The Brain Lab Team
Co Principal Investigators
Dr. Renee Lajiness-O’Neill Expand dropdown
Dr. Lajiness-O’Neill is a professor of psychology and neuroscience. She is trained as a clinical neuropsychologist. Her research agenda is focused on the development and validation of bio-behavioral methods to screen and assess neurodevelopmental disorders and developmental psychopathologies.
She is currently Project Director/Principal Investigator of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01 multisite, longitudinal grant (“PediaTrac: Web-based Measure to Screen and Track Early Developmental Trajectories”) for which her team is developing and validating a web-based tool to identify risk trajectories of neurodevelopmental (e.g., autism, cerebral palsy) and acquired disorders of childhood and related developmental psychopathologies.
She is also Project Director/Principal Investigator of a National Science Foundation (NSF Major Research Instrumentation) grant award for which the team described herein is developing electroencephalography (EEG) methods for infancy and toddlerhood studies. She loves spending time with family, traveling, and hiking!
Dr. Jin Bo Expand dropdown
Dr. Bo is a professor of psychology and neuroscience. She was trained as a pediatrician in China. her research focuses on the behavioral and neural mechanisms of age-related differences in individuals with cognitive and motor difficulties, such as children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and older adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI).
Current projects examine different approaches to facilitate learning in these populations. Additionally, she am interested in the roles of motor skills in the neurocortical dynamics and clinical outcomes.
Dr. Naomi Hashimoto Expand dropdown
Dr. Hashimoto is associate professor in the Communication Sciences & Disorders program. Her background as a clinical aphasiologist has informed her primary research interests: assessment and treatment of naming deficits in aphasia, creating optimal naming treatment approaches for individuals with aphasia, and examining the nature of linguistic-cognitive processes in the healthy aging and aphasia populations.
When she has free time, she can be found at the ceramics studio, walking the neighborhood, and reading British detective serials.
Dr. Jamie Lawler Expand dropdownDr. Lawler is a clinical and developmental psychologist with expertise in early adversity, parenting, and neurobehavioral development. Her research program is grounded in developmental psychopathology and focuses on the impact of early life stress on early childhood mental health and development. She has a particular interest in self-regulation, parent-child relationship factors that promote resilience, and interventions to support positive development in children exposed to adversity.
Her work examines developmental processes at multiple levels of analysis, incorporating bio-markers of stress, dyadic parent-child interactions, and environmental influences on parenting and child development. Her current research projects include a study of the development of self-regulation over the preschool years and an evaluation of a home-visiting parent-child intervention (Michigan Infant-Mental Health Home Visiting).
Dr. Angela Staples Expand dropdownDr. Staples studies the relation between sleep and parent–child communication. She measures sleep with questionnaires, daily sleep diaries, and actigraphy (watch-like devices). She observes parents and children interacting while they play with, and then clean up, toys either at home or in the lab. It takes a lot of people to collect, code, enter, and analyze data. One of her favorite parts about research is collaborating with students and colleagues as part of the Self-regulation, Early Experience and Development (SEED) Lab.
Additional Team Members
Lab Manager Expand dropdown
Patricia is a clinical psychology doctoral student working under Dr. Jin Bo's mentorship. Her primary research interests include topics within pediatric neuropsychology, specifically how motor development is impacted across various medical populations.
Outside of the program, Patricia likes to spend time enjoying nature with her two huskies.
Lab Coordinator Expand dropdown
Genevieve is a graduate student in the General Clinical Psychology Program. Her research interests include developmental psychology, early life adversity, and pediatric neuroimaging.
Outside of school, Genevieve likes reading, watching movies, and hiking.
Doctoral Students
Ryan Expand dropdown
Ryan is a doctoral student in clinical psychology working under the mentorship of Dr. Renee Lajiness-O’Neill and Dr. Angela Staples. His research interests include areas of neuropsychology, specifically the relation between developmental risks on future functioning, as well as those affecting the brain and spinal cord.
In his free time, Ryan enjoys spending time outside fly fishing and mountain biking.
Alina Expand dropdown
Alina is a doctoral student in clinical psychology working under the mentorship of Dr. Jin Bo. Her research interests include neuropsychological topics such as motor development, mood disorders, and brain biomarkers such as brain lateralization.
Outside of school, Alina likes to watch movies with her two cats.
Maitri Expand dropdown
Maitri is a doctoral student in clinical psychology working under the mentorship of Dr. Jamie Lawler. Her research interests include developmental neuropsychology, early life adversities, psychobiology of stress responses, and how parent-child relationships affect these factors.
When not in school, Maitri likes reading books and going on hikes.
Skylar Expand dropdown
Skylar is a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology PhD program at EMU. Her primary research interests relate to the neuropsychological features of autism.
In her free time, she enjoys hiking, reading, and taking care of her houseplants.
Masters Students
Julia Expand dropdownJulia is a graduate student in the General Clinical Psychology master’s program. Her research interests include cognitive neuropsychology, especially cognitive decline in older adults and interventions to enhance their cognitive well-being. She is also interested in applying insights from neuroscience to increase athletes' cognitive capabilities. In her free time, Julia enjoys running long distances, exploring local hidden gems, and traveling. Jared Expand dropdown
Jared is a graduate student in the General Clinical program working under the mentorship of Dr. Dean Lauterbach.
His research interests include areas of neuropsychology, particularly in children & adolescents with traumatic brain injuries and neurodevelopmental disorders.
Outside of school, Jared enjoys running, biking, and being outdoors.
Saadia Expand dropdown
Saadia is a graduate student in the Clinical Behavioral Psychology master’s program. Her research interests include child and adolescent psychopathology, particularly in the study of depression and the neuropsychology and development of depression. She is also interested in the study of chronic stress on the brain, and how childhood trauma may play a pivotal role in this.
When she’s not geeking out over some neuropsychology concept, Saadia loves being outdoors- reading or running, exploring hidden libraries and new restaurants, and eating hot cheetos! :)
Emily Expand dropdown
Emily Manasian is in the General Clinical master's program at Eastern. Her research interests include areas of forensic neuropsychology and traumatic brain injuries in adults.
Outside of school, she enjoys hiking, boxing, and embroidery.
Jahnavi Expand dropdown
Jahnavi is a graduate student in the General Clinical Psychology program. Her research interests include areas of clinical neuropsychology, focusing on neurodevelopmental and degenerative disorders.
In her free time, Jahnavi enjoys playing the veena, reading novels, and watching case documentaries.
Emma Expand dropdown
Emma is in her fourth year as an undergraduate student in the neuroscience program. She is interested in neuropharmacology, concussions, and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).
When she is not in school, she enjoys listening to music, reading, and playing sudoku.
Lauren Expand dropdown
Lauren is an undergraduate student in neuroscience. Her research interests lie in neuropsychology and neuropharmacology. She is interested in gaining deeper insight into the physiological components of mood disorders, as well as research into the development and implementation of more holistic, individualized treatment plans in the mental health field.
Lauren loves the outdoors and is consistently hiking, camping, swimming, kayaking, and stand-up paddle boarding during the summer. In the winter months, you can catch her outside downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, and ice skating
Mahamadou Expand dropdown
Mahamadou is a second year neuroscience undergraduate student. His research interests are the motor and cognitive aspect of the brain.
He is from Mali, Africa. He speaks fluently three languages: french, bamara and English.
Talal Ali Expand dropdownTalal Ali is an undergraduate student in the Neuroscience program. He is interested in practicing medicine as a Neurologist.
Outside of academics, he enjoys building computers.
Undergraduate Students Expand dropdownEleise Expand dropdown
Eleise is a fourth year undergraduate neuroscience student. Her research interests include behavioral neuroscience.
Eleise would be very interested in diving deeper into the understanding of the brain behavior while dealing with a mental illness as well as doing research with alternative treatments for mental illness.
Outside of school, Eleise really enjoys reading, playing guitar, hammocking, and other outdoor activities.
Maura Expand dropdown
Maura is a fifth year undergraduate psychology student. Her research interests include neuropsychology and biomarkers of cognitive decline.
Maura would like to dive deeper into the medical research sciences to distinguish biomarkers for traumatic brain injuries such as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) and age-related cognitive decline.
Maura is also a student-athlete on the Women’s Track & Field team where she specializes in the Pole Vault.
Karla Expand dropdown
Karla is a fourth year neuroscience undergraduate student. Her research interests surround clinical neuroscience and neurodevelopment in younger populations.
Karla speaks three languages but can count to ten in six different languages.
Jasmine Expand dropdown
Jasmine is a fourth year undergraduate neuroscience student. Her research interests include behavioral neuroscience and neuropharmacology, with a focus on how the advancement of medicinal treatment can enhance cognitive functioning.
In her free time, you can find her cooking with her sister and attending movie nights with her friends.
Rachel Expand dropdown
Rachel is a recent graduate of Eastern Michigan’s neuroscience program and is in the process of applying for graduate school.
Her research interests include neurodegeneration and sports related concussions. She hopes to study CTE and the tau protein in the future.
In her free time, Rachel enjoys reading and playing with her cats.
Konrad Expand dropdownNatasha Expand dropdown
Graduate Students Expand dropdown
Michelle is a 5th year doctoral student in clinical psychology working under the mentorship of Dr. Renee Lajiness-O’Neill. Her primary research interests center on topics within pediatric neuropsychology, specifically the development of executive functioning and how this is impacted in various medical populations. In her free time, you can usually find Michelle lost in a book or playing board/card games with her friends and family.