Staff
Houman Azizi – Montreal Site Research Assistant – estrogen.cognition.project@gmail.com
Houman received his B.Sc. in Honours Neuroscience from McGill University, and has since taken an interest in research in fields of Neuropsychology and Behavioural Neuroscience. He joined the Einstein Lab as a research assistant in the fall of 2021 working on the Estrogen & Cognition project, looking at the effects of oophorectomies on women. He oversees the Montreal site, specifically working on recruitment and testing. Since being a part of the lab, his interests in research have only grown. Outside of the lab, Houman enjoys watching TV series, playing video games, and learning things totally unrelated to his field!
Shreeyaa Ramana – Lab Coordinator – einsteinlabmanager@utoronto.ca
Shreeyaa received her Honours Bachelor of Science degree in Neuroscience and Psychology from the University of Toronto. She manages the database for the Estrogens & Cognition project, supervises the work of undergraduate research assistants, and supports the day-to-day operation of the lab. Shreeyaa is fascinated by the utility of neuropsychological tests in understanding complex relationships between the brain and behaviour and is also an avid consumer of research on knowledge translation. Outside of her work in the lab, she is a science communicator and enjoys reading fiction and playing basketball!
Graduate students
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- Alana Brown – Doctoral Student – alana.brown@mail.utoronto.ca
Alana received her Psychology Master’s degree at the University of Toronto and is now a Ph.D. candidate with the Einstein Lab. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science from UofT in 2016, and is fortunate to have worked on a variety of projects in the Einstein Lab for two years prior to joining as a graduate student. She is particularly interested in the impact of hormones on brain structure and function in the context of spatial abilities, navigation strategies, and wayfinding behaviors in humans. Outside of the lab, Alana enjoys science fiction, drawing, photography, cooking spicy food, and exploring the city.Alana Brown's Publications
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- Laura Gravelsins – Doctoral Student – laura.gravelsins@mail.utoronto.ca
Laura received her Honours B.Sc. in 2017 and M.A. in 2018, both at the University of Toronto and she is now a Ph.D. psychology student at the Einstein Lab. She feels fortunate to have been a part of the lab during the 4th year of her undergraduate degree and Masters degree, and strongly values its interdisciplinary, diverse, and feminist research. The complex relationship between genes, hormones, and cognition is fascinating to Laura, and her current research focuses on investigating cognitive performance in oral contraceptive users. Outside of the lab she is a don at Victoria College and enjoys playing ice hockey with friends and family! - Mateja Perovic – Doctoral Student – m.perovic@mail.utoronto.ca
Mateja received her Honours BSc from Leiden University in 2017, and completed her M.A. in Psychology from the University of Toronto with the Einstein Lab in 2020. Broadly, she is interested in the interplay between women’s brain health and their social context. Her primary research focus is minority stress and cognitive aging in sexual minority women. She has previously studied female genital cutting and neuropathic pain, as well as the effects of estradiol replacement therapy on cognition and brain structure in women with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. Outside of her work in the lab, she spends her time reading, hiking, and petting as many dogs as possible.
- Laura Gravelsins – Doctoral Student – laura.gravelsins@mail.utoronto.ca
Mateja Perovic's Publications
- Laila Rahman– Doctoral Student – laila.rahman@mail.utoronto.ca
Laila Rahman is a Ph.D. candidate in Social and Behavioral Health Sciences in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. She hopes to contribute to achieving health equity and social justice through intellectual activism and research. Before joining the graduate program, she conducted research on maternal health, sexual and reproductive health, and violence against women and girls using quasi-experimental designs. Funded by the Canadian Institute of Health Research and Lupina Senior doctoral fellowships, Laila is currently in dialogue with postcolonial feminism, intersectionality, and Johnson’s violence typology in gender-based violence research in Bangladesh. In complicating the current male physical intimate partner violence (MPIPV) against women discourse, Laila’s project seeks to explore MPIPV-involved women’s and men’s intersecting social locations, their experience of multiple forms of MPIPV including intimate terrorism and situational couple violence, and women’s act of resistance against the MPIPV. - Rebekah Reuben – Doctoral Student – rebekah.reuben@mail.utoronto.ca
Rebekah is a Ph.D. student in Psychology at the University of Toronto. She received an Honors B.Sc. in Psychology from Loyola University New Orleans in 2016, and an M.A. in Psychology from the University of Toronto in 2017. She is broadly interested in understanding sex differences in Alzheimer’s disease, investigating early predictors of cognitive impairment, and determining trajectories of change in cognition and brain structure over time. Rebekah is also fascinated by statistics and research methods, and loves learning about new techniques and improving her coding skills. When she’s not in the lab, Rebekah enjoys reading novels, watching and talking about films, and exploring new places! - Sophia Zhao – Doctoral Student – sophiayt.zhao@mail.utoronto.ca
Sophia received her Honours B.Sc. in Psychology and Physiology from the University of Toronto and has an interest in the neurological mechanisms associated with different cognitive functions, especially related to aging and disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. She is an incoming doctoral student for Fall 2022. Outside of the lab, Sophia enjoys playing tennis, baking, and trying new restaurants with friends and family.
Work Study Students
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- Shelby Davies
- Rohina Kumar
- Karen Chen Yang
Research Opportunity Program & Independent Research Project Students
- Pearse O’Malley
- Danae Penichet
- Michelle Wrona
Research Assistants
- Aanya Bahl
- Annie Cao
- Tony Cao
- Sunain Deol
- Galo Ginochio
- Joshua Grief
- Shiva Ivaturi
- Kristen Li
- Garene Matossian
- Simone Rusu
- Suha Sagheer
- Aafiya Somani
- Katrina Wugalter
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- Alana Brown – Doctoral Student – alana.brown@mail.utoronto.ca
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