Lab News
07/01/2023 Fumiko Hoeft Featured in The Waterbury
Click here to read about the visionary work Fumiko is doing as Director of UConn’s Waterbury campus. Be sure to also watch her video interview there
02/06/23 First in-person lab meeting after the holidays
It was so great to have everyone back together and rocking our new brainLENS hoodies!
11/12/22 Dr. Hoeft, Dr. Clement-Lam, Dr. Xia, and Dr. Richter attended and presented at the IDA Symposia 2022 in San Antonio, Texas.
See below for more pictures of the event!
11/16/2022 Dr. Fumiko Hoeft named UConn Waterbury’s Campus Director
- Congratulations Fumiko!
Dr. Hoeft became the interim director in May. She was selected for the permanent position by a search committee that included representatives from the University and the region, including Waterbury’s mayor. Read more here. See below for Dr. Hoeft’s video interview by UConn President Radenka Maric.
11/1/2022 at 12:30 PM EST Dr. Jonas Miller will be speaking at our lab meeting! Join here.
Jonas received his PhD in Developmental Psychology from the University of California, Davis in 2017. He completed postdoctoral training at Stanford University in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, the Department of Psychology, and the Stanford Center on Longevity. Jonas is broadly interested in risk and resilience. His research examines the coordination of environment, experience, and biology that underlies individual differences in health and well-being.
10/12/22 Dr. Fumiko Hoeft is a keynote speaker at the 42nd annual National Association of Neuropsychology Conference!
Find more information here as well as links to livestream the event.
9/20/22 - 9/22/22 The brainLENS team met in San Francisco for the first ever brainLENS retreat!
The East Coast brainLENS team made their way to San Francisco for a jam-packed 48 hours hosted by our lab director, Dr. Fumiko Hoeft. The team was able to meet in person after many months of remote collaboration. The retreat included a talk from our UCSF PI and collaborator Dr. Robert Hendren, lovely meals, scavenger hunts, and a bike tour across the golden gate bridge! Thank you to Fumiko Hoeft, Allison Quirion, and the rest of the brainLENS team for making this awesome trip happen. See below for more pictures.
9/16/2022 Dr. Fumiko Hoeft presented at the Child Mind Institute’s Lecture Series on the influence of parental factors on children’s brain and cognitive development.
Find more information on the Child Mind Institute’s website.
9/2/2022 Our lab members Dr. Silvia Clement-Lam and Dr. Caroline G. Richter’s symposiums have both been accepted to the 2022 IDA Conference on November 10th-12th. Congratulations Dr's Clement-Lam and Richter! Check out the agenda here.
Dr. Silvia Clement-Lam’s accepted symposium is titled: “Break walls: Integrating reading research, policy, and applications.”
Dr. Richter’s accepted symposium is titled: “Socio-emotional challenges in learning disorders.”
Abstract: In this symposium, we discuss some socio-emotional challenges individuals with dyslexia face as a result of their learning differences. In the first talk, Richter summarizes the studies investigating associations between Specific Learning Disability (SLD)-related stigma and stereotype threat and psychological and academic outcomes in individuals with SLDs. In the second talk, Hendren describes three interrelated recently published studies at schools for students with reading disorders with a focus on the role of anxiety, grit, resilience, and depression in students with reading disorders. In the third talk, Al Otaiba describes the effects of providing mindset intervention to students with reading difficulties. Finally, Kockler leads the discussion and talks about her work as the Director of AERDF Reading Reimagined and how all elements of reading instruction and social development must interact to support students to reach their full potential as readers.
8/31/2022 Our collaborator Dr. Denise Lima and her husband Dr. Augusto Buchweitz welcomed a new member of their family into the world!
Congratulations, Denise and Augusto and welcome, Carolina Lima Buchweitz!
8/26/2022 Our lab director Dr. Fumiko Hoeft is the 2022 recipient of the Samuel Torrey Orton Award! Congratulations, Dr. Hoeft!
The Samuel Torrey Orton Award and the Samuel Torrey and June Lyday Orton Memorial Lecture, the highest honor bestowed by the International Dyslexia Association (IDA), recognizes a person or persons who have:
- made a vital contribution to advance our scientific understanding of dyslexia
-significantly enhanced and advanced our capacity to successfully intervene and assist people with dyslexia
- expanded national and international awareness of dyslexia
- or demonstrated unusual competence and dedication in service to people with dyslexia.
7/6/2022 UCSF Family Program Coordinator Olivia Belman is going to grad school!
Olivia will be beginning a Master’s in Special Education with a specialization in Mild/Moderate Support needs at San Francisco State University in August 2022.
6/24/2022 Dr. Hoeft receives award for a training grant titled “Transdisciplinary Convergence in Educational Neuroscience Doctoral Training Program.”
Dr. Hoeft (with co-PIs Inge-Marie Eigsti, Nicole Landi, Ido Davidesco and Arash Zaghi) receive a $3M, 5-year training grant titled “Transdisciplinary Convergence in Educational Neuroscience Doctoral Training Program.” Amazing news for all involved!
5/19/2022 Dr. Fumiko Hoeft Introduced as New Interim Director of UConn Waterbury!
“My lifelong passion has been to create transformative changes, one person at a time, together with the community,” Dr. Hoeft said at Thursday’s event. Our very own Dr. Fumiko Hoeft is among the nation’s top researchers in studying the brain’s function to better understand the neural mechanisms of brain development, literacy, dyslexia, and related issues. Read the article here, and see more pictures from the event below.
4/2/2022 East Coast Team Hike at Sleeping Giant State Park
The UConn brainLENS team went on an adventurous and exciting hike in Sleeping Giant State Park!
1/11/2022 Farewell, Airey!
Covid-safe farewell to our multi-talented postdoc Airey! Best wishes on all your new adventures in Germany.
11/1/21 UConn Spooktacular Poster Night
UConn Graduate Student Oliver Lasnick presented poster on “Growth Charts for Functional Brain Networks “and won best costume at UConn Spooktacular Poster Night! Congratulations, Oliver!
10/6/21 Brianna Kinnie has received the 2021 BIRC Excellence Award
Brianna Kinnie, who serves as the Project Coordinator for the TMS study and previously the Family Brain Program, has received the 2021 BIRC Excellence Award. The award highlights the achievements of a student, staff, faculty member, lab, or group who has made exceptional contributions towards advancing the goals of the BIRC as outlined in the Mission Statement:
1. To facilitate scientific discovery and theoretical and methodological innovation
2. To serve as a intellectual center for interdisciplinary basic and clinical research
3. To prepare graduate students and post-doctoral fellows for careers in academia and related fields
4. To provide undergraduate students with research experience and other educational opportunities
5. To disseminate scientific knowledge to the broader university community, relevant professional communities, and the general public
Congratulations, Brianna!
Best brainLENS Halloween Costume 2021
Our UConn PostDoc Airey Lau wins our annual brainLENS Halloween Costume contest! Congrats, Airey!
8/11/21 Matt Davis, our current lab manager at UCSF and UConn, has just accepted a position at Global Blood Therapeutics
Matt Davis, who has been lab manager since 2018, has just accepted a Clinical Trial Assistant position at Global Blood Therapeutics in San Francisco. He’ll be working on several clinical trials pertaining to the treatment of sickle cell disease. He’ll be starting there on September 20th. Congratulations Matt!
7/12/21 Salman Haider, Research Assistant at UConn, just accepted a job at RICS Software in Indianapolis, IN.
Salman Haider, who has been a Research Assistant at UConn for over a year now, just accepted a Support Consultant position at RICS Software in Indianapolis, IN. Congratulations, Salman!
5/10/21 Kelsey Maki, former UCSF Neuropsychological lead and Graduate RA, just defended her dissertation at USF
Kelsey Maki, who was lead Neuropsychological assessor and Graduate RA at UCSF brainLENS from 2017-2020, just defended her dissertation at the University of San Francisco. She will now be able to graduate with her PsyD in Clinical Psychology. Excellent work, Kelsey!
5/10/21 Fumiko Hoeft has received the 2021 UConn CLAS Innovative Scholarship Award
Fumiko Hoeft has received the 2021 UConn CLAS Innovative Scholarship Award, which reflects her extraordinary service to the College and to her students. It is awarded in recognition of outstanding achievements in interdisciplinary research that engage novel intersections to address major challenges to knowledge, well-being, and our world. To learn more about this award and other recipients, go here.
5/10/21 Florence Bouhali receives UCSF Weill Institute Women in Neurosciences RFA for Research Support for Female Learners Impacted by COVID-19
Our UCSF postdoc, Florence Bouhali, receives the UCSF Weill Institute Women in Neurosciences RFA for Research Support for Female Learners Impacted by COVID-19 award to assist researchers whose work has been impacted by COVID-19. Congratulations, Florence!
5/5/21 Luxi Feng, PhD was just accepted into Georgia Tech’s Online Master’s of Science in Analytics program
Though Luxi, who has been an integral part of brainLENS for many years, already has her PhD, she has decided to pursue her master’s in data analytics to broaden her skillset and and understanding of data analysis. The Georgia Tech program is an interdisciplinary analytics and data science program, where she will be start in Fall 2021. Congratulations, Luxi!
5/3/21 Our UConn RA, Lizzie Collin, was just offered a Speech Language Pathologist position at the Hospital for Special Care in New Britain, CT
Lizzie was Lab Manager at UConn from 2018-2019 and has since been helping manage BIRC, while simultaneously completing her Master’s in SLP at UConn. She will be starting her position at the Hospital for Special Care in June. This hospital is one of the premier rehab facilities in all of CT, so this is no small feat. We are all so proud of and excited for Lizzie!
4/23/21 We are hiring a new Postdoc or Senior RA at our UConn site
Postdoc and/or Senior RA position @ UConn
Fumiko Hoeft MD PhD, Professor of the Department of Psychological Sciences, with joint appointments in Mathematics, Neuroscience, Learning Sciences, and Psychiatry, (https://psych.uconn.edu/person/fumiko-hoeft/), and Director of the Brain Imaging Research Center (https://birc.uconn.edu) at UConn, and Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at UCSF, is now accepting additional applications of a postdoctoral fellow and/or senior research assistant (RA) to begin now/soon at UConn.
The candidate must have strong research-experience in: (1) reading, dyslexia or related fields of cognitive neuroscience; and (2) MRI-based neuroimaging. Strong management, organizational and communication/writing skills are required. Experience in TMS or other neuromodulation techniques is a plus. For postdocs, a strong publication-record, and expertise in programming, open-science approaches, and network / machine learning approaches are a plus (see https://www.brainlens.org/employment).
There are many opportunities to write grants, and publish using many of our existing and publicly available datasets. The positions are fully funded by NIH though a US citizenship is not required for postdocs.
Interested applicants should submit a cover letter, full CV, and names of 3 references to Prof. Fumiko Hoeft at brainLENS@uconn.edu. When you write, please use subject, “[Postdoc] FIRST & LAST NAME” or “[RA] FIRST & LAST NAME”.
4/15/21 Priscilla Duong, former brainLENS Neuropsychological Lead and Graduate RA, just received a faculty position at Lurie Children’s Hospital at Northwestern University
Priscilla Duong, who was part of brainLENS from 2014-2018, just received a faculty position at Lurie Children’s Hospital at Northwestern University. She will serve as a Clinical Pediatric Neuropsychologist there. Congratulations, Priscilla! These clinical psychology programs and placements are highly competitive, so receiving one is no small feat.
4/9/21 Kewei Jiang and Kathy Wannaviroj, two brainLENS Research Assistants for the Bilingual Project, have been accepted into Master’s Programs at San Francisco State University
Kewei Jiang will be attending the Communicative Disorders program and Kathy Wannaviroj will be attending the Mind, Brain, & Behavior program. They’ll both be starting in Fall 2021. Congratulations both of you!
4/8/21 brainLENS welcomes 2 new postdocs and one new RA to the team
We are excited to announce that we have 3 new staff members joining our team. We have Xin Niu joining as a postdoc at our UCSF site. He’s coming from Drexel University. Then we have Caroline Greiner de Magalhaes joining as a postdoc at our UConn site. She’s coming from the University of Louisville. Lastly, we have CJ Williams joining us as a project coordinator at our UConn site. He’s a graduate from Kenyon College. Welcome to the team all 3 of you!
4/7/21 Fumiko Hoeft, Silvia Clement-Lam, and Airey Lau receive grant from UConn CLAS
Fumiko Hoeft, Silvia Clement-Lam and Airey Lau were awarded a grant from the UConn CLAS to study the influence of mental health and socio-economic disparities on children with LDs. They will be implementing a math intervention to study this relationship. This grant was co-authored with Fabiana Cardetti, Professor of Mathematics at UConn. Congratulations all of you!
4/6/21 Former brainLENS RA, Ella-Marie Hennessy, was just accepted into University of Denver’s Clinical Child Psychology PhD Program
Ella-Marie Hennessy, who was with brainLENS from 2017-2019 and worked on our APPRISE Project and Family Brain Program, was just accepted into University of Denver’s Clinical Child Psychology PhD Program. She will be working with Dr. Elysia Davis in the Neurodevelopmental Research Program. She’ll be starting in Fall 2021. Congratulations, Ella! We’re all so excited for, and proud of, you!
3/25/21 Professor Wilbrecht of UC Berkeley and Fumiko Hoeft receive funding award from UCSF-UC Berkeley Schwab Dyslexia and Cognitive Diversity Center
Professor Wilbrecht, who is the PI on this award, received funding to utilize rodent models to help better understand dyslexia in children. This project is titled, “How to develop changes in GABAergic Inhibition in spine pruning sculpt noise and a capacity for abstract auditory mapping in the associative neocortex? A mouse model of learning with Implications for dyslexia”
3/19/21 RA and UConn Medical Student, Shaan Kamal, has been accepted into UT Austin for his Residency
Shaan Kamal, who has been with the lab since 2019, was just accepted into UT Austin’s Residency Program. He will be starting Fall of 2021. We are all very excited for him on this amazing next step in his career!
B.R.A.I.N. CAMP 2021
This July and August of 2021, we will be offering a FREE one-month Summer BRAIN CAMP for rising 3rd and 4th graders who need extra help with reading. This will be located at the UConn campus in Storrs, CT. We have limited spots available and parents/children must apply first to confirm their eligibility. This is a perfect opportunity for your child or student to gain firsthand learning and reading assistance in an engaging, summer camp setting. We are inviting families to apply and complete the eligibility screener on the camp website.
BRAIN CAMP
· is free (includes lunch, snacks and materials)
· is about 6 hours on a school-type schedule
· runs Monday-Friday for 1 month—mid-June/July or mid-July/August
· is for rising 3rd and 4th graders with reading difficulties that
· takes place at UConn Storrs campus, summer of 2021,
· includes reading, math, or attention and memory-building activities
· includes fun non-academic activities,
Learn more here