Lab Members

Jane is a cognitive neuroscientist and is a Professor in the School of Psychology, Sport and Sensory Sciences at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU). Before joining ARU in 2011, Jane did postdoctoral research at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, at Goldsmiths College in London, and at the University of Oxford. She completed her MRC-funded PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Newcastle, and for her undergraduate studies, she read Biological Sciences at Somerville College,  University of Oxford.  

Jane's profile page.

Jenny is currently a Senior Research Fellow and is a permanent member of staff at ARU. She is also adjunct Fellow at the Centre for Psychological Medicine at Perdana University in Malaysia. She was previously funded by Versus Arthritis to investigate altered interoception and body representations in fibromyalgia. Jenny completed her PhD in the lab under the supervision of Prof. Viren Swami, Prof. Jane Aspell and Dr David Barron. It investigated relationships between interoception and body image.

 Jenny's profile page.

Phaedra recently started a lectureship at ARU. She completed her MSc in Psychology (Conversion) at the University of Exeter. Following this, she was awarded a Vice Chancellor's PhD Scholarship at ARU. Inspired by her lived experience, Phaedra’s PhD investigated positive body image among autistic individuals. Prof. Jane Aspell was her first supervisor, Prof. Viren Swami her second, and Dr Jennifer Todd her third.  

                Phaedra's RG page

Ryan completed his psychology BSc undergraduate degree in psychology at ARU. His PhD project investigates pain processing and experience in gymnasts and other athletes. He will conduct qualitative, behavioural and EEG studies aiming to examine potential differences in pain processing between gymnasts and control groups. Ryan's first supervisor is Dr Flavia Cardini, Prof. Jane Aspell is his second and Dr Francesca Cavallerio is his third. 

Ryan's profile page

Larissa completed an MSc in Applied Positive Psychology at ARU. She continued doing research after her graduation while working as a lecturer, psychologist and coach. She is doing a PhD by published work which investigates psychosocial dimensions and interventions in chronic pain patients, with a focus on Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders and hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.  Larissa's first supervisor is Prof. Jane Aspell; her second supervisor is Dr Suzanna Forwood.

Lovell completed her BSc in Psychology at ARU and was awarded the BPS Psychobiology National Project Prize. Her PhD project aims to investigate the experience of autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) and its hormonal correlates. Lovell will be conducting a systematic review and lab-based experiments, utilising the School's EEG lab and Biomarker lab. Lovell’s first supervisor is Dr Flavia Cardini, Prof. Jane Aspell is her second, and Dr Matt Bristow her third. 

Dr Neal Chauhan

Doctor of Medicine candidate

Neal is a Rheumatology Speciality Registrar undertaking an Out of Programme Research fellowship with the Cambridge Arthritis Research Endeavour (CARE) at Addenbrooke's Hospital. He is studying for a Doctor of Medicine by Research, MD (Res). His research project investigates body perception disturbance as a predictive marker for the development of chronic pain. Neal will conduct a longitudinal study using functional and resting-state MRI imaging, alongside deep phenotyping, in participants with acute distal radius fractures. His first supervisor is Professor Jane Aspell, his clinical supervisor is Dr Nicholas Shenker (Addenbrooke's Hospital), and his external advisor is Dr Emmanuel Stamatakis of the Cognition and Consciousness Imaging Group, University of Cambridge.

Matt joined ARU as a part-time Research Assistant in June 2021 after completing his MSc in Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience at ARU in 2019. He was previously funded by The Bial Foundation to work on the project 'Living in a Dream: Body and self experience during waking and dream states in depersonalisation'. He is currently exploring altered states of consciousness via collaborations around Floatation-REST and experiments in public engagement using AI and VR.

Matt's website

Cari-lene completed her PhD in the lab in 2020. She investigated interoceptive processing and bodily self-consciousness in autism. She also worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Addenbrooke's hospital, Cambridge, working with Nikesh Thiruchelvam, and collaborating with Jenny Todd and Jane Aspell on a project investigating pain associated with pelvic mesh implants. She is now a Visiting Research Fellow in the lab and Associate Lecturer at ARU.  Cari-lene is currently working on a project investigating the effect of clothing choices on chronic pain symptoms