Meet the team

Dr Hannah J Stewart

Head Pelican

I am a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow and Senior Lecturer in Developmental Psychology. I am a paediatric auditory neuroscientist and am interested in the effect of everyday hearing technology on children with typical hearing and hearing loss. Specifically, on their cognitive development and academic ability. I use neuroimaging techniques to understand the underlying mechanisms of speech and non-speech listening skills. I am also exploring how to bring gaming and virtual reality to paediatric hearing and listening research.

I completed my PhD at the MRC Institute of Hearing Research looking at auditory attention in children. During my PhD I won ERASMUS funding to go to the Rotman Institute in Toronto to work with Dr Claude Alain and learn how to use EEG and MRI. This grew my love for neuroimaging and led me to postdocs at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital with Professor David Moore, where I led the MRI work, and UCL with Professor Stuart Rosen.

My work has been funded by UKRI, EPSRC, MRC, ERASMUS ACN, The Oticon Foundation, RNiD and NSF.

Outside of science I am a big baker, cakes and puddings especially. Lately I have been tearing my house apart and am slowly putting it back together again.

Brandon O’Hanlon

Postdoctoral Researcher

I am a postdoctoral researcher for the PELiCAN lab and an auditory neuroscientist at heart! My current interests lie in understanding the impact of hearing technologies – such as hearing aids – on listening ability, learning, communication, and the development of other core cognitive skills in children. I also have strong interests in multi-sensory integration in speech perception, as well as auditory research in young adults both with and without hearing loss.

During my PhD at Lancaster University, my passion for neurophysiological research methods grew as I was introduced to the world of EEG by my supervisors: Dr Helen Nuttall and Prof Christopher Plack. I researched both audio-visual and audio-tactile integration in the context of speech-in-noise, and their impact on speech intelligibility and cortical speech-envelope tracking through EEG and ECoG. I also have experience in neurostimulation techniques such as TMS.

Outside of my research, I am an avid boulderer and rock climber, and greatly enjoy meeting with friends to play extensive tabletop, board, and card games, such as Dungeons & Dragons, Root, and Magic: The Gathering!

Xiaonai Li

PhD Student

I am a PhD student in psychology interested in the intersection of auditory and developmental neuroscience. My current research focuses on using neural techniques to understand the neural and cognitive mechanisms of auditory processing, particularly in individuals with listening difficulties.

Outside of research, I like hiking, climbing (my new hobby, just started!) and listening to music!

Megan Griffiths

PhD Student

I am a PhD student of psychology with a particular interest in neuroscience and developmental psychology. Specifically, I am fascinated by the biology of the brain and how it works to allow us to live our lives, from learning language to regulating our emotions and so on. I am also very interested in how atypical development and disorders can be studied in the brain.

In my personal life I enjoy reading fiction and baking. Something particularly delicious that I enjoy making is kladdkaka, a Swedish dessert that is a cross between a brownie and a chocolate cake!

El Smith

1+3 PhD Student

I am a NWSSDTP-funded PhD student at the PELiCAN Lab, focusing on how classroom background noise may impact childrens inner speech. I am particularly passionate about improving classroom environments for children with different levels of hearing loss and deafness. Furthermore, I am interested in how we can utilise many different types of analysis within research.

Beyond my academic and professional pursuits, I am an avid rock climber and circus performer. I also enjoy hiking and cherish the opportunities to engage with nature. Currently, I am also learning two languages; BSL and German with a goal of becoming fluent in both!