr. Whitfield-Gabrieli’s ultimate mission is to discover biomarkers for improved diagnosis, early detection (potentiating early intervention and possibly prevention), prediction of therapeutic response (targeted towards precision medicine) as well as developing novel therapeutic techniques (e.g., real-time fMRI feedback) with the hope of improving (or augmenting) currently available treatments.
s.whitfield-gabrieli@northeastern.edu
Psyche Loui, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Creativity and Creative Practice
Department of Music
What gives people the chills when they are moved by a piece of music? How does connectivity in the brain enable or disrupt music perception? Can music be used to help those with neurological and psychiatric disorders? These are questions that Psyche Loui tackles in CBH and in the MIND (Music, Imaging, and Neural Dynamics) Lab, which studies the neuroscience of music perception and cognition. Psyche Loui is an Assistant Professor of Creativity and Creative Practice in the Department of Music at Northeastern University. She graduated from University of California, Berkeley with her PhD in Psychology, and attended Duke University as an undergraduate with degrees in Psychology and Music. Loui has published over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters on music and the brain. Her work has been featured by the Associated Press, New York Times, Boston Globe, BBC, CNN, NBC news and CBS radio, the Scientist magazine, and other news outlets.
Laurel Gabard-Durham, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Creativity and Creative Practice
Dr. Gabard-Durham is a developmental cognitive neuroscientist and director of the Plasticity in Neurodevelopment (PINE) Lab. Dr. Gabard-Durham’s research explores how different environments/experiences interact with neuroplasticity to shape brain, behavior, and mental health over development. Dr. Gabard-Durham aims to understand and compare mechanisms driving early socioemotional development (e.g. perception, language, attachment) and protracted socioemotional development (e.g. emotion regulation). In support of open science and large-scale developmental neuroimaging efforts, Dr. Gabard-Durham’s lab also creates open-source software for processing electroencephalography data.
l.gabard-durnam@
Lauren Raine, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor
Lauren Raine has a research interest in the public health implications of cognition and brain health; specifically, the investigation of physical activity, fitness, and (excess) body mass on brain health and cognition in children. She has examined these relationships using behavioral and neuroimaging measures to study the influence of acute and chronic physical activity on cognition. Dr. Raine is also interested in the relationship between body composition and cognition, as the obesity epidemic continues to spread in children. She hopes to gain a better understanding of the relationship between body composition and cognitive health that will lead to increased public health awareness about the inactivity levels of children and the vast health problems associated with these behaviors.
Research Coordinators
![IMG_9171[1]](https://web.northeastern.edu/cbhlab/wp-content/uploads/elementor/thumbs/IMG_91711-ntjsv9sw0733oa5y1bkw8ga3jx8a95x9m5vxx8n1o8.jpg "IMG_9171[1]")
Donovan Henry
Research Coordinator
Donovan Henry is the Research Coordinator for the IGNITE study in the Center for Cognitive and Brain Health. He graduated from Northeastern University in 2017 with a degree in Behavioral Neuroscience and was also a sprinter on the Track and Field team during his time as an undergraduate. Donovan’s research interests include aging, social determinants of health, and physical activity.
Allie Hill
Research Coordinator
Allie Hill is the Research Coordinator for the SNEACY study in the Center for Cognitive and Brain Health. She graduated from the University of Connecticut in 2018 with a degree in Kinesiology and was part of the Womens Rowing team. Allie’s research interests include physical activity’s effect on cognition, neuroplasticity, and neurodegeneration.
Postdoctoral Scholars
Timothy Morris, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Tim Morris is a postdoc who uses multimodal imaging techniques (MRI, fMRI, EEG and TMS) to research the mechanistic determinants and effects of physical activity and inactivity in brain health and disease (particularly traumatic brain injury). His current research focuses on the application of prediction modeling to test mechanistic predictors of exercise and sedentary behaviors to inform the development of efficacious interventions that lead to sustained behavior changes
Stone Hsieh, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Stone Hsieh has a research focus on 1) how manipulation of different exercise parameters (e.g., modality, intensity) affects brain health and cognition across the lifespan, 2) the underlying mechanisms that may drive exercise-induced effects, with particular interest in EEG/ERP and cardiac-autonomic measures (e.g., heart-rate variability), and 3) how exercise mitigates health/learning disparities in children with ADHD.
Doctoral Students
Nicole Logan, ABD
Doctoral Student
Nicole Logan’s primary research interest is in cognitive neuroscience, examining the relationships between healthy behaviors, cognitive function, mental health, and brain health, throughout the lifespan. Specifically, I am interested in investigating the effects of physical activity and childhood obesity on cognition, mental health, and brain function in preadolescent children and older adults. My aim is to create interdisciplinary health research with the intention of improving quality of life in targeted populations throughout the lifespan.
Daniel Westfall, ABD
Doctoral Student
Daniel Westfall is interested in how health behaviors, such as physical activity, influence cognition and brain health across the lifespan. His current research focuses on physical activity interventions in preadolescent and aging adult populations. Specifically, he uses neuroimaging measures such as MRI, fMRI, and EEG to investigate how changes in fitness are associated with changes in measures of cognition and brain health.
Katherine McDonald, MS
Doctoral Student
Katherine McDonald is a third year PhD student working in Dr. Charles Hillman’s Lab in the Center for Cognitive and Brain Health. She investigates how physical activity and fitness affect cognitive and brain function in children, young adults, and older adults.
Meishan Ai, MS
Doctoral Student
Meishan Ai’s research interest covers how physical activity promotes cognition and brain health in older adults, and how to motivate behavioral changes in physical activity engagement in older adults.
Laboratory Technicians
Bianca Gallagher
Research Technician
Henry Przybylowicz
Research Technician
h.przybylowicz@northeastern.edu
Hanna King
Research Technician
Mark Nwakamma
Research Technician
Ru Liu
Research Technician
Gregory Cloutier
Exercise Physiologist
Undergraduate Research Assistants
Caroline (Callie) Bennett B.S. Behavioral Neuroscience Northeastern University ’21 bennett.ca@husky.neu.edu
Alessandra (Ally) Marinaro B.S. Psychology, Northeastern University ’21 marinaro.a@husky.neu.edu
Umin Jalloh B.S. Behavioral Neuroscience Northeastern University ’21 jalloh.u@husky.neu.edu
Alexis Trattler B.S. Human Services Northeastern University ’22 trattler.a@husky.neu.edu
Grace Rootness B.S. Psychology Northeatern University ’23 rootness.g@husky.neu.edu
Ysabeau Bernard-Willis B.S. Behavioral Neuroscience Northeastern University bernard-willis.y@northeastern.edu
Abigail (Abby) Padilla B.S. Health Science Northeastern University bernard-willis.y@northeastern.edu
Lab Alumni
Phillip O’Connor, M.D. Postdoctoral Research Associate Department of Psychology p.oconnor@northeastern.edu
Dominika Pindus, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, University of Illinois pindus@illinois.edu
Shih-Chun “Alvin” Kao, Ph.D Assistant Professor, Purdue University kao28@purdue.edu
Tatsuya Shigeta, shigeta.t@husky.neu.edu
Rachel Hopman, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Research Associate r.hopman@northeastern.edu
Brooke Winter-Potter Research Technician e.winter-potter@northeastern.edu
Undergraduate Alumni
Jane Li B.S. Behavioral Neuroscience ’19
Rebecca Shorin B.S. Health Science, Exercise Science ’19
Olivia Rowe B.S. Psychology, Behavioral Neuroscience Minor ’19
Annissa DeSilva B.S. Behavioral Neuroscience ’19
Kay Chow B.S. Behavioral Neuroscience ’20