Dr. CAROLINE MARVIN

Caroline Marvin is one of the faculty advisors of Columbia Synapse and Director of Academic Affairs & Director of Undergraduate Studies in Neuroscience & Behavior at Columbia University. She received her Ph.D. from Columbia University where her research focuses on topics of curiosity, motivation, and learning. She applies this to her interest in teaching pedagogy where her new lines of research delve into more applied educational settings, aiming to explore how we can leverage our understanding of curiosity and learning to enhance pedagogical practice and classroom learning.

Dr. KIRK LERCHER

Dr. Kirk Lercher is the Synapse advisor and is dual-board certificated in physical medicine and rehabilitation  (PMR) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) medicine. Since joining the faculty of the Department of Rehabilitation and Human Performance at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in 2013 he has become the Medical Director of the Brain Injury Rehabilitation Program and has since established and directs the program’s first ACGME accredited TBI fellowship.

DR. MARIAM ALY

Mariam Aly is one of the faculty advisors of Columbia Synapse and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Columbia University. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis in 2013, and conducted postdoctoral research at Princeton University. As the Principal Investigator of the Aly Lab, she studies the human mind and brain with a focus on the interplay between attention, perception, and memory. She is passionate about helping students navigate school and life beyond it, and she does that by organizing career development sessions and working to destigmatize mental illness. She also actively engages in science communication, through social media and outreach activities. In her free time, she enjoys reading novels, walking very long distances, and wandering through art museums.