Lab Members
The Memory Lab at Ryerson will be recruiting new undergraduate assistants for Fall 2020 and new graduate students for Fall 2021. Please email Dr. Szpunar to inquire.
Principal Investigator
Dr. Karl Szpunar
karl.szpunar@ryerson.ca
I completed my doctoral training at Washington University in St. Louis in 2009 and my postdoctoral training at Harvard University in 2015. My research focuses on elucidating the cognitive and neural mechanisms that give rise to adaptive uses of memory in daily life.
Graduate Students

Marni Goldstein
Ryerson University
Growing up as an autistic, I felt great disparity between my cognition and that of others, leading to my fascination with how people think and how thoughts affect behavior. I completed my undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto in 2015. I then volunteered as a research assistant in the Multisensory Systems Neuroscience Lab at York University under the supervision of Dr. Joe DeSouza. I am an incoming first-year graduate student.

Sushmita Shrikanth
University of Illinois at Chicago
I completed my undergraduate degree at the University of California at Santa Cruz in 2015 where I conducted my thesis project under the supervision of Dr. Benjamin Storm. I am currently a fifth year graduate student conducting research on collective cognition.

Yuchen Li
University of Illinois at Chicago
I completed my undergraduate degree at the University of California, Los Angeles in 2018 where I conducted my thesis project under the supervision of Dr. Carolyn Parkinson. I am currently a second year graduate student conducting research on group dynamics in future thinking.
Undergraduate Thesis Students
Anne Cabildo
I am entering my fourth year at Ryerson University with a major in psychology and a minor in music. I am interested in exploring the effects of music on memory and related cognitive abilities. In my spare time, I enjoy writing and performing music which is often shared with the patients of St. John's Rehab Hospital as a part of their music therapy program.
Avishag Frank
I am entering my fourth year of Ryerson's psychology program with a minor in criminology. I am interested in exploring how psychology interacts with the legal system. I also enjoy writing and acting and am involved with a community theatre at Ryerson.
Pic coming soon...
Ruthie Poizner
I am entering my fourth year at Ryerson University with a major in psychology and a minor in history. I am particularly interested in the clinical applications of cognitive psychology, as well as psychological assessment. Outside of school I enjoy writing, visual art, and playing the drums.
Visiting Scholars
Lisa Murphy (Fall 2018) - University College Cork (Ireland)
Trish Varao-Sousa (Spring 2018) - University of British Columbia
Jason Chan (Fall 2017) - Iowa State University (USA)
Müge Özbek (Fall 2016) - Aarhus University (Denmark)
Former Graduate Students
Vannia Puig (MA, 2019) - Current Position - Researcher, Department of Defense, Air force (USA)
Former Undergraduate Research Assistants
Elizabet Bonilla, Izabela Brzoza, Martina Cancelo, Chloe Carl, Daniela Chacon, Ben Chaloupka, Tony Cossidente, Matthew Escalona, Araceli Estrada, Chiara Faust, Aurelie Ganem, Loan Huynh, Asfia Kahn, Jennifer Kargol, Constantina Mastoracos, Zachary McKenzie, Jessica Ngiam, Nicholas Pfahler, Sara Raja, Yaniz Rayo, Vritti Samtani, Evan Self, Breyauna Spencer, Jadisha Vargas, Haley Lerand, Brittany Hamling, Lindy Leonard, Noor Saffarini
Collaborators (past and present)
Donna Rose Addis, University of Toronto
Roland Benoit, Max Plank Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences
Jason Chan, Iowa State University
Felipe De Brigard, Duke University
Stan Klein, University of California, Santa Barbara
Kathleen McDermott, Washington University in St. Louis
Kourken Michaelian, Université Grenoble Alpes
Henry Roediger, Washington University in St. Louis
Daniel Schacter, Harvard University
Nathan Spreng, Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital
Peggy St. Jacques, University of Alberta, Edmonton
Piotr Szpunar, University at Albany, SUNY
Endel Tulving, University of Toronto