PhD Students

Featured

I am interested in how Virtual Reality (VR) can be used to help people living with intellectual disabilities. Throughout my PhD, I plan to explore ways VR can be used to improve social skills, enhance cognitive skills and develop skills to support independent living.

Supervisors: Dr Tobias Loetscher, Dr Ancret Szpak

Anne Macnamara

I am a PhD student interested in the visual changes associated with aging. Visual impairment is a common condition amongst the aging population and can have a substantial impact on the happiness, independence, and functionality of daily life. My research will focus on the use of technology to enhance vision in older adults, as well as assistive technology to navigate their environments. The overall goal is to investigate whether these technologies can improve the quality of life for people with visual impairment.

Supervisors: Dr Tobias Loetscher and Dr Scott Coussens

Monique Boord

Delirium is a neurocognitive disorder that can lead to significant cognitive and functional decline, increased dementia risk, and death. Delirium is theorised to be a disorder of functional brain disintegration, but little is known about neural vulnerability to delirium. My PhD aims to characterise neural vulnerability to delirium using EEG and ERPs in older adults undergoing cardiac procedures.

Supervisors: A/Prof. Hannah Keage and Dr Scott Coussens

Dilushi Chandrakumar

My research centres around the association between spatial attention and fatigue in the healthy brain. Specifically, I will be investigating the neural mechanisms that lead to a shift in spatial attention as a result of mental fatigue and under which conditions this shift is evident, through employing prolonged cognitive tasks and conducting sleep restriction studies. I will also use electroencephalography (EEG) to measure alpha band activity as an index of mental fatigue and eye tracking devices to measure the direction of eye movement.

Supervisors: Dr Tobias Loetscher, Dr Scot Coussens, Prof Jill Dorrian, Prof Siobhan Banks and A/Prof Hannah Keage

Daniel Feuerriegel

I am interested in how our visual systems are influenced by what we have recently seen, and what we expect to see in the future. My research focuses on how repeated exposure to the same face or object can alter the response properties of neurons that encode these stimuli (known as stimulus-specific adaptation or repetition suppression). I use a variety of techniques including event-related potentials, fast periodic visual stimulation and multivariate pattern classification. I am now a postdoc at the University of Melbourne.

PhD Supervisors: Dr Hannah Keage and Dr Owen Churches

Louise Lavrencic

I have a broad interest in cognitive ageing and factors that help people maintain their cognitive functioning in later life. For my PhD, I investigated cognitive reserve in older people, and how this operates in the brain. I have used various brain imaging techniques, including electroencephalography (EEG) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). I am now a Postdoctoral Fellow at Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA).

PhD Supervisors: Dr Hannah Keage and Dr Owen Churches

Danielle Greaves

I have a broad interest in how we change both cognitively and physiologically throughout ageing. My research investigates how we could decrease future dementia risk in older adults undergoing elective cardiovascular surgery. Specifically I will be using cognitive training regimes to attempt to minimise the cognitive deficits caused by post-operative delirium (occurring in up to 50% of patients), as delirium greatly increases future dementia risk.

Supervisors: A/Prof Hannah Keage and Dr Ashleigh Smith

Dimitrios Saredakis

Apathy is a commonly reported symptom in older adults residing in aged care and may be associated with an increased risk of cognitive decline. Reminiscence therapy, a powerful way of providing a connection with a person’s past, has demonstrated results in improving mood symptoms and quality of life. My research will focus on reducing levels of apathy, combining both reminiscence therapy and immersive virtual reality.

Supervisors: Dr Tobias Loetscher and A/Prof Hannah Keage

Erica Tilley

Over 12,000 patients undergo cardiovascular surgery in Australia every year, with older patients increasingly undergoing these procedures. There is limited current evidence suggesting that these patients are more vulnerable to cognitive decline. My research investigates the short and long-term cognitive effects of cardiovascular surgeries in the older population, and what biomarkers (gait speed, rate of eye-blinking and electroencephalogram/EEG power spectrum) predict response.

Supervisors: Dr Hannah Keage and Dr Tobias Loetscher

Alexandra Wade

I am interested in the link between nutrition and successful cognitive ageing. My research focuses on the Mediterranean diet, and its potential to improve cardiovascular health, protect cognitive function and reduce risk of dementia. To assess changes in cardiometabolic and cognitive function following adherence to a Mediterranean diet I will be conducting three randomised clinical dietary intervention trials at the Sansom Institute for Health Research, collaborating with CAIN and the UniSA Alliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity (ARENA).

Supervisors: Dr Karen Murphy and Dr Hannah Keage.

Honours Students

Featured

Vrinda Batra

I am currently completing my Honours year of the Bachelor of Psychology (Cognitive Neuroscience) within the CAIN lab, under the supervision of A/Prof Hannah Keage and co-supervisor Daria Gutteridge. My project will explore the relationship between resting heart rate and cognition in older adults.

Nadia Jurkovic

am currently completing my Honours year of Bachelor of Psychology within the CAIN laboratory under the supervision of Tobias Loetscher and Co-supervisors Stefan Michalski and Scott Coussens. My project aims to replicate experimental psychology laboratory effects in virtual virtual reality using remote testing.

Alana Anibaldi

My honours project is to investigate the association between perceived mental effort of everyday activities in older adults and cognitive performance.

Maeve Steinert

I am currently completing my Honours year of the Bachelor of Psychology within the CAIN lab, under the supervision of Associate Professor Hannah Keage and co-supervision of Amy Jarvis. My project aims to explore the relationship between depression and social engagement in late life.

Golnoush Zabihian

I am currently completing my Honours year of the Bachelor of Psychology (Cognitive Neuroscience) within the CAIN laboratory under the supervision of A/Prof Hannah Keage and Co-supervisor Monique Boord. My project aims to investigate how performance relative to cognitive domains is associated with delirium vulnerability within older adults.

Nick Gallomarino

I’m currently completing my Honours year of the Bachelor of Psychology (Cognitive Neuroscience) within the CAIN lab, under the supervision of A/Prof Tobias Loetscher and co-supervision of Stefan Michalski. My project aims to explore the relationship between the level of adaptive functioning of people with intellectual disabilities and learning using immersive virtual reality.

Yasmien Payne

I’m currently completing my Honours year of my Bachelor of Psychology (Cognitive Neuroscience) within the CAIN laboratory. Under the supervision of A/Prof Hannah Keage and Co-supervision of Amy Jarvis, I will be examining the relationship between social engagement and emotion perception in elderly individuals. After I finish my Honours year I want to continue in the research field with a PhD.

Arturo Aloi

I am currently completing my Honours year of the Bachelor of Psychology (Cognitive Neuroscience) within the CAIN lab, under the supervision of Associate Professor Hannah Keage and Daria Gutteridge. My project aims to explore the relationship between the Cortisol Awakening Response and Cognition in Older Adults.

Gabrielle Villani

I am currently completing my Honours in Psychology within the CAIN Lab under the supervision of Hannah Keage. Through an anonymous survey, my project aims to investigate what young Australian adults know about the risk factors for dementia. Specifically, my research will focus on the modifiable risk factors in early and midlife that can ultimately reduce late life dementia prevalence.

Kristina Comacchio

I am completing my Honours year under the supervision of Associate Professor Tobias Loetscher and PhD Candidate Anne Macnamara. We are examining the impact visual impairment can have on social cognition, by using goggles that simulate the vision of macular degeneration patients.

Siying Li

I am a psychology student in my honors year. This year I will be helping with data analysis of the study “Verbal fluency in Mild Cognitive Impairment”. My supervisors are Dr. Hannah Keage and Dr. Scott Coussens

Madison Bellchambers

I am in my final year of my Bachelor of Psychology (Honours), completing my thesis under the supervision of Dr. Tobias Loetscher and Dr. Ancret Szpak. We are exploring the use of habituation in virtual reality to reduce cybersickness.

Ashton Ballinger

I am currently a fourth year Psychology student undertaking my Honours within the CAIN Laboratory at UniSA. My project will involve working with A/Prof Keage and Dr Loetscher to investigate risk communication techniques and the role mental spatial mapping plays in the learning and understanding of risk information; with a particular focus on training risk judgement and risk magnitudes.

Michelle Chan

I am currently undertaking my final year of my Bachelor of Psychology (Honours). My Honours project aims to investigate the effect of anticholinergic drugs on the cognition of children under the supervision of A/Prof Hannah Keage.

Adan Richards

I am undertaking my Honours year in psychology, with a focus on the after effects of Head Mounted Display Virtual Reality on balance. I am excited to be continuing the exploratory work of those in the CAIN laboratory using Virtual Reality systems.

I am also passionate about supporting young people's mental health through both direct support and advocacy.

Katie Trenorden

My Honours project will involve participants from Danielle Greaves' current PHD project, who undergo Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG) surgery and a 12-week home-based cognitive training intervention. My thesis will investigate factors that may influence adherence to this cognitive training intervention, which commences 1-month post-surgery. My supervisors are Dr Hannah Keage and Dr Amit Lampit (U Melbourne).

Sara Knayfati

I am currently completing my fourth year in Psychology (Cognitive Neuroscience) and am undertaking my Honours within the CAIN Laboratory at UniSA. For my Honours thesis I will be investigating the effect of cognitive reserve on brain structure and function, and will be looking at findings on neuroimaging (MRI).

Gavin Bell

I am in my final year of a Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) at UniSA, conducting my thesis with the CAIN group under the supervision of Dr Tobias Loetscher and Dr Ancret Szpak. My research will be examining cognitive after effects of being exposed to a virtual reality environment.

Ellen Kelson

I am a fourth year Psychology student undertaking my Honours year in the CAIN research group. My project will focus on typeface in children and it’s relatedness to intellectual ability and reading fluency.

Sabrina Chou

I am currently completing my Honours year of my Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) with CAIN. I will be working with Dr Tobias Loetscher and Dr Ancret Szpak to explore the use of Virtual Reality in mindfulness.

Kirti Aggarwal

I am a fourth year Electrical Engineering (Honours) student at UniSA. In my project previously collected EEG data on an old-new memory task will be assessed to determine the particpants' functional connectivity. I will investigate whether measures of connectivity predict cognitive function of the elderly participants over time.

Monique Boord

I am a fourth year Cognitive Neuroscience student undertaking my honours at CAIN. I will be investigating EEG predictors of post-operative delirium in patients undergoing one of two cardiac surgeries: coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI)

Tayla Galic

I am currently in my final year studying a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering. I will investigate whether measures of functional connectivity predict the development of dementia.

Erica Ghezzi

I am currently completing the Honours year of my Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) within the CAIN group. This year, I will be working with Dr Keage and Dr Loetscher to investigate risk communication techniques and the role mental spatial mapping plays in the learning and understanding of risk information.

Daria Gutteridge

I am a fourth year psychology (Cognitive Neuroscience) student and am undertaking my Honours within the CAIN Laboratory of the University of South Australia. My project will focus on the cerebrovascular function during cognition in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Georgina Kamm

I am a fourth year Cognitive Neuroscience (Honours) student. For my Honours thesis I will be looking at the effects of an intergenerational dementia program, titled ‘Forget Me Not’. Specifically, I will be assessing changes in knowledge about and attitudes towards dementia, in Year 4/5 students

Samantha Lai

I am a fourth year Psychology student undertaking my Honours year with CAIN. This year, I will be continuing with my work from my Summer Vacation Scholarship and will be evaluating the effectiveness of South Australia’s first intergenerational dementia program, ‘Forget Me Not’. I will be focussing specifically on the program’s influence on quality of life in dementia patients.

Maddison Mellow

I am currently undertaking my Honours year within the CAIN and ARENA Research groups following completion of the Bachelor of Psychology (Cognitive Neuroscience). For my Honours thesis I will be investigating the effects of acute aerobic exercise on prefrontal cortical connectivity (using TMS-EEG) and cognitive control in healthy young adults

Stefan Michalski

I am a fourth year Psychology (Honours) student at UniSA. For my project I am excited to research how well skills learned in virtual reality can translate to the real world. My participants will be assessed on their skills playing table tennis. Through the use of virtual reality, each participant will undergo a series of table tennis training sessions. Then, we will reassess their performance in the real world.

Alana Nagel

I am a fourth year Psychology (Honours) student at UniSA. I have previously worked with CAIN during a Vacation Scholarship, conducting a scoping review to investigate what makes a 'Dementia Friendly Community'. My Honours research project is investigating dementia risk factor knowledge in the general Australian population and how/why this knowledge has been obtained. The aim of this research is to add to the current literature in measuring what knowledge Australian's hold regarding dementia risk factors and extending it by investigating how and why people develop their knowledge of dementia risk factors.

Clinical Psychology Master Students

Featured

Alana Nagel

I am a provisional psychologist and student in the Master of Psychology (Clinical) program at the University of South Australia. My research focus has been on dementia, specifically knowledge of dementia and its risk factors in the general public. I have previously assisted with research for the City of Unley Council’s ‘Dementia-Friendly Cities’ project, which aimed to increase dementia awareness and inclusion of people with dementia. During my undergraduate degree, my research focused on risk factor and general knowledge of dementia within the Australian public. My postgraduate research will focus on attitudes towards rehabilitation in people with dementia.

Peter Macey

The focus of my research is to use a dual-task design to explore the influence of mental arithmetic on horizontal spatial attention in a healthy population. The outcome of this research will increase our understanding of the domain by contrasting theoretical concepts, numerical processing and cognitive load. In addition, this research will inform future clinical research in the remediation of spatial deficits in clinically affected populations.
Supervisor: Dr Tobias Loetscher

Stephanie Nolis

I am working within Northern Mental Health to run a clinical trial pilot study with patients with early psychosis. I am running a computer-based Cognitive Remediation Therapy (CRT) program in small groups to assess changes in cognition post CRT. The study aims to assess the therapeutic effectiveness of computer-based CRT in a group setting to improve overall cost-efficiency in mental health services in the public sector.
Supervisors: Dr Tobias Loetscher, Dr Ryan Balzan (Flinders University) and Dr Dennis Liu (Northern Mental Health)

Elise Thompson

My research is looking at cancer-related cognitive impairment (CRCI) in a sample of haematological cancer patients who have had a bone marrow transplant. The study aims to determine the prevalence, predictors and course of self-reported CRCI in this patient group in order to provide better support and interventions to survivors.
Supervisor: Dr Amanda Hutchinson

RAs, Summer Scholars, Interns and Exchange Students

Featured

Jack Astley

I completed my Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours) at the University of Adelaide, during which I investigated the relationships between cognitive reserve, cognitive ability and neuroplasticity in older adults. I also have a background in both physical and mental healthcare, through employment as an Orderly at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and volunteering experience as a Case Worker with Drug ARM.

The projects that I am currently involved with at CAIN are concerned with identifying predictors of delirium and cognitive decline in older adults following cardiovascular surgery, in addition to interventions which may reduce the incidence of cognitive impairment following these procedures.

Thivina Thanabalan

I am a third-year cognitive neuroscience student currently undertaking a placement at the CAIN lab. For future honours and post-graduate studies, I am interested in designing and implementing neurorehabilitative interventions for cognitively impaired individuals.

Teodora Torres

I completed my BSc in Physics at the University of Baja California and MSc in Cognitive Neurosciences at Kyushu University, where I did research related to working memory, neurofeedback and the influence of environment in our health. My research interests include the use of data to design technology and interventions that promote behavior change and enhance health. Recently I joined the CAIN lab as a research assistant.

Charlotte Sloan

Having completed a vacation research scholarship with CAIN at the end of the third year of my BPsych (Hons) degree, I have continued to work as a Research Assistant. The study I am currently assisting in investigates reducing apathy in aged care through reminiscence therapy and virtual reality. Being new to CAIN, I look forward to broadening my research experiences.

Sara Knayfati

I completed my Honours in Psychology (Cognitive Neuroscience) last year within the CAIN lab, under the supervision of A/Prof Hannah Keage and Dr Louise Lavrencic. I also previously completed a Bachelor of Medical Radiation Science (Nuclear Medicine). This year I am working as a Research Assistant for CAIN. The two projects I am involved in are looking at cognitive outcomes in older adults following cardiovascular surgery.

Erica Ghezzi

I completed my Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) with the CAIN Lab in 2018. I now work as a research assistant across various projects. Most of my work is focused on two clinical trials at CAIN which investigate cognition in older adults who undergo cardiovascular procedures. These trials focus on predictors of as well as interventions to reduce incidence of adverse cognitive outcomes (namely cognitive decline and delirium). My other time at CAIN is usually spent on systematic reviews and meta-analyses which span several topics. Current meta-analyses focus on mood outcomes in ICD patients and predictors of delirium motor subtypes. I have a general interest in research and a passion for data analysis (love all things R, check out my GitHub for examples of previous analyses: https://github.com/ericaghezzi). Outside of CAIN I also work as a Research Officer at the National Disability and Insurance Agency, where I work on evidence syntheses (essentially more reviews and meta-analyses) within the disability sector. See https://linktr.ee/ericaghezzi for more info.

Ashton Ballinger

I am currently a third year Psychology (Honours) student at UniSA. I have chosen to partake in an elective course this semester called Psychology Research Experience, this has allowed me the exciting opportunity to complete a placement within the CAIN group with Dr Keage as supervisor. I will likely be involved in a follow-up study of social cognition in older adults.

Michelle Chan

I am undertaking my third year in the Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) program and volunteer as a research intern in the CAIN laboratory. I am currently involved as a second reviewer on an Honours project about the relationship between dopaminergic medication and cognition in Parkinson's disease.

Tyler Ross

I am a research assistant and I have the privilege of working across a range of projects. Such projects have included investigating cognitive outcomes in older adults following Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG) surgery and Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) procedures, exploring the effect of virtual reality table tennis practice on real world table tennis performance, and also looking into changes in social cognition and awareness in older adults. I spend much of my time at CAIN working on systematic reviews and meta-analyses regarding a range of topics, such as risk factors associated with cognitive decline and delirium following CABG. I have also been involved in undertaking reviews for the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety at Flinders University, investigating innovative models of aged care implemented in Australia and internationally for a range of subgroups (e.g. homeless, LGBTI, CALD, ATSI).

My research interests are broad, spanning the areas of sustainable behaviour, environmental psychology, youth mental health and public health. I am also currently undertaking study to become an Occupational Therapist and I hope to work with both young people with a disability and older adults in the future.

Brittany Child

I recently completed a Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) and I am currently undertaking a Vacation Research Scholarship under the supervision of Dr Keage. My project is concerned with exploring the relationship between cognitive reserve and performance on an old-new memory task, as assessed using both behavioural (accuracy) and electrophysiological (EEG) measures. This project makes use of data previously collected by CAIN Lab alumna Louise Lavrencic.