People

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR


Principal Investigator
Stephanie L. Leal, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Integrative Biology & Physiology, UCLA
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Psychological Sciences, Rice University
NARSAD Young Investigator
Editor, Nature Scientific Reports

Contact
Rice Email: stephanieleal@rice.edu
UCLA Email: stephanieleal@ucla.edu

Google Scholar

Research Interests:

Dr. Stephanie Leal is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology & Physiology at UCLA, Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Rice University, and Director of the Neuroscience of Memory & Aging Laboratory. She received her B.S. in Biopsychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2011 and her Ph.D. in Psychological & Brain Sciences from Johns Hopkins University in 2016 working in the lab of Dr. Michael Yassa. She completed postdoctoral training from 2016-2019 at the University of California, Berkeley with Dr. William Jagust. Her research interests focus on the neurobiological mechanisms underlying episodic memory processing and how these mechanisms are altered in aging and disease states. She develops and utilizes sensitive cognitive tasks, advanced neuroimaging techniques, and translates these methods to states of cognitive impairment. Her overarching goal is to understand the factors that modulate episodic memory processing in order to restore the system to normal function in disorders of mood and memory.

GRADUATE STUDENTS

 


Fernanda Morales-Calva, M.S., M.A.
she/her/ella
Fulbright García Robles Scholar
Psychological Sciences
Rice University

Contact
Email: fernanda@rice.edu
Office: BRC 780B

Research Interests:
Fernanda is a fourth year doctoral student in Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. She received her B.A. in Psychology from Universidad Iberoamericana (Mexico City) in 2017; her M.S. in Clinical Neuroscience from University College London in 2019, and her M.A. in Psychological Sciences from Rice in 2023. She previously worked under the supervision of Dr. Robert Wykes (Queen Square Institute of Neurology), where she studied gene-therapy approaches to drug-refractory forms of epilepsy. Prior to coming to Rice, she worked as a data analyst in clinical trials. Fernanda is interested in the neurobiological underpinnings of episodic memory and its changes across development. She is currently investigating cultural and genetic risk factors of Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias. Fernanda’s work is supported by a Fulbright García Robles grant, an APAGS Psycholgical Science Research Grant (PSRG),  a Social Sciences Research Institute’s (SSRI) Pre-Dissertation Research Improvement Grant (PDR), an Alzheimer’s Association grant (HPE-ADRD), and copious amounts of coffee. In her free time, she enjoys reading, traveling, and watching movies.

 

Kayla Clark, M.A. 
Psychological Sciences
Rice University

Contact
Email: kayclark@rice.edu

Research Interests:
Kayla graduated from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 2019 with a degree in Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience and is currently a fourth year doctoral student in the Leal Lab. During her time at Michigan, she worked in the lab of Dr. Patricia Reuter-Lorenz studying the effects of training and concurrent transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on verbal working memory. After graduating and having an interest in emotion, she worked for two years as the lab manager in the lab of Dr. Maital Neta where she studied the relationship between valence bias, emotion regulation, individual differences, and their neural correlates. In the Leal Lab, Kayla is interested in studying the intersection of memory and emotion by investigating the relationship between memory, music, and emotion in aging and Alzheimer’s Disease. In her free time, Kayla enjoys watching movies, reading, and spending time outdoors!

 

Madelyn Castro, M.A.
NSF GRFP Fellow
Psychological Sciences
Rice University

Contact
Email: mc151@rice.edu

Research Interests:
Madelyn completed her bachelors of science in psychology and minor in neuroscience from the University of Minnesota in 2018. She is currently a third year doctoral student. Prior to becoming a doctoral student and working at Rice as a lab manager, she was a clinical research coordinator at the N. Bud Grossman Center for Memory Research & Care at the University of Minnesota studying Alzheimers & dementia where she learned how to utilize imaging tools such as MRI, EEG, MEG, and PET-CT. Her research interests include the neurobiological mechanisms of anti-depressants and emotional memory. Madelyn’s work is supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP). In her free time, she enjoys being active, talking her lab mates ears off, and hanging out with her dog, Zeus.

RESEARCH ASSISTANTS

Ahi Ajayan
Ahi is a senior at Rice University pursuing a major in Psychology with a minor in Neuroscience. She is very interested in seeing the connection between emotion and memory, how memory changes as a consequence of aging, and is fascinated by the potential ties between music and memory. In her free time, she loves to sing, play the piano, cook, test out her latte art skills, and travel!

 

Giselle Rodriguez Chavez
Giselle is a junior at Rice University double majoring in Neuroscience and Psychology. She is particularly interested in the brain’s plasticity and its effect on learning new things and episodic memory. Her research interests are devoted to the cognitive, neurobiological, and emotional impairments faced by people with disorders, especially Alzheimer’s and dementia. During her free time, Giselle likes to spend time with her family and friends, running, reading, volunteering, and trying new coffee/ boba shops.

Sophia Niamh Reinsch
 Niamh is a junior at Rice University majoring in Cognitive Sciences and Linguistics. She is fascinated by how neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s disease impact and erode speech patterns, with a special focus on those disproportionately affecting women. In her free time, Sophia Niamh loves to crochet, read and drink lattes with her friends, jog, and gush about her dog, Bailey.

Christopher Carlson
Christopher is a second year student at Texas Tech University. He is majoring in Biology with a focus on Pre-medicine. He is interested in how multifaceted medicine can be and how neurology can play a role in care and recovery. When Christopher isn’t studying in Lubbock, he likes to spend time with friends and family, play pickleball or volleyball, listen to music, or relax at home and play video games.

Yasmin Sharpe
Yasmin is a senior at Rice University, majoring in Psychology and English. She is particularly interested in how gender and hormones affect memory, as well as how mood disorders, like depression, influence memory throughout a person’s life. In her free time, Yasmin loves reading, cooking, going to concerts, and drinking good matcha.

FORMER LAB MEMBERS

Lorena Ferguson, Ph.D. (2019-2025) – Lab Manager & PhD student (Now a Postdoc at USC!)
Madeleine Lucid (2024-2025) – Research Assistant (Now a Graduate Student at Northeastern!)
Bryant Polanco (2023-2025) – Research Assistant (Now a Teacher at Teach for America!)
Jacob Buergler (2022-2025) – Research Assistant (Now a Medical Student at BCM!)
Aditi Velgekar (2022-2025) – Research Assistant (Now a Medical Student at McGovern Medical School)
Hannah Ballard, Ph.D. (2022-2025) – Postdoctoral Fellow (Now a Researcher at Kinder Institute for Urban Research!)
Michael Tsao (2024-2025) – Research Assistant 
Jasmine Liew (2024-2024) – Research Assistant
Inés Iriondo (2023-2024) – Research Assistant
Michele Medina (2024-2024) – Visiting Summer Research Assistant
Thara Venkateswaran (2024-2024) – Research Assistant
Angie Cordova (2024-2024) – Summer NSF REU Fellow
Thomas Witherspoon (2024-2024) – Research Assistant
Ashwathi Nair (2023-2024) – Research Assistant (Now a medical student!)
Ella Zhou (2024-2024) – Research Assistant
Ivanshi Ahuja (2023 – 2024) – Research Assistant (Now a medical student at University of Miami !)
Eva Dicker (2019 – 2023) – Graduate Student (Now an Assistant Professor at Seattle University!)
Alexis Bailey (2022 – 2023) – Research Assistant (Now a medical student at Baylor!)
Sydney Bogan (2023 – 2023) – Research Assistant
Amy Lam (2023 – 2023) – Research Assistant
Michelle Sekili (2022 – 2023) – Research Assistant
Renae Mannion (2021-2022) – Summer NSF REU Fellow
Chandler Bannis (2022-2022) – Research Assistant
Gabriel Bolanos (2022-2022) – Research Assistant
Madelyn Castro (2021-2022) – Lab Manager (Now PhD student at Rice!)
Nessa Kim (2020-2022) – Master’s Student (Human Factors) (Now PhD student at Rice!)
Amritha Harikumar (2020-2021) – Lab Manager (Now PhD student at Georgia State University!)
Rishi Vas (2020-2021) – Research Assistant (Now a medical student at Columbia!)
Brandon Hayes (2020-2021) – Research Assistant (Now a PhD student at UC Davis!)
Taylor Phillips (2020-2021) – Research Assistant (Now a research specialist at UPenn!)

The Neuroscience of Memory, Mood, and Aging Lab members in March 2023!

The Neuroscience of Memory, Mood, and Aging Lab in May 2022!

The Neuroscience of Memory, Mood, and Aging Lab at Stephanie’s house for a spring get together in April 2021!

Interested in joining the lab?

We have no open positions in the lab at this time. If you are an undergraduate looking for research experience, please fill out our google form for possible future opportunities. The lab will not be taking any new graduate students or postdocs at Rice.