Our team

Kristina T. Johnson, Ph.D.

Professor of Engineering and Communication Sciences & Disorders

Dr. Kristina (Kristy) Johnson is an Assistant Professor, jointly appointed in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering in the College of Engineering and the Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders in the Bouve College of Health Sciences. She directs the AND Life Lab.

Dr. Johnson is a multi-disciplinary researcher whose work lies at the intersection of engineering, neuroscience, computer science, communication sciences, and autism research. She is especially passionate about advancing science and technology for individuals with complex neurodevelopmental differences, including rare genetic disorders, intellectual disabilities, and absent or limited spoken speech. She specializes in personalized naturalistic studies, human-computer interaction, digital healthcare, wearable sensors, and augmentative communication technology.

Siddhant Bikram Shah, B.S.

Graduate Research Assistant, Northeastern University

Siddhant is an incoming PhD student in Computer Engineering. He works as a Research Assistant in the AND Life Lab, focusing on applying machine learning to problems in neuroscience and affective computing. He is also interested in trustworthy machine learning with application to healthcare and computational social science. 

Amal Mathew, B.S.

Graduate Research Assistant, Northeastern University

Amal is a master’s degree student in Computer Science and a Research Assistant in both the Augmenting NeuroDevelopment throughout the Lifespan (AND Life) Lab and the Augmented Cognition Lab. He specializes in computer vision and deep learning, focusing on medical imaging and infant safety. His work lies at the intersection of computer vision and healthcare. Amal has tackled a wide range of computer vision projects, holding key positions at Light Force Orthodontics and Omdena Inc. 

Emma McGonigle

Undergraduate Research Assistant, Northeastern University

Emma is a rising fourth-year student in the College of Science at Northeastern, studying Psychology and Music. She is particularly interested in the intersection of healthcare and medical innovation, with a focus on children’s psychology and neurodevelopmental differences.

Emma began working with Dr. Johnson in December 2022 and joined the AND Life Lab at its inception in September 2023.

Tsambika Rizas

Undergraduate Research Assistant, Northeastern University

Tsambika is a rising fourth-year Pre-Med student Behavioral Neuroscience at Northeastern University. Tsambika is passionate about neurology and cognitive development. She plans to attend medical school, specializing in pediatric neurology and neurodevelopmental disorders.

Tsambika joined the AND Life Lab in January 2024.

Emine Arcasoy, B.S.

Clinical Research Assistant, Boston Children’s Hospital

Emine holds a bachelor’s degree in Biology and Global Health from Duke University. She has been working as a clinical research coordinator at Boston Children’s Hospital since June 2021, specifically focused on natural history studies and clinical trials for Tuberous Sclerosis Complex and PTEN Hamartoma Tumor Syndrome.

Emine supports the ROSCO Study with the AND Life Lab.

Isabelle Iannotti, B.A.

Clinical Research Assistant, Boston Children’s Hospital

Isabelle earned a bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience from Boston University. She is passionate about patient care and supported neurology, epilepsy, and neurodevelopmental research at Boston Children’s Hospital for two years. During this time, she also supported the ROSCO study with the AND Life Lab.

Isabelle is now pursuing an accelerated nursing program at Northeastern University (Summer 2024).