About Us

Lab Members

Lab Photo Coming Soon

Members of the APPLY lab summer 2024! From left to right starting at the front row: (front) Anna, Zainab, Sylvia, Ido, and Ben. (Back) Avery, Brooke, Anny, and Jiali.

Directors

Benjamin Wolfe

Dr. Benjamin Wolfe

Assistant Professor, Psychology
University of Toronto Mississauga

Dr. Wolfe directs the Wolfe Lab, and his research sits at the intersection of applied and basic vision science. Recently, he has focused on questions of human visual perception in driving, including how drivers understand their environments and how they acquire the information that leads to their situational awareness. Dr. Wolfe also works on questions of readablity and legibility for digitally-presented text, and additionally has interests in peripheral vision, saccade planning, visual attention and scene perception. Dr. Wolfe is an assistant professor in the Psychology Department at the University of Toronto Mississauga, and was a postdoctoral associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 2015-2020 with Dr. Ruth Rosenholtz. Dr. Wolfe received his PhD in Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley in 2015, where he was advised by Dr. David Whitney.

Anna Kosovicheva

Dr. Anna Kosovicheva

Assistant Professor, Psychology
University of Toronto Mississauga

Dr. Kosovicheva directs the Kosovicheva Lab, and her research focuses on questions of spatial vision, binocular vision and eye movements. She is particularly interested in questions of visual localization, how we know where things are in the world, and how the visual system determines perceived position under conditions of uncertainty. Dr. Kosovicheva also studies deficits in binocular vision, particularly amblyopia and strabismus, applying psychophysical methods to new assessments. She is an assistant professor in the Psychology Department at the University of Toronto Mississauga, and was a postdoctoral fellow at Northeastern University from 2015-2020 with Dr. Peter Bex. Dr. Kosovicheva received her PhD in Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley in 2015, where she was advised by Dr. David Whitney.

Postdoctoral Fellows

Jiali Song

Dr. Jiali Song

Postdoctoral Fellow, Psychology
University of Toronto Mississauga

Jiali is a post-doctoral fellow at the APPLY Lab. Her research interests include how vision and attention contribute to (un)safe driving. She is particularly interested in the contributions of depth perception and peripheral vision to driver behaviour, and how in-car warning systems can help or hinder driving performance. Jiali received her PhD in the department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour at McMaster University, where she was advised by Dr. Allison Sekuler and Dr. Hong-jin Sun.

 Emily M. Heffernan

Dr. Emily M. Heffernan

Postdoctoral Fellow, Psychology
University of Toronto Mississauga

Em is a post-doctoral fellow at the APPLY Lab. She is interested in how the ways in which we present information influence attention and learning. Her current work focuses on digital readability, specifically how varying font features affects typo detection. Em completed her PhD in the Department of Psychology at University of Toronto (St. George) under the supervision of Dr. Michael Mack. Outside of work, Em is an avid backcountry camper, reader, and (amateur) birder.

Graduate Students

Zainab Haseeb

Zainab Haseeb

Zainab is a second-year graduate student at the APPLY Lab. She recently graduated with an Honours Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto Mississauga in 2022. Her current research involves two main areas: studying how different fonts affect digital text readability to improve accessibility and investigating the mechanisms behind individual differences in peripheral vision. When not in the lab, you can find Zainab either out on a local trail, or immersed in a good book while spending quality time with her cat, Diesel!

Silvia Guidi

Silvia Guidi

Silvia is an incoming first-year graduate student at the University of Toronto Mississauga. She joined the APPLY Lab in May 2021, and is working on a project examining how different variable fonts affect readbility.

Post-Baccalaureate Research Assistants

Ido Ziv Li

Ido Ziv Li

Ido recently graduated from the University of Toronto Mississauga. He joined the APPLY lab in May 2024 as part of the research opportunity program (ROP). He is currently working on a project focusing on drivers' looking behaviour. Outside the lab, Ido enjoys cooking and baking while listening to audiobooks!

Undergraduates

Avery Chua

Avery Chua

Avery Hannah Chua is a fourth-year thesis student in the APPLY Lab, where she investigates implicit awareness of eye movements on an individual-level. Under the supervision of Dr. Anna Kosovicheva, she devised a novel tracking paradigm that allows them to probe at this question of implicit awareness. Currently, she is working on validating the previous paradigm and the results through follow-up experiments, to better understand whether we have implicit awareness and how this affects search. Outside of the lab and academic life, her hobbies include reading fantasy, writing or journaling, and managing a studygram!

Brooke Lim

Brooke Lim

Brooke is a fourth-year undergraduate student at the University of Toronto Mississauga. She joined the APPLY Lab in September 2023 as part of the Research Opportunity Program (ROP). She has just completed her UTEA project this summer examining how different stimulus contrasts and timing parameters affect binocular motion integration in normally-sighted individuals. Brooke is now working on examining the consistency of different amblyopic assessment tools. Besides academic interests, she loves going to Blue Jays games and trying new foods!

Ginnie Wee

Ginnie Wee

Ginnie is a third-year undergraduate student pursuing the Neuroscience and Psychology Specialists at UTM. She joined the APPLY Lab in Fall 2023 and is currently working on a project studying how binocular disparity and motion affects drivers’ ability to predict scenes. She hopes to learn more about experimental design and looks forward to strengthening her data analysis and presentation skills. In her free time, Ginnie enjoys all things Sanrio and Pusheen, as well as keeping the APPLY Lab well-fed with snacks.

Louisianne Saldagna

Louisianne Saldagna

Louisianne is a fourth-year undergraduate student pursuing a neuroscience specialist at the University of Toronto, Mississauga. She joined the APPLY Lab in Fall 2024 as part of the Research Opportunity Program (ROP) and is currently working on a project with Jiali Song studying how binocular disparity and motion affects drivers’ ability to predict scenes. Outside of the lab, Louisianne likes playing video games and attending live music events, from EDM to rock and metal.

Nicole Arias

Nicole Arias

Nicole Arias is a sixth-year undergraduate student at the University of Toronto Mississauga pursuing a major in Psychology and a double minor in Linguistic Studies and Education Studies. She joined the APPLY lab in Fall 2024 as part of the Research Opportunity Program (ROP). She is currently working on a project with Zainab Haseeb, studying individual differences in orientation perception in the periphery using a continuous tracking task. Outside of the lab, Nicole likes to watch K-Dramas (Korean Dramas) and enjoys making different matcha latte drinks in her free time.

Former Lab Members

Postdoctoral fellows:

Khushi Patel

Undergraduates:

Trassy Cathrina D'Rozario
Chandandeep Ghuman
Cristeidy Gonzalez
Yasmeen Hmaidan
Anureet Jeji
Zoey Khaled
Simran Kanda
Saad Khan
Sanaullah Pirzada
Meghna Patil
Mia Romano
Dyllan Simpson
Dorsa Tafazzoli