People

Vishnu “Deepu” Murty 
Principal Investigator
vishnu.murty (at) temple.edu
I am the principal investigator of the Adaptive Memory Lab, which is housed in the Department of Psychology at Temple University. I am currently affiliated with the Cognition and Neuroscience Area as well as the Social Area, and am affiliated Faculty in the Neuroscience and the Interdisciplinary Decision Neuroscience program. My research has previously and concurrently funded by the Behavioral and Brain Research Foundation, National Institutes of Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Mental Health, and the National Science Foundation. 
Emily Cowan
Post-Doctoral Research Fellow
emily.cowan (at) temple.edu
I am a post-doc in the AML, co-advised by Anna Schapiro at UPenn. I received my BA from Skidmore College and my PhD from New York University, where my dissertation research with Lila Davachi focused on how sleep reorganizes the representations of neural memory traces. Building on this work, I’m interested in studying how reward helps prioritize and reorganize memories with sleep-dependent consolidation. Outside of the lab, I can usually be found exploring Philadelphia, trying new baking recipes, or finding new running routes.
Blake Elliott
Post-Doctoral Research Fellow
blake.elliott (at) temple.edu

I am a post-doc in the Adaptive Memory Laboratory and the Ellman Laboratory. I received my Ph.D. from Arizona State University, where my dissertation research investigated structural and functional correlates of reward-motivated episodic memory. In general, I am interested in the effects of reward on human attention and memory, and the role of the mesolimbic dopamine system.

Lena Skalaban
Post-Doctoral Research Fellow
lena.skalaban (at) temple.edu

I am a post-doc in the Adaptive Memory Lab, co-advised by Dr. Jason Chein. I received my B.A. from New York University and my Ph.D. from Yale University. My dissertation research with Dr. BJ Casey focused on how working memory and long-term memory interact and change across the lifespan, and how the type of information remembered or forgotten at different ages might be adaptive for a particular developmental period. Currently, I am interested in understanding how related forms of learning and memory, like semantic memory or working memory, might bolster and/or interfere with episodic memory performance at different ages. In my spare time, I like to run and play soccer so that I can cook and eat food with reckless abandon.

David Gregory
Graduate Student Researcher
david.gregory (at) temple.edu
I am a graduate student in the AML studying emotional memory during aversive experiences to better understand how PTSD-related symptoms may arise during fear and threat, such as watching horror movies or visiting a haunted house. As a student, I have been a member of animal and neuroscience labs at Colorado State University and Hunter College, and a research employee for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Outside of research, I am remodeling my Philly rowhouse, discovering new favorite restaurants, heading to concerts in NYC and traveling home to see family in Colorado.
Elizabeth Horwath
Graduate Student Researcher
elizabeth.horwath (at) temple.edu
I am a graduate student in the AML where I study how reward motivation plays a role in the contextual organization and consolidation of episodic memories. I graduated from Alfred University in December 2017 with a BA in Psychology, after which I worked as a Research Assistant in several labs at Temple before starting my graduate work in the AML. In my free time, I enjoy baking, going to the beach, and playing with my two giant rabbits!
Karen Shen
Graduate Student Researcher
karen.shen (at) temple.edu
I graduated from University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2017, with degrees in Psychology and Finance. Then I received my M.A. in Cognitive Science from Teachers College, Columbia University in 2019. I’m interested in studying how motivational states influence memory and memory-guided decision-making. Outside of the lab, I enjoy playing with my cat and traveling with friends.

Nicholas Ruiz
Graduate Student Researcher
nick.ruiz (at) temple.edu
I am a first-year graduate student with the AML. I am interested in studying how fluctuations of neuromodulatory states affect how we behave and what we remember. I graduated from the University of Chicago in 2015 with a BA in Psychology. I then worked as an RA for Dr. Harriet de Wit in the University of Chicago Medical Center before working as a lab manager with Dr. Mariam Aly at Columbia University. Outside of the lab, I can be found tending to my garden, cooking, or rewatching one of the Fast and the Furious movies for the millionth time.

 

Steven Martinez
Graduate Student Researcher
stevent.martinez (at) temple.edu
I am a graduate student in the AML where I study the interactions across learning, memory, and decision-making. After graduating from Fitchburg State University in 2017, I worked on characterizing adolescent development as part of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study with Dr. BJ Casey at Yale University. I also worked on examining how a multi-domain group movement program may benefit individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment and dementia as well as characterizing the pathobiology of Gulf War Illness in Gulf War Veterans with Dr. Deborah Barnes and Dr. Linda Chao at the University of California San Francisco and the San Francisco VA Medical Center. In my free time, I’m most likely playing soccer or exploring Philly!
Ga In Shin
Graduate Student Researcher
ga.in,shin (at) temple.edu
I am a graduate student in the AML. I graduated Hanyang University, South Korea with a BS in Biomedical Engineering. Then I received my MS in Clinical Neuropsychiatry from King’s College London, UK. I then worked as an RA for Dr. Soojin Park in Yonsei University before coming to the US. I am interested in investigating how emotional memories change over time. Outside of the lab, you will find me either cafe-hopping or lying on my bed reading something that is not an academic paper.
Büşra Tanriverdi
Affiliated Graduate Student
busra.tanriverdi (at) temple.edu
I am a Ph.D. student at Temple University, mentored by Dr. Ingrid Olson and Dr. Jason Chein. My research interests are at the intersection of emotion and memory, and current projects include using MRI to investigate post-encoding memory replay and its implications in long-term memory reorganization and retrieval. After working with Dr. Deepu Murty as a visiting researcher for a year, I am now an affiliated member of the AML family. My research at the AML focuses on MTL involvement to support emotion processing and memory in both healthy and clinical populations (e.g., PTSD and depression). In my free time, you might find me socializing with my friends, engaging with activism for social justice, or painting with watercolors.

.

Isabel Leiva
Research Associate 
isabel.leiva (at) temple.edu
I am the AML Lab Manager here at Temple. I graduated from The University of Maryland, Baltimore County with a BS in Psychology in 2021. My undergraduate work in the YouthFirst Lab, lead by Dr. Jason Schiffman, focused on early intervention for psychosis through analyzing potential genetic and environmental factors that may contribute to a first episode. My interests since joining the AML have extended into memory, resulting in two projects. One analyzing the effects of social interaction and individual differences on memory and one analyzing the effects of rumination on memory. When I’m not in the lab I am likely either baking, hiking, or drinking copious amounts of tea.

 

Kate Cliver
Master Student Researcher
katelyn.cliver (at) temple.edu

I am neuroscience master’s student in AML, where I study the effects of adverse stimuli and reward states on memory as well the stability of temporal order memory under high arousal states. I graduated from Temple University in 2022 with a BS in Neuroscience where I also worked as an undergraduate researcher in AML. When I am not in lab (or class), I spend my time giving out my sourdough starter to anyone with even a slight interest and hiking.

Undergraduate Research Assistants

Selected AML Alumni:

Allie Neeson, Former Research Associate, Current Medical Student at Tufts University
Matthew Fain, Former Research Associate, Current Graduate Student at UCSD
Jane Rothrock, Former Research Associate, Current Graduate Student at Duke University
Troy Houser, Former Research Associate, Current Graduate Student at University of Oregon
Samantha Reisman, Former Research Associate, Current Graduate Student at Brown University
Ian O’Shea, Former Research Associate, Current Medical Student at Penn State
Kathryn Lockwood, Former Research Associate, Current Research Associate at Columbia University

Devlin Eckhart, Former Research Associate, Current Research Associate at CHOP

Collaborators:
Science is more joyful when you work with other great people!
R. Alison Adcock, Duke University
Jason Chein, Temple University
Joseph Dunsmoor, UT: Austin
Lauren Ellman, Temple University
Oriel FeldmanHall, Brown University
Chelsea Hellion, Temple University
Johanna Jarcho, Temple University
Nora Newcombe, Temple University
Ingrid Olson, Temple University
Susan Perlman, University of Pittsburgh
Maureen Ritchey, Boston College
David Smith, Temple University
Alexa Tompary, University of Pennsylvania