Brain and Language Lab
People
The Brain and Language Lab functions as a highly collaborative group of individuals from Georgetown and other institutions in the US and other countries.
Positions:
Currently the Brain and Language Lab does not have any paid positions available.
LAB DIRECTOR
Michael Ullman
Professor
Director, Brain and Language Lab
Director, Georgetown EEG/ERP Laboratory
Director, Medical Neuroscience, Georgetown University Medical School
Departments:
Primary: Neuroscience
Secondary: Psychology and Neurology
Campus Address: New Research Building, Room EP-07
Mailing Address:
Department of Neuroscience
Georgetown University
Box 571464
Washington, DC 20057-1464
Email: michael@georgetown.edu
Tel: (202) 687-6064
Fax: (202) 687-0617
CO-DIRECTOR: AGING AND LANGUAGE PROJECTS
JANA REIFEGERSTE
Dr. Reifegerste is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology at Georgetown University Medical Center. Her main research focus lies in aging and the effects of age-related cognitive changes on language learning and processing. She is particularly interested in the role of learning and memory and how different developmental trajectories for different memory systems may (or may not) explain the lifespan development of different language abilities, such as lexical and grammatical processing. To this end, she studies behavioral and brain data from a broad range of healthy monolingual and bilingual participants as well as people with neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment. She uses psycholinguistic, cognitive, neuroimaging, neurological, and genetic approaches. Jana co-wrote a National Science Foundation grant with Michael Ullman on language and aging, and is co-directing this and other projects with him.
AFFILIATES/COLLABORATORS
Australia
Gillian Clark (Deakin University, Melbourne; School of Psychology)
Jarrad Lum (Deakin University, Melbourne; School of Psychology)
Angela Morgan (Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne)
Austria
Narly Golestani (University of Vienna; Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Biology)
Brazil
Ingrid Finger (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre; Instituto de Letras, Department of Modern Languages)
Belgium
Bert De Smedt (University of Leuven)
Canada
Véronique Bohbot (McGill University, Montreal; The Douglas Research Centre)
Karla Washington (University of Toronto)
Gregory West (University of Montreal; Department of Psychology)
China
John Drury (Jiangsu Normal University)
Yanjun Wei (Beijing Language and Culture University; Center for Cognitive Science of Language)
France
Dezso Nemeth (Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, Claude Bernard University Lyon 1)
Germany
Holger Hopp (Technische Universität Braunschweig)
Alex Miklashevsky (University of Potsdam)
Hong Kong
Hansy Jueyao Lin (Hong Kong Polytechnic University)
Caicai Zhang (Hong Kong Polytechnic University)
Hungary
Agnes Lukacs (Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest; Department of Cognitive Science)
Deszo Nemeth (Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest; Institute of Psychology, Memory and Language Lab)
Israel
Esther Adi-Japha (Bar-Ilan University, Tel Aviv; School of Education, Child Development Program)
Tali Bitan (University of Haifa, Haifa; Department of Communication Disorders)
Portugal
João Veríssimo (University of Lisbon, School of Arts and Humanities)
Sweden
Mikael Heimann (Linköping University, Linköping; Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning)
Turkey
Nur Başak Karataş (Bogazici University, Istanbul; Foreign Language Education Department)
Gulcan Ercetin (Bogazici University, Istanbul; Foreign Language Education Department)
Talat Bulut (Istanbul Medipol University)
United Kingdom
Karolina Janacsek (University of Greenwich, School of Human Sciences)
Christos Pliatsikas (University of Reading, Reading; Department of Psychology)
United States
David Balota (Washington University)
Rachel Barr (Georgetown University; Department of Psychology)
Harriet Bowden (University of Tennessee; Spanish Department)
Christopher Conway (Grinnell College; Department of Psychology)
Michael Cortese (University of Nebraska Omaha; Department of Psychology)
Laurie Cutting (Vanderbilt Kennedy Center; Education and Brain Sciences Research Lab)
Sayako Earle (University of Delaware; Communication Sciences & Disorders)
Rebekah Evans (Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University)
Tanya Evans (University of Virginia; Curry School of Education)
Noreen Goldman (Princeton University; Woodrow Wilson School, Demography and Public Affairs)
Sarah Grey (Fordham University, Spanish and Portuguese)
Adam Green (Georgetown university; Department of Psychology)
Phillip Hamrick (Kent State University; Department of Psychological Sciences)
Xiong Jiang (Georgetown University; Department of Neuroscience)
Karim Johari (Louisiana State University; Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders)
Daniel Lipscomb (University of Virginia; School of Education and Human Development)
Jarrett Lovelett (UC San Diego; Department of Psychology)
Ian Lyons (Georgetown University; Psychology Department)
Kara Morgan-Short (University of Illinois at Chicago; Department of Hispanic and Italian Studies, Cognition and Second Language Acquisition Laboratory)
Stewart Mostofsky (Kennedy Krieger Institute; Laboratory for Neurocognitive and Imaging Research)
Mariel Pullman (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York)
Robert Reichle (University of Texas, Austin)
Michael Rugg (University of Texas, Dallas)
Cristina Sanz (Georgetown University; Department of Spanish & Portuguese, Center for the Brain Basis of Cognition)
Anuraj Shankar (Oxford University; OUCRU Oxford University Clinical Research Unit)
Kyle Shattuck (Georgetown University; Department of Neuroscience)
Kaitlyn Tagarelli (Mango Languages)
Peter Turkeltaub (Georgetown University Medical Center; Department of Neurology)
Ashley VanMeter (Georgetown University Medical Center; Center for Functional and Molecular Imaging)
Matthew Walenski (Northwestern University; School of Communication, Aphasia and Neurolinguistics Research Laboratory)
Maxine Weinstein (Georgetown University; Center for Population and Health)
POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS
JOSHUA BUFFINGTON
Dr. Buffington is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Aging & Alzheimer's Research Training Program at Georgetown University. Guiding questions in his work concern how adults acquire language— both foreign languages and continued learning in one’s native language(s) (e.g., ‘Ozempic’)— as well as why adult language learning seems so much more challenging than child language learning. Understanding adult language learning is important for developing interventions for age-related challenges with language and for designing effective instructional environments for adult second language learning, which may be neuroprotective. Dr. Buffington’s work on these issues focuses on neurocognitive processes of language learning, primarily as motivated by the declarative/procedural model of language.
MASTER'S STUDENTS
ELISA YANNI
Elisa is pursuing a Master’s degree in Integrative Neuroscience at Georgetown and has completed degrees in Neuroscience and Philosophy at the University of Scranton. Her research interests primarily involve behavioral neuroscience, specifically in regard to language acquisition, neurodegenerative diseases, and sleep disorders.
UNDERGRADUATE ASSISTANTS
ELLA FATHI
School: Georgetown College, 2026
Major: Linguistics, Pre-Medical Track
Interests: Fluent in four languages herself, Ella’s curiosity lies in the cognitive processes involved in language learning. Specifically, she is fascinated by the interconnection between language acquisition/maintenance and memory systems. Her research interests include investigating the role of bilingualism in preserving memory function as well as the impact of code-switching on memory consolidation.
JIMIN LEE
School: Georgetown College, 2024
Major: Neurobiology, Pre-Medical Track
Interests: Jimin is interested in the function of the brain on the molecular level and the effects of multilingualism on the brain. She would like to explore the causes behind neurodegenerative diseases and its relationship with language and memory.
ESHA MANDUVA
School: Georgetown College, 2025
Major: Psychology, Pre-Medical Track
Interests: Esha is interested in behavioral responses and neurological pathways. She would like to explore the relationship between physiology and memory through neuroscience.
MASON SERMARINI
School: Georgetown School of Health, 2025
Major: Human Science, Pre-Medical Track
Interests: Mason is fascinated by neurophysiology as it pertains to human health and wellness. He would like to explore the relationship between extracurricular involvement and cognitive decline in the aging brain.
LAB PHOTOS
ALUMNAE AND ALUMNI
Research Assistants/Lab Managers
Laura Babcock
Jocelyn Curchack
Matthew Gelfand
Joshua Hartshorne
Courtney Horwitz
Kaitlyn Litcofsky
Jarrett Lovelett
Christopher Maloof
Goldie Ann McQuaid
Matthew Moffa
Kaori Ozawa
Marco Pineyro
Elizabeth Prado
Mariel Pullman
Lauren Russell
John Stowe
Andrea Tomann
Eiling Yee
Post-doctoral fellows
John Drury
Cristina Dye
Robbin Miranda
Oya Ozemir
Kaitlyn Tagarelli
Antoine Tremblay
Visiting Scholars
Ingrid Finger
Mailce Mota
Dezso Nemeth
PhD Students
Harriet Bowden
Claudia Brovetto
Helen Carpenter
Ivy Estabrooke
Sarah Grey
Martina Hedenius
Robbin Miranda
Kara Morgan-Short
PhD Student Research Rotations
Adam Caccavano
Stephanie Davis
Scott Miles
Sheeva Azma
Evan Gordon
Pavel Ortinski
Jill Weisberg
Robbin Wood
Ivy Estabrooke
Visiting Graduate Students
Martina Hedenius
Signe Schneider
Natalya Vladyko
Masters and Medical Students
Kaley Alberty
Nhyira Annan
Laura Babcock
Mackenzie Brown
Blaine Coyle
Sai Soumya Gudipudi
Denas Kisonas
Sparsha Muralidhara
Elizabeth Prado
Rachel Usala
Undergraduate Students
Jennifer Blackwood
Laura Bomeny
Annie Brown
Rachael Campbell
Madison Chandler
Stephen Cohen
Jocelyn Curchack
Roland Dimaya
Lea Frawley
Matthew Gelfand
Selin Gulgoz
Joshua Hartshorne
Matt Huszagh
Margot Kabalkin
Walid Khan
Sarah Lee
Stephanie Lukas
Alexa MacKinnon
Kirk McMurray
Neil Menon
Vidya Mullangi
Elizabeth Prado
Mariel Pullman
Kristin Rabil
Christopher Reid
Lauren Russell
Stephen Serene
Brittany Sonnichsen
Andrew Tiu
Michelle Travers
Katie Woodhouse
Associated Researchers
Claudia Bonin
Shira Fischer
Dominik Rus
Stephen Wright
Undergraduate Assistants
Kaley Alberty
Sia Anagnostou
Marco Asencao
Jeanine Baqai
Jordan Braunfeld
Keith Catlin
Christina Cardone
Catherine Cauthen
Arash Chehrazi
Melissa Chen
Sz-Min Chen
Carrie Chomuik
Kateryna Christian
Galen Clayton
Ryan Coyle
Dimana Dimitrova
Timothy Dougherty
Sophia Elliott
Gustavo Franco Quaresma de Mourna
Stefan Gavrilovski
Heidi Getz
Robin Go
Abagail Hamilton
Kevin Hartnett
Kristen Hartnett
Jinah Haytko
Katrina Hernandez
Jayne Jang
Nicole Keller
Minsol Kim
Charlie Kovach
Catherine Kulick
Angela Lewis
Emily Liner
Josh Loewenstern
Stephanie Lukas
Karen Luo
Kelly Magee
Zein Malas
Maureen McCusker
Elliott McLean
Bryan Mendiola
Liza Mermelstein
Annette Min
Jennifer Moore
Kathleen Morrell
Brendan O'Farrell
Jonathan Picos
Briele Reynolds
Mystelle Ruble
Lauren Russell
Kathryn Ryan
Sepideh Soheilian
Brittany Sonnichsen
Dina Spagnolo
Robin Speiser
Jessica Stevens
Alison Thoner
Gretta Thorn
Shannon Nikki Vann
Emily Wang
Lily Wanner
Sahil Warsi
Lana Worobec
Past Collaborators
David Birdsong
Claudia Brovetto
Suzanne Corkin
Harold Goodglass
Joshua Hartshorne
Tracy Love
Pauline Maki
Valerie Shafer
Yuval Shilon
David Swinney
Heather van der Lely