People

Principal Investigator

MillerLMmugshot2015_500px_crop Lee M. Miller

Professor – Dept. of Neurobiology, Physiology & BehaviorProfessor – Dept. of Otolaryngology | Head and Neck Surgery

Technical Director: UC Davis Center for Mind & Brain

UC Davis

leemiller@ucdavis.edu : (530) 297-4474

Lee Miller received his doctorate in Bioengineering from the University of California, San Francisco and Berkeley. His academic training includes quantum physics, single-cell neurophysiology, and cognitive neuroscience. He is a Professor at UC Davis in the Department of Neurobiology, Physiology, & Behavior and the Department of Otolaryngology / Head and Neck Surgery. He serves as Technical Director of the UC Davis Center for Mind & Brain, where his lab investigates the neural bases of auditory perception and speech recognition. His goal is to use techniques such as EEG, functional MRI, and machine learning to translate fundamental scientific results into real-world solutions for people with hearing loss.

Graduate Students

Brett Bormann
(member of Prof. David Corina’s lab). Brett is a Neuroscience PhD Candidate who is using EEG to investigate sensory and attentional processing in children with ADHD. When not in lab, he enjoys riding his bike along with spending time relaxing at home reading and watching movies with his cats.
Suvi Varshney
(jointly with Prof. Sergey Stavisky and Dr. David Brandman). Suvi is an MS Computer Science student. His research interests lie in the amalgamation of Computer Vision and Natural Language Processing, specifically in smart personal assistants. At the Neuroprosthetics Lab and the Miller lab, he is working on automated metrics for assessing neurally-synthesized speech quality.
Tanya Matyushkina
(member of Prof. David Corina’s lab). Tanya is a  graduate student in Psychology, broadly interested in speech perception. Her current project is dedicated to investigation of effects of cross-modal plasticity on speech perception in children with cochlear implants.

Postdoctoral Scholars

Headshot of Kelsey Mankel Kelsey Mankel
Kelsey Mankel received her doctorate in Communication Sciences and Disorders from the University of Memphis in 2021. She also holds a Bachelor of Science in music, neuroscience, and psychology from Central Michigan University. Her research interests include how listening experience (e.g., music training), learning, and individual differences in perceptual and cognitive factors contribute to the neural processing of speech and music.
Headshot of Daniel Comstock Daniel Comstock
Daniel earned his PhD in Cognitive and Information Sciences from the University of California – Merced, and his Bachelors in Cognitive Science from the University of Wisconsin – Stout. He is broadly interested in the role of higher cognitive systems in auditory and visual perception, the neural mechanisms of timing, and EEG data processing and analysis methods. His previous work includes investigations into the role of the motor system in auditory and visual rhythm cognition and timing, the role of the motor system in audiovisual speech integration, and the effects of repetitive non-concussive head-impacts on neural processing.

Research Assistants

Karim Abou Najm
Karim is an undergraduate double majoring in Computer Science and Cognitive Science, and minoring in Mathematics. He is a passionate student working towards an understanding of the brain and pushing the boundaries of what can be done with it, through augmentation. This interest extends computationally to learning and emulating the mind, and neurologically to the biological interface on multiple levels of magnification. Outside of class, Karim enjoys writing, usually composing creative pieces and critically reviewing novels.
Headshot of Aman Ganapathy Aman Ganapathy
Aman Ganapathy is a Computer Science and Engineering major. He is fascinated by data, more specifically the development of tools and abstract structures to better compartmentalize and utilize it. More specifically, he likes reading and developing algorithms geared towards those specific purposes. In his spare time, he likes to jog, play chess, and read.
Ashley Bilbrey

Ashley is a Computer Science major interested in cybersecurity. She also leads the Miller lab Augmented Reality (AR) efforts.

Headshot of Sarah Yuniar Sarah Yuniar
Sarah is a student pursuing a computer science and engineering major at UC Davis. She loves web programming and making sims in C++, as well as learning more computer and human languages than she needs to. She likes mac and cheese and coffee in unhealthy amounts, and her hobbies include reading, writing, coding, piano, and continuously failing latte art.
Tiana Smith
Tiana is a post-baccalaureate student with a fascination with hearing and speech mechanisms. She enjoys using her computational and bioinformatic skills to further understand auditory perception and deafness. In the near future, she hopes to pursue her interest in hearing loss in the medical field. Tiana loves riding her bike, reading books, french fries, and practicing the violin.

Collaborators

Sergey Stavisky
Asst. Professor of Neurological Surgery- UC Davis
Dr. David Brandman
Asst. Professor of Neurological Surgery- UC Davis
Dr. Hilary Brodie
Professor of Otolaryngology / Head and Neck Surgery – UC Davis
Dr. Doron Sagiv
Asst. Professor of Otolaryngology / Head and Neck Surgery – UC Davis
Gregg Recanzone
Professor of Neurobiology, Physiology, & Behavior – UC Davis
Headshot of Wilsaan Joiner Wilsaan Joiner
Professor in Dept. of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior and Dept. of Neurology – UC Davis
Jonathan Schofield
Asst. Professor in Dept. of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering – UC Davis
Elana Zion-Golumbic
Professor, Gonda Brain Research Center, Bar Ilan University
image_normal (3) Sanjay Joshi
Professor of Engineering –  Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering – UC Davis
David Corina
Prof. of Linguistics – Center for Mind & Brain, UC Davis
image_normal (3) Kristina Backer
Assistant Professor – UC Merced
image (1) Antoine (Tony) Shahin
Assoc. Research Professor – UC Merced

Alumni

Jessica Cai
Headshot of Jan Truong Upper body shot of Ian Chuang Headshot of Nandhini Sridhar
Jan Truong Ian Chuang Nandhini Sridhar
Akshita Sharma Ralph Shehayed Britt Yazel
Yinuo Qin Luis El Srouji Sonja Swanson
Matthew Stickle Niranjana Jayakrishnan Aashir Farooqi
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Markham Anderson Deepak Yadav Fernando Espinosa-Iniguez
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Nathaniel Guteirrez Sam London Bartlett Moore
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Kristina Backer Tom Campbell Kevin Hill
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Andrew Kessler Jess Kerlin Christopher Bishop