OUR TEAM

STEFANIE DREW, PHD

Professor, Department of Psychology
Co-Director, Psychological Science Graduate Program
Director, Pedagogy Fellowship Program

stefanie.drew@csun.edu

Curriculum Vitae

POST-GRADUATE STUDENTS

Researcher

Eleni Benchek

Eleni received her Master's degree through the Psychological Science program and was a NIH Bridges to the Ph.D. scholar. Her research interests combining cognitive psychology and education, with a focus on science and math learning, underrepresented students in STEM, and technology used for instruction.

GRADUATE STUDENTS

Researcher

Ivan Alatorre

Ivan is a third-year graduate student in the psychological science program and was part of the NIH-funded Bridges to the Ph.D. program with research interests in decision-making and health-related behaviors.

Researcher

Ann Hillary Buenafe

Ann Hillary Buenafe is a third-year graduate student in the Psychological Science program at CSUN. Her research interest is in the realm of cognitive psychology and psychophysics.

Researcher / Co-Lab Manager

Ethan Castanon

Ethan is a first-year graduate student. His research aims to leverage elements of cognitive psychology with cutting-edge technology to improve quality of life.

Researcher

Josh Cohen

Josh is an incoming graduate student for fall 2025 in the Psychological Science graduate program. His research interests include the intersection of cognitive psychology and mindfulness.

Researcher

Carlos Couzin

Carlos Couzin is a second year graduate student in the Psychological Sciences program here at CSUN. His interests align at the intersection between social cognitive factors, technology induced symptomatology and extended reality (XR) technology.

Researcher / Co-Lab Manager

Dante del Rosario

Dante's research interests is creating a more accessible academic environment through virtual reality, especially for those with learning disabilities like ADHD. He uses his clinical knowledge in tandem with his research skills to investigate the intersection between technology and cognitive psychology.

Researcher

Ronald Gutierrez

Ron is a second-year graduate student in the Psychological Science graduate program. His research interests revolve around the role of visual cues and neurofeedback and mindfulness.

Researcher

Sienna Ludka

Sienna is an incoming graduate student for the fall of 2025 in the Clinical Psychology graduate program. Her research interests revolve around the intersection of psychology and technology.

Researcher

Tyler Parker

Tyler is an incoming graduate student for the fall of 2025 in the Clinical Psychology graduate program. Her research interests involve utilizing AR technology to aid those with developmental disorders in improving daily living skills.

Researcher

Nawshin Sabah

Nawshin's research interests revolve around the intersection of cognitive psychology and technology, specifically the interaction of human behavior with media and technology, and their implications for enhancing human well-being.

POST-BACCALAUREATE STUDENTS

Researcher

Mariah Duran

Mariah Duran her bachelor's degree in Psychology and is currently a post-baccalaureate researcher studying social anxiety disorder using virtual reality and eye tracking.

Research Assistant

Diyanga Horawala Arachchige

Diyanga earned her bachelor's degree in psychology and has research interests in the engineering and human factors. Her research interests focus on user behavior, exploring both the benefits and demerits of technology while also exploring AR and VR to deepen our understanding of the brain.

Researcher

Anais Unanyan

Anais received her bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and English Literature and now works as a post-baccalaureate researcher exploring how innovative, noninvasive technologies can enhance understanding of cognition, perception, and human experience.

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

Research Assistant

Katrina Bortfeld

Katrina is a part-time student majoring in kinesiology with an emphasis in exercise science and is also a part of the Move-Learn Lab. Her research interests include musculoskeletal injuries and abnormalities, the mind-body connection, and pain.

Research Assistant

Harrison Bowman

Harrison's research interests include behavioral neuroscience and cognitive psychology, how environmental and technological factors shape neural development, and influence cognition, and how these interactions affect mental health.

Researcher

Onyx Harrison

Onyx is a junior majoring in Psychology. They are currently exploring their interests within the psychological field, however, within the lab their inquiries surround behavior and social relations, visual cues and fashion, diversity within psychology, and the relationships between fashion, gender expression, and perception of gender.

Research Assistant

Justin Joe

Justin's research interests are centered around cognitive and clinical psychology. Specifically, he studies the effects of learning, decision making, and skill transfer between real-world conditions and virtual reality simulations. He is also investigating vergence-accommadation conflict (VAC) and how it plays a role in monocular viewing.

Research Assistant

Natalie Khoukaz

Natalie Khoukaz is a senior majoring in Psychology with a minor in Child and Adolescent Development. She plans to pursue a career as a clinical psychologist, with research interests focused on neuroscience and the effectiveness of various therapeutic approaches in treating disorders such as depression and anxiety.

Research Assistant

Joanna Moussa

Joanna is interested in how technology can support mental health and help people improve their lives. Her focus is on psychology, especially mental well-being and understanding psychological disorders caused by injuries

Research Assistant

Ernie Paynter

Ernie has a broad interest in neuroscience, especially how neural connectivity and neuroplasticity support learning and adaptation. He also is interested in underlying mechanisms of EMDR could be utilized/applied to enhance or support learning processes, and how visual cues are used in pattern recognition of A.I detection in media.

Researcher

Louis Perry

Louis is a U-R.I.S.E. scholar, majoring in Psychology and minoring in Human Resource and Talent Management. His interests are centered around I.O. Psychology, driven by a passion for enhancing workplace experiences. Louis is currently investigating the relationship between real-world skill transfer and varying fidelities in virtual reality.

Research Assistant

Freddy Ramirez

Freddy's research interests focus on the influence VR has on people's sleep quality. He is also interested in examining how the use of AI can influence learning outcomes and how effective AI can be in helping with mental health disorders through behavior and linguistic models.