Members | BHEAM Lab

Principal Investigator

Dr. (Maria) Natasha Rajah, Ph.D.

I am a Full Professor in the Department of Psychology, Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Sex, Gender and Diversity in Brain Health and Aging. I am also Adjunct Faculty at the Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Adjunct Scientist at the Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest, and CIHR Sex and Gender Research Chair in Neuroscience, Mental Health and Addiction. I received my PhD in Experimental Psychology at University of Toronto (St. George Campus) and did my postdoctoral training at The Helen...

Team Members

Research Staff

Mazy Hawken, B.Sc. Psychology

Research Technician

I recently graduated from Trent University, having completed my Honours Bachelor of Science in Psychology, specializing in Cognitive and Behavioural Neuroscience. In my final year at Trent, I completed an...

Charana Rajagopal, M.Sc. Computer Science

Image Analyst

I’m the Image Analyst in the BHEAM Lab with a background in Computer Science. My work focuses on processing MRI images and developing analysis pipelines to run different types of...

Andrea Santos, B.Sc. Psychology

Lab Coordinator

I am the Toronto-based Lab Coordinator at the BHEAM Lab, where I support research focused on brain health and cognitive aging. I earned my B.A. in Psychology from the Universidad...

Postdoctoral Researchers

Dr. James Teng, Ph.D. Cognitive Neuroscience

Postdoctoral Researcher

I'm a postdoctoral fellow in the BHEAM Lab, specializing in how the brain's connections can change as we age. I received my PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience at The Ohio State...

Graduate Students

Sara Ahmed

I am a Vanier Scholar and PhD. student in the Clinical Psychology program supervised by Dr. Natasha Rajah and I work in collaboration with Dr. Rosanna Olsen at Baycrest. I...

Millie Bhaskara

I am a PhD. student in the Psychological Science program under the supervision of Dr. Natasha Rajah. Originally from Nova Scotia, I completed a B.Sc. Honours in Neuroscience at Dalhousie...

Mursal Jahed

I am an M.A student in the Clinical Psychology program under the supervision of Dr. Natasha Rajah. I completed my HBSc degree at the University of Toronto, where I specialized...

Julia Kearley

I’m a Ph.D. candidate in the Experimental Psychology program at McGill University, supervised by Dr. Natasha Rajah. I earned my M.A. in Psychology from Iona College (New York), where I...

Lisa MacPhatter

I am an M.A. student in the Clinical Psychology program at Toronto Metropolitan University under the supervision of Dr. M. Natasha Rajah. I completed my B.Sc. Honours in Psychology at...

Harleen Rai

I am a PhD. student in the Clinical Psychology program, supervised by Dr. Natasha Rajah. I completed my HBSc in Behaviour, Genetics, and Neurobiology at the University of Toronto, followed...

Anastasia Sistanis

I am a M.A. student in the Clinical Psychology program working under the supervision of Dr. Natasha Rajah. I completed my Honours Bachelor of Science in the Specialist (Co-operative) program...

Current Undergraduate Students and Research Volunteers

Madison Brown, Toronto Metropolitan University

Vishna Gupta, University of Western Ontario

Mitra Yousefipour-nigjeh, Toronto Metropolitan University

Lab Alumni

Previous Research Staff

Houman Azizi

Oceane Bellon

Lauren Crawford

Arielle Crestol

Maria del Pilar Fajardo

Claire Han

Lina Khayyat

Rafael Languay

Alix Laugier

Sophia Loparco

Lisa MacPhatter

Stamatoula Pasvanis

Sidney Pinto

Angela Potes

Luc Valiquette

Gabriela Vélez Largo

Rosalie Young

Previous PostDocs and Graduate Students

Post-doctoral Researchers

Dr. Anne Almey;
Previous Postdoc; Current position - Lecturer, McGill University & Concordia University

Dr. Renee Gordon;
Previous Postdoc; Current position - Medical Communications Specialist, MEDiSTRAVA

Dr. Annalise LaPlume;
Previous Postdoc; Current position - Assistant Professor (Tenure-track), Trent University, Ontario, Canada

Dr. Rikki Lissaman;
Previous Postdoc; Current position - Lecturer (Tenure-track), Royal Holloway, University of London, UK

Dr. Sheida Rabipour;
Previous Postdoc; Current position - Consultant, McKinsey & Company Consultants

Ph.D. Trainees

Dr. Elizabeth Ankudowich;
Current position - Scientific Program Analysis, NIH

Dr. Abdel Elshiekh;
Current position - Strategy Consultant, Oliver Wyman Associates

Dr. David Maillet;
Current position - Data Scientist at Product Madness

Dr. Sivaniya Subramaniapillai;
Current position - Research Manager, Diverse Brains Project, Unisanté, Lausanne

Master's Trainees

Karina Borja Jimenez;
Current position - Pursuing a Ph.D. in the Netherlands

Dave Crane;
Current position - Director of Product Development, AltaML

Arielle Crestol;
Current position - Ph.D. Trainee, C. Barth, University of Oslo

Elsa Haoyou;
Current position - Pursuing religious studies

Hallie Liu;
Current position - Currently seeking employment as a data scientist

Sophia Loparco;
Current position - Research Assistant, MNI, Rick Hoge

Lyssa Manning;
Current position - RA with Dr. R. Sperling at Harvard University

Diana Mee-chong Kwon;
Current position - Scientific Writer for The Atlantic, Nature etc.

Sidney Pinto;
Current position - Senior HR Professional, CBC

Jamie Snytte;
Current position - Ph.D. Candidate with Dr. Signy Sheldon, McGill University

Alexander Swierkot;
Current position - Medical Student at McGill University

Gabriela Vélez Largo;
Current position - Studying German

Lindsay Wallace;
Current position - Assistant Professor, Dalhousie University

Previous Undergraduate Trainees

Dhanishta Ambwani, Camille Beaudoin, Oceane Bellon, Ronald Chang, Katherine Côté-Trotter, Daniel Davies, Keira Hooper, Rachel Hum, Adelaide Jensen, Nikita Jogadia, Lucie Kearns, Idil Kilinc, Michelle Kromos, Jackie Lam, Bronwen Lathrop, Kathryn Luis, Bianca Olivieri, Meaghan Smith, Zoe Winterton-Perks, Crystal Yang, Tenzin Yeshi, Doga Yorulmaz, Rosalie Young, Lesley Yu Wue, Mengdi Zhu