People

Dr. Lorna Quandt is the director of Action and Brain Lab at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. She serves as Co-Director of the VL2 Research Center alongside Melissa Malzkuhn. Dr. Quandt is an Associate Professor in the Ph.D. in Educational Neuroscience (PEN) program and is also the Science Director of the Motion Light Lab. Dr. Quandt founded the Action & Brain lab in early 2016. Before that, Dr. Quandt obtained her BA in Psychology from Haverford College and a PhD in Psychology, specializing in Brain & Cognitive Sciences, from Temple University. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, working with Dr. Anjan Chatterjee. Her research examines how knowledge of sign language changes perception, particularly visuospatial processing. Dr. Quandt is also pursuing the development of research-based educational technology to create new ways to learn signed languages in virtual reality.

You can view her CV here, and access a list of her publications on PubMed or Google Scholar.

She can be contacted at lorna.quandt at gallaudet.edu.

Dr. Shahinur Alam is a postdoctoral associate in the Action & Brain Lab in the Visual Language and Visual Learning (VL2) Center at Gallaudet University. He also works closely with the Motion Light Lab. His primary concern is an NSF-funded project, Signing Avatars & Immersive Learning (SAIL 2.0). The main goal of this project is to make the sign language learning process fun and interactive.

Dr. Alam received his Ph.D. in information and communication engineering from Chungbuk National University, South Korea in 2021. During his Ph.D., he developed a pen-and-paperless air-writing system in a virtual environment. Before that, he completed his B.Sc. Eng. in computer science and engineering from Jashore University of Science Technology, Bangladesh in 2014.

He is interested in deep learning, human-computer interaction, computer vision, and immersive technologies. He enjoys playing guitar in his leisure time and likes traveling and writing. For more information, visit his personal website, Researchgate, Google scholar, and Publons profile.

Carly Leannah is a graduate research assistant in the Action & Brain Lab. She is a PhD candidate in the PhD in Educational Neuroscience (PEN) program at Gallaudet University. Before joining PEN, Carly lived in Oregon/Washington where she worked as a secondary teacher at a residential school for the Deaf. Carly is interested in the influence of language acquisition on spatial perception and learning processes as well as how technology can play a role in language development for DHH individuals.

For more information about Carly, you can visit her CV or her LinkedIn profile. Her email is carly.leannah at gallaudet.edu.

Melody Schwenk is a second-year student in the Action & Brain Lab, working on her Ph.D. in Educational Neuroscience. Melody is from New York, NY. 

She has a BA in psychology and sociology from Stony Brook University, an MA in clinical psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University, and an M.S.Ed in Deaf Education from Hunter College. Much of her prior research has been centered on neuroimaging related to PTSD within veterans. She is currently interested in trauma with a specific focus on how traumatic experiences impact the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing community.

Joseph Palagano is a second-year student in the Ph.D. in Educational Neuroscience program and a second-year graduate research assistant in the Action and Brain Lab. Stemming from Villa Rica, Georgia Joseph attended Gallaudet University for his undergraduate education, studying History and Deaf Education. His research agenda primarily centers on the neuroscientific and educational impacts of language brokering in the deaf community.

Tadhg Hicken is a graduate research assistant in the Action and Brain Lab and a first-year student in the Ph.D. in Educational Neuroscience program. Tadhg grew up in Minnesota and attended Rochester Institute of Technology where they earned a B.S. in ASL-English Interpreting. Their prior research experiences and time in an Interpreter Education Program led them to develop an interest in education. Specifically, they are curious about the neuroscientific aspects of second language acquisition and the interpreting process.

Sarah Miller is a Research Operations Specialist for the Motion Light Lab and Action & Brain Lab teams. 

Hailing from the Chicagoland area, Sarah graduated from Columbia College Chicago in 2019 with a Deaf Studies degree. She graduated from Gallaudet’s Masters in Sign Language in Education program. 

Sarah loves learning new things and is fascinated by the intersection of technology and sign language. Digital development utilized to research and document sign language is an area that particularly piques her interest. 

Taylor Delorme is an undergraduate Psychology major working as a research assistant in the ABL and ML2 labs with a focus on the SAIL 2 project from Fall 2022-present. I have a love of art and creatively expressing myself in any way is my favorite pastime. Psychology is also a special interest to me because analyzing people and behaviors is fun! In the future, I’d like to work with children (the best and worst kind of people!) in some way and merge it with my Psychology experience to aid in their growth to the best of my ability. If I can add art to that agenda, I’d want for nothing.