Meet the Team

LUCID group photo_cropped

Faculty

Uri Maoz

Associate Professor of Computational Neuroscience and Psychology

Aaron Schurger

Assistant Professor of Computational Neuroscience and Psychology

Staff

Tomáš Dominik

Senior Research Scientist

Dr. Dominik received his Ph.D. in December 2019 after defending a dissertation thesis pertaining various aspects of Libet’s experiment. His interests lie in the overlap between psychology, psychophysiology and neuroscience of volition. Specifically, he studies the reliability of introspective reports of motor intention or the origins of brain potentials preceding voluntary or pre-contemplated movements. He also previously led a project of complex replication of Libet’s experiment. He uses EEG, various psychophysiological methods (ECG, EDA, EMG, EOG, etc.), and behavioral methods for his research.

Jessica Wenclawiak

Administrative Assistant

Jessica is an Administrative Assistant with LUCID. She holds a B.S. in Biology from the University of Georgia and an M.S. in Marine Biology from the College of Charleston, bringing a strong analytical and detail-oriented foundation to her work. Her background includes contracting with NOAA, where she developed research coordination and organizational skills across population ecology and aquatic toxicology projects. Jessica is eager to apply her dedication and precision to supporting psychology, neuroscience, and AI research at LUCID.

Graduate Students

Dimitri Bredikhin

PhD Student

Dimitri is a PhD student in Computational and Data Sciences at Chapman University. He holds an MSc degree in Cognitive Neuroscience and a BSc degree in Biology, majoring in Animal Physiology. Currently specializing in the neuronal correlates of movement initiation, he investigates its intricate relationship with the philosophical concept of free will. In his research, Dimitri extensively utilizes EEG/MEG techniques to explore these cognitive phenomena.

Alejandro de Miguel

PhD Student

Alejandro de Miguel is a PhD student in Computational and Data Sciences at Chapman University. He earned his MS in Artificial Intelligence from Munster Technological University in Ireland and worked in industry for five years as a Data Science Manager at Just Eat Takeaway. His current research is focused on using high-frame rate video recordings of human decision-making to predict motion and action through computer vision techniques.

Ben Perry

PhD Student

Ben is a PhD student in the Computational and Data Sciences program. With a background in psychology, Ben is interested in meta-experimental approaches to studying anomalous phenomena, the subjectivity of the human experience, and how it is shaped by top-down processes.

Postbac Research Assistants

Raniyah Chishti

Raniyah is a postbac research assistant at LUCID, engaged in research involving EEG, fMRI, TMS, and many other methods. She is interested in the neural correlates of human volition.

Nicholas Fish

Nicholas graduated with a BA in Philosophy with a minor in Neuroscience from Chapman University in 2025. He is involved in projects related to consciousness and perception, with an interest in how consciousness science can inform neurocritical care. He plans to pursue a degree in medicine.

Maverick Morales

Maverick earned his B.A. in Psychology at Chapman University and conducts research at LUCID exploring free will, AI alignment, and moral behavior. His work focuses on the social utility of belief systems in promoting moral conduct and social stability, the tension between human autonomy and self-defeating behavior, and the ethical implications of human-AI interaction. He plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Social Psychology in the coming years.

Vermut (Baohua) Gao

Vermut is a Research Associate at LUCID with interdisciplinary backgrounds in psychology, law, neuroscience, and computing, as well as multilingual experience. Her interests center on consciousness, volition, and higher cognitive processes, particularly how AI may reshape the understanding of human cognition. Her research experience includes EEG analysis, including connectivity and SSVEP-related data analysis, as well as AI-assisted research tools.

Part-Time Staff

Nico Barrett

Animation Artist/Graphic Designer

Alumni

Where we come from