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

GRADUATE STUDENTS

Researcher

Ray Arista

Ray is a first-year graduate student. His research focus is on EEG and visual perception.

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 / Co-Lab Manager

Anais Unanyan

Anais Unanyan is a first-year graduate student in the VISN Lab. Her research interests relate to investigating how cutting-edge technology can be applied to study neuroplasticity and visual processing.

POST-BACCALAUREATE STUDENTS

Researcher

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

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.

Researcher

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.

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.

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.