Laia Fibla Reixachs joined the Infant Research Lab as a postdoctoral fellow in May 2021 as part of a longitudinal, two-site study investigating language development in bilingual infants and children in collaboration with Princeton Baby Lab. She received her Ph.D in Developmental Psychology at the University of East Anglia. Her project investigated the relationships between home language input and language processes early in development in infants growing up in diverse cultural settings (i.e., UK and rural India) using a new task. She did a Research Masters in Cognitive Science at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris and a Bachelor in Psychology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Her master thesis focused on bilingualism, word segmentation and computational modelling.  

(Languages: Catalan, Spanish, English, French, some German)

Nicolás Alessandroni received his Ph.D. in Psychology from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain). His project investigated the development of conventional tool use during the first year of life and its relation to early conceptual thinking, based on an ecological-enactive, extended, distributed, and semiotic approach to cognition. Originally from Buenos Aires, he obtained his bachelor's degrees in psychology and music from the Universidad Nacional de La Plata (Argentina) and his MA in Cognitive Psychology and Learning from the Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO) / Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain). He joined the lab in January 2022 as a Concordia Horizon Postdoctoral Fellow. As such, he focuses on the intersection between Open Science and infant research.

(Languages: Spanish, English, and French)

Click to access Nicolás’s academic website

Melanie Brouillard is a Ph.D. Student in Clinical Psychology at Concordia University, funded by the prestigious Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship. Having grown up in Montreal learning English and French simultaneously, she identified herself as a bilingual from a young age and has been fascinated with the phenomenon ever since. She has proudly been at the Concordia Infant Research Lab since 2013, previously as the research coordinator and now as a graduate student. Her research aims to elucidate how to best support bilinguals' language development, for example, by investigating word learning and language use during bilingual book reading and the factors shaping attitudes relating to bilingualism. Her most recent work examines potential interactions between Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and bilingualism in language and executive functioning.

(Languages: English & French)

Click to access Melanie’s academic website

Andrea Sander-Montant is a PhD student in psychology at Concordia University, as of 2021. Originally from Mexico City, Andrea did her undergrad studies in psychology at Universidad Intercontinental and then spent close to five years working in a developmental neuropsychology clinic at two major private hospitals in Mexico City. Her clinical experience in early intervention across multiple diagnoses (especially Autism Spectrum Disorder) gave her a profound appreciation for the necessity of high-quality research, which can translate into better clinical interventions. Currently her research interests are related to the variation in language acquisition across diverse populations, especially bilingual and neurodiverse children.

(Languages: Spanish, English & French)

Melanie López Pérez is a PhD student in Psychology at Concordia University. Melanie grew up as a Spanish-English bilingual in her home country Puerto Rico. She completed her undergraduate studies in Psychology at the University of Puerto Rico and earned her master’s degree in Developmental Psychology at the University of Kent in the United Kingdom. Throughout her studies, Melanie has developed a keen interest in studying bilingual development. Currently, her research interests lie in studying bilingual language acquisition, bilingual parents’ speech and the phenomenon of code-switching. 

(Languages: Spanish, English & a little German)

Miranda Gómez Díaz is an PhD student in Psychology at Concordia University. Miranda grew up in a Spanish-speaking home but received bilingual education from a young age. She completed her undergraduate studies in Clinical Psychology at Universidad de Monterrey and then worked with neurodiverse bilingual children and their families in a clinical setting. This experience granted her a deep understanding of the importance for science-based decisions and shaped her interest in early language development. Currently her research interests are related to vocabulary development in bilingual infants.

(Languages: Spanish, English & French)

Xiaowei Gong joined the psychology Ph.D. program at Concordia University in 2024, after completing her master's degree in developmental psychology at Middle East Technical University in Turkey. She grew up in China and has studied and lived in China, the United States, and Turkey. Xiaowei has benefited from her cross-cultural and cross-linguistic perspective developed through her life experiences, which she brings to her academic work alongside her ongoing interest in psychology, particularly in early childhood. Her master's project was about the potential bilingual effect on children's cognition. For her Ph.D. program, she seeks to understand the cognitive mechanisms underlying early bilingual language acquisition and apply the findings from bilingual studies to a broader theoretical framework.

(Languages: Mandarin, English & Turkish)

Alexandra Paquette graduated with a Bachelor of Social Sciences with Honours in Psychology from the National University of Singapore in 2023. Raised in Singapore with roots tracing back to Quebec, Alexandra's upbringing in a multilingual environment – learning English, Mandarin, and later French – nurtured her fascination with language acquisition and multilingualism. During her undergraduate studies, she was actively involved in bilingualism research and is now eager to apply her knowledge to the Concordia Infant Research Lab. Alexandra ultimately plans to pursue graduate studies in developmental psychology.

(Languages: English, Mandarin, French)

Hilary Killam has a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Toronto, with a Minor in French and a Language Citation in Italian. She always enjoyed learning French at school, and in 2006 decided to spend a year in France in order to immerse herself in the language. With a lot of hard work, she learned to speak French as an adult, which certainly came in handy when she unexpectedly moved to Montréal! Most of Hilary’s work experience has been in a clinical setting, managing therapy intakes for a large psychotherapy clinic in Toronto, and now she is excited to take on a new challenge in supporting academic research.

(Languages: English, French & a little Italian)

Harleen Toor is an undergraduate student at Concordia University pursuing a BSc in Psychology. Her own exposure to several languages during her childhood sparked her interest in the process of language acquisition. Growing up, she was exposed to Punjabi, Hindi, English, and French simultaneously. She had faced certain challenges when it came to learning multiple languages at once. As such, she wishes to gain a better understanding of early language development. Following her undergraduate studies, she intends to pursue a Masters degree in Counselling Psychology.

(Languages: Punjabi, Hindi, English, and French)

Diksha Sharma is a final year undergraduate student at Concordia University, completing her BSc in Specialization Psychology (Behavioral Neuroscience). Born in India, she was initially exposed to Hindi and Punjabi before moving to Canada, where she faced the challenge of learning both English and French simultaneously. This personal experience sparked her fascination with how children can effortlessly acquire multiple languages in a multilingual environment. Growing up with two younger siblings and observing their language development further deepened her interest in neuroplasticity and the cognitive processes involved in language learning. In addition to her academic pursuits, her time working at the Montreal Children's Hospital has fueled her passion for working with children. After completing her undergraduate studies, she plans to pursue medical school, with a focus on neuroscience.

(Languages: Hindi, Punjabi, English, and French)

Priscilla Haney is an undergraduate student at Concordia University, working towards her B.Sc. in Psychology. Having grown up in a multilingual household, she has always been intrigued by language development. Her interest deepened, especially in young children, while working at a bilingual daycare, observing the seamless transition between two languages. After completing her undergraduate degree, she aspires to pursue graduate studies in Clinical Psychology.

(Languages: English, French, & a little Spanish)

Ethan Zlotnik is an undergraduate student at Concordia University, working towards his B.A. in Psychology. Having personally experienced learning disabilities and the associated struggles, he has always been fascinated by the psychology behind learning disabilities and associated mental health issues that can occur throughout the developmental spectrum. After completing his undergraduate degree, he aspires to pursue graduate studies in Clinical Psychology as he hopes to help young people understand and cope with their learning and mental health struggles.  

(Languages: English, French, & a little Hebrew) 

Tomer Hazan is an undergraduate student at Concordia University, pursuing his B.A. in Psychology. His interest in human behavior and communication deepened while working with children as a camp counselor, where he observed the impact of language differences on social dynamics and relationships. Seeing how campers adapted to and navigated these differences sparked his curiosity about psychological development and communication barriers. After completing his undergraduate degree, he plans to pursue graduate studies in Clinical Psychology.

(Languages: English, French, Russian, & a little Hebrew)