Eitan Schechtman
eitans@uci.edu

Eitan completed a BA in Psychology and an MSc and PhD in Neural Computation, all at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He then completed his postdoc at Northwestern University. Eitan iss passionate about understanding the neural underpinnings of human cognition, and specifically the manner in which the sleeping brain supports cognitive function. Outside of the lab, he enjoys spending time with his husband and two kids, hiking, reading, and listening to music. His passions include LGBTQ+ advocacy and scientific outreach, especially with school-aged kids..

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Matthew Cho
matthewcho9577@gmail.com

Matthew has graduated from UC San Diego with a B.S. in neurobiology. He joined the Cognitive Neuroscience of Sleep Lab to learn more about reactivation of memories, and apply what he learned during his studies as an undergraduate. In the future, he hopes to join a PhD program and further a career in neuroscience. Outside of lab work, he enjoys tennis, weightlifting, and watching movies.

Sarvia Aquino
ssaquino@uci.edu

Sarvia graduated from the University of Southern California in 2017 with a B.S. in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention and an M.S. in Neuroimaging and Informatics. Sarvia is passionate about understanding how memory is formed and kept especially for traumatic memories that affect systemic disenfranchised communities (eg. Immigrants, veterans, unhoused communities). In the future, she hopes to one day run a lab. She is excited to see where neuroscience takes her. Outside of lab work, she enjoys swimming, surfing, hiking, and spending time with her dogs. 

Neda Morakabati
nmorakab@uci.edu

Neda completed her B.S. in Psychology on the Neuroscience Track at UMass Amherst, and continued her pursuit of research at McLean Hospital in Belmont, MA. Boston born and raised, Neda (and her service dog Arlo) has swapped coasts for the Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program at UC Irvine, where she’s pursuing her PhD. Coming from a rodent and postmortem human tissue background, she will be rotating in the Cognitive Neuroscience of Sleep Lab in the Spring to learn about the importance of sleep to our cognition. Outside of lab work, Neda enjoys playing video games, writing music, and exploring the area. Her passions include outreach to marginalized youth, and advocacy for inclusive and accessible learning environments. 

Gautam Narayan
narayag1@uci.edu

Gautam is a graduate student at UCI. He graduated from UC San Diego in June 2022 with a B.S. in neurobiology. Gautam is interested largely in learning about the potential for sleep manipulation to improve wellbeing in humans. He is interested in using the targeted reactivation of memory in sleep to better understand the role of context in memory consolidation. When not in the lab, Gautam really enjoys going to the beach, running, and being a part of the UCI club tennis team. 

Zhuangning (Ashley) Ji
zhuangnj@uci.edu

Zhuangning is an undergraduate student at UCI majoring in Psychology B.A. and is interested in Behavioral Affective Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, specifically the mental process and mechanism underlying memory, emotion, and age. They hope to gain more experience in memory and sleep in the Cognitive Neuroscience of Sleep Lab. Outside of the lab, Zhuangning uses their time to draw, read, play video games, and spend time with their cat friends. 

Evelyn Le
evelyml2@uci.edu

Evelyn is an undergraduate student at UCI majoring in Human Biology. She is interested in learning about how targeted memory reactivation (TMR) works to improve memory consolidation during sleep. She is also curious if this technique can be applied to strengthen memory in older adults and facilitate faster learning in children. She aspires to attend medical school post-graduation. Outside of the lab, she enjoys volunteering, going to the movie theater, listening to music, swimming, cooking, and spending time with friends and family. 

Nicholas Lew
njlew@uci.edu

Nick is an undergraduate student at UCI majoring in Biological Sciences. This is his first lab opportunity and he is looking forward to working and learning with the Cognitive Neuroscience of Sleep Lab! He is specifically interested in memory manipulation of memory, especially the deterioration of memories and applying them towards PTSD. In the future, Nick hopes to attend medical school. Outside of the lab, he enjoys going to the beach, lifting, and reading, and watching anime. 

Tiange (Summer) Lu
tiangel3@uci.edu

Summer is an undergraduate student at UCI majoring in biological sciences. She is interested in learning the mechanism of memory formation, especially the selective manipulation of memories during sleep (reactivation, deterioration). Before joining the Cognitive Neuroscience of Sleep Lab, she worked in a rodent lab studying the formation of position memory in the hippocampus and retrosplenial cortex. In the future, she hopes to join a PhD program and further a career in neuroscience research. Outside the lab, she loves music, hiking, skating, and painting. She also enjoys making clay arts and reading books, especially science fiction. 

Maya Pourreza
mpourrez@uci.edu

Maya is an undergraduate student at UCI majoring in Psychological Science. She is interested in learning about how emotion and memory can be affected with certain sleep cues along with what neural processes control emotions. This is her first experience in a lab and she is very excited to learn the ropes. Maya plans to go to graduate school and earn her PsyD. Outside the lab, she loves reading, music, the beach, movies and spending quality time with her friends and family. 

Charli Taylor
charlmt1@uci.edu

Charli is an undergraduate student at UCI majoring in Public Health Sciences. She is interested in using her experience working in EEG and brain dysfunction (e.g. Epilepsy, Anoxic Brain Injury, Sleep Apnea) to examine how healthy brains function. Before joining the Cognitive Neuroscience of Sleep Lab, she conducted research in Antibiotic Resistance and Microbial pathogenesis. Outside the lab, she loves reading sci-fi and horror books and plays lots of games online with friends and family. 

Alison Thiha
asthiha@uci.edu

Alison is an undergraduate student at UCI majoring in biological sciences. She has a passion for learning about the neuroscience underlying mental health illnesses, the various roles that specific areas of the brain play in such disorders, and treatments that can help improve mental health patients’ wellbeing. She is particularly interested in how memory consolidation during sleep can be manipulated to reduce the effect of traumatic memories on patients with mental disorders, such as PTSD. Alison’s hobbies outside of the lab include going out on evening walks, spending time with family and friends, playing soccer, and learning new languages. 

Allison Tran
allistt1@uci.edu

Allison is an undergraduate student at UCI majoring in Human Biology. She is interested in the field of sleep science, specifically exploring sleeping disorders and their impact on memory, cognition, and the cardiovascular system. She hopes to learn more about memory consolidation and its potential application in manipulating sleep to treat patients with mental illness. Outside of the lab, Allison enjoys graphic design, reading philosophical fiction, playing Pokémon, listening to music, and going out with her friends. 

Pavana Upadhyaya
pavanau@uci.edu

Pavana is an undergraduate student at UCI majoring in Quantitative Economics and Data Science. This is her first lab opportunity and is looking forward to learning with the lab! She is interested in working with datasets and data analysis and is excited about gaining hands-on experience in the lab. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, running, reading, and crocheting. 

Jackson Wu
jacksw3@uci.edu

Jackson is an undergraduate student at UCI majoring in Biological Sciences. He is interested in learning about how memory is affected by sleep and how it improves or deteriorates. He is also interested in seeing if we can manipulate it by doing various things, such as using VR or being able to communicate with people when they are dreaming. In the future, he hopes to attend medical school. Outside the lab, he likes to play video games, play piano, and hang out with friends. 

Zhentao Yang
zhentaoy@uci.edu

Zhentao is an undergraduate student at UCI majoring in Computer Science with a minor in Statistics. He is interested largely in dealing with different types of data and applying them to test different machine learning techniques. He hopes to further deepen his understanding of machine learning through this hands-on experience in the field of bioscience. Outside of lab work, he enjoys watching NBA games, hiking, listening to hip-hop music and taking cool outfit photos with friends. 

Fiona Yao
flyao@uci.edu

Fiona is an undergraduate student at UCI majoring in Biological Sciences with the intent of concentrating in Human Biology. She is interested in learning how memory reactivation works during sleep, with an interest in the context of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) or people with traumatic experiences such as refugees or prisoners of war. She plans on attending medical school after undergrad. Outside of lab, Fiona is apart of the competitive tennis club and enjoys staying active and being outdoors in beautiful Orange County.