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Principal Investigator
Gregory Cogan, PhD
Dr. Gregory B. Cogan obtained his Bachelors in Psychology at Queen’s University, Canada, followed by his masters in Linguistics at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He completed his PhD in 2011 at the University of Maryland, College Park under the supervision of David Poeppel, where he examined the neural phase coding of speech using information theoretic approaches and magnetoencephalography (MEG). Dr. Cogan then carried out his postdoctoral work at the Center for Neuroscience at New York University (CNS - NYU) with Bijan Pesaran examining speech sensory-motor transformations using electrocorticography (ECoG). This was followed by a postdoctoral position in the Biomedical Engineering Department at Duke University with Jon Viventi to establish a human cognition research program using high density/high channel count electrode arrays. Dr. Cogan is currently an Assistant Professor at Duke University in the Department of Neurology, Department of Neurosurgery, Biomedical Engineering, and Psychology and Neuroscience. He is also as a member of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences and the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience. Since 2019, he is the Director of Research for the Duke Comprehensive Epilepsy Center (DCEC).
Email: gregory dot cogan at duke dot edu
Postdoctoral Associates
Baishen is a Postdoctoral Associate in the department of Neurology. He graduated from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2023 with a Ph.D. degree in Cognitive Neuroscience. Before this, he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree from the School of Psychology, Central China Normal University in 2017. Baishen's research in the Cogan Lab aims to use ieeg to study how verbal working memory help speech production adapt to changing conversational contexts. Outside of the lab, Baishen enjoys writing poetry and novels.
Email: baishen dot liang at duke dot edu
Baishen Liang, PhD
Residents
Daniel is a neurosurgery resident at Duke interested in working at the intersection of pediatric neurosurgery and neuroscience to better understand and treat the developing brain.
Email: daniel dot p dot sexton at duke dot edu
Daniel Sexton, MD
PhD Students
Zac Spalding
Zac is a Ph.D student in the department of Biomedical Engineering and is co-advised by Dr. Gregory Cogan and Dr. Jonathan Viventi. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2022 with a Bachelor's degree in Bioengineering. Zac's research in the Cogan Lab aims to use high-density micro-ECoG electrodes to decode speech in patients who have lost the ability to speak. Outside of the lab, Zac enjoys cooking with his wife and ice skating.
Email: zac dot spalding at duke dot edu
Jim Zhang
Jim graduated from Rice University in 2022 with a B.A. in Neuroscience and a B.S. in Electrical & Computer Engineering. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience, working with Dr. Tobias Egner, Dr. Simon Davis, and Dr. Gregory Cogan. Jim is currently interested in how subjective experiences arise from neural activity, the application of stimulation (TMS) to improve semantic memory in MCI adults, and the influence of episodic memory on cognitive control levels. He plans to study these questions using behavioral, fMRI, modeling, TMS techniques, and intracranial recordings.
Email: jim dot zhang at duke dot edu
Areti Majumdar
Areti is a Ph.D. student in the department of Biomedical Engineering. She graduated from the University of Michigan in 2022 with a Bachelor’s degree in Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience, and a minor in Computer Science. Areti’s research in the Cogan Lab aims to use SEEG and high-density micro electrode arrays to understand and decode speech processing and production in humans. Outside of the lab, Areti enjoys going to the beach and spending time with her dog.
Email: areti dot majumdar at duke dot edu
Erin is a sophomore undergraduate student majoring in Neuroscience and pursuing a certificate in Decision Sciences. She is interested in the interaction between Neuroscience and other disciplines such as language and computer science. In her free time, she loves to read, watch movies, and hike.
Email: erin dot burns at duke dot edu
Erin Burns
Undergraduate Students
Raymond is an undergraduate pursuing a BS in Computer Science and a minor in Linguistics. He is interested in the intersections of neuroscience, linguistics, and computer science, especially in the automation of neurolinguistic research toolkits. In his free time, he enjoys tennis and cooking.
Email: raymond dot xiong at duke dot edu
Raymond Xiong
Research and Clinical Staff
Aaron is a Research Technician II who is helping to develop and maintain the data analysis pipelines for the lab. He is planning on pursuing his Ph.D. He is from Oneonta, New York and has a bachelors in Bioengineering from Cornell University. He most interested in Brain Computer Interfaces (BCIs) and hopes to use highly accurate ECoG data to develop models of the brain for prosthetics or wearables. In his free time, Aaron enjoys tennis, politics, backpacking, and board games.
Email: aaron dot earlerichardson at duke dot edu
Aaron Earle-Richardson
Nicole Liddle
Nicole is a Clinical Research specialist, Sr. in the lab. She graduated from Dartmouth College in 2022 with a B.A. in Psychology, where she conducted research at the Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Lab (CANLab) on the neurophysiological effects of acoustic resonance and interpersonal entrainment. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. in auditory signal processing to elucidate how granular encoding of stimulus components and integrated reconstruction mechanisms enable coherent acoustic perception. In her free time, Nicole enjoys discovering new music and local restaurants, as well as spending time in nature.
Email: nicole dot liddle at duke dot edu
LAB ALUMNI
Kumar Duraivel, PhD
Kumar is currently a postdoc in Ev Fedorenko's Lab at MIT.
Former PhD Student
Brooke Sevchik
Former Undergraduate Student
Brooke is currently a Data Analyst Associate at the University Of Pennsylvania in the Penn Lifespan Informatics and Neuroimaging Center (PennLINC).
Kassie Hamilton
Kassie is currently a PostBac. at the Washington University in St. Louis.
Former Undergraduate Student
Alice Lyu
Alice is currently an undergraduate student at Duke University.
Former Undergraduate Student
Seth Foster
Seth currently works at RedHat Ansible, and still supports the Indiana Pacers.
Former Research Technician II
Shervin is currently faculty at the University of Utah in the Department of Neurosurgery.
Former Neurosurgery Resident
Shervin Rahimpour, MD
Aidan Rogers
Former Masters Student
Palee Abeyta, MS
Palee is currently a clinical research coordinator at Seattle Children's Hospital.
Former Clinical Research Specialist
Anna is currently a Research Program Leader in the Department of Neurosurgery at Duke University.
Anna Thirakul-Denning
Former Clinical Research Coordinator
Alex Shields
Alex is currently a Human Factors Engineer at Genetech.
Aidan is currently a clinical research coordinator at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.
Former Masters Student
Nami Reddy
Former Undergraduate Student
Juliette Gerber
Juliette is currently a clinical research coordinator at Weill Cornell Medicine.
Former Undergraduate Student
Sarah Hodges
Sarah is currently a Neurosurgery resident at Yale University.
Former Medical Student
Ian Jackson
Ian is currently a PhD student in Cognitive Science at UCSD.
Former Masters Student
Izzy Kjaerulff
Izzy is currently an undergraduate student at Duke University.
Former Undergraduate Student
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