Ph.D., University of Connecticut, Storrs, Experimental Psychology
Free University of Amsterdam, Human Movement Science
M.S., University of Connecticut, Storrs, Experimental Psychology
B.S., M.A., Technical University of Munich and Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany, Movement Science and English Linguistics & Literature
Email: d.sternad@northeastern.edu

Dagmar grew up in the Bavarian Alps and studied in Munich, Germany. Having been an athlete and dancer from as early as she can remember, she has had an unwavering passion and curiosity for how humans move. After her final university exams, she visited the University of Connecticut for a ‘few months’ to learn more about rhythmic movements – this was more than 30 years ago … After completing her PhD at UConn, she took up a faculty position at Penn State and after 13 years moved to Northeastern University. From her early interest in highly skilled aesthetic movements, she has now also extended her inquiries into impaired movement coordination. Her research has also created bridges to human-robot interaction and movement control in robots.

Link to CV

Ph.D., American University of Beirut, Beirut, Mechanical Engineering
B. Eng., American University of Beirut, Beirut, Mechanical Engineering
Email: s.bazzi@northeastern.edu

Salah is from Beirut, Lebanon. His central research interest is to understand the acquisition and control of skilled human sensorimotor behavior, with the goal of using that knowledge to endow robots with dexterous capabilities for physical interaction and object manipulation. When Salah is not in the lab, he enjoys playing ‘real football’, which is a sport known by the term ‘soccer’ to Americans. He also loves having deep philosophical conversations about life with his two toddlers.

Ph.D., Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
B.S./M.S., Mechanical Engineering,  Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran.
Email: m.sadeghi@northeastern.edu

Mohsen is from Isfahan, Iran. His research focuses on the computational aspects of motor control and motor learning. Specifically, he is interested in computational models of behavior that can explain complex and skillful object manipulation in humans and monkeys. Mohsen has a (rusty) black belt in Karate, and enjoys Persian poetry, reading novels, and having deep philosophical conversations with Salah’s two toddlers!

Ph.D., Cognitive Sciences, Grenoble Alpes University, France
M.S., Human Movement Science, University of Montpellier, France
M.S. Method for Complex Data Analysis, University of Cergy-Pontoise, France
B.S., Economics and Statistics, Toulouse school of Economics, France
Email: h.serr@northeastern.edu

Hélène grew up in southern France and has studied in several different French cities. During her first master’s degree, she investigated the kinematic differences between instrumental and artistic motion in the living arts. She also worked on how humanoid robots in interpersonal coordination tasks may increase physical activity of schizophrenic patients. For her Ph.D. degree she studied the interactions between speech, breathing and limb movements. Currently, Hélène is working on a project that investigates how timing in skilled action influences temporal perception, in collaboration with Prof. Joo-Hyun Song at Brown University. In addition to her studies, Hélène has received training in drama and acting, and she enjoys taking dance classes in her free time. 

Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering And Kinesiology, Michigan State University, U.S.A.
B.S., Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Karnataka, India.
Email: r.lokesh@northeastern.edu

Rakshith (Rak) Lokesh is from Bangalore, the Garden City of India. Rak is curious about the mechanisms used by our central nervous system to generate seemingly simple musculoskeletal movements and interact with our environment. In the lab, he researches how we learn to manipulate objects with underactuated dynamics. Being an engineer at heart, he is passionate about applying scientific research findings to develop human-machine interfaces. Outside work Rak likes playing acoustic guitar, dancing, practicing capoeira and playing cricket. He loves engaging in deep philosophical conversations with toddlers too.

B.S., University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Amherst, Mechanical Engineering
Email: edraki.m@northeastern.edu

Mahdiar was born in Shiraz, Iran, but grew up in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. His current research is on physical human robot interaction. Using motor control principles, Mahdi explores methods to improve trajectory planning for robots when performing a task in physical collaboration with a human. He is a recipient of the 21st Century Leaders Award from UMass Amherst. In his free time he enjoys riding his bike and he loves to print new gadgets on his 3-D printer. In August 2019 he completed his first ever century bike ride (100 miles).

M.S., Northeastern University, Bioengineering
B.S./M.S., Ural Federal University, Yekaterinburg, Russia, Physics and Biomedical Engineering
Email: krotov.a@northeastern.edu

Aleksei is from Russia beyond the Ural. Aleksei came to the US as a Fulbright Foreign Graduate Fellow. His master’s thesis has been on ‘tool use’, specifically on how humans crack a whip, a somewhat crazy, but also perfect example for the immense dexterity that humans can display. Given the fascinating challenges in this high-dimensional motor skill, he continues with this research for his graduate degree. From the many results from his analyses, Aleksei aims to discover the underlying mechanisms of human motor control. In his spare time Aleksei enjoys dancing, hiking and photography. In the near future he hopes to adopt a dog.

B.S., University of Houston, Houston, Honors Biomedical Engineering
Email: desabhotla.k@northeastern.edu

Vani comes from Houston, Texas. Her research interests include exploring motor control and learning, and brain-machine interfaces. Her undergraduate research work was focused on automating brace design and EEG-based brain-computer interfaces. In her free time, Vani likes to go on long walks, practice yoga, and read speculative fiction about how science shapes our society. Before coming to Boston, Houston was the coldest place Vani has lived in. 

B.S., Swarthmore College, Philadelphia, Engineering
Email: blodgett.l@northeastern.edu

Nora is from Flagstaff, Arizona. As an undergraduate at Swarthmore College, she took an interdisciplinary approach towards engineering. Nora has an interest in using computational techniques such as machine learning and signal processing methods to better understand questions pertaining to human movement and motor control. She received the Clare Booth Fellowship to work as a research assistant in the Action Lab. Outside of her academic pursuits, Nora is a competitive runner in cross country and track. Her favorite racing event is the 3000m steeplechase, which involves jumping over multiple barriers as well as a water pit!

Sabra is from Bethesda, Maryland. She has plans to pursue a PhD program in biomedical engineering starting in fall 2024. She joined the Action Lab as an Undergraduate Research Fellow investigating the role of motor adaptation with assistive and rehabilitative devices. When not in the lab, she enjoys camping, listening to audiobooks, playing board games, and eating pomegranates.

Email: annapragada.s@northeastern.edu

Sidharth Annapragada is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He pursues a dual B.S. in electrical-computer engineering and behavioral neuroscience at Northeastern University. He plans to complete his degree in 2024. His experience includes mechanical design, embedded firmware, and software development for robotics. He is interested in gaining a better understanding of the brain through an engineering lens, and in applying neuroscience to engineering. In his spare time, Sid likes to rock climb and read. He has cooked every dish from the book series Redwall but also loves to create unique foods.

M.S., Columbia University, New York City, Biomedical Engineering
B.S., Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, Electrical Engineering
Email: nayeem.r@northeastern.edu

Rashida Nayeem is from Hartford, Connecticut. Her primary research interests are investigating human control of underactuated nonlinear objects and the strategies humans use to stabilize these objects. She is currently collaborating on a project with Dr. David Lin of Massachusetts General Hospital, analyzing EEG signals and kinematic data in acute stroke patients as they move a complex object. In her spare time Rashida enjoys practicing yoga, skiing and reading. A fun fact about her is that she loves sharks and has been shark cage diving in Cape Town, South Africa.

B.S., Northeastern University, Behavioral Neuroscience
Email: bond.s@northeastern.edu

Sabrina joined the Action Lab to pursue research on motor challenges in individuals with autism. Over the past three years, she has explored motor control and computational techniques to understand the predictive impairments of the disorder. She received the Schafer Research Scholarship to work full time as a research coop in the Action Lab. Sabrina now aims to pursue an MD-PhD and hopes to contribute to the ongoing clinical and basic research of neurodegenerative diseases. Being originally from
Brazil, you can always find Sabrina wearing the thickest winter gear on campus.

Ph.D./MASc, University of Waterloo, Canada, Systems Design Engineering
B.S., Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, Mechanical Engineering

Reza is from Tehran, Iran. In his research work he seeks to find out if robots can be like humans or can humans be studied as robots? He borrows from control theory and dynamical system analysis tools to better understand how humans move and interact with their environment. Reciprocally, the gained insights may lead to more agile and dexterous robots. He is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow supported by the Canadian Natural Sciences and Engineering Research fellowship. Outside the lab Reza enjoys hiking and woodworking. A fun fact is that Reza has a (very) sweet tooth and loves baking cake for his labmates.

M.S., Northeastern University,  Biology
B.S., University of Connecticut, Physiology and Neurobiology

Carissa joined our lab in the middle of the pandemic. She is interested in motor control in neurologically impaired populations. She has joined our research on autism, conducting a study that tests predictive abilities in individuals with autism. In her spare time, she likes to travel, dance, and practice card throwing. So far, she has been successful and traveled to 20 different countries within 5 continents.

Ph.D., Tor Vergata University, Rome, Neuroscience
M.S., Sapienza University, Rome, Neuroscience
B.S., Sapienza University, Rome, Physics

Marta is from Italy. She is interested in neuromuscular mechanisms at multiple scales, from postural control and human-human interaction in professional dancers to reaching and catching in clinical populations. Her approach includes virtual environments and computational modeling. She is a recipient of the Society for Neural Control 2020 Scholarship and she has applied her experience as a Virtual Reality Design Intern at Facebook Reality Labs. She enjoys doing puzzles, practicing yoga and she is a ‘Friends’ pundit, her roommates even call her Monica!

Ph.D., Northeastern University, Bioengineering
M.S., University of Akron, Akron, Biomedical Engineering
B.E., University of Mumbai, Mumbai, Biomedical Engineering

Ian Zuzarte is from Mumbai, India. His graduate work focuses on movements in preterm infants. He developed algorithms to quantify movement from the plethysmography signal obtained and then use the movement for predicting life-threatening events such as apnea in preterm infants. He also investigated the effects of stochastic vibration on preterm infants and opioid-exposed infants. He is co-advised by Prof. David Paydarfar, of the University of Texas at Austin. Ian’s hobbies include cooking, travelling, hiking and playing boardgames. A fun fact about Ian is that he has a Portuguese last name but he cannot speak any Portuguese and has never been to Portugal.