Jennifer D. Ryan, Ph.D.
Anne and Max Tanenbaum Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience
Senior Scientist | Rotman Research Institute
Professor, Department of Psychology, Psychiatry | University of Toronto
Jen received her B.S. (1997) and Ph.D. (2001) in Psychology at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. She joined the faculty of the Rotman Research Institute (RRI) at Baycrest and the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto in 2001. She was promoted to Senior Scientist at the RRI in 2008, and Full Professor at U of T in 2014. Jen was awarded a Tier II Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience (2006-2016). She recently served as the Director, Scientific and Academic Affairs, at the RRI (2017-2021) and held the accompanying chair, the Reva James Leeds Chair in Neuroscience and Research Leadership.
Jen’s research focuses on the nature of memory. Her work describes the types of memory representations that are formed by different regions of the brain, and how memories are used, in the moment, to influence ongoing exploration and cognition. Her research also investigates learning strategies that may alleviate or circumvent memory deficits in older adults and in cases of amnesia. Jen’s research examines memory using a converging methodologies approach, employing behavioural paradigms, eyetracking, neuroimaging (e.g., MEG, fMRI), and computational modelling, in order to comprehensively address the questions at hand.
Outside of science, Jen has a variety of interests. Throughout her life, she has participated in sports and endurance events (including track-and-field, cross country, basketball, court volleyball, and even rugby and GORUCK) to varying degrees of success, but always with an eye towards learning from the experience. She now regularly plays 2-on-2 women’s beach volleyball, and can occasionally be spotted running along the lakefront in Toronto. You can also find Jen on the Peloton and Concept2 leaderboards. She is a avid supporter of music, theatre, and the arts, and also enjoys reality tv and soap operas. During their respective seasons, you can hear Jen cheering loudly for the Toronto Raptors and Chicago Bears.
“If you ask me how I want to be remembered, it is as a winner. Is a winner somebody who has success and basically accomplished something or wins a game or whatever? That’s not a winner. You know what a winner is? A winner is somebody who has given his best effort, who has tried the hardest they possibly can, who has utilized every ounce of energy and strength within them to accomplish something. It doesn’t mean they accomplished it or failed, it means that they’ve given it their best. That’s a winner. That is what a winner is all about."
- Walter Payton
LAB MEMBERS
Maya Amestoy
RESEARCH ASSISTANT
mamestoy@research.baycrest.org
Maya is a Research Assistant in the Ryan Lab. She is currently obtaining her Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology at the University of Toronto Scarborough. In the Ryan Lab, Maya uses eye tracking to understand how adults process visual information. Specifically, she has investigated the influence of oculomotor function on mental imagery in younger adults. Maya has also been using online eye tracking platforms to explore adults’ eye movement patterns when viewing brief scenes. She hopes that this research will provide insight into the utility of these platforms in comparison to in-person testing
Ayan Bouni
RESEARCH ASSISTANT
abouni@research.baycrest.org
Ayan is a research student in Dr. Jennifer Ryan’s Lab. She obtained her HBSc in Psychology at the University of Toronto. Ayan is broadly interested in development across the lifespan. Specifically, she is investigating the influence of clinical conditions on eye movement in younger adults. In the Ryan Lab, Ayan works on experiments using online eye-tracking platforms to understand aspects of cognition and mental health.
Ziming Cheng
PHD STUDENT
zcheng@research.baycrest.org
Ziming is a PhD student co-supervised by Drs. Jennifer Ryan and Donna Rose Addis. Ziming is interested in the role of the hippocampus in relational processing, using methods like eye tracking, autobiographical interview, and computational modelling. When not thinking about science, Ziming enjoys playing strategy games, and cooking.
Anisha Khosla
GRADUATE STUDENT
akhosla@research.baycrest.org | Google Scholar Page | Github | @Twitter
Anisha is a PhD Student at the University of Toronto with Dr. Jennifer Ryan and Dr. Morris Moscovitch. She completed her MA in Psychology from the University of Toronto in 2019 and BSc in Psychology and Neuroscience from McMaster University in 2018. During her MA, she examined similarities and differences between visual exploration and spatial navigation. Broadly, she is interested in understanding the neural link between memory and eye movements in the human brain. Specifically, how is information exchanged between the memory area and the area of the brain that controls eye movements? Anisha is also fascinated by changes in visual exploration accompanied by memory loss and wants to investigate the neural underpinnings of such changes. Anisha is also passionate about teaching and has taught multiple Python and R workshops at the Rotman Research Institute.
Geneva Mariotti
RESEARCH ASSISTANT
gmariotti@research.baycrest.orgg
Geneva is a Research Assistant in the Ryan lab and is in her final year at York University obtaining a BSc in Specialized Honours Psychology. She is broadly interested in how the field of cognitive neuroscience can address issues around healthy and unhealthy aging. In the Ryan Lab, Geneva works on projects using eye-tracking and fMRI methods to understand various aspects of cognition such as memory and learning in older adult populations.
Hannah Marlatte
GRADUATE STUDENT
hmarlatte@research.baycrest.org
Hannah is a PhD student at University of Toronto with Dr. Jennifer Ryan and Dr. Asaf Gilboa. They completed their BSc at University of Saskatchewan, exploring the impact having conscious awareness of a stressor has on cellular memory mechanisms. For their MA, completed at the University of Toronto, they developed a model of learning based on principles of Bayesian statistics. For their PhD, they are studying how experiencing trauma can influence one's ability to imagine new experiences. Their current research uses eye-tracking and neuroimaging to explore these differences in individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder in hopes of better understanding the mechanism of a current treatment called eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy.
Negar Mazloum-Farzaghi
GRADUATE STUDENT
nmazloum-farzaghi@research.baycrest.org | @Twitter
Negar is a graduate student in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto. She is co-supervised by Dr. Jennifer Ryan and Dr. Rosanna Olsen. She completed her HBSc in Psychology at York University. Some of her undergraduate research in cognitive neuroscience involved delivering cognitive interventions to patients with dementia in order to investigate effects on memory, as well as exploring the neuroscience of learning and memory among younger and older adults. For her graduate research, she is interested in examining the structural and functional brain changes that occur as a result of neuropsychological conditions (e.g., Alzheimer's disease) and aging. Moreover, her work utilizes eye-tracking and neuroimaging techniques to explore the relationship between memory and visual exploration among younger and older adults.
Justin Wang
RESEARCH ASSISTANT
jwang@research.baycrest.org
Erik Wing
POSTDOC
ewing@research.baycrest.org
Erik moved to Toronto to do postdoctoral research with Jennifer Ryan and Asaf Gilboa after completing his PhD at Duke University, where he worked with Roberto Cabeza. He is broadly interested in various factors that influence learning, as can be seen when information is differentially prioritized, distorted, or schematized. His current research focuses on how having organized knowledge about a particular domain (anything from art history to cars) influences learning and memory for related material. This process is familiar to anyone who initially struggles to learn unfamiliar information but finds that subsequent learning is easier once new material can be integrated into an emerging knowledge framework. With respect to brain function, he is interested in exploring how the acquisition of visosemantic expertise leads to reshaping of neural representations, with corresponding consequences for different forms of memory.
Jessica Zaffino
GRADUATE STUDENT
jzaffino@research.baycrest.org
Jessica is a first-year PhD student at the University of Toronto supervised by Dr. Jennifer Ryan. She completed her BA in Psychology at York University where she explored her research interests by working with populations across the lifespan. She conducted her undergraduate research on older adults, exploring the connections between memory, hearing ability, and mood disorders. She later spent two years working as a lab manager in a lab focusing on infant pain. Ultimately, after exploration in research with both infants and adults, she was drawn toward research on memory and aging. Jessica is interested in psychosocial factors and their influence on memory, as well as developing strategies to improve memory functioning in older adults. For her graduate research, she hopes to hone in on this fascinating topic of research by examining specific strategies and exploring how mood disorders affect the ability to use these strategies to improve memory.
“The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.”
― Phil Jackson
Kelly Shen
Scientific Associate
kelly_shen@sfu.ca
Assistant Professor
University of Michigan
RESEARCH EXCELLENCE —— MEMORY —NEUROSCIENCE
LEADERSHIP ———— COGNITION ——— WOMEN IN STEM
COLLABORATION — NEUROIMAGING —— BRAIN HEALTH
EYE TRACKING — EDI ADVOCATES ———— MENTORSHIP
ALUMNI
Supreet Aashat
Katerina Beckas
Lisa Bolshin
Anika Choi
Elisa Kwon
Renante Rondina
Vinoja Sebanayaga
Veena Sanmugananthan
Nathanial Shing
“It's about what the players are doing. My job is to facilitate that. My job is to put them in positions to succeed. My job is to listen to their ideas, take them if they're good, quietly push them to the side if they're not. My job is to help them grow.”
-Nick Nurse
