hello!

I am currently a TSVP Visiting Scholar with Gail Tripp and Kenji Doya at the beautiful Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology in Okinawa, Japan. I recently recieved my Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Harvard, where I was advised by Sam Gershman and supported by the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and a Harvey Fellowship. Before that, I received my B.A. in Cognitive Science from Rice University.

I’m broadly interested in theories of learning: how do our intricately-designed brains enable us to interact with and learn from the world? How do these learning mechanisms break down in psychiatric disease? What makes our learning capabilities different than the best artificial intelligence systems? How can we enhance the collaboration between artificial and natural intelligence? I explore these questions by building models of human behavior inspired by machine learning and cognitive science.

Outside of research, I enjoy teaching, writing poetry, running, hosting dinner parties, and latin dancing. From 2021-2023, I was a Resident Tutor at Quincy House, where I lived with and advised Harvard College students.

My popular guide on applying to grad school: All About PhD Applications (Second Edition, Updated July 2022)

Email me at lucylai (at) g (dot) harvard (dot) edu.

CV / Google Scholar

recent happenings

July 2024: Teaching COGS 180: Decision Making in the Brain for UCSD Summer Session / Course syllabus
June 2024: Teaching at the OIST Computational Neuroscience Course (OCNC) in Okinawa, Japan
May 2024: Gave a spotlight talk at the Mathematics of Neuroscience and AI Conference in Rome, Italy
April 2024: Successfully defended my Ph.D. thesis!
January 2024: Gave a TSVP Talk on my research at OIST