Dr. Hamilton completed her Ph.D. in neuroscience at the University of California, Berkeley and her postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco Center for Integrative Neuroscience and Department of Neurosurgery. Her research interests include how speech sounds are represented in the auditory cortex and how these representations change during learning, development, and as a result of plasticity. To investigate this, she applies computational methods to intracranial electrophysiological recordings from patients undergoing surgical treatment for epilepsy. This work involves collaborations with clinicians and epileptologists at Austin's Dell Children's Hospital and through the UT Dell Medical School. She also uses noninvasive EEG in healthy populations to understand complex sound processing during naturalistic speech perception and production. Dr. Hamilton is a tenured Associate Professor at the University of Texas at Austin, and holds joint appointments in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences and the Department of Neurology at Dell Medical School. She also holds an Adjunct Assistant Professor appointment in the Department of Neurosurgery at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX.

She is also affiliated with the UT Austin Institute for Neuroscience, the UT CARE (Clinically Applied Rehabilitation Research and Engineering) Initiative , and the UT Austin Center for Perceptual Systems.

Elise Rickert is a 4th year AuD student in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. Her background is in speech pathology and audiology, psychology, and disability studies. She also has previous research experience in stuttering and epilepsy healthcare. She is particularly interested in the neuroplasticity of the auditory cortex and speech perception.

Rajvi Agravat (BS) is a 3rd year Neuroscience Ph.D. student at UT Austin. She officially joined the lab in May 2023 after rotating in 2022, and is interested in studying auditory attention in teens and adults with epilepsy. Her goal is to help improve auditory attention in people preparing for epilepsy surgery using intracranial EEG. Prior to joining UT, she was a Research Assistant at the Jarvis Lab at Rockefeller University in New York where she studied motor cortex connectivity and its role in vocal production in mice. Rajvi received her Bachelor of Science in Biology from the New York Institute of Technology in 2020. Her hope is to study neurogenic speech disorders to influence policymakers via knowledge mobilization and to contribute to the greater good of society. Apart from speech and behavior, she is interested in neuroplasticity, cognition, and intellectual functioning. Outside the lab, she enjoys trying different kinds of teas, cooking, photography, and traveling.

Arpan is a 4th year MD/MSE candidate at Dell Medical School and the University of Texas at Austin. He is taking pursuing a Masters of Science in Engineering through the Department of Biomedical Engineering at UT while pursuing research in the Hamilton Lab for the 2023-2024 academic year. He is focused on building speech decoding models as a part of his thesis and hopes to learn about computational and speech neuroscience along the way.

Leah is a first-year doctoral student at the department of speech, language and hearing sciences. Her background is in computer science and psychology. During her master’s program, she worked on a project that investigated the neural mechanisms underlying imagined speech using electrocorticography (ECoG), supervised by Dr. Adeen Flinker. She is interested in understanding how bilingualism is represented in the human brain.

Diego graduated as a General Practitioner/Doctor in Medicine, has a Master's degree in Cognitive Neuroscience, and completed his Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Lyon, France. He wrote his thesis on sustained attention, distraction, and multitasking using invasive electroencephalography, under the tutelage of Dr. Jean Philippe Lachaux.
He is currently working as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Cockrell School of Engineering, Moody College of Communication, & Department of Neurology Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin, in the laboratories of Dr. Liberty Hamilton and Dr. Jose del R. Millan.
His research interests include the development of closed-loop Brain-Computer Interface systems for neurological rehabilitation, as well as research based on cognitive neuroscience and high neural processes, such as attention, memory, language, and decision-making.

Maansi Desai completed her PhD at The University of Texas at Austin in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences with an emphasis on auditory and computational neuroscience. She wrote her thesis on utilizing acoustically rich audiovisual naturalistic stimuli to investigate speech encoding in the brain using scalp EEG and intracranial EEG. She is currently working as a part time postdoctoral researcher in the Hamilton lab. Her research interests include auditory attention and utilizing electrophysiological modalities to advance the field of brain-computer interfaces or wearables to help improve various forms of communication impairments.

Lynn completed their PhD at The University of Texas at Austin in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences as part of the combined MS-PhD program. Their doctoral research, conducted in the Hamilton Lab, investigated how the brain processes the sound of our own voice while we speak by comparing these "internally generated" sounds to "externally generated" sounds using scalp EEG and surgically implanted sEEG. They are currently working as a postdoctoral researcher in the Hamilton Lab, studying how auditory feedback systems change during error detection and correction as well as the role of the insula in auditory processing.

Alyssa Field graduated with a BA in Linguistics from the University of Texas at Austin (2020) and obtained her M.Ed in Secondary Education - Talent Development from Texas State University (2023). Her background includes interests in sociolinguistics and applications of digital humanities. In the Hamilton Lab, she handles neuroimaging demands of our sEEG projects, data management, and general operations of the lab.

Sandy Georges graduated with a B.S. in Neuroscience with a psychology minor from Texas A&M University and a Master’s in physiology and pharmacology from the University of Florida. She has previous experience in neuroscience research, studying the neurobiology underlying addiction. Sandy works at Texas Children's Hospital to recruit and collect neural data with patients undergoing surgical treatment for epilepsy. She is interested in pursuing neurology or psychiatry as a future career.

Jacob Leisawitz graduated from Syracuse University in 2024 with a B.S. in Neuroscience and Biochemistry. As an undergraduate, he completed his honors thesis through a cell culture-based research project in which he studied the effect of arsenic exposure on the protective response of the brain, specifically through antioxidant production of astrocytes. Jacob recruits patients at Texas Children’s Hospital who are undergoing stereo-EEG monitoring to treat their epilepsy, for a study aimed at uncovering the underlying neural mechanisms of auditory and speech processing in the brain. He plans to pursue medical school, to explore his interests in many fields including neurosurgery, orthopedics, and endocrinology.

Erica McVey is a 4th year AuD student in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Science. She is currently completing her clinical externship year at Baylor Scott & White Main and Baylor Scott & White Mc Lane Children’s hospital while continuing her Capstone research interest in cognitive and auditory processing and cross-modal plasticity in American Sign Language interpreters. Her Capstone project utilizes EEG to investigate neural speech-in-noise encoding in ASL interpreters with normal hearing who are trained to simultaneously use multiple processing modalities incorporating visual, auditory, and motor cortices.

Yao is a 3rd year doctoral student in the Department of Speech, Language,
and Hearing Sciences. She started her rotation in the Hamilton Lab in Spring
2023. In the lab, she works on postprocessing and analyzing intracranial-EEG data during sentence reading and listening with a focus on speech errors. Her other research interests include treatment efficacy of parent training among children with autism and speech perception in non-native listeners. She is a certified speech-language pathologist.

Lauren Ralston is a Ph.D. Student in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. She completed both her Bachelor of Science (B.S.) and Doctorate of Audiology (Au.D.) at the University of Texas at Austin. Her background is in auditory electrophysiology using scalp-recorded electroencephalography. Her research interests include the cortical representation of sound, as well as how the brain reorganizes in individuals with tinnitus and/or hearing loss. Lauren manages the Central Sensory Processes Laboratory in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. She started rotating through the Hamilton lab in Spring of 2024.

Lauren Hilder is a sophomore at UT Austin majoring in Medical Laboratory Sciences on the Pre-Med track. Fueled by her personal connection to her deaf cousin, she is excited to be involved in research that helps better understand how the human brain processes speech.

Giselle Pedraza, a sophomore double majoring in Music and Neuroscience at the University of Texas at Austin, is driven by an insatiable curiosity about the complexities of the human brain. Her academic pursuits are centered around unraveling the mysteries of cognitive processes, with a particular passion for understanding how the brain processes a diverse range of auditory stimuli. Outside of academics, you'll often find Giselle playing the piano, listening to various music genres, or dancing.

Anisha Cheena Sait is a sophomore at UT majoring in Neuroscience with a minor in Sociology on the pre-med track. She is passionate about learning more about the brain in all different ways whether it be computational or behavioral. She loves exploring how the brain works especially since it is such a mysterious and complex organ, which is the reason that she is particularly interested in how the brain processes information like speech, language, and hearing. In addition to that, Anisha is also interested in understanding neurodegenerative processes involved in diseases like Alzheimer's, dementia, and Parkinson's disease. Anisha is excited and very grateful to have received an opportunity to gain insights into neural processes that will be used for the rest of her academic and future career.

Indrani Basu is a junior at the University of Texas at Austin, majoring in Women's and Gender Studies, Neuroscience, and Plan II Honors. Outside of the lab she enjoys yoga, ceramics, and gardening at UT Microfarm. Indrani plans to pursue a research career in pediatric neurology.

Amara Vincent-Nsobundu is a 4th year Public Health major on the pre-med track at the University of Texas at Austin. She is also pursuing a minor in Entrepreneurship and certificate in Applied Statistical Modeling. Initially curious about neuroscience through her patient care experience, her academic interests include how the brain processes speech and language as well as data analysis. Outside of school, you’ll often find Amara reading, diamond painting, listening to music or spending time with friends and family.

Fouad Tawil is a senior Computational Biology major on the Pre-Med track at the University of Texas at Austin. His research interests focus on the intricate workings of the brain, particularly in the areas of speech and language processing, as well as using statistical and computational modeling techniques to tackle complex biological problems. Outside of the lab, Fouad enjoys paddle boarding, working out, community volunteering, and growing his nonprofit organization for humanitarian aid.

Department of Pediatrics, Dell Medical School at UT Austin

University of Pittsburgh

UT Austin Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences

Department of Neurosurgery & Center for Integrative Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco

Chief of Neurosurgery, Texas Children's Hospital. Professor, Pediatric Neurosurgery and Vice Chairman, Baylor College of Medicine.

Pediatric Neuropsychology, Dell Children's Medical Center Comprehensive Epilepsy Center

Section Chief, Pediatric Neuropsychology, Dell Children's Medical Center. Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychology at The University of Texas at Austin.

Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX. Associate Professor of Pediatrics-Neurology, Baylor College of Medicine.

Dr. George was the Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Dell Children's Medical Center, Co-CEO Pediatric Specialty Services, Co-Director - Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Program, Adjunct Professor - Department of Molecular Biosciences - UT Austin, Professor of Surgery/Neurosurgery/Pediatrics/Neurology - Dell Medical School at UT Austin.

Board-certified pediatric neurologist, Child Neurology Consultants of Austin and Dell Children's Medical Center. Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology, Courtesy Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Dell Medical School, UT Austin.

Assistant Professor, Department of Neuroscience and Department of Computer Science.

Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery and the Co-Chief of Pediatric Neuroscience in the Pediatric Neurosurgery Center within UT Health Austin Pediatric Neurosciences at Dell Children’s. Associate Professor in the Dell Medical School Department of Neurosurgery.

Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin

PhD Student in Electrical and Computer Engineering, UT Austin (PI: Tewfik).

PhD student in Physics, UT Austin. (PI: Huth)

Former Research Assistant in Huth Lab. Current: PhD program at the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, UC Berkeley.

PhD student in Computer Science, UT Austin. (PI: Huth)

PhD student in Computer Science, UT Austin. (PI: Huth)

Department of Neurology, Dell Medical School at UT Austin

Department of Neurology, Dell Medical School at UT Austin
Department of Biomedical Engineering at UT Austin.

Department of Neurosurgery at Baylor College of Medicine

Rotation student (2018). Current: Eyal Seidemann Lab (UT Austin Center for Perceptual Systems).

Research volunteer (2017-2018).

Rotation student (2019). Current: Alex Huk Lab (UT Austin Department of Neuroscience).

Undergraduate student volunteer (2018-2019). Graduated 2019 - B.S. in Communication Sciences and Disorders, UT Austin. Current: MS-SLP program at TWU.

Undergraduate student volunteer (2018-2019). Graduated with B.S. in Communication Sciences and Disorders, UT Austin -- May 2019. Current: Graduate student in Medical Speech Language Pathology at the University of Washington.

Masters student (2017-2019). Greta Lowery graduated with her masters in Speech Language Pathology from UT Austin in May 2019. Her thesis investigated perception of simultaneous natural speech and music using EEG. She is a certified Pediatric Speech Language Pathologist and plans to pursue a PhD in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences starting in Fall 2024.

Undergraduate research volunteer (summer 2019). Natalie Miller is now pursuing her PhD in Musicology at Princeton University in the Music Cognition Lab (PI: Elizabeth Margulis).

Undergrad research volunteer (summer - fall 2019).

Research Assistant (2018 - 2020). Projects on neural networks to understand pitch and phonological processing in the brain. Current PhD student in Speech, Hearing, Bioscience and Technology at Harvard/MIT as of Fall 2020.

Undergraduate research volunteer (2018-2020). Jade started her Master's in Communication Disorders at UT Dallas in Fall 2020.

Undergraduate independent study research (UT Neuroscience program) and Moody Intellectual Entrepreneurship Program - 2019-2020.

Undergraduate independent study on ICA methods for artifact rejection in EEG (Spring 2020).

Undergraduate research volunteer (2019 - 2020). Major in Linguistics and Computer Sciences. Assisted Garret Kurteff with projects on EEG of naturalistic speech perception and production.

Brittany Hoang graduated in May 2021 from the SLHS program at UT. She is interested in how the brain modifies to perceive and respond to language and speech with aphasia. Currently, she is working as an SLPA before attending graduate school to become certified in SLP.

Valerie Mercado graduated from UT with a BA in English, Linguistics, and Japanese. She has interests in bilingualism and language acquisition, but recently discovered a new interest in learning about language processing within the brain. She is currently a freelance English and Japanese tutor and hopes to attend a graduate program in Linguistics.

Claire Huber completed her undergraduate coursework in Linguistics and Computer Science at UT in 2019. She assisted in a project in the lab related to speech perception and production.

Chris Truong assisted Garret Kurteff on an EEG project to uncover differences in representations of naturalistic speech perception and production in the brain.

Amanda Martinez graduated from the CSD program at UT Austin in 2021. She is interested in learning how the brain processes language in children and adults. She plans on attending graduate school to become an SLP.

Tasha Anslyn assisted Garret Kurteff in analyzing the neural representation of naturalistic speech production and perception in the brain using EEG. Her interests are in linguistics, psychology, and speech and language disorders.

Sahar Hashemgeloogerdi graduated with Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Rochester. Her background is in audio and acoustic signal processing with an emphasis on modeling methods, audio enhancement algorithms, and analysis techniques with applications in healthcare and intelligent systems. In Hamilton Lab, Sahar aims to address challenges in the area of speech-oriented brain-computer interfaces.

Donise Tran was an undergrad researcher (2019-2020). She is currently attending graduate school to become a certified SLP. She is interested in working with those in the Deaf community who want to learn how to speak English.

(2021-2023).In the lab, Jacob worked to obtain measures of fatigue in individuals with moderate to profound hearing loss within virtual classrooms. Currently, he is completing his A.uD externship at American Family Children’s Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin while also participating in the LEND program at UW-Madison.

Anokhi graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a B.S. in Neuroscience, a minor in Journalism, and Pre-Health. Anokhi assisted in data collection on one of our EEG studies using movie trailer stimuli. (Fall 2022).

Beth graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a B.S. in Neuroscience. Beth assisted in data collection on one of our EEG studies using movie trailer stimuli. (Fall 2022). Beth plans to pursue a Master of Communication Disorders or Speech, Language Pathology.

Katherine Huang worked on a pamphlet to give to our pediatric population of participants explaining research in friendly terms. (Fall 2022).

(2021-2023). In the lab, Malinda worked on data preprocessing for our stereo EEG data that was obtained from Dell Children's Medical Center and Texas Children's Hospital. Currently, she is completing her A.uD externship at Carle ECHO Program & CAOS, Urbana-Champaign, IL.

In the Hamilton Lab, she contributed to our study of speech and language networks by collecting data from pediatric patients at Texas Children's Hospital. Saman is currently pursuing a DO at UIW School of Osteopathic Medicine.

Alexandra Foox shadowed with our team at Texas Children's Hospital for Summer 2023. She has since started her undergraduate degree at UT Austin.

Therese Ancheta shadowed with our team at Texas Children's Hospital during Summer 2023.

Gabby worked as our Research Coordinator at Texas Children's Hospital where she recruited and collected neural data with patients undergoing surgical treatment for epilepsy. She has since matriculated to Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine in Fort Worth in July 2024. Her interests include family medicine and pediatrics.

Lydia Su completed her AuD research capstone that investigated neural mechanisms of speech in noise difficulties using a combination of audiometry, ABR, and scalp EEG during her time in the lab.

As a part of this lab, Aneri learned to run EEG data collection sessions with adult participants and gained a deeper understanding of the EEG methodology and preprocessing.