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Kimberly S. Chiew, Ph.D. Principal Investigator Dr. Chiew is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Denver. She completed a Bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience at the University of Toronto, a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology at Washington University in St. Louis and a postdoctoral fellowship at Duke University’s Center for Cognitive Neuroscience. She is a member of DU Psychology’s Affect-Social-Cognitive area and affiliated with the Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience program. Dr. Chiew is interested in how motivation and affect — what we want and how we feel — shape the way we allocate attention, control task performance, and learn and remember information; ultimately, supporting adaptive behavior. CV | Email | Google Scholar | Department Profile
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Alyssa Asmar Alyssa is a second-year graduate student from Michigan in the ASC area supervised by Dr. Chiew and Dr. Kateri McRae. She received her B.S. in Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience from the University of Michigan and spent the year after graduation as lab manager for the MAC and AACT Labs at the University of Denver. She is excited to continue her work in these labs to explore her interests in emotion regulation and how affective and cognitive processes can affect memory. In her free time, Alyssa loves to spend time in the mountains, create jewelry, and roller skate!
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Rachel Brough Rachel is a second-year graduate student in the ASC area. She graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with degrees in Cognitive Neuroscience and Anthropology, and then spent two years working as a research technician there on the Dual Mechanisms of Cognitive Control project, led by Dr. Todd Braver. Rachel is interested in the neural and cognitive mechanisms underlying how cognitive control is adapted in response to different types of motivational and emotional contexts. She is also interested in how lab-based measures of cognitive control translate to executive functioning skills in daily life. Outside of the lab, Rachel enjoys reading, hiking, dancing, thrift shopping, and spoiling her cat, Chamomile.
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Jay Von Monteza Von is a second-year graduate student in the ASC area supervised by Dr. Peter Sokol-Hessner and Dr. Chiew. Originally from the Philippines, he lived in Southern California for most of his life, where he earned his Associate degree in Psychology and Art from Riverside City College (RCC) and his Bachelor degree in Psychology from California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB). Before joining the Sokol-Hessner lab and the MAC lab, Von was a research assistant in the Koshino lab at CSUSB, the STEM en familia program at RCC, and the Virtual Lab at the Center for Decision Research, Chicago Booth. He is interested in interactions between attention, memory, emotion, motivation, reasoning, cognitive control, and decision-making in both neurotypical and neurodivergent populations. Outside the lab, Von enjoys music, manga, anime, k-dramas, hikes, and drawing.
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Elle Haines Elle is a fourth-year undergraduate student majoring in Psychology and minoring in French and Biology. She is passionate about the neural and cognitive mechanisms that influence how we adapt cognitive control in response to different motivational and emotional contexts. After college, Elle hopes to go onto graduate school to understand more about how she can contribute to understanding of human behavior and promote interventions that reduce the impact of harmful behavior for both individuals and society.
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Megan Lucyshyn Megan is a junior undergraduate student at DU from Pewaukee, Wisconsin. She is majoring in Molecular Biology and minoring in Psychology with a concentration in Cognitive Neuroscience, Chemistry, and Physiology in Health and Disease. After college she wishes to pursue medical school with a focus on emergency medicine. She is interested in motivation and the impact that outside factors have on it. In her free time Megan works as an EMT and is a swimmer for DU’s swim and dive team.
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Ouija Ouija is from Colorado and was adopted from Rocky Mountain Feline Rescue. His hobbies include contributing to Dr. Chiew’s grants by walking on keyboards, requesting more food (always), monitoring the outdoor squirrel situation, and napping.
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Chamomile Chamomile (or Cami for short!) is a graduate student affiliate from St. Louis, Missouri. She takes her role of providing emotional support cuddles very seriously, and enjoys bird watching, testing out new places to nap, and confiscating pens to hide under the couch.
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Charlie Charlie is from Illinois and was adopted 3 years ago. After a long day of assisting Megan and Dr. Chiew in the lab, his hobbies include eating, sleeping, and playing with his sister, Ellie.
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Ellie Ellie is from Green Bay, Wisconsin and was adopted 5 years ago. Her hobbies include barking at everything, playing with her brother Charlie, and eating wood chips. She enjoys helping Megan and Dr. Chiew study motivation with treats and toys.
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Could this be you? We may have opportunities for motivated and reliable undergraduate and graduate students to join the MAC Lab! Interested students should email Dr. Chiew to discuss potential research opportunities. We value the cultivation of a supportive and inclusive scientific training environment and particularly encourage individuals from groups underrepresented in science to get in touch. |