Edward Vessel
Dr. Vessel is an Assistant Professor in the CCNY Department of Psychology and Director of the VisNA Lab.
PhD Students
Hannah Ovadia
Hannah is a doctoral student in CUNY’s Cognitive and Comparative Psychology PhD program. She is interested in the cognitive and neural processes behind creating and experiencing art.
Dominik Welke
Dominik is completing his PhD at MPIEA and TU Berlin.
He has an MSc in Biology and Neuroscience and studies aesthetic valuation using EEG and physiological recordings.
Master’s Students
Luis Morales
Luis is an Adjunct Lecturer at Laguna College of Art and Design, pursuing an MA in Behavioral Neuroscience from Queens College. He is interested in the neural and psychological foundations of aesthetic cognition, as well as music cognition and the relationship between empirical aesthetics and creativity.
Sophia Senderak
Sophia is a freelance French horn player pursuing an MS in Cognitive Neuroscience. Her interdisciplinary work bridges her passions for performance and cognition, exploring the ways in which music and perception interact.
August Miller
August is pursuing a Master’s in Cognitive Neuroscience.
Scherien Müller
Undergraduate Students
Edwarné Woodley-Gift
Edwarné is a junior BS student majoring in Biology and Psychology. She is interested in neuroscience and computational methods for studying neural activity. In the VISNA Lab, she is learning about neuroaesthetics and computational modeling.
Karen Wahba
Karen is a senior in the BA/MA Psychology Research track at CCNY with a focus on computational neuroscience. She previously researched the basal ganglia’s role in decision-making using computational models. She is also interested in the field of neuroart, where science and creative expression intersect to explore the brain.
Alexandra Mindnich
Alexandra is a Junior entering the BA/MA program. She is excited to combine her interest in art with her focus on neuroscience and her curiosity about neuroimaging in the VisNA lab.
Visiting Scholars
Ákos Orbán
Ákos will join the CCNY VisNA Lab in Fall of 2025.
Adam Reynolds
Adam did a yearlong research project at the VisNA lab at MPIEA. He recently completed his PhD.
Dela Farzanfar
Lab Alumni
Aubrey Valdez
Aubrey received a BA/MA in Psychology with a concentration in Research, and is also a freelance artist. They are interested in pursuing a PhD in cognitive neuroscience, particularly neuroaesthetics.
Victor Omilabu
Ashley Gurung
Ashley completed a Master’s in Cognitive Neuroscience, and is interested in the relationship between aesthetics and learning.
Andrew Frankel
Andrew completed his second Master’s degree in Cognitive Neuroscience. He previously completed an MS in Computer Science and is interested in neuroscience-inspired approaches to improving artificial intelligence.
Maximos Pantelidakis
Maximos did a yearlong Erasmus fellowship with Dr. Vessel at the MPIEA.
Carla Frenzel
Ilkay Isik, PhD
Dr. Isik applies her expertise in data analytics and technology to risk management. Ilkay completed her PhD in the MPIEA VisNA Lab and was also a Postdoc with the group.
Laura Pasqualette
Laura recently completed a PhD in the Developmental and Education Psychology Department at Bremen University. Laura completed her Master’s in the VisNA Lab at MPIEA.
Sarah Koldehoff
Sarah Koldehoff is a Master’s student at Department of Psychology, University of Hamburg. She also works as a freelance science journalist. Previously, she was a student assistant in the MPIEA VisNA Lab.
Lukas Köhs
Lukas worked as a research assistant in the MPIEA VisNA Lab during his time as a Master’s student at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies. In May 2018, he began his PhD-studies at the SOS Lab at TU Darmstadt.
Alexander Denker
Dr. Denker is Chief of Staff of the Division of Translational Research (DTR) at NINDS. Alex obtained his PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience from Emory University.
Ailin Tomio
Isaac Purton
Eda Aksoy
Natalia Maurer
Jonathan Stahl