FUMIKO HOEFT
MD PHD
AABS Founder, Organizer, and Instructor
Prof. Hoeft (say it like HAY-FT) is a brain scientist on how children learn (in particular how to read), how the brains of dyslexics work, and the importance of social and emotional aspects when learning. She is a physician and neuroscientist at UConn, UCSF, and Haskins Global Literacy Hub (affiliated with Yale and UConn), and directs the Brain Imaging Research Center (BIRC).
NATHAN LAUTZ
UCONN Graduate Student
AABS Organizer and Instructor
Nathan is a graduate student at UConn. He studies the neuroscience of how people understand the meaning of things. Nathan is passionate about the brain and enjoys sharing his understanding of neuroscience with kids!
Alev Ecevitoglu
UConn Graduate Student
AABS Instructor
Alev is a graduate student at UConn studying Behavioral Neuroscience. She is curious about how various drugs affect different animal models of mental diseases. She loves sharing her knowledge of behavior and neuroscience with kids, including her niece!
Andrea Finnegan
Teacher | Bridges Graduate School graduate student
AABS Instructor
Andrea runs a program called “In My Shoes Neurodiversity Education” that teaches kids and teachers all about different kinds of brains that think differently. She also teaches nursing students how to treat their patients whose brains and bodies may be different from what they were taught in their school books. Andrea is also a doctoral student at Bridges Graduate School studying cognitive diversity in education.
Caroline Greiner de Magalhães
PHD | Post-doctoral researcher at UConn
AABS Instructor
Caroline is a researcher in Dr. Fumiko Hoeft’s lab at UConn. She has a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology, with a focus on Developmental Psychology. She’s working to understand factors that affect academic achievement in people with neurodevelopmental disorders. In her free time, Caroline enjoys meditating, doing yoga, hiking, reading, and spending time with friends and family.
Cynthia Boo
UCONN Graduate Student
AABS Instructor
Cynthia is a graduate student at UConn. She studies language development and how neurodiverse children, such as autistic children, use language in a variety of situations. Additionally, she is interested in how children with autism tell stories and engage in conversations with adults and their peers.
Jie Luo
UCONN Graduate Student
AABS Instructor
Jie is a graduate student at UConn. She studies what’s going on in the brain as people learn to read. She wants to bridge the gap between brain science and educational practice to benefit kids!
Kelsey Davinson
UCONN Graduate Student
AABS Instructor
Kelsey is a graduate student at UConn studying developmental psychology. She studies how infants and toddlers learn and remember things. She is particularly interested in episodic memory. These are personal and long-lasting memories that include details of places, people, and things that happened (think of episodic memories like little movies of your past experiences playing in your mind). Not only does Kelsey enjoy studying how developing minds work, she also enjoys talking with developing minds about the brain and behavior!
Kristin Simmers
UCONN Graduate Student
AABS Instructor
Kristin is a graduate student at UConn. She was also a teacher in four countries and is very interested in helping students (and teachers!) learn about the brain and learning.
Maddie Quam
UCONN Graduate Student
AABS Instructor
Maddie is a graduate student at UConn in developmental psychology. She studies how our experiences with language affect how we understand numbers and learn math. She is especially interested in children’s experiences learning American Sign Language and how new sign languages form.
Martina Villa
UCONN Graduate Student
AABS Instructor
Martina is a graduate student at UConn. She studies what happens in the brain when we learn to read, what causes dyslexia, and what we can do about it. She thinks that learning about the brain is fun and believes that the science of reading and the brain should be accessible to those who have dyslexia.
Oliver Lasnick
UCONN Graduate Student
AABS Instructor
Oliver is interested in how children learn to use language and to read. He studies how children read using a lot of different methods, like looking at electrical activity from their brain’s neurons and how their brain activity changes when they’re reading. When he isn’t working on research projects, he can be found in the company of his cat, Blackjack.
Vikas Pareek
PHD | Post-doctoral researcher at UConn
AABS Instructor
Vikas is a researcher in Dr. Fumiko Hoeft’s lab at UConn. He’s working to understand how the brain functions while people are doing things like reading or memorizing. He enjoys sharing scientific knowledge with the public, especially kids. His motto is “earliest understandings proceed prosperous futures.”