People

Meg Schlichting, PhD
Assistant Professor of Psychology
PhD in Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin
BA in Cognitive Science, University of Pennsylvania
Meg is the Principal Investigator of the Budding Minds Lab at U of T. She is interested in how the episodic memory system (especially the hippocampus and its surrounding medial temporal lobe cortex) interacts with prefrontal brain regions to update our stored memories with new information. Her work aims to characterize how these neural operations happen in healthy young adults, as well as how they might change as the brain develops across childhood and adolescence. In her spare time, Meg loves to cook, try new restaurants, and explore all that her new city of Toronto has to offer.
Meg's CV

Post-Doctoral Fellows

Graduate Students

Tess Forest
BA in Cognitive Systems and linguistics, University of British Colombia
MA in experimental psychology, University of Toronto
Tess is a PhD student in the Learning and Neural Development lab, collaborating with Dr. Schlichting to study hippocampal development. She grew up in Madison, Wisconsin and has spent some time working at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and at the Max Plank Institute for Psycholinguistics, in the Netherlands. Broadly, she is interested in how language learning mechanisms operate, their development over time, and how that contributes to differences in language learning abilities between adults and children. In her free time, Tess likes to cook, knit, and spend time outside… either running, backpacking, skiing, or canoeing!

Sagana Vijayarajah
BSc in Psychology, York University
MA in experimental psychology, University of Toronto
Sagana is a PhD student in Dr. Schlichting’s lab. She is interested in exploring the developmental changes in memory that occur from childhood to adulthood and how they impact decision-making and learning strategies. In her spare time, she likes to bike, paint, and spend time with family and friends.

Merron Woodbury
BSc in Neuroscience, Minor in Computer Science, McGill University
Merron is a graduate student in Dr. Schlichting’s lab. They are interested in using various neuroimaging and computational techniques to study structural and functional changes in the brain underlying the development of memory processes. In their spare time, Merron loves to paint, read feminist science fiction and fantasy, and spend time outdoors.

Emily Heffernan
BASc in Electrical Engineering, Queen's University
MA in Psychology, University of Toronto
Emily is a PhD student in Mack Lab and is doing an outside project with Dr. Schlichting on hippocampal white matter development. She is interested in how behavioural, neuroimaging, and computational modelling data can be combined to understand how we learn. When she's not studying the brain, Emily enjoys doing yoga, reading, and hiking.

Alex McArthur
BA in Political Science and Philosophy, University of Western Ontario
BSc in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Western Ontario
Alex is a PhD student in Dr. Schlichting’s lab. He is interested in using different neuroimaging techniques to explore how learning and memory systems change across development. In his free time, Alex is almost always reading, but he also enjoys painting, yoga, and visiting used bookstores.

Lab Manager

Zahra Abolghasem (she/her)
BSc in Psychology, University of Toronto
Zahra recently graduated from the Psychology Research Specialist Program at the University of Toronto. She is passionate about many of the different branches of psychology, but her main interest lies within the field of developmental psychology, and she has a particular fascination for cognitive development. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking/baking, hiking, and painting.
Contact info: manager.buddingmindslab@gmail.com

Carleigh Pace-Tonna (she/her)
BSc in Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Toronto
Carleigh recently graduated from the Psychology and Neuroscience program at University of Toronto. She is interested in understanding how people learn and remember information. In her free time, she enjoys playing violin, crocheting, painting, and learning German.
Contact info: manager.buddingmindslab@gmail.com

Research Assistants

Dana Huang
BSc in Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Toronto (in progress)
Dana is a first-year undergraduate student studying neuroscience and physiology. She is interested in studying memory and learning, and how that develops and changes from childhood, adolescence and into adulthood. In her free time, she enjoys swimming, reading, and playing the piano!

Jessica Im
BSc in Psychology , Environment & Behaviour, and Urban Studies, University of Toronto (in progress)
Jessica is a first-year undergraduate student specializing in Psychology and minoring in Environment and Behaviour as well as Urban Studies. She is interested in how learning, memory, and the brain is affected by surrounding environments. In her free time she likes to play video games, go out to eat, and crochet.

Rena Rivera
BSc in Nursing, University of Toronto (In progress)
Rena is in her first year of nursing at the University of Toronto. She is interested in cognitive and developmental psychology, specifically in the changes that arise with memory formation due to the developing brain. In her spare time, she enjoys watching Netflix, baking, and spending time with her dogs Rocky and Robyn.

Sophia Zhao
BSc in Psychology and Physiology, University of Toronto (In Progress)
Sophia is a fourth-year student pursuing a double major in Psychology and Physiology. She is interested in cognitive psychology and how different environmental factors can change the brain during development. In her free time, Sophia enjoys playing tennis and finding new restaurants with her friends.

Cherrie Zhu
BSc in Neuroscience and Pathobiology, University of Toronto (In Progress)
Cherrie is a third-year undergraduate student studying Neuroscience and Pathobiology. She is interested in understanding how children’s minds learn, remember and adapt throughout development! In her free time, she enjoys photography, exploring the outdoors, and trying out new recipes.

Lab Alumni

Postdoctoral Fellows
Anna Blumenthal
Xiaoping Fang

Research Assistants/Lab Managers
Mrinal Anagal - BSc in Nursing (BScN), University of Toronto (In Progress)
BSc in Neuroscience, Physiology, and Immunology, University of Toronto
Sasha Arnett - BSc in Life Sciences, University of Toronto (In Progress)
Hailey Benedict - MSc in Occupational Therapy, University of Toronto (In Progress)
BA in Psychology, McGill University
Sarah Berger - MSc in Psychology, University of Western Ontario (In Progress)
BSc in Psychology and Biology, Queens University
Samantha Bray Kingissepp - M.Ed. in Counselling and Psychotherapy at OISE, University of Toronto (In Progress)
BA in Honours Specialization Psychology, University of Western Ontario
Eryk Brol - BSc in Computer Science, University of Toronto
Freeman Chan - BSc in Psychology, University of Toronto (In Progress)
Eric (Xingjian) Che - BSc in Physiology, Neuroscience and Immunology, University of Toronto (In Progress)
Nathan Chen - BSc in Neuroscience and Immunology, University of Toronto (In Progress)
Sua Cho - BSc in Human Biology, Physiology, and Psychology, University of Toronto (In Progress)
Andrew Chun - BSc in Psychology and Sociology, University of Toronto (In Progress)
Catherine Clarke - BSc in Psychology and Human Biology, University of Toronto (In Progress)
Natanela Dain - BSc in Psychology and English, University of Toronto
Brad Dalgleish - BSc in Psychology, University of Toronto (In Progress)
Carissa DeMarinis - Juris Doctor, University of Toronto (In Progress)
BSc in Neuroscience, Psychology and Physiology, University of Toronto
Ashiana Dhanani - BSc in Human Biology and Psychology, University of Toronto (In Progress)
Simran Dhir - BSc in Pharmacology and Biomedical Toxicology, Education and Society, University of Toronto (In Progress)
Oceana Ding - BSc in Cognitive Science, Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Toronto (In Progress)
Lana Duan - MSc in Medical Science at the University of Toronto and SickKids Research Institute (In Progress)
BSc in Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Toronto
Zosia Gontarz
Isabelle Vanasse Grosdidier - BSc in Psychology, Sociology, and Physiology, University of Toronto
Alyssa Ho - BSc in Neuroscience, University of Toronto (In Progress)
Nicole Hung - BSc in Psychology and Urban Studies, University of Toronto (In Progress)
David Huynh - BSc in Psychology, University of Toronto (In Progress)
Zachary Johnson - BSc in Psychology Specialist, Linguistics Minor, Buddhism/Psychology/Mental Health Minor, University of Toronto (In Progress)
Nisha Klein - BSc in Psychology, University of Toronto (In Progress)
Ezra Laker - BSc in Cognitive Science and Psychology, University of Toronto (In Progress)
Sherry Li - BSc in Psychology, University of Toronto (In Progress)
Tianyu Lu - BSc in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Specialist, University of Toronto (In Progress)
Eilidh McAlister - BSc in Psychology and Immunology, University of Toronto (In Progress)
Elida Nexha - BSc in Psychology, Health Studies, and French, University of Toronto (In Progress)
Amy Pan - BSc in Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Toronto (In Progress)
Julia Pearce
Eden Prosser - BSc in Neuroscience, Molecular Genetics, and Psychology, University of Toronto (In Progress)
Cheryl Quan - BSc in Psychology, Biology, and Anthropology, University of Toronto (In Progress)
Sarah Ripley - BSc in Psychology, Statistics, and Mathematics, University of Toronto (In Progress)
Valeria Sarangova
Riveea Satkunaratnam - BSc in Immunology and Physiology, University of Toronto (In Progress)
Katarina Savel - BSc in Neuroscience, Psychology, and Spanish, University of Toronto (In Progress)
Chuyun Shen - BSc in Psychology, University of Toronto
Hasaan Sobaan
Hannah Tarder-Stoll - PhD in Psychology at Columbia University (In Progress)
BMus in Classical Voice Performance, University of Toronto & BSc in Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Toronto
Thurka Thillainathan - BSc in Psychology and Anthropology, University of Toronto
Mila Valcic - BSc in Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Toronto (In Progress)
Mia Vucurovic - BSc in Psychology and Philosophy, University of Toronto (In Progress)
Chen Yang - BSc in Pharmacology, Physiology and Psychology, University of Toronto (In Progress)
Wangjing Yu - PhD in Psychology at Columbia University (In Progress)
BSc in Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Toronto
Xuan Zhang - BSc in Psychology, University of Toronto (In Progress)
Cindy Zhou

Our lab is growing - join us!
We are recruiting students for the work study program at UofT. We are also still looking for postdoctoral fellows to join our team!
Visit the Get Involved page for more information.