Director

Zhenghan Qi 

Dr. Qi’s research goal is to understand the neurobiological organization of language in the human brain, how that organization changes from childhood through adulthood, how it is disrupted in major neurodevelopmental language disorders, and how knowledge of that organization may enhance language learning and language intervention. She uses behavioral and neuroimaging techniques to study the relationship between language learning, cognitive skills, and brain development in both children and adults.

z.qi at northeastern dot edu

Curriculum vitae

Managers

Brynn Siles — Lab Manager

Brynn graduated in 2023 from Boston University with a B.A. in Neuroscience. Her primary interests include early childhood language development, particularly as it pertains to informing early intervention strategies for children with autism spectrum disorder. Ultimately, she hopes to pursue her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology.

b.siles at northeastern dot edu

Graduate Students

Katherine Trice

Katherine is a PhD student in Psychology at the Northeastern University. She holds a BA in Linguistics and a minor in ASL from the University of Rochester. Her main research interest is in language processing across different stages and the underlying mechanisms in place that support this, with particular focus paid to how neurodevelopment disorders such as autism impact this. She is also interested in how signed languages are processed, especially in regards to how this may differ for the population with neurodevelopment disorders.

trice.k at northeastern dot edu

Personal Website

Anna Ciriello

Anna is a first-year PhD student in Psychology at Northeastern University. She received her undergraduate degree at the University of Connecticut in Psychology with a neuroscience minor. Her interests include understanding the neural organization of language in the brain and how it develops through childhood into adulthood. She also has a strong interest in understanding how neurodevelopmental disorders, particularly autism, affect this organization and language development.

ciriello.a at northeastern dot edu

Heesu Yun

Heesu is a first-year PhD student in Psychology at Northeastern University. She graduated from Boston College in 2023 with a B.S. in Psychology and completed a post-bacc at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research interests focus on how real-time prediction contributes to language learning and acquisition in both children and adults by using fMRI, EEG, and eye-tracking techniques.

yun.he at northeastern dot edu

Sara Campopiano

Sara is a second-year graduate student in the MS-Speech-Language Pathology Program at Northeastern University. She graduated from Syracuse University in 2023 with a BS in Inclusive Early Childhood Special Education, a minor in Communication Sciences and Disorders, and a concentration in Human and Family Development. Her research interests include early language learning and the impact of such learning on other academic areas, including literacy, and social areas of development as well. She is also interested in working with children with disabilities and examining ways to support children’s language development to promote social and academic success.

campopiano.s at northeastern dot edu

Carlie Chukrallah

Carlie is a second-year graduate student in the MS-Speech-Language Pathology Program at Northeastern University. She graduated from Seton Hall University in 2023 with a B.S. in Elementary and Special Education with a concentration in Social and Behavioral Sciences. In her undergraduate career, Carlie worked as a research assistant on a project that focused on improving writing skills in students with language learning disabilities. Her research interests include working with individuals with special needs to find ways to best support their communication needs.

chukrallah.c at northeastern dot edu

Bea Tan

Bea is a second-year master’s student in Speech-Language Pathology at Northeastern University. She received her undergraduate degree in Psychology at Seattle University and her post-bac degree in Speech and Hearing Sciences at University of Washington. Her interests include working with children with disabilities and finding ways to support their speech and language development during growth.

 tan.bea at northeastern dot edu

Veronica Foster

Veronica is a first-year master’s student in Speech-Language Pathology at Northeastern University. She received her undergraduate degree in Linguistics and English with an SLPA minor at Northeastern University before matriculating into the MS-SLP program. She is particularly interested in the development and perception of native language phones and how they might be impacted by various speech-processing disorders. In the future, she hopes to work in clinical settings with children with hearing impairments.

 foster.ve at northeastern dot edu

Research Assistants

Janet Liu

Janet Liu, Class of 2028, is pursuing a B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Spanish. She is interested in exploring the intersection between language learning and psychology. Outside of the lab, she enjoys reading, ceramics, weightlifting, and trying new foods around Boston.

Xinran Hou

Xinran Hou is an undergraduate at Northeastern majoring in psychology and minoring in Interaction Design. She is interested in developmental psychology and cognitive neuroscience, particularly in how children’s brains function during language acquisition as they grow. In the spare time, she enjoys learning to cook new recipes, outdoor cycling, and building cool architectures in Minecraft.

Ananya Arvind

Ananya Arvind, Class of 2027, is pursuing a B.S. in Linguistics and Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology with minors in Spanish and Behavioral Neuroscience. She is interested in exploring the neural bases of language acquisition and bilingualism. In the future, she is hoping to go to grad school for speech language pathology. Outside of the lab, she enjoys reading, listening to music, and going on walks.

Catherine Kappel

Catherine is a 3rd year Behavioral Neuroscience major. At the QLAB, she is interested in the relationship between statistical learning and language acquisition. Outside of school, she enjoys lifting and spending time with her friends.

Izzy Young

Izzy Young is a Speech-Language Pathology student in Northeastern’s PlusOne program, on track to obtain a B.S. SLP in 2025 and M.S. SLP in 2026. Her research interests include rehabilitation after brain injury, and language learning and habilitation in populations with neurodevelopmental disorders.

Lava Panta

Lava is an undergraduate student at Northeastern. Currently in his second year; a psych major in pre-med. Always having had interest in research, especially since his previous project involving research surrounding suicide. Other research interests include genetics and their impacts on psychology. His current role is helping in research that’s furthering our understanding of ASD.

Abigail Demosthene

Alumni

An Nguyen — Former Lab Manager
A founding member of the QLAB, An is now pursuing a PhD in Cognitive Science at Johns Hopkins University, continuing her enthusiasm for language acquisition. She holds BS degrees in Psychology and Cognitive Science from Truman State University, Missouri.

Violet Kozloff — Former Lab Manager
Violet was the QLAB coordinator from 2017 to 2018 and lab manager from 2018 to 2019. She holds a BA in Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences and French from Wellesley College. Violet is currently pursing an MA in Speech-Language Pathology at Northwestern University.

Parker Robbins — Former Lab Manager
Parker graduated from Northeastern University in 2019 with a BS in Linguistics and a minor in French. His interests include morphology and syntax, first language acquisition and attrition, and documenting understudied languages. He is currently a graduate student in Linguistics at Toronto University.

Angelina DiNardo – Former Graduate Student

Angelina graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a B.A. in Communication Science and Disorders. She completed her M.S. in Speech-Language Pathology at Northeastern. At Pitt, Angelina worked in a research lab that focused on observing speech perception and speech encoding through the use of neuroimaging methods. She’s excited to begin learning more about the neurological aspects that impact speech production and language acquisition and processing.

Anqi Hu – Former Graduate Student

Dr. Hu received her PhD student in Linguistics and Cognitive Science from the University of Delaware. She graduated from University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana in May 2018 with a BA degree in Linguistics. She is interested in child language acquisition, atypical language development, and second language acquisition. She is especially interested in using neuroimaging and other techniques to understand typical and atypical language acquisition.

Yi-Lun Weng – Former Graduate Student

Dr. Weng received her PhD in Linguistics and Cognitive Science from the University of Delaware. She holds an M.A. in Psycholinguistics and an M.S. in Statistics. She worked as a visiting scholar in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Northeastern University. Her PhD studies focused on how humans perceive and predict linguistic information in their surroundings, and how those perceptions shape their behaviors and existing knowledge by employing eye-tracking, EEG/ERP, MRI, and advanced statistical methods.

Dionysia Saratsli – Former Graduate Student
Dionysia, Class of 2022,  PhD in Linguistics from the University of Delaware. She is interested in exploring the pragmatic factors involved in language using behavioral and neuroimaging techniques. She also has a special interest in the neural characteristics of developmental language disorders. She is currently exploring the role of perspective taking in word learning. Dr. Saratsli is currently a language engineer at Amazon.

Stefan Bartell – Former Graduate Student
Stefan, Class of 2022, PhD in Linguistics from the University of Delaware. His main research interests are in theoretical and experimental semantics. He is also interested in the linguistic manifestations of disorders including autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia. Dr. Bartell is currently a computational linguist at Weill Cornell Medicine.

Tess Latham –  Former Research Assistant 

Class of 2025, Tess is currently pursuing a BS in Linguistics and Psychology with Minors in French and Film Studies. She hopes to do a PhD after undergrad focusing on psycholinguistics. Her research interests are language acquisition and production, bilingualism, language revitalization and preservation. When she’s not working and/or studying, she likes to ski, read fiction novels and listen to linguistics podcasts!

Kelly Chan – Former Research Assistant

Kelly, class of 2024, is pursuing degrees in Psychology and Cognitive Science at Cornell University. In the future, she is interested in going to graduate school for speech language pathology and communication science disorders. She is interested in statistical learning, bilingualism, and language learning in special populations.

Emily Cohen – Former Research Assistant

Emily Cohen, class of 2025, is currently pursuing a B.S. in Behavioral Neuroscience and a minor in Ethics.  Her interests include learning about changes in neurobiological organization and our ability to learn languages as we grow older as well as how the brain influences behavior and personality. In the future, Emily hopes to attend medical school with an interest in psychiatry and neuroscience.

Ellie Bilsel – Former Research Assistant

Ellie, class of 2026, is pursuing her B.S. in Behavioral Neuroscience at Northeastern University. After graduation, she is planning on attending graduate school and continuing a career in research. Her scientific interests involve cognitive and linguistic development in the brain.

Matthew Xu – Former Research Assistant

Matthew Xu, Class of 2027, is pursuing a B.S. in Computer Science at Northeastern University. His interests lie in using technology to better understand the human brain, with the ultimate hope of improving quality of life. Outside the lab, he enjoys reading, writing, and music.

Lauren Voso – Former Research Assistant

Lauren Voso, class of 2024, received a B.S. in Behavioral Neuroscience and a minor in Environmental and Sustainability Sciences. She is interested in the cross section of cognitive psychology and language acquisition, and hopes to continue exploring her research interests by attending graduate school.

Summer Xia – Former Research Assistant
Tian ‘ Summer’ Xia received her B.S. from Northeastern University with a minor in Early Intervention and a minor in Health Psychology. She is passionate about working with kids with special needs and holds a strong research interest in looking at developmental delays for children or young adolescents. Currently, she is working on getting a certification to be an Early Intervention specialist.

Nikoletta Kennedy – Former Research Assistant

Nikoletta is a Health Science major with a Spanish minor on the pre-medicine track. Being a native New Yorker and former ballet dancer, she enjoys exploring Boston as well as dancing in her free time. Additionally, she explores her passion for medicine through volunteering at Massachusetts General Hospital, beginning teacher assisting for Genetics and being on eboard for Northeastern’s AMWA chapter.

Jaeyoung Lee – Former Research Assistant
Jaeyoung, class of 2026, is pursuing her B.A. in Communication and Media Studies at Cornell University. She is currently the communications and marketing coordinator at QLAB. Her interest lies in the power digital storytelling has to bridge marginalized voices and communities together. After graduation, she hopes to grow her digital storytelling non-profit full time.

Anne Corcoran – Former Research Assistant
Anne is pursuing a degree in psychology as an undergraduate at the University of St Andrews, Scotland, class of 2024. She hopes to further her psychology education with graduate school for clinical psychology. She is most interested in clinical psychology, cognition, and neuroscience.

Sarah Gracia – Former Research Assistant
Sarah, class of 2024, is currently pursuing a B.S. in Linguistics and a minor in Computer Science at Northeastern University.  Her interests include language revitalization and preservation, computational linguistics, and language acquisition.

Leah Heisler – Former Research Assistant
Leah, Class of 2021, BS in Cognitive Science with a specialization in Pre-Professional Speech-Language Pathology and a BA in Spanish Studies from the University of Delaware. She is also minoring in Disability Studies. Leah hopes to continue her studies in a graduate program for Speech-Language Pathology that has a bilingual emphasis. Her interests include language acquisition and the effect multiple languages has on cognition, especially for children with language disorders. Leah is currently a graduate student in Communication Sciences and Disorders at Arizona University.

Grace Buckalew – Former Research Assistant
Grace, class of 2022, BS in Cognitive Science with a concentration of Pre-Professional Speech-Language Pathology with minors in Disability Studies and Public Policy from the University of Delaware. She hopes to attend graduate school to become a Speech Pathologist, and use her Public Policy minor to advocate for patients and better treatment methods. Her interests include language acquisition and communication disorders. Grace is currently an MD/PhD student at the University of Kansas.

Brooke Baiocchi – Former Research Assistant
Brooke, Class of 2022, BS in Psychology with a Business Administration minor.

Abby DeJohn – Former Research Assistant 
Abby, Class of 2021, BS in Neuroscience and a minor in Disability Studies from the University of Delaware.

Sydney Peterson – Former Research Assistant
Sydney, class of 2022,  BS in Cognitive Science with a concentration in Pre-Professional Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Delaware.

Chase Dunlap – Former Research Assistant
Chase is a sophomore majoring in Cognitive Science with a concentration in Computational Foundations.

Bella DiGennaro – Former Research Assistant 
Bella, class of 2022, BS in Cognitive Science and Linguistics with a concentration in Pre-Professional Speech-Language Pathology with minors in Human Development and Family Studies as well as Disability Studies from the University of Delaware.

Angela Tran – Former Research Assistant
Angela, class of 2023, is pursuing a BA in Psychology and BA in English Literature. Angela hopes to attend graduate school and become an English teacher, utilizing her background in Psychology to advocate for mental health resources in public school education. Her interests include language acquisition, second language acquisition, and the effect multiple languages have on cognitive development within children.

Jessica Harrison – Former Research Assistant
Jessica, class of 2022, is pursuing a BS in Neuroscience and a BA in Psychology. She is following a pre-medical track at the University of Delaware, and hopes to continue her studies in cognitive and neurological treatments. She is very interested in neurological development, cognition, and genetic illnesses and their influence on the brain and language acquisition.

Andrew Luu — Former Research Assistant
Andrew graduated from California State University, Dominguez Hills in May 2019 with an Honors BA degree in Psychology. He is interested in examining the neural mechanisms behind cognition, memory, and foreign language processing to improve learning outcomes. He is a University of Delaware 2019 Undergraduate Research Scholar. Andrew is currently a PhD student in Cognitive and Behavioral Sciences at Auburn University where he uses behavioral and brain imaging techniques to further his research interests.

Christopher Robinson – Former Research Assistant
Christopher, class of 2023, is currently pursuing a BS in Biomedical Engineering. He intends to apply his developing skill set in the fields of neuroscience and genetics, specifically, researching and treating psychiatric disorders and cell/tissue engineering. His interests in neuroscience and language learning, as he intends to become fluent in multiple languages, are what drew him to QLAB.

Advith Sarikonda – Former Research Assistant
Advith, Class of 2022, is pursuing a BS in Honors Neuroscience and a BA in Honors English. Advith is following a pre-medical track at the University of Delaware. He is interested in the intersection of science and the arts, particularly as it pertains to the representation of mental health and behavior in popular culture.

Marina Hernandez – Former Research Assistant 
Marina, class of 2021, is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). She hopes to obtain her Master of Arts in TESOL. She is interested in language acquisition and second language acquisition and hopes to apply her knowledge of cognitive processes of language learning in language learning pedagogy.

Sharon Basil — Former Research Assistant
Sharon, Class of 2020, is pursuing a BS in Biomedical Engineering. After graduation, she hopes to pursue a career in industry, specifically in the medical imaging and devices field. Her interests include learning how children develop through neuroimaging, as well as data processing with imaging software.

Alexandra Franchi — Former Research Assistant
Lexi, class of 2022, is pursuing a BA in Psychology and BS in Cognitive Science, as well as a minor in Women and Gender Studies. After this, Lexi will be getting her MA in Cognitive Science and Linguistics through the 4+1 program here at UD and hopes to get her PhD one day. She has interests in mental health advocacy, language acquisition and disorders in special populations, and social cognition.

Diana Rios – Former Research Assistant
Diana, class of 2021, is currently pursuing a BS in Neuroscience and a minor in Medical Diagnostics. Her interests within neuroscience include the relationship between brain structure and function, such as with language development, and neurological and psychiatric disorders. Diana hopes to attend medical school after graduation and subsequently pursue a career in neurology. Diana is a 2019 University of Delaware Summer Scholar.

Brady Robinson – Former Graduate Student
Brady is a PhD student in Linguistics and Cognitive Science at the University of Delaware. He is interested in the cognitive neuroscience of language, especially the association between individual differences in neural measures and behavior, as well how word learning works in the individual brain, and how this science can be used to help people. He uses tools from computer science, statistics, and machine learning to investigate data from behavioral experiments and neuroimaging techniques.

Riddhi Shah – Former Research Assistant
Riddhi, Class of 2021, is currently pursuing a BS in Neuroscience with a minor in Biological Sciences and Forensic Science on the pre-med track. After graduating, she plans on attending medical school in which she hopes to pursue her interests in different disorders while using her forensic science background to help.

Ellie Rosin – Former Research Assistant
Ellie, Class of 2022, is currently pursuing a BS in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Mathematics. After graduating, she is considering a career in bioelectronics or nanotechnology doing research and development. Her interests in machine learning and neuroimaging are what drew her to QLAB.

Madison Stoupa — Former Research Assistant
Madison, class of 2020, is currently pursuing a BA in Linguistics and an Honors BA in Three Foreign Languages (Spanish, French, Mandarin Chinese). She is thrilled to have the opportunity to not only learn how to speak languages, but also to study how human languages work from a scientific standpoint. Her interests include phonetics and phonology, sociolinguistics, and language acquisition.

Elyse Lamey – Former Research Assistant
Elyse, Class of 2022, is pursuing a BS in Biological Sciences with a Medical Diagnostics minor. Elyse is following a pre-medical track at the University of Delaware and is applying to be a part of the Medical Scholars Program at the end of her sophomore year. She is interested in research and neurological development and is excited to be a part of the QLAB family!

Krystal Mendez – Former Research Assistant
Krystal, Class of 2020, is currently completing a BS in Cognitive Science with a concentration in Pre-Professional Speech-Language Pathology and a minor in Spanish for Healthcare. She is currently pursuing an MA in Speech-Language Pathology at the University of Delaware. Her interests include language acquisition and development, specifically involving individuals with autism spectrum disorder, language disorders, and bilingualism. Krystal is a 2018 and 2019 INBRE scholar.

Qing Xu — Former Graduate Student 
Qing is a MA student in the Department of Linguistics and Cognitive Science. She’s interested in a diverse array of topics in exploring the workings of the brain and mind in language development and processing by using experimental techniques and modeling strategies, including sentence processing, the representation and organization of conceptual components of meaning, the relation between language and other cognitive and biological processes, bilingualism and second language acquisition.

Nicolo Bautista – Former Research Assistant
Nicolo, Class of 2020, completed majors in Honors Biological Sciences B.A., Honors Philosophy B.A., and Honors Neuroscience B.S., with a minor in Biochemistry. He is currently pursuing his M.D. at Thomas Jefferson University. He has an interest in neurological development, especially in regards to autism.

Hannah Stetson – Former Research Assistant
Hannah, Class of 2020, completed a BS in Cognitive Science with a concentration in Pre-Professional Speech-Language Pathology and minors in Neuroscience, Disabilities Studies, and Women Studies. She is currently pursuing an MA in Speech and Language Pathology at Boston University. Her research interests include language disorders and their effect on language learning, language development, and brain structure and organization. Hannah is a 2019 INBRE scholar.

Sai Buchireddy – Computer Manager
Sai, class of 2022, is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical & Computer Engineering with a minor in Mathematics at Northeastern. He is interested in Data and Signal processing techniques and enjoys applying them to different fields. He intends to complete his degree and pursue a career in engineering.

Krista Webster – Illustrator
Krista is a Visual Communications major in the Class of 2020. Although she works in a variety of art contexts, she mostly specializes in illustration and graphic design. In her free time, she also enjoys writing, running, and photography. Krista has contributed illustrations for our website and studies!

Katherine Ridoux – Former Research Assistant
Katherine, class of 2022, is currently pursuing a BS in Cognitive Science with a concentration in Pre-Professional Speech-Language Pathology and a minor in Disability Studies. After graduating, she intends to pursue a PhD in Speech and Language Pathology. Her research interests include Cognition, language acquisition, and speech rehabilitation.

Jonathan Chen – Former Research Assistant
Jonathan, class of 2025, is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and a minor in Mathematics at Northeastern. He is very interested in MRI and EEG/MEG technologies, and enjoys working on the data analytics side of experiments. Looking forward, he hopes to continue his studies in Computer Science and potentially pursue a career in biotech.

Jasmin Patel – Former Research Assistant
Jasmin, Class of 2025, is pursuing a B.S. in Behavioral Neuroscience at Northeastern University. She is interested in studying child development, learning/memory, and human emotions through a neurobiological perspective. After her undergraduate studies, Jasmin plans to continue her education through a doctoral program within the field of neuroscience and pursue a career in research.

Kate Mehta – Former Research Assistant
Kate, class of 2024, is pursuing a BS in Speech Language Pathology and Audiology at Northeastern University. After graduation, she hopes to attend Speech Language Pathology graduate school. Her main interests include bilingualism in children, and how this affects their development into adolescence.

Collaborators

Northeastern University

Dr. Susan Whitfield-Gabrieli – Whitfield-Gabrieli Lab

Dr. Psyche Loui – Music, Imaging, and Neural Dynamics (MIND) Lab

Dr. Leanne Chukoskie – Rehabilitation Games & Extended Reality (ReGame-XR) Lab

Dr. Ajay Satpute – Affective and Brain Sciences Lab

University of Delaware

Dr. Diane Chugani – Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders

Dr. Roberta Golinkoff – Child’s Play, Learning and Development Lab

Dr. Francis Sayako Earle – Memory and Perception of Speech (MAPS) Lab

Dr. Curtis Johnson – Mechanical Neuroimaging Lab

Dr. Amanda Van Horne – Treatment Efficacy and Language Learning (TELL) Lab

Other Collaborators

Dr. John Gabrieli – Gabrieli Lab – MIT

Dr. Tyler Perrachione – Communication Neuroscience Research Laboratory – Boston University

Dr. Helen Tager-Flusberg – Center for Autism Research Excellence – Boston University

Dr. Rachel Ryskin – Language, Interaction, & Cognition Lab – UC Merced

Dr. Wei Tang – Imaging and Research Facility (IRF) – Indiana University

Dr. Morten Christiansen – Cognitive Science of Language Lab – Cornell University

Dr. Katie Franich – PhonLab – Harvard University

Dr. Li Sheng –  Language Learning and Bilingualism (LLB) Lab- Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Dr. Einat Shetreet – Department of Linguistics – Tel Aviv University

Dr. Anna Papafragou – Language and Cognition Lab – University of Pennsylvania