Our Team

Anna Czepiel is a postdoctoral researcher in the LAMA lab, at the UTM, exploring how the brain tracks real-world speech and song. She gained a Bachelor’s in music (University of York) and a Master’s in Music, Mind, and Technology with Cognitive Neuroscience (University of Jyväskylä). After an internship at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Anna completed her doctoral work in 2023 on responses to music in real-world contexts at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics and Maastricht University. In her spare time, Anna enjoys baking, playing piano and violin, and singing.

Anne is a graduate student in the Psychology department at the University of Toronto. Her work explores how we develop knowledge specific to music and language, particularly through observing children's vocal production. She is also interested in how children conceptualize the impact of music on emotions, aiming to better understand how we develop the ability to use music for emotion regulation in everyday life. Outside of research, Anne enjoys listening to podcasts and playing music with her friends.

Gabriella recently completed her HBSc with a Specialist in Psychology at the University of Toronto Mississauga. Her professional and volunteer experiences working with children inspired her interest in developmental and applied psychology and led her to join the LAMA lab. Gabriella is particularly interested in child cognitive development, language and communication, and children's mental health. Currently, she serves as the lab manager and contributes to ongoing developmental research projects. Outside of the lab, Gabriella enjoys crocheting, watching K-dramas, going for long walks, and swimming.

Joscelyn is a third-year student at UTM, pursing a Psychology specialist and a Physics minor. She is particularly interested in psycholinguistics, musical cognition, and developmental psychology. Joscelyn is a part time gymnastics coach passionate about working with children. Outside of academics, she enjoys crocheting and playing the piano.

Veronica is a fourth-year student at UTM, pursuing a specialist in psychology with a minor in French studies. As an ROP student, she is assisting with a study on the ability of adults and children to detect changes across various sounds in real-world auditory settings. Outside of academia, she loves learning new languages and doing crossword puzzles with her grandfather and mother.

Julia is a third-year undergraduate student double-majoring in Music and Psychology at UTSG.
She is passionate about the perception of music and how musical training influences auditory
attention and cognitive processing. Through the LAMA lab, she is interested in exploring the role
that music and emotion play throughout individuals' daily lives. In her free time, Julia enjoys
playing the piano, reading, and swimming.

Diana is a second-year student majoring in Psychology with minors in Creative Writing and Linguistics. She is thrilled to be a part of LAMA lab as an ROP student due to her interest in the intersection of music, language, and psychology. She hopes to explore working with EEGs and other aspects of neuroscience through the lab, as well as looking at the impact of music on people's lives. In her spare time, she enjoys swimming, songwriting, and adding to her alarmingly large collection of ducks. 

Anhthu is entering her third year at UTM, with a major in Biology for Health Sciences, and double minors in Psychology and Chemistry. She particularly loves research in developmental psychology, especially connecting her background in music to infant development. Outside of the lab, she volunteers at her church to help teach choreography to the community youth and occasionally attends drop-in choreography classes for fun. She loves spending time with her loved ones, getting sweet treats (strawberry iced matcha lattes!), shopping, and travelling!

Lucas is a third-year undergraduate student at the University of Toronto Mississauga, pursuing Neuroscience with a minor in Psychology. He is eager to be part of LAMA Lab and explore how the brain processes music, and how it affects various cognitive functions. Outside of the lab, Lucas enjoys camping, hiking, and painting. 

Anna is a graduate student in Psychology at the University of Toronto. She received her BSc in Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour at McMaster University. She is mainly interested in how bilingualism and other diverse linguistic environments influence our perception and development. Specifically, her work explores the experiential factors that drive our attention towards speech. Outside of the lab, she enjoys songwriting, drawing animals, and spending time with friends and family.

Meyha is a graduate student in Psychology at the University of Toronto, co-supervised by Drs. Christina Vanden Bosch der Nederlanden and Laura Cirelli. She received her HBSc in Neuroscience from UofT in 2023 and has been at the LAMA lab since its opening in 2022. Meyha is interested in the intersection between language development, social-emotional development, and music, particularly in infants and children. She hopes to use both neural and behavioural measures to answer such questions in the lab. In her free time, Meyha enjoys singing, playing the harmonium, teaching English to her students, and spending time with friends and family. 

Susana is a fifth-year undergraduate student at UTM, specializing in Neuroscience and majoring in Psychology. She is curious about attention and flow states, particularly how they differ in individuals with OCD and ADHD. Her interests also extend to the emotional and cognitive power of music, as well as the brain’s capacity for change through neuroplasticity and epigenetics. Outside the lab, Susana is a passionate singer and performer who finds joy in Latin American culture and music, animals, badminton, and long-distance running.

Farhia is a fifth-year undergraduate student at UTM, specialising in Psychology with a minor in Forensic Science. Her interests lie in developmental, social and educational psychology.  As an Individual Research Project student, her work examines how speech and song compare in their impact on learning. Outside of academics, Farhia works as a tutor, enjoys reading, swimming, and spending time with family and friends.

Sofia is a fourth year undergraduate student specializing in Neuroscience and minoring in Biomedical Communications at UTM. She is interested in how the brain processes language, music and sound and how it shapes development throughout life. Through the LAMA lab, she is excited to continue to build her research skills through her contribution to EEG projects. Outside of the lab, Sofia enjoys reading, creative writing and travelling.

Ashley is a second-year undergraduate student at the University of Toronto pursuing a Specialist in Psychology. She is especially passionate about developmental and child Psychology, with a strong interest in understanding how early experiences shape infants’ and children’s cognitive and emotional growth. She is excited to be a part of the LAMA lab and hopes to learn more about how music affects the attention of young children and how it can help support healthy development. Ashley is deeply inspired by research that meaningfully supports children’s lives and hopes to learn more about how psychological research can connect to real-world situations. Outside of academics, Ashley enjoys baking sweet treats, crocheting gifts, exploring new cafes, and unwinding with video games.

Kalsang is a fifth-year undergraduate student at the University of Toronto Mississauga who specializes in psychology. From a young age, she has been interested in mental health and understanding how the brain works, which led her to pursue a degree in psychology. As her academic career has progressed, she has developed a strong interest in developmental psychology, cognition, and neurodiversity, particularly in how differences in attention and perception shape communication and learning across individuals. She is currently a ROP student involved in the ASBA project, which examines how children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) process and attend to different auditory and social ​information. In her free time, she enjoys going on long walks with her dogs, reading books, and listening to music.

Bashar is a fourth year Neuroscience specialist at the University of Toronto Mississauga, currently working at the LAMA lab as an ROP student. He is interested in studying how neurological disorders may influence speech and language, as well as how EEGs and other brain imaging techniques can be used to study this. As a part of his ROP project, he is currently investigating how ADHD may influence speech and language processing. In his spare time, Bashar plays the guitar, practices mixed martial arts and goes on long road trips.

Gurpreet graduated from the University of Toronto Mississauga in 2023 with a B.Sc. in Biology for Health Science, along with minors in Chemistry and Sociology. He is currently a volunteer with the LAMA Lab and is excited to explore the relationship between music and language, as well as how tools like EEG and other experimental measures can help us better understand language acquisition. Outside of the lab, Gurpreet enjoys exploring new places, being outdoors, swimming, playing tennis, and spending time with family and friends.