Meet the Team

The passionate minds behind McMaster Baby Lab. We combine expertise in psychology, neuroscience, and technology to unlock the secrets of early development.

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Principal Investigator

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Gabriel (Naiqi) Xiao, PhD
EST. 2020.01
Principal Investigator, Associate Professor, University Scholar
Face Perception Eye-Tracking +3
Active Research
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Postdoctoral Researchers

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Benjamin Sclodnick, PhD
EST. 2024.09
PostDoc (co-supervised with Drs. Bruce Milliken and Hongjin Sun)
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Jesse Pazdera, PhD
EST. 2024.09
PostDoc (co-supervised with Drs. Laurel Trainor, Mel Rutherford, Lauren Fink, and Louis Schmidt)
Computational Modeling Auditory Perception +2
Active Research
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Wei (Vivian) Fang, PhD
EST. 2020.09
PostDoc & former PhD student
Emotional Development Face Perception and Emotional Expression +2
Active Research
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Graduate Students

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Anagha Vinod
EST. 2022.09
PhD student; Research assistant; Undergraduate thesis student
functional brain connectivity Infant beat perception +2
Active Research
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Carie Guan
EST. 2022.05
PhD candidate
Face Race Perception Perceptual biases +2
Active Research
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Research Staff

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Michelle Hines
EST. 2023.01
Research Assistant; Undergraduate thesis student; Undergraduate research student
Eye Tracking Face Perception +2
Active Research
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Rebecca Yip
EST. 2024.01
Lab manager; Undergraduate research student; Undergraduate thesis student
Face Perception Eye Tracking +2
Active Research
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Yang Pan
EST. 2025.01
Research Assistant; Undergraduate research student
Research Stimulus Preparation Computational Research Tools +1
Active Research
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🌱

Undergraduate Students

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Alsana Amrenova
EST. 2025.01
Undergraduate research volunteer
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Aneesha Sharma
EST. 2026.01
Undergraduate research student
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Anh Bui
EST. 2025.01
Undergraduate research student
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Ashlynn (Jia-Yi) Ng
EST. 2026.01
Undergraduate research student
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Carly Angel
EST. 2026.01
Undergraduate research student
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Claire Zhou
EST. 2025.05
Undergraduate research student
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Cole Cameron
EST. 2024.01
Undergraduate thesis student; Undergraduate research student
Face Perception Eye Tracking +1
Active Research
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Cristina Banducci
EST. 2026.01
Undergraduate research student
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Daniel Bondarev
EST. 2025.01
Undergraduate thesis student; Undergraduate research student
Face Perception Eye Tracking +2
Active Research
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Daniel Lee
EST. 2023.05
Undergraduate thesis student; Undergraduate research student
Face Perception Eye Tracking +3
Active Research
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Emilia Kasprzak
EST. 2025.01
Undergraduate research student
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Hannah Menhel
EST. 2026.01
Undergraduate research student
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Huy Tran
EST. 2025.09
Undergraduate research student
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Jacqueline Ahmad
EST. 2025.09
Undergraduate research student
Face Perception Eye Tracking +3
Active Research
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Jessica Barron
EST. 2024.05
Undergraduate thesis student; Undergraduate research student
Emotional Recognition Parenting +3
Active Research
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Jessica Mou
EST. 2025.01
Undergraduate research volunteer
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Joonmin Lee
EST. 2024.09
Undergraduate research student
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Kaila Huynh
EST. 2026.01
Undergraduate research student
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Marcie O'Callaghan
EST. 2025.01
Undergraduate thesis student; Undergraduate research student
Emotional Perception Temperament +3
Active Research
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Maria Dondas
EST. 2025.01
Undergraduate research student
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Marina Chen
EST. 2024.09
Undergraduate research student
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Mehr Jaggi
EST. 2026.01
Undergraduate research student
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Melinda Zhou
EST. 2025.09
Undergraduate research student
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Nimra Atiq
EST. 2025.01
Undergraduate thesis student;Undergraduate research volunteer
Face Perception Eye Tracking +1
Active Research
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Pavithra Vijaykumar
EST. 2025.09
Undergraduate research student
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Sheza Jamil
EST. 2025.09
Undergraduate research student
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Sophia Stapleton
EST. 2026.01
Undergraduate research student
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Sreyoshi Pramanik
EST. 2025.09
Undergraduate research student
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Susie Young
EST. 2026.01
Undergraduate research student
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Zaina Gohar
EST. 2025.01
Undergraduate research student
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Lab News πŸ—žοΈ

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Carie Guan

has been awarded the 2026 Summer Program Fellowship by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)!

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Anagha Vinod

won the Poster Presentation Award at the WestNIRS 2025 Conference!

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Vivian Fang

successfully defended her PhD and graduated with Excellent evaluation. She will stay as a postdoc researcher in the lab.

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Anagha Vinod

successfully defended her Master's degree and will continue in the lab as a PhD student in Neuroscience.

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Our Lab

won two McMaster PNB Postdoc Fellowship Funds (2024-2027).

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Our Lab

won Small Infrastructure Renewal Fund, McMaster University.

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Carie Guan

won Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS), again!

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Anagha Vinod

won Canada Graduate Scholarships - Master's program (SSHRC CGS-M)!

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AlthΓ©a Fratacci

has been awarded Mitacs Globalink Research Funding to visit our lab for 3 months. AlthΓ©a is currently a PhD student under the supervision of Prof. Olivier Pascalis at the UniversitΓ© Grenoble Alpes.

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Our research

on the generality of the 'Fat-Face' illusion is featured on the cover of Vision Research! [Link]

Collaborators 🀝

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Dr. Christine E. Potter

Assistant Professor

University of Texas at El Paso

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Dr. Ipsita Goswami, MD, MSc

Assistant Professor

McMaster University

🀝

Dr. Kang Lee

Professor

University of Toronto

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Dr. Laurel Trainor

Professor

McMaster University

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Dr. Lauren L. Emberson

Associate Professor

The University of British Columbia

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Dr. Linlin Yan

Associate Professor

Zhejiang Sci-Tech University

🀝

Dr. Louis Schmidt

Professor

McMaster University

🀝

Dr. Mingbo Cai

Assistant Professor

Miami University

🀝

Dr. Olivier Pascalis

Professor

UniversitΓ© Grenoble Alpes, LPNC, CNRS

🀝

Dr. Paul C. Quinn

Professor

University of Delaware

🀝

Dr. Sagi Jaffe-Dax

Assistant Professor

Tel Aviv University

🀝

Dr. Shaoying Liu

Professor

Zhejiang Sci-Tech University

🀝

Dr. Yu-Hao P. Sun

Professor

Zhejiang Sci-Tech University

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Dr. Zhe Wang

Associate Professor

Zhejiang Sci-Tech University

Lab Alumni πŸŽ“

πŸŽ“ Thuy Tran (2022.05 - 2025.01)
Research assistant; Undergraduate thesis student
πŸŽ“ Kelsie Lau (2021.05 - 2025.01)
Research assistant
πŸŽ“ Senaya Karunarathne (2022.09 - 2025.01)
Undergraduate research volunteer
πŸŽ“ Maya Mammon (2023.11 - 2025.09)
Lab manager; Undergraduate research student; Undergraduate thesis student
πŸŽ“ Derek Zhou (2023.01 - 2025.09)
Undergraduate research student
πŸŽ“ Rachel (Xinyang) Liu (2023.05 - 2025.09)
PhD student
πŸŽ“ Ellen Troyer-O'Connor (2023.05 - 2025.09)
Undergraduate research student
πŸŽ“ Tyler Macdonald (2023.09 - 2025.09)
Undergraduate research volunteer
πŸŽ“ Elisabeth Jonah (2024.01 - 2025.09)
Undergraduate research student
πŸŽ“ Samantha Slater (2024.05 - 2025.09)
Undergraduate thesis student
πŸŽ“ Amy Warren (2024.05 - 2025.09)
Undergraduate thesis student
πŸŽ“ Noor Daanish (2024.10 - 2025.09)
Undergraduate research volunteer
πŸŽ“ Gursharan Kaur (2024.05 - 2025.09)
Undergraduate thesis student
πŸŽ“ Jolie Luk (2021.05 - 2024.01)
Research assistant; Undergraduate research student
πŸŽ“ Ahmed Mohammed Saeed (2021.05 - 2024.01)
Undergraduate research volunteer
πŸŽ“ Grant Bae (2023.07 - 2024.01)
Undergraduate research volunteer
πŸŽ“ Anna Krasotkina PhD (2023.01 - 2024.07)
PostDoc
πŸŽ“ Huma Ali (2024.01 - 2024.05)
Undergraduate research student
πŸŽ“ Anushka Goyal (2023.09 - 2024.05)
Undergraduate thesis student
πŸŽ“ Julia Abe (2022.09 - 2024.05)
Undergraduate research volunteer, Undergraduate thesis student
πŸŽ“ Skade Fernando (2023.05 - 2024.05)
Undergraduate research student
πŸŽ“ Selena Li (2022.01 - 2024.05)
Undergraduate thesis student, Undergraduate research student
πŸŽ“ Emma Resendes (2022.01 - 2024.08)
Lab manager; Undergraduate research student
πŸŽ“ Danny Nguyen (2021.02 - 2024.05)
Research assistant; Undergraduate research volunteer
πŸŽ“ Jason Lau (2021.11 - 2024.05)
Undergraduate research volunteer
πŸŽ“ Juhi Shah (2022.05 - 2024.05)
Undergraduate thesis student, Undergraduate research student
πŸŽ“ Ally Zhao (2022.05 - 2024.05)
Undergraduate research student
πŸŽ“ Nawal Masood (2022.05 - 2024.05)
Undergraduate research volunteer
πŸŽ“ Simran Dhami (2022.09 - 2024.05)
Undergraduate thesis student, Undergraduate research student
πŸŽ“ Amol Kalra (2022.09 - 2024.05)
Undergraduate thesis student, Undergraduate research student
πŸŽ“ Sathurthika Selvanayagam (2023.05 - 2024.05)
Undergraduate research volunteer
πŸŽ“ Christina Kannampuzha (2023.05 - 2024.05)
Undergraduate research student
πŸŽ“ Xintong Lyu (2021.05 - 2024.05)
Undergraduate thesis student; Undergraduate research student; Undergraduate research volunteer
πŸŽ“ Moreyella Kahlon (2024.01 - 2024.06)
Undergraduate research student
πŸŽ“ Jiaye Cai (2023.11 - 2024.12)
PhD student (visiting)
πŸŽ“ Alice Cousins (2024.09 - 2024.11)
PhD student (visiting)
πŸŽ“ Urvi Chaudhari (2021.11 - 2023.03)
Undergraduate research volunteer
πŸŽ“ Jenny Wang (2023.01 - 2023.05)
Undergraduate research volunteer
πŸŽ“ Faheel Ahmad (2021.11 - 2023.05)
Undergraduate thesis student, Undergraduate Research Student
πŸŽ“ Naomi Geller (2022.01 - 2023.05)
Undergraduate thesis student
πŸŽ“ Lein Charkatli (2022.01 - 2023.05)
Undergraduate thesis student, Undergraduate research student
πŸŽ“ Jennifer Zhang (2022.05 - 2023.05)
Undergraduate research volunteer
πŸŽ“ Cynthia Xu (2022.05 - 2023.05)
Undergraduate research student
πŸŽ“ Sahaj Puri (2021.05 - 2023.05)
Research assistant
πŸŽ“ Chantelle Castelino (2021.05 - 2023.05)
Research assistant
πŸŽ“ Talia Rocca (2022.01 - 2023.05)
Undergraduate research volunteer, Undergraduate research student
πŸŽ“ Elysha Springer (2020.08 - 2023.07)
Research assistant
πŸŽ“ Julia Abe (2022.09 - 2023.05)
Undergraduate thesis student
πŸŽ“ AlthΓ©a Fratacci (2023.05 - 2023.09)
PhD student (visiting)
πŸŽ“ Samantha Rutherford (2022.10 - 2023.09)
Undergraduate research volunteer
πŸŽ“ Ariana Ladha (2021.05 - 2023.09)
Undergraduate research volunteer
πŸŽ“ Anushka Muresh (2021.05 - 2022.05)
Undergraduate thesis student
πŸŽ“ Uzhma Nagani (2021.06 - 2022.05)
Undergraduate thesis student
πŸŽ“ Carolyn Wong (2021.05 - 2022.05)
Undergraduate research volunteer
πŸŽ“ Leah Tackaberry-Giddens (2021.07 - 2022.05)
Undergraduate research volunteer
πŸŽ“ Hiroshi Nitta (2021.09 - 2022.01)
Visiting PhD student
πŸŽ“ Jing Li (2020.09 - 2022.09)
Lab manager, Undergraduate thesis student
πŸŽ“ Anna Liu (2020.08 - 2022.09)
Research assistant, Undergraduate thesis student
πŸŽ“ Kate Kyuri Kim (2020.08 - 2022.09)
Research assistant, Undergraduate thesis student
πŸŽ“ Ho Wing Chan (2020.08 - 2022.09)
Research assistant, Undergraduate thesis student
πŸŽ“ Alexia Orfalian (2020.08 - 2022.09)
Undergraduate research student
πŸŽ“ Xintong (Meg) Lyu (2021.05 - 2022.09)
Undergraduate research volunteer, Undergraduate research student
πŸŽ“ Roshan Babadinia (2020.09 - 2021.07)
Undergraduate thesis student
πŸŽ“ Rachel D'Ercole (2020.09 - 2021.05)
Undergraduate research student
πŸŽ“ Shreerachita Satish (2020.09 - 2021.05)
Undergraduate research student
πŸŽ“ Zhi Yi Tang (2020.09 - 2021.05)
Undergraduate research student
πŸŽ“ Ryan Tso (2020.09 - 2021.05)
Undergraduate research student
πŸŽ“ Xiaomei Zhou PhD (2020.11 - 2021.09)
Post-doc (Joint employment)
πŸŽ“ Yihan Qian (2020.08 - 2021.09)
Undergraduate thesis student