Dr. Alejandro Perez: Senior Research Fellow

 

Alejandro brings a wealth of experience and expertise to our research team, specializing in the intricate dynamics of social interaction. With a background rooted in clinical psychology, Alejandro has pursued his academic endeavours across various continents, including Cuba Neuroscience Center, BCBL - Basque Center of Cognition Brain and Language, University of Toronto and the University of Cambridge, enriching his understanding of human behaviour on a global scale.

​

Dr. Perez’s research focuses on decoding the neural mechanisms underlying social exchanges. Utilizing advanced techniques such as EEG hyperscanning, he investigates how our brains synchronize during conversations and collaborations, shedding light on the fundamental processes of social cognition. Alejandro's expertise lies in understanding how our brains sync up during social exchanges. His toolkit includes EEG hyperscanning, which lets him peek into the neural dance of conversation and collaboration. 

 

Website: Interbrainb2b.com

Google Scholar: citations

​​

​​

​​

​

Dr. Meghan George: Post-Doctoral Research Fellow

​

Meghan joined the Social Brain, Body and Action Lab in early 2023. She earned her M.A. and Ph.D in Social Psychology from York University in Toronto where she studied face perception, apologies, and implicit attitudes across development. In 2020, she received a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship to work with Dr. Sylvia Perry at Northwestern University. Her work with Dr. Perry examines potential interventions aimed at improving intergroup interactions among adults and promoting anti-racism in children. 

 

Here at McMaster, Meghan continues to research how biases affect our interactions with people from different social categories (e.g., race, gender, status). She is currently investigating how we mimic the behaviour of different interaction partners. She is also using electroencephalography (EEG) to study how the brain processes our own implicit biases. 

 

If you'd like more information about Dr. George and her ongoing work, you can check out her website here.

​​​​

​

​

​

Dr. Carl Michael Galang​​​​​​: Post-Doctoral Research Fellow

​

I am currently a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at Humboldt University of Berlin under the supervision of Prof. Marcel Brass. I completed my undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto with a double major in Cognitive Science and Philosophy. My PhD is in Psychology (with my training in the subfield of Social Cognitive Neuroscience) and was completed at McMaster University under the supervision of Prof. Sukhvinder Obhi. I have a wide variety of research interests and have published scientific works on topics spanning the sense of agency, empathy, social power, dehumanization, and automatic imitation.

 

My current work is funded by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowship. My project's overall aim is to investigate if and how being in a group influences joint agency. In addition, I currently have research interests in rule breaking and the sense of agency, anticipated imitation in multi-agent contexts, and on basic work on volition.

 

To see my work, please visit: https://galangca.github.io/

​​​​

​​​

​

​

Deewa Anwarzi: PhD Student (Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour)

​

Deewa is a PhD student studying bodily self-consciousness and action. She is interested in understanding the sensorimotor and cognitive factors that shape people’s understanding of themselves, their bodies, and their actions.

 

Her current work explores the impact of trauma, dissociation, and narcissism, on self-awareness during intentional actions.

​​

​

​

​

Sabine Bou Saba: PhD Student 

​​

Sabine (she/her) is a PhD student at the Berlin School of Mind and Brain, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Marcel Brass and Prof. Dr. Obhi from McMaster University in Canada. She earned her Bachelor's degree in Psychology with minors in Gender Studies and Creative Writing at the American University of Beirut. She then completed her Master’s in Cognitive Neuroscience at the Berlin School of Mind and Brain. Sabine's current research project focuses on gender and agency. She aims to study how gender influences the ways in which we perceive agency and attribute responsibility in different social contexts. 

​

​​

​

​

Jaelon Leid-Bailey: MSc Student (Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour)

​

Jaelon is currently working on his MSc and is studying intergroup empathy. He is particularly interested in peoples' motivation to empathize with others across social group boundaries. 

​

​

​

​

Salina Edwards: MSc Student (Neuroscience)

​

Salina (she/her) is an MSc NSERC scholar interested in exploring how AI can replace traditional human interactions and the implications of this emerging social category. After completing her B.A. in Psychology and English Literature at the University of British Columbia, Salina drove across the country to join the Obhi lab at McMaster University!

 

Learn more about Salina and her latest publications here. 

​

​