Galit Yovel pursued and completed her PhD in Psychology at the University of Chicago in 2001 under the supervision of Jerre Levy and Ken Paller, Dr. Yovel. After that, she continued her postdoctoral studies at MIT in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. While at MIT, Dr. Yovel trained in the lab of Dr. Nancy Kanwisher. Dr. Yovel would continue her career in research at Tel Aviv University in 2005.
Dr. Yovel is not only a faculty member in the School of Psychological Sciences and the Sagol School of Neuroscience at Tel Aviv University, but also the current head of the School of Psychological Sciences. A position which she has held since 2017.
Dr. Yovel’s lab specializes in person recognition (specifically in their neural and cognitive mechanisms), which is a huge part of our social environment and interactions with people. They not only study a person’s face, but their body and voice as well as a part of that recognition.
Dr. Yovel follows different angles in which information is processed in terms of person recognition, by looking at how certain complex processes, such as learning or memory affect it. She uses certain neuroimaging, computational methods, behavior, and eye movements to do her research.
In 2018, Dr. Yovel won the Bruno Award from the Israel Institute of Advanced Studies. This award is given to those that show huge promise for future breakthroughs. She also received the Rector’s Award for excellence in teaching 5 times! An amazing teacher and scientist!
Entry courtesy of Rhonda Drewes
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