Sarah  Shomstein, Ph.D.

Lab Director
[CV] [google scholar] [ResearchGate]

Sarah Shomstein is an Associate Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, and Director of the Cognitive Neuroscience Program, at the George Washington University. Her research interests are focused on investigating the neural mechanisms of  attentional selection by combining both behavioral and neuroimaging techniques in normals as well as brain damaged populations.  In her spare time she plays squash, skis, scuba dives, travels, attends art exhibits, and perfects her photography skills.




Shira Tkacz-Domb (co-advised with Dwight Kravitz)
Postdoc


Shira completed her PhD in Cognitive Psychology at the Haifa University in 2019 under the supervision of Prof. Yaffa Yeshurun. She then worked as a postdoc at the York University with Prof. John K. Tsotsos. She is intered in the reciprocal influences of visual working memory, visual perception, and visual attention, as well as their changes across the lifespan. In her spare time, Shira enjoys traveling, painting, visiting art exhibitions, and spending quality time with her family.



Kelly McEvoy
Graduate Student

 

Kelly graduated from Loyola University New Orleans in 2022 with a BS in Psychology and concentration in Neuroscience.  She is interested in using neuroimaging to investigate the top-down and bottom-up influences on visual selective attention and the impact stress and emotional faces may have on these influences. In her spare time, she likes to listen to podcasts about space, paint landscapes, read classic literature works, and drink a lot of cofee


Sanika Paranjape (co-advised with Dwight Kravitz)

Graduate Student

Sanika graduated from Case Western University in 2019 with a BS in Biology and Cognitive Science. She then worked as a postbac researcher at the NIH studying face perception with Chris Baker. In graduate school, she is interested in how visual working memory influences perception and attention, and vice versa. in her free time, she enjoys exploring the city, baking, and playing fetch with her cat.


Kira Wegner-Clemens

Graduate Student
[personal]

Kira graduated from Rice University in 2017 with a BA in Cognitive Science, then studied face viewing behavior as a post bac researcher at Baylor College of Medicine before starting graduate school with Mike Beauchamp. She's interested in attentional mechanisms in real world multisensory contexts, such as face conversation. Outside of lab, she likes to try new restaurants and recipes, paint watercolors, and fall off walls at the rock climbing gym.




LAB ALUMNI:
Post Doctoral Fellows:

Xiaoli Zhang                                 Postdoc, Michigan State University, Liu Lab
Selene Schintu                             Research Associate, Center for Mind/Brain science University of Trento
Jonathan Doyon                          Postdoc, Harvard Medical School, The Jung Lab
George Malcolm                          Associate Professor, University of East Anglia, England
Stephen Adamo                           Assistant Professor, University of Arizona
Summer Sheremata                   
Assistant Professor, Florida Atlantic University
Fatma Uyar                                  Data Scientist, University of Pittsburgh Health Plan
Junjun Zhang         
                    Assistant Professor, University of Chengdu, China

 
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Graduate Students:

Jeongmi Lee                                Assistant Professor, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology

Leslie Drummond                       Cognitive Scientist, Battelle
Breana Carter                             Research Associate, University of Maryland Applied Research Lab
AJ Collegio                                  Senior User Researcher, Bose Corporation
Joseph (Chong-In) Nah              Postdoc, UC Davis,
Geng Lab
Dick Dubbelde                            Adjunct Professor, George Washington University
Ellie Robbins                              Research Associate, GWU, Mitroff's Lab
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Undergraduate Students:

Eden Levitt
Paul Scotti                                   Graduate Student, Ohio State University, Golumb Lab and Leber Lab
Alexander J. Etz                        
Graduate Student, University of California, Irvine, Vandekerckhove lab
Ian Donovan                               Graduate Student, New York University, Carrasco Lab

Emily Bilger                                Medical School
Sarah Mayer-Brown                  Grad Student, Clinical Psychology,  University of Florida
Alexandra Fleszar                      Law School
Erik Wing                                   Graduate Student, Duke University, Cabeza Lab
Anna Byers
                                Grad Student, UCSD, Serences Lab
Jacoba Johnson                          Counseling Center, Villanova University