Meet Our Team
Jessica Sommerville, Principal Investigator
Dr. Sommerville is a developmental psychologist whose work focuses on the origins of social, cognitive and moral development in infancy and early childhood. She is particularly interested in factors that support developmental changes in children’s learning through and about the social world. She received her PhD from the University of Chicago in 2002, and subsequently completed a post-doctoral fellowship in developmental cognitive neuroscience at the University of Washington. Dr. Sommerville is a Full Professor in the Psychology Department at the University of Toronto (St. George campus); from 2003 to the spring of 2019 Dr. Sommerville was an Assistant, Associate, and then Full Professor at the University of Washington in Seattle. See Dr. Sommerville’s CV here.
LAB Manager
Jaemin Hwang (She/Her), Lab Manager
Jaemin is interested in exploring the social and cultural factors that influence children’s cognitive development, and how parenting and education influence children’s response to challenges. Outside of the lab, Jaemin loves drawing and exploring nature!
POsTDOCTORAL RESEARCHERS
Tiffany leung (she/her), postdoctoral fellow
Tiffany loves learning about how babies and children connect with others and make sense of the world around them. She is particularly interested in what drives their optimism and positive social behaviors. During her free time, she loves ice skating, reading, practicing yoga, and teaching her bunnies new tricks!
SOPHIA THIERRY, postdoctoral fellow
Sophia completed her PhD at Brock University, and her research interests include first impressions, face perception, and social development. So far, her research has focused on exploring how children use facial cues to navigate their social world. Outside of the lab, she loves playing piano, swimming, and travelling!
GRADUATE STUDENTS
Norman zeng (he/him), THIRD year PHD
Norman is interested in the development of social cognition in children, especially in relation to children’s moral understanding of the world. He hopes to pursue a career in social or developmental psychology. Outside of the lab, Norman loves to read, play guitar, and hang out with friends.
Grace Sun (She/her), SECOND year PHD
Grace is interested in how social feedback (e.g., verbal language, nonverbal emotional expressions) influences children's motivation, persistence, and learning. Outside of the lab, she enjoys traveling, watching movies, and playing with her cat, Gyoza!
Research Assistants
Selina Fu (She/her)
Selina is interested in social and cognitive development, especially the emergence of fairness and sharing behaviours. She is interested in pursuing a career in developmental psychology. Outside of the lab Selina enjoys window-shopping and cafe-hopping.
Aaron Wang (He/Him)
Aaron is a fourth-year Psychology Research Specialist at the University of Toronto. His research interests focus on the developmental origins of moral and social cognition, particularly how these abilities emerge and change throughout childhood. Outside of the lab, Aaron enjoys singing, cooking, and playing board games with his friends.
Sophia Park (She/Her)
Sophia is a fourth-year psychology and criminology major at U of T. She is interested in gene-environment interaction as children grow up, specifically with parental environmental influence. In her free time, you can find her working as a barista, bouldering, and going to concerts!
ANGELA XU (She/her)
Angela is a third-year student double majoring in Psychology and Sociocultural Anthropology with a Focus in Medical Anthropology. She is interested in the intersection of child development and family structures. During her free time, she enjoys dancing, reading, watching movies, and cooking!
SANGJE PARK (HE/HIM)
Sangje is a third-year student pursuing a psychology specialist and cognitive science major. His research interest lies in understanding the complex interplay between cognitive processes, and how these evolve across the developmental trajectory. In his free time, he enjoys reading, watching Youtube videos, and eating snacks!
GLORIA LEUNG (SHE/HER)
Gloria is a third-year psychology and neuroscience major at the University of Toronto with a strong interest in the intersection between neural development and behaviour. She is particularly drawn to how early brain changes influence cognitive outcomes. In her free time, Gloria likes to read, listen to podcasts, and play with her cat!
SAMArrann sivaloganathan (he/him)
Samarrann is a second-year student pursuing a neuroscience specialist and psychology major at the University of Toronto. He is interested in how moral decisions are made under various social contexts during infancy. Outside of the lab, Samarrann enjoys watching movies, playing video games, and listening to music.
Maryam Moghrabi (She/Her)
Maryam is a fourth year, double majoring in Psychology and Cognitive Science and a certificate in Business. She is deeply interested in neuroscience and developmental psychology, particularly how emerging trends such as social media, affect development, neural development, and social behaviour. She also has a passion for business, specifically marketing, and learning more about the intersection between Business and Psychology. In her free time, she loves exploring new food spots, watching and playing tennis, soccer, and volleyball, enjoying movies and TV shows, and running.
Chen Lily Huang (She/Her)
Lily is a fourth-year Psychology Specialist and Statistics Minor at the University of Toronto. Her interests focus on the development of cognitive functions that support learning and the processes through which morality is acquired. In her free time, Lily spends her time exploring new cafes, painting, and doing her nails!
AMY Huang (She/Her)
Amy is a fourth-year Psychology Specialist at the University of Toronto. She is interested in understanding how early life experiences shape the development of moral construals of the world and the perceptions of individuals as moral or immoral. In her free time, Amy enjoys bouldering, trying new bubble tea places, and going on bike rides!
JANETH Aguirre (she/her)
Janeth is a second-year Psychology Specialist who loves working with children. She spends much of her time babysitting, coaching, tutoring, and helping out in daycare settings. When she’s not hanging out with kids, she’s playing sports like soccer or daydreaming about exploring nature in different countries. Janeth hopes to become a behaviour analyst, and her research interests include children’s morality, language development, and overall cognition.
Mildred Noronha (SHE/HER)
Mildred is a third-year Psychology Specialist at the University of Toronto. Her research interests include parent-child interaction, social development, and cognitive development in early childhood. She is especially curious about how early experiences influence children’s emerging social understanding and learning. Outside the lab, she loves reading books, playing video games, cooking and going on long walks with her dog, Oliver!
LAB ALUMNI
former graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, & Staff
Emily Kim, Postdoctoral Researcher
Katie Rose, Graduate Student
Jesse Whiteman, Graduate Student
Anna Michelle McPhee, Graduate Student
Rebekah Gelpi, Graduate Student
Inderpreet Gill, Graduate Student
Mia Radovanovic, Graduate Student
Ella van Beers, Lab Manager
Hannah Solby, Lab Manager
Tim (Wei-Ting) Chao, Lab Manager
Vera Zhang, Lab Manager
Arnav Verma, Software Developer
Linh Thai, Recruitment Coordinator
Aafiya Somani, Postbac Researcher
former REsearch assistants
Dharsika Mathiyalagan, Research Assistant
Andi Rosenblatt, Research Assistant
Rachel Tennenhouse, Research Assistant
Julia Xu, Research Assistant
Stella Yu, Research Assistant
Eric Zhang, Research Assistant
Heather Chong, Research Assistant
Josanne Buchanan, Research Assistant
Aisling Curtin, Research Assistant
Rohit Nair, Research Assistant
Emily Onyshko, Research Assistant
William Ai, Research Assistant
Simran Badalera, Research Assistant
Sinamys Bagh, Research Assistant
Sabrina Chan, Research Assistant
Christie Lai, Research Assistant
Antonia Soldovieri, Research Assistant
Ece Yucer, Research Assistant
Tiffany Tse, Research Assistant
Adarsh Vallurupalli, Research Assistant
Justine Vorvis, Research Assistant
Kalyani Vyas, Research Assistant
Elaine Wang, Research Assistant
Olivia Mastracci, Research Assistant
Rochelle Ofori, Research Assistant
Emilie Ng, Research Assistant
Natalie Cheung, Research Assistant
Forrest Currie, Research Assistant
Thasha Thirukumaran, Research Assistant
Mahima Tirunelveli Santhakumar, Research Assistant
Jasmine Shirvani, Research Assistant
Anicole Tan, Research Assistant
Allison Pham, Research Assistant
Renee Wang, Research Assistant
Jeanne Polochansky, Research Assistant
Nikki Song, Research Assistant
Charm Lee, Research Assistant
Jaimee Yu, Research Assistant
Dora Shi, Research Assistant
Sofia Westerhoff, Research Assistant
Emma Soler, Research Assistant
Victoria Cusumano, Research Assistant
Jasmine Gish, Research Assistant
Victoria Herbert, Research Assistant
Juliana Koury, Research Assistant
Zoe Lazaris, Research Assistant
Bianca Yuen, Research Assistant
Clare Zhang, Research Assistant
Britney Jeyanayagam, Research Assistant
Vanshika Drolia, Research Assistant
David Huynh, Research Assistant
Grace Zheng, Research Assistant
Dylan Lin, Research Assistant
Elisabetta Canaletti, Research Assistant
Idiris Kabel, Research Assistant
Leona Liu, Research Assistant
Neeti Sharma, Research Assistant
Mary Su, Research Assistant
Denise Arefhaghi, Research Assistant
Shraddha Bhatt, Research Assistant
Rosalind Cho, Research Assistant
Anita Ding, Research Assistant
Julia Friedman, Research Assistant
Farah Gharib, Research Assistant
Rohina Kumar, Research Assistant
Catherine Marinos, Research Assistant
Miguel Dominico Alzona, Research Assistant
Codi Lee, Research Assistant
Josie Hatfield, Research Assistant
Ellen Imamura, Research Assistant
Alex Helmy, Research Assistant
Shenglan Shi, Research Assistant
Youness Robert-Tahiri, Research Assistant
Sehyun Justin Jeong, Research Assistant
Lydia Altun, Research Assistant
Kate Kim, Research Assistant
Mishaal Kandapath, Research Assistant
Doga Pulat, Research Assistant
Arianna Duarte, Research Assistant
Elvia Ip, Research Assistant
Nila Curtsi, Research Assistant
Cynthia Lin, Research Assistant