Meet our team!

Ashley Harris

Dr. Ashley Harris is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiology in the Cumming School of Medicine and a full member of both the Hotchkiss Brain Institute and the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute. She holds a Canada Research Chair in Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Brain Injury. She received her PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Calgary and has since worked at Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC) in Cardiff, Wales and at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA. She uses and develops imaging methods to understand the brain, its development and aging as well as dysfunction in clinical conditions. She primarily works with MR spectroscopy to quantify brain neurochemistry but also works with functional MRI, anatomical imaging. 

Outside of work, Ashley enjoys getting to the mountains (walking/hiking or skiing) or exploring parks in the city. 

Twitter: @ashley.d.harris0

Email: ashley.harris2@ucalgary.ca

Tiffany Bell

Tiffany Bell joined the Harris Lab in 2018 as a Postdoctoral Fellow. Her primary research investigates changes in the brain in children with migraine, this includes looking at changes in brain chemistry (using magnetic resonance spectroscopy) and connectivity. Additionally, Tiffany also works on the development of spectroscopy methods, to further improve our understanding of these measures. Through her research, she hopes to further understand the contribution of altered brain chemistry to neurological disorders, informing novel targeted therapies to aid management of these conditions. 

Tiffany was born in England and prior to coming to Calgary had never skied or skated outdoors. She has two cats which often join zoom meetings and enjoys reading, yoga, travelling and crochet.

Twitter: @TiffanyBell0

Marilena DeMayo

Marilena DeMayo is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Harris lab. Marilena completed her PhD at the University of Sydney, investigating oxytocin as a potential treatment for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and brain differences between children with ASD and their typically developing peers. Marilena’s research focuses on better understanding the development of and improving interventions for neurodiverse, mental health and neurodegenerative disorders using magnetic resonance spectroscopy, alongside functional and structural imaging methods. Currently, she is investigating non-invasive brain stimulation techniques for fibromyalgia and depression.

Marilena grew up in Australia and has taken up ice skating since moving to Calgary.

Twitter: @MMDeMayo

Kate Godfrey

I completed my BSc Neuroscience degree at the University of Lethbridge in 2017, where my undergraduate research work was focused on motivation and reward. In the Harris Imaging Lab, I am interested in investigating relationships between measures of reward network function and clinical features of autism spectrum disorder including intense interests, social communication, and suicidal thoughts and behaviours.

Outside of research, I enjoy hiking and skiing in the Rocky Mountains.

Twitter: @KJGodfreyNeuro

Parker La

Parker completed a Bachelors of Science Degree in Biochemistry at the University of Calgary, and currently is in the PhD program in Medical Sciences with specialization in Medical Imaging. His current graduate research involves the use of magnetic resonance spectroscopy to non-invasively study brain chemistry in a paediatric concussion population. He uses data from the large multi-site A-CAP study, and this will be the largest study in utilizing MRS in concussion to date. An additional aim that Parker is pursuing in his PhD research following his transfer from the Masters' program is the comparison of multi-site clinical data across different MRS analysis software. His goal is to determine if different software has any effect on the results and interpretation of clinical studies.

A unique trait of Parkers' is his multilingual ability in which he can speak English, French, Cantonese, and Vietnamese. In his free time he enjoys playing/watching sports such as Hockey, golf, and basketball. He also enjoys learning new skills such as skiing and snowboarding.

Samantha Leech

Samantha is a Master’s student in the Biomedical Engineering program at the University of Calgary who started in January 2021 under the supervision of Dr. Ashley Harris and Dr. Sarah Manske. She received her Bachelor of Engineering and Applied Science from Queen’s University in 2020. Samantha brings together a unique collaboration that integrates musculoskeletal and brain imaging to study her primary research interest of chronic pain in knee osteoarthritis.

A fun fact about Sam: she has played violin professionally in her hometown symphony orchestra as well as in international performance tours throughout China, Scotland, Portugal, and Spain.

Hanna Bugler

In January 2022, Hanna began her Master’s in Biomedical Engineering under the co-supervision of Dr. Ashley Harris and Dr. Roberto Medeiros de Souza. Her research project seeks to analyzes, in real-time, the quality of magnetic resonance spectroscopy data to determine required minimum scan times. Hanna completed her BEng in Biomedical and Electrical Engineering at Carleton University. Her previous research experience includes developing pre-processing procedures and automating region of interest selection for second harmonic generation collagen fiber microscopy images.

Hanna is fluently bilingual in English and French. Outside of the lab, she loves to play hockey and basketball, cook, and explore new hiking trails with her dog.

Lydia Cho

Lydia is a Master’s student in the Medical Science program with specialization in Medical Imaging under the co-supervision of Dr. Ashley Harris and Dr. Serena Orr. She completed her BSc Neuroscience degree at the University of Calgary in 2021. Her research project uses magnetic resonance spectroscopy to examine how GABA and glutamate in the brain fluctuate throughout the pediatric migraine cycle. Through her research, she hopes to further explore and understand the unique neurobiology underlying migraine in children and adolescents.

Outside of the lab, Lydia enjoys pyrography and taking walks with her family.

Rodgrio Berto

Rodrigo Berto is a master's student in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Calgary. His undergraduate is in Electronic Engineering and he graduated with Magna Cum Laude Honors at the Aeronautics Institute of Technology in Brazil. Rodrigo's research is on improving preprocessing of Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy data with machine learning. Rodrigo has worked for two years as a data engineer in a renewable energy company and he's passionate about developing data pipeline and data structure solutions

In his free time, Rodrigo enjoys reading, walking and programming problems.

Sakshi Kaur

I am currently in the fourth year of my BHSc Biomedical Sciences degree at the University of Calgary. My Honors thesis is focused on using vibrotactile psychophysics to understand persistent-post concussive symptoms. I am also involved in an ongoing project at the Harris Imaging Lab that is investigating the development of tactile processing from early childhood to adulthood.

Outside of the lab, I enjoy dancing, and am also a choreographer!

Akash Khaira

I am in my third year of Health Sciences (BHSc), majoring in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Calgary. My previous research in the Harris Imaging Lab investigated resting-state functional connectivity differences in pediatric migraine. I also worked on a project to understand chronic pain from knee osteoarthritis after total knee arthroplasty, under the co-supervision of Dr. Ashley Harris and Dr. Sarah Manske. I will look further into the knee osteoarthritis project for my honours thesis in fourth year.

In my free time, I enjoy making art, hiking and skating.

Robyn Walker

I completed my undergraduate degree in Finance at the University of Calgary, graduating in 2021. New to the Harris Imaging Lab, I’ve been gaining experience by assisting Julie and Parker with their systematic review looking at magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) in traumatic brain injury and sub-concussive hits. I will soon begin analysis of MRS data for paediatric participants with concussion.

Outside of the lab I enjoy travelling, reading, and competing with my horse in competitions throughout North America. 

Kayla Millar

I completed my undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of New Brunswick, where my undergraduate research work was focused on chronic pain and cognitive dysfunction. I joined the Harris Imaging Lab in 2022 as a Research Assistant to support various projects in the lab. 

Outside of work, I enjoy hiking with my dog, spending time at the gym, and travelling. 

Glenda Maru

I completed my undergraduate degree in Sociology at the Concordia University College of Alberta. I have worked for over 10 years in the Cumming School of Medicine supporting medical education and research as an Administrative Assistant. When not at work I enjoy time with my family, being outside, cooking, and finding ways to be creative.  

Mehak Stokoe

I worked with Dr. Harris as a research assistant for over 3 years. I will miss seeing my labmates and hearing funny stories from our participants. Being with the Harris Lab was a wonderful experience and I am grateful for the supportive learning environment and tremendous growth. 

The Harris Lab is grateful for Mehak's work and support over the years, and we wish her the best of luck in graduate school!

Julie Joyce

Julie completed her Master’s degree in December 2021. Julie’s research project used conventional and edited magnetic resonance spectroscopy to examine metabolite responses to an aerobic exercise treatment for persistent post-concussive symptoms (PPCS). Through her research, Julie hopes to further our understanding of the pathophysiology of PPCS and address the important question of the biological mechanism underlying the aerobic exercise treatment response.

Outside of the lab, Julie loves to ski, hike, experiment with cooking (successfully and unsuccessfully) and make an annual surf trip to Tofino, BC. 

Key research interests: Concussion, exercise, GABA, glutathione, magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Amanda Ip

I completed my undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering with a Biomedical specialization followed by a MSc in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Calgary. As a Research Assistant, I was involved with MRI data collection for various studies as well as assisting students administratively with their projects. 

Outside of the lab, I play lots of musical instruments including the guitar, ukulele, piano and cajon but my favourite is the guitalele! 

Svenja Espenhahn

As a postdoctoral scholar, Svenja investigated tactile perception and processing in early childhood (3-6 years) autism and their relationship with social and behavioral features. She now works at Campus Alberta Neuroscience where she manages diverse projects and programs that support/enhance neuroscience collaborations in research, education and translation

Chidera Nwaroh

Chidera completed her Masters (Medical Science, Medical Imaging specialization) under the supervision of Dr. Ashley Harris in 2019 investigating changes in brain metabolites in response to tDCS in children. Chidera is currently attending the University of Calgary Medical School in the Class of 2022.

Spencer Epp

In the Harris Imaging Lab, I was a summer student working on multivariate analysis of chronic pain outcomes in total knee arthroplasty for Albertans with osteoarthritis. 

I'm currently finishing up my undergraduate honours thesis on osteoarthritis and bone microarchitecture changes in the Manske Lab at the McCaig Institute.

Rachelle Loo

Rachelle completed two summer studentships under Dr. Harris, working on projects focused on optimizing magnetic resonance spectroscopy protocol.  "Dr. Harris played a pivotal role in supporting my aspirations every step of the way, even years after working with her! She is by far one of the most supportive supervisors I have ever worked with.". Rachelle graduated from the University of British Columbia in 2020 and is now a medical student at the University of Calgary Class of 2023.

Micaela Mauthner

Throughout her undergraduate degree in Neuroscience, Micaela completed three studentships and an honours thesis in the Harris lab, primarily focused on investigating metabolic changes that occur post-concussion in youth, using magnetic resonance spectroscopy. 

"I am so grateful for the training, opportunities, and mentorship I received during my time in the Harris lab. Dr. Harris truly cares about her students and is invested in their success.  Doing research under her supervision was by far one of the best parts of my undergraduate degree!"

Micaela is now attending Medical School at the University of Alberta in the class of 2024.