Members

Dhatri S. Devaraju, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
devaraju2@wisc.edu

Dhatri’s research delves into understanding the intricate neural mechanisms underlying auditory and auditory-visual perception, with a particular emphasis on its transformative applications within the realm of rehabilitating individuals with communication disorders. She is interested in exploring the pivotal roles of multifaceted cognitive factors such as auditory working memory and attention in shaping both auditory and audio-visual speech perception. She aims at unravelling their profound impacts on the intricate interplay between perception and production processes.

Hannah TenPas
Au.D. Graduate Student

Hannah is a graduate student pursuing her doctorate in audiology at UW Madison. Her current experience includes clinical work at the University of Wisconsin Speech and Hearing Clinic (UWSHC), the Tinnitus, Hyperacusis, and Misophonia clinic within the department, and the Neuromotor, Autism and Developmental Delay, and Newborn screening follow-up Clinic at the Waisman Center. She is completing her capstone project within the SPAN Lab which focuses on the effect of noise and linguistic complexity on auditory working memory. In her free time, Hannah enjoys being with family and friends and spending time outdoors hiking, biking, and kayaking throughout Wisconsin.

Ying Wang
Ph.D. student, Mead Witter School of Music

Originally from Shanghai China, Ying began his piano studies at the very young age of four. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison with degrees in Piano Performance and Psychology, with an emphasis on child development. After completing a Master’s Degree in Piano Performance at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, Maryland, he is now back in Madison pursuing a DMA in Piano Performance and Pedagogy. Ying is deeply interested in how children’s neuropsychological development and music, especially piano, can directly affect one’s intellectual and multisensory development. Currently, he is working on a case study on musical imagery at the SPAN lab for his dissertation.

Maggie Becher
Ph.D. student, Food Science

Maggie is a Ph.D. student in Food Science in Dr. John Lucey’s lab. Her current research focuses on extending the squeakiness shelf-life of fresh cheese curds. Maggie is collaborating with the SPAN Lab to record the squeaky sounds and develop a method to quantify squeakiness from audio recordings. In her free time, Maggie enjoys spending time with friends and family, baking, and crafting.

Serena Helman
Au.D Graduate Student

Serena is a doctoral student of Audiology here at UW-Madison. She completed her capstone research project within the SPAN lab, which focused on the temporal aspects of fine structure of speech and its influence in understanding speech in noise. This project is part of a larger study that continues to investigate the role of fine structure in speech understanding in difficult listening environments. Although she is a Wisconsin native, she will be completing her fourth-year externship at UCHealth in Aurora, Colorado before graduating in May 2025. In her free time Serena enjoys reading, cooking, spending time outside, and traveling

Megan Hernandez
Undergraduate Student

Megan is studying Neurobiology & Spanish. She is a second year undergraduate. She is from the Milwaukee area. She enjoys hiking and hot yoga in her free time. She is participating in this lab because it provides an introduction to research methods and clinical trials, which she plans to do in the future, as she in a pre-med path. Megan’s research in the lab  is focused on investigating the neural processing of acoustically enhanced speech.

Janani Sampath
Undergraduate Student

Janani is a sophomore from Green Bay, Wisconsin who is planning to double-major in Neurobiology and Psychology. She is pre-med and hopes to become a psychiatrist. Janani’s past research credentials include working in the Tiny Earth program, in which she studied the increased presence of antibiotics in the soil of Ayurvedic plants. In the SPAN lab, Janani studies neural processing of enhanced speech. In her free time, she enjoys being outdoors and fangirling over Percy Jackson.

Simar Tathgir
Undergraduate Student

Simar is a passionate computer engineer and an enthusiastic reader deeply intrigued by mythologies. When she is not engrossed in coding or exploring tech innovations, Simar finds solace in devouring tales from various mythic realms. Her heart belongs to dogs, their companionship a constant source of joy, and nothing beats the vibrant flavors of Indian cuisine, a culinary journey she adores.

Ethan Xiong
Undergraduate Student

Ethan is a sophomore majoring in Biology. He joined the SPAN lab in the summer of 2024 as a LASER scholar and is on the pre-med track with hopes to either become a Family Medicine physician or Sports Medicine physician. In his free time, Ethan enjoys playing sports, gaming, and playing DnD.

Ravin Kabra
Undergraduate Student

Ravin is an undergraduate from Mumbai, India. He transferred from studying business at Indiana University and is now majoring in Data Science at UW Madison. Ravin joined the SPAN lab to learn how to adapt and apply data science concepts to an interesting domain. Outside of research, his hobbies include playing basketball and guitar, and he enjoys the outdoors and comedies.

Amelia Jayara
Undergraduate Student

Amelia is a junior pursuing a degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders. She joined the SPAN Lab in September 2024 in hopes of learning more about audiology and speech processing. In her free time, she enjoys exploring Madison and baking.

Chloe Schmitz

Undergraduate Student

Chloe is a senior at UW majoring in Communication Sciences and Disorders with a Disability Rights and Cervices certificate. Chloe plans to continue school for audiology following my undergrad. She joined the SPAN Lab to increase my experience and interest in different areas of the field and can’t wait to learn more! In her free time, Chloe likes to spend time with friends, go on long walks or be active in some other way, and watch the sunset!

Sam Rudnick

Undergraduate Student

Sam is a senior pursuing a B.S. in mathematics and data science. He is passionate about data analysis, statistical analysis, and machine learning, with an emphasis on artificial neural networks. He is originally from Marin County, California, and loves playing piano and guitar, spending time with his friends, family, and dogs.  He also enjoys trying new restaurants and encourages anyone with recommendations to reach out.

Livia Chandra

Undergraduate Student

Livia is a senior at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, double majoring in Computer Science and Data Science. I am very interested in backend development, machine learning, and data science. Livia will be contributing to research at the SPAN Lab this semester, focusing on data analysis to help develop efficient hearing rehabilitation tools. As a multilingual person, she finds this research very interesting and hopes to gain valuable insights from her time in the lab! In her free time, Livia enjoys exploring and listening to various types of music, and recently has gotten really into J-pop. Livia also likes to watch anime; her recent favorites are Attack On Titan and Jujutsu Kaisen.

Jivesh Mehta

Undergraduate Student

Jivesh is a junior pursuing BS in Computer Science. Jivesh is passionate about solving real world problems through technology and joined SPAN LAB to gain more experience in applying machine learning to contribute towards innovative solutions. He also enjoys listening to music.

Yegor baranovski

Undergraduate Student

Yegor is an undergraduate student studying Mathematics, Statistics, and Economics. He joined the lab to assist with statistical methodology and data science concepts. Outside of academic work, he is a member of the Wisconsin rowing team and loves to read, cook, and spend time with friends and family.

Zaynab Iqbal

Undergraduate Student

Zaynab is a freshman at UW-Madison from Brookfield, Wisconsin. She is pursuing a double major in Neurobiology and Sociology. She joined the SPAN lab hoping to learn more about the neuroscience of auditory and speech processing with a particular interest in cochlear hearing loss. In her free time, Zaynab enjoys gardening, painting, and watching movie

Kerry Flood

Undergraduate Student

Kerry is a senior studying Communication Sciences and Disorders with a certificate in Disability Rights and Services from Appleton, Wisconsin. She joined the SPAN lab in September 2024 due to her interest in speech processing and audiology. Outside of research, Kerry enjoys walking her dog, taking naps in her hammock, and spending time with friends.

Hailin (Cris) Zhang

Undergraduate Student

Cris a senior majoring in Data Science, Statistics, and Economics, and is excited to apply data science to real-world challenges. Cris particularly curious about how the team contributes to solving key issues in Communication Sciences and Disorders! Outside of academics, Cris enjoys working out in free time.

Chenxi (Sherry) Xia

Undergraduate Student

Sherry is a junior majoring in Computer Sciences, with certificates in Mathematics, Digital Studies, and Digital Arts. She is particularly interested in UI/UX and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). As a member of SPAN, she is exploring UI development for lab experiments and contributing to improving accessibility. Sherry also enjoys visual art design and has two cats at home.

Hazel Mittal

Undergraduate Student

Hazel is a junior pursuing a double major in Computer Science and Data Science at UW-Madison. She is passionate about using data science and machine learning to tackle real-world challenges, particularly in the areas of auditory research and hearing rehabilitation technologies. Hazel joined SPAN Lab to deepen her experience in applying these tools to innovative research. In her free time, she enjoys reading, playing tennis, and listening to music.

Advait Krishnan

Undergraduate Student

Advait is a freshman from Boston, Massachusetts studying neuroscience and computer science. Interested in the intersection between the brain and machine learning, he joined the SPAN lab in September 2024 to learn about conducting EEG experiments and computationally modeling the brain. He also loves playing piano and listening to classical music and would love to get music recommendations.

Kayden Lamont

Undergraduate Student

Kayden is a sophomore undergraduate student majoring in Neurobiology. She joined the SPAN lab as part of the Undergraduate Research Scholars program to further her research skills. Kayden is on the pre-medicine track in hopes of becoming an ENT surgeon. She has a background in emergency medicine and American Sign Language, which drew her to the SPAN lab. In her free time, Kayden enjoys playing with her cats Gatsby and Rockefeller, watching true crime documentaries, and spending time in nature.