People

Professor and P.I.

Dr. Lisa Aziz Zadeh

Dr. Lisa Aziz-Zadeh is a Professor at the University of Southern California, in the Brain and Creativity Institute, and in the Department of Occupational Science. She studies social cognition from a cognitive neuroscience perspective, using techniques including functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS).

Email: lisa.azizzadeh@usc.edu

Post Doctorate Researcher

Akila Kadambi

Akila Kadambi is a postdoctoral researcher studying neural correlates of the self, others, and their connection (empathy and social reasoning), emerging at the bodily/sensorimotor level. She received her PhD from UCLA in 2022. She is primarily involved in the Otherness and Belonging studies.

Email: akadambi@ucla.edu, kadambi@usc.edu

Post Doctorate Researcher

Benjamin Miller-Mills

Ben is a Postdoctoral Fellow aiming to better understand the relationship between subcortical sensory processing, and higher order cognition—such as embodied semantics. Ben completed his PhD in Brisbane, Australia from the University of Queensland, where he investigated auditory localization in healthy adults, as well as implicit sensorimotor adaptation to perturbed visual and auditory feedback. Ben has worked as an MRI technician at the University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University, and has a special interest in implicit motor learning and the cerebellum.

Email: bmillerm@usc.edu

Katie Siri-Ngammuang

Katie is an occupational therapist and doctoral student supporting the lab’s AI Tropes projects. She received her master’s degree from Dalhousie University back home in Canada. She helps with fMRI acquisition and analysis for CeNEC and USC Keck. Her clinical background is mainly in neurodevelopmental disorders, particularly Autism and ADHD.

Email: siringam@usc.edu

Elisa Liu

University of Southern California

Email: elisaliu@usc.edu

Chris Tong

Xuege (Chris) Tong is a third-year entry-level Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) student at USC. Working as a graduate research assistant at USC CeNEC, their work lies at the compelling intersection of neuroscience and occupational therapy. Chris’s research focuses on the AI Tropes study, building upon her previous research experience investigating the integration of artificial intelligence within occupational therapy practice.

Email: xuegeton@usc.edu

Mariana Garcia

Mariana is a third-year Entry-Level Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) student at USC. She is currently completing a fieldwork placement supporting the CeNEC team, whose work bridges neuroscience and occupational therapy. Her research background includes a qualitative senior honors project at California State University, Fullerton, completed in fulfillment of her Honors degree, in which she examined how familial roles shape mental health outcomes among Latinx students.

Email: mg29270@usc.edu