About Us
The Neuroergonomics and Neuroengineering Lab for Brain Health and Performance Research (Ayaz Lab) is a leading interdisciplinary research lab focused on understanding brain function in health, clinical conditions, and the complex demands of everyday life. Our work integrates neuroscience, neuroengineering, cognitive science, psychology, human factors, and biomedical engineering to examine how the brain supports behavior, performance, and well-being in real-world settings.
At the core of our mission is bringing brain into the picture for brain health and performance. We employ advanced wearable neurotechnologies, mobile neuroimaging, multimodal physiological sensing and behavioral methods to investigate human brain function beyond traditional laboratory environments. Our research spans the human lifespan and includes healthy individuals, specialized populations, and people with neurological, developmental, and mental health conditions.
Ayaz Lab is committed to both developing and applying innovative tools, methods, and translational approaches that reveal the dynamic interactions among brain, body, behavior, and environment. Through this work, we aim to generate new scientific knowledge and advance practical solutions for assessment, intervention, training, and human-centered system design.
Affiliations:
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Recent News
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The Ayaz Lab at Three Conferences This Week
It’s a busy week for the Ayaz Lab at Drexel University. Our team is sharing research at three events in Washington, DC, Boston, and Maryland, with poster presentations, an invited keynote, and two student travel awards. IEEE Brain Discovery & Neurotechnology Workshop | Washington, DC | November 11–13 Bartu Atabek will present a poster on…
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High School Students Explore Neurotechnology at Ayaz Lab
On Friday, November 6, 2026, Ayaz Lab welcomed high school students to our lab at Drexel University for a hands-on introduction to neurotechnology. Our team demonstrated two ways to study brain activity. Students learned how wearable and mobile electroencephalography (EEG) systems record electrical signals from the scalp and how functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) uses light…
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Dr. Hasan Ayaz co-chaired the TASSA 2026 Conference
Dr. Hasan Ayaz co-chaired the 2026 Annual Conference of the Turkish American Scientists and Scholars Association (TASSA) with Dr. Canan Dağdeviren of MIT. Hosted by Drs. Aziz and Gwen Sancar, the conference took place October 2 to 4 at the Sancar Turkish Cultural and Community Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The sold-out conference brought…
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Meet the Ayaz Lab’s Three New PhD Students
We’re excited to welcome Olivia Weiss, Isabella Diaz, and Abdullah Khalid to the Ayaz Lab at Drexel University this fall! Olivia Weiss is interested in using brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), electroencephalography (EEG), and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to develop personalized technologies that people with motor disorders can use at home. Her recent research compared adaptive and…
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Congratulations to Dr. Jan Watson on Successfully Defending His PhD Dissertation
The Ayaz Lab is pleased to congratulate Dr. Jan Lawrence Watson on the successful defense of his PhD dissertation in Biomedical Engineering at Drexel University’s School of Biomedical Engineering and Science. Dr. Watson’s dissertation, “A Neuroergonomic Approach to Human Performance Assessment in E-gaming,” investigated cognitive control, expertise, neural efficiency, and distributed team cognition. Advised by…
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Ayaz Lab at the 6th International Neuroergonomics Conference
Ayaz Lab contributed 20 abstracts to the 6th International Neuroergonomics Conference, held July 13 to 16, 2026, at Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts. Our team and collaborators shared their research through oral and poster presentations. The conference theme, Neuroscience of the Everyday World, centered on how advances in mobile and wearable neuroimaging are helping researchers…
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Congratulations to Dr. Stacy N. Hudgins on Successfully Defending His PhD Dissertation
The Ayaz Lab is pleased to congratulate Dr. Stacy N. Hudgins on the successful defense of his PhD dissertation in Biomedical Engineering at Drexel University. Stacy’s dissertation, titled “Altered Intrinsic Thalamic and Subcortical Functional Connectivity in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy with Focal-to-Bilateral Tonic-Clonic Seizures,” examined intrinsic thalamic and subcortical network mechanisms in temporal lobe epilepsy using…