James Teng and Kelly Hiersche received their PhD diplomas at the OSU Summer Commencement on August 9, 2026. 

James Teng was a student in Dr. Ruchika Prakash’s Clinical Neuroscience lab. He defended his thesis, Plasticity in Sustained Attention: Generalisability and Variability of the Connectome, on May 22, 2026.  

James was an integral member of the CCBBI team as a Graduate Research Assistant. In addition to providing essential support for MRI operations during evenings and weekends, he  contributed to CCBBI’s outreach initiatives by assisting with event planning and volunteering at numerous community events. 

This fall, James will begin a postdoctoral research fellowship at the Toronto Metropolitan University, working with Professor M. Natasha Rajah.

Kelly Hiersche was a student with Dr. Zeynep Saygin. She defended her thesis Functional Specificity and Idiosyncrasies of the Developing Brain on July 8, 2026. 

Kelly has made invaluable contributions to CCBBI through years of leadership and service. She served as Treasurer and then as President of the CCBBI Student Group. Throughout her tenure, Kelly enthusiastically and tirelessly led efforts to organize workshops for the CCBBI community and outreach events that engaged the broader Columbus community. CCBBI extends its heartfelt thanks to Kelly for her dedication and outstanding contributions to CCBBI.

Kelly will be starting a postdoctoral research fellowship with Dr. Ev Fedorenko at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.