People

Meet our Research Team!

The blab poses as a group
All of the Blab members stand smiling on a set of stairs.
The Blab poses as a group in a conference room
The blab poses in front of a whiteboard

Dr. Elika Bergelson

Elika smiles as an adult on the left and as a baby on the right

Dr. Bergelson is an Associate Professor in Harvard's Psychology Dept. (check out her personal page). Dr. Bergelson received her PhD from the University of Pennsylvania, where she first became interested in infant word-learning, after receiving research training at the University of Maryland as a Baggett Fellow, and a B.A. at NYU in Language and Mind. Her training is in psychology, linguistics, and cognitive science. Before coming to Harvard, she was a postdoc and then research prof at URochester's Brain & CogSci Dept, and then a professor in Duke's Psych & Neuro Dept. Dr. Bergelson's work has been funded by the NSF and NIH; she is the recipient of an NIH Early Independence Award and R01, and an NSF CAREER Award. Dr. Bergelson thinks figuring out how babies learn language is just about the coolest question out there. 

 

Full Time Researchers

Dr. Amanda O'Brien

Postdoctoral Researcher

Amanda received her PhD in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology from Harvard University. Before her PhD, Amanda earned her MS in Speech-Language Pathology from Boston University and worked as a speech pathologist and clinical researcher at Boston Children’s Hospital. Amanda is interested inunderstanding how speech and language develops, and how this development differs for people with communication challenges, such as autism. She uses behavioral and neuroimaging approaches to ask questions about the brain and behavioral foundations of speech and language. In the Bergelson Lab, Amanda is excited to work with babies and their families to explore some of these questions. In her free time, Amanda loves spending time outside with her family (including her husky) enjoying the beautiful New England seasons – from summers by the water to winters in the snow. And all year round, Amanda enjoys a good cup of coffee.

Dr. Ebru Evcen

Postdoctoral Researcher

Ebru is a postdoctoral research fellow who completed her PhD in Linguistics at the University of California San Diego. Her work broadly focuses on language development, with a particular emphasis on development of semantic and pragmatic competence. Her research asks how children (and adults) arrive at meaning by reasoning about what a speaker intends. She has worked mostly with preschoolers, studying how they draw these inferences in everyday conversation. In the Bergelson Lab, she is excited to work on how early some of these abilities come online and what role they play in word learning, and more broadly on what makes older infants better word learners. Outside of research, Ebru enjoys making her own (often oversized) earrings, crocheting, and working her way through the city's coffee shops.

Sophie smiles as an adult on the left and a baby on the right

Sophie Schoenbohm

Lab Manager

Sophie graduated from Grinnell College with a B.A. in Psychology and a Concentration in Linguistics. At Grinnell, she conducted research on bilingualism, slang, and wrote her senior thesis on language development in children with developmental disabilities. She is interested in how those with sensory impairments acquire language. In her spare time, Sophie loves reading, knitting, watching reality TV shows, and baking all kinds of treats.

Michika Ito

Lab Manager

Michika graduated from Wellesley College with a B.A. in Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences with a concentration in Psychology. At Wellesley, she conducted research on the effects of familiar song melody on word learning skills in preschool children. She is interested in Speech Pathology as well as exploring how children mentally represent the meaning of words in relation to bilingualism/multilingualism. In her free time, she likes to cook, play tennis, and watch movies.

Michika smiles as an adult on the left and a child on the right
Kien smiles on the left as an adult and as a child on the right

Kien Nguyen

Lab Technician

Kien graduated from Macalester College with a BA in Computer Science, Linguistics, and English. He did research on sub-word tokenization in training language models and providing linguistically conscious metrics to evaluate large language models. He is interested in inter-disciplinary approaches to machine learning and natural language processing. In his free time, Kien enjoys reading and writing fictions.

Graduate Students

Genia Lukin

5th Year Graduate Student

Genia studied psycholinguistics at Tel Aviv University and theoretical Linguistics at Boston University. She is interested in how sensory impairments impact language-learning, and how babies compensate for them. In her spare time, she tries to read all the books, sings classical choir, and has very strong opinions about Mediterranean cuisine.

Kristen Gilyard

5th Year Graduate Student

Kristen recently graduated from Harvard University with an A.B. in Neuroscience and Mathematics. Kristen wants to acquire more knowledge about how infants learn specifically how infants create semantic representations. Kristen also enjoys reading, knitting, and bird-watching.

Lily Zhu

3rd Year Graduate Student

Lily studied Cognitive Science and Data Science at Johns Hopkins University. She is interested in how children integrate multiple sources of information for language learning and develop their compositional knowledge. In her free time, Lily enjoys running, gaming, and experimenting with desserts.

Rachel Liu

2nd Year Graduate Student

Rachel studied English Language and Literature at Wuhan University, Applied Linguistics at Columbia University, and Developmental Psychology at McMaster University. She is fascinated by infants’ and children’s language learning trajectories, and by how their social and cognitive development unfolds in tandem with—and mutually supports—early language acquisition. In her spare time, she enjoys doing Zumba, painting, spending time with friends and family, and walking her mischievous yet lovable beagle.

Research Assistants

Cecilia smiles as an adult on the left and as a child on the right

Cecilia Nguyen

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Cecilia is a senior from Michigan studying Psychology and East Asian Studies at Harvard. She is interested in the intersection of cultural psychology and language acquisition as well as psychopathology, specifically eating disorders. In her free time, she likes to dance, play video games, binge watch Netflix shows, and plan hypothetical vacations! Her favorite watch has been When Life Gives You Tangerines.

Runa Matsushita

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Runa is a junior at Harvard studying Psychology. She is interested in cognitive and developmental psychology, with a focus on language acquisition and bilingualism. Runa is also an avid violinist and is keenly interested in how music impacts cognitive and language development. In her spare time, she loves spending time outside, baking, going to concerts, and taking walks with her mini-poodle, Mocco.

Runa smiles as an adult on the left and eats a slice of watermelon as a child on the right
Rylea smiles as an adult on the left and as a baby on the right

Rylea Pritchett

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Rylea is a senior from North Carolina at Harvard studying psychology and pursuing an American Sign Language citation. She is interested in social psychology and language development for deaf and hard of hearing children. In her free time, she enjoys upcycling clothes, reading, and dancing.

Adeline Kim

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Adeline is a junior at Harvard studying Cognitive Neuroscience and Evolutionary Psychology & Linguistics. Having grown up in a bilingual household, she is interested in how children interpret and organize language when they are exposed to multiple linguistic environments, as well as how social interaction influences language learning. When she isn’t transcribing baby babbles, she loves to bake, bullet journal, and play tennis!
 


 

Adeline smiles as an adult on the left and frowns as a toddler on the right
Lilly stands smiling as an adult on the left and a child on the right

Lilly Humpherys

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Lilly is a sophomore at Boston University studying Psychology and minoring in Korean and Religion. She is interested in the intersection between culture and psychopathology, specifically how language impacts development and behavior. In her spare time, Lilly enjoys going on walks, reading, and watching TV shows.

Evelyn Coelho-Fraaije

University of Bath Research Intern

Evelyn is a third-year undergraduate student studying Psychology at the University of Bath. She is interested in early childhood development, particularly infant-caregiver interactions and how the nature and quality of these interactions influence children's cognitive, social, and communicative development. In her spare time, Evelyn enjoys hanging out with animals, as well as traveling, painting, and ice skating.

Evelyn smiles as an adult on the left and laughs as a baby on the right.

Lab Alumni (Where They Are Now)

If You're Interested In Joining Our Lab, See Here!