MEMBERS
Luz Stephanie Andrino
Graduate Student (PSN, Carnegie-Mellon University)
Luz is in a PhD program in Systems Neuroscience at Carnegie Mellon University. She completed her bachelor’s degree in Psychology at Cal State, Northridge. After receiving her undergraduate degree, she completed the National Institutes of Health Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program (NIH-PREP) at Purdue University working in a systems neuroscience & neuroengineering lab. She has an interest in translational auditory neuroscience and is a dog turned cat lover!
Vishal Bandaru
Undergraduate Student (Neuroscience)
Hi, I’m Vishal. I am an undergraduate student double majoring in neuroscience and psychology. After my undergraduate years, I am planning on going to medical school and becoming a doctor. Outside of school, my interests include watching everything Pittsburgh sports related and playing table games with friends.
Rachel Blake
Graduate Student (Audiology)
Rachel completed her undergraduate bachelors degree in CSD at SUNY Fredonia. During her undergraduate studies, Rachel was a research assistant investigating Covid-19 Related Hearing Loss. Currently, she is pursuing her doctorate in Audiology at the University of Pittsburgh. In the future, Rachel aims to provide excellent patient care when working with diagnostics and amplification. Outside of school, she enjoys nature, art, and photography.
Olivia Flemm
Graduate Student (Audiology)
Olivia Flemm is a second-year AuD student in the lab. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Communication Science and Disorders with an economics minor at the University of Pittsburgh. She is interested in all aspects of audiology and enjoys learning how the clinical and research side of the field interact with one another . Outside of class, she likes spending time with her dog George!
Megan Hallihan
Undergraduate Student (CSD)
Hello, my name is Megan! I am an undergraduate student majoring in Communication Science and Disorders with a certificate in American Sign Language and a minor in linguistics. After I graduate, I plan on attending graduate school for audiology. Outside of the lab, I am raising a future service dog, named Tatum, for an organization called Canine Companions.
Caroline Henning
Undergraduate Student (CSD)
Hi, I’m Caroline! I am an undergraduate at Pitt studying communication science and disorders. After I graduate, I plan to attend Audiology school and work with veterans or children with complex medical conditions such as cleft lip and palate. Outside of the lab, I love hanging out with my friends, finding cool places to eat around PGH, and going to Pirates and Steelers games!
Jennifer (Jen) Klara
Research Technician
Jen joined as a research technician in the lab after completing her undergraduate degree in Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh. Her future goals include medical or graduate school. She aspires to make discoveries that will make a difference in somebody’s life. When not in class, she can usually be found playing various video games, shopping, or reading books about death. If that doesn’t make you too uneasy, she’ll happily give you her gaming information to play sometime.
Aravind Parthasarathy, PhD
Principal Investigator
Assistant Professor,
Dept. of Communication Science and Disorders.
Aravind_Partha (at) pitt (dot) edu
Aravind tries to do stuff as well.
Viral Shah
Undergraduate Student (BioEngineering)
Viral is an undergraduate studying BioEngineering with a focus on medical devices and a minor in Computer Science. After he graduates he aims to work on medical devices for others as a cochlear implant helped him hear. Outside of classes he enjoys spending time with his friends and taking up any outdoor activity from spikeball to hiking.
Shelby Sydenstricker
Graduate Student (Audiology)
Greetings! My name is Shelby. I am a graduate student in the Audiology program. I moved across the state to fuel my passion to guide and educate individuals with hearing loss. Prior to starting my education at Pitt, I worked as the lead research assistant on a hearing-related project involving teenagers with ADHD. I'm excited to bring my plethora of research experience to the lab! If I'm not in the lab, class, or work, you can find me in the closest thrift shop.
Leslie Zhen
Graduate Student (Communication Science and Disorders)
Leslie is a PhD student working with Drs. Pratt and Parthasarathy. He is interested in the time course of auditory learning and manipulations to optimize perceptual gains. An area of specific interest is how task-irrelevant auditory signals are acquired and processed.
Maggie Zink
Graduate Student (Communication Science and Disorders)
Maggie is excited to expound upon her work with listening effort and related fatigue, hearing loss, and cognitive aging under the guidance of Drs. Parthasarathy and Chandrasekaran. On a larger scale, she hopes to do her part to help better understand the relationship between perceptual and cognitive decline. Maggie graduated from Saint Louis University in 2014 with degrees in Neuroscience and Music: Operatic Vocal Performance. Her passions include pub trivia, Thai takeout, concert photography, and idolizing Food Network stars (despite having no cooking abilities).
Lab Alumni
Wes Enterline (AuD) -> Extern @ Children's Hospital, Pittsburgh
Tori Cancel (AuD) -> Extern @ Duke University, NC
Mayan Harris (Taylor-Allderdice High school) -> Undergrad @ Brandeis, MA
Jacie McHaney (PhD) -> Research Assistant Professor @ Northwestern University, IL
Claire Mitchell (CSD Undergrad) -> AuD @ Vanderbilt University, TN
Kimberly Yurasits (AuD) -> Extern @ Duke University, NC