Lab Members
Lab Director
Dr. Rebecca Lepping (she/her/hers) is an assistant professor in the KU School of Medicine Department of Neurology. She is a cognitive neuroscientist (Ph.D.), musician (M.A.) and music psychologist (M.A.) who is passionate about the power of music to affect us, improve our well-being and make our lives better. Dr. Lepping uses tools from affective neuroscience to understand why people engage with music and how they use music to regulate their mood states, experience of pain and other psychological and physiological symptoms.
- Published Papers:
- Contact:
- Email: rlepping@kumc.edu
- Phone: (913) 588-0287
Current Lab Members
Jasmine Taylor is a research assistant/data analyst in the KU School of Medicine Department of Neurology. Though new to the profession, she enjoys the professional and academic rigor the neurology, psychology and neuroscience fields provide. Taylor has various research interests, including research that involves the relation between music and cognition. In her spare time, she enjoys conducting personal research for her historical fiction novels, visiting art museums and supporting events rooted in the arts.
Benjamin Hess is a research assistant/data analyst in the KU School of Medicine Department of Neurology. Using the knowledge gathered during his Master of Science in Data Analytics and Bachelor of Science in English Education, he enjoys solving tangled data puzzles, thematically analyzing research and communicating his findings to his colleagues and the broader community. He has a deep interest in a wide variety of music and a diverse range of work experiences. In his free moments, he is an amateur mechanic by necessity and an amateur poet by choice. Benjamin is looking forward to a long career examining how music and health interact with each other and what combinations of the two contribute to the best outcomes.
Teresa Otieno is a business analyst at HBIC, where she supports day-to-day administrative duties, including coordinating bills, and performing monthly account reconciliation, supporting budgeting and planning initiatives as well as performing ongoing quality business improvement and making recommendations to HBICs leadership. In the past year since joining HBIC, Teresa has led and participated in special center projects and initiatives. In a recent collaborative project aimed at developing Good Research Practice-Policies and Procedures, Teresa carried out all aspects of the project from conception to execution and feedback with the guidance and support of her colleagues.
Teresa earned her Bachelor’s of Science degree in Geo-spatial Information Systems and has her Master’s in Information Systems and Business Analytics from Park University, Parkville, Missouri. After working as a spatial analyst for various consultants, Teresa decided to take the plunge and transition into the biomedical research industry where she leverages her previous professional and educational expertise in providing business strategies to the center.
- Colin Allen – undergraduate research assistant, University of Kansas – Lawrence
- Logan Powell – medical student, Summer Research Training Program
- Salem Tesfaye – high school researcher, Olathe North High School
- Ava Zatloukal, undergraduate research assistant, University of Kansas - Lawrence
Former Lab Members
- Lizvet Guzman-Damian, undergraduate research assistant, University of Kansas - Lawrence
- Joy Heishman, undergraduate research intern, Avila University, Kansas City, MO
Affiliated Research Centers at KU Medical Center
- Hoglund Biomedical Imaging Center
- Quantitative Pulmonary Imaging Cores
- KU Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center
- Kansas Polycystic Kidney Disease Research and Translation Core Center
Collaborators
- Dr. Deanna Hanson-Abromeit, Baby-Music Intervention Research (baby-MIR) Lab, Music Therapy and Music Education, University of Kansas
- Dr. Anne Palmer, Center for Arts and Wellbeing
- Dr. Michelle Redmond, Population Health, KU School of Medicine-Wichita
Positions Available
Open positions will be posted here.