Abbey Russell

Abbey is a Research Assistant in the Buckner Laboratory. She graduated summa cum laude from Washington University in St. Louis in 2025 with a B.A. in Psychological and Brain Sciences: Cognitive Neuroscience, along with minors in Anthropology: Global Health and Environment, and Music. During her undergraduate studies, she assisted in the Memory and Cognition Lab, contributing to a project investigating individual differences in learning and forgetting rates. She later interned at the Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging and Neurological Diseases, where she conducted research on pre-clinical Alzheimer’s disease and worked alongside medical school faculty to explore innovative approaches to diagnosing and treating neurodegenerative diseases. She then joined the Participation, Performance, and Environment Laboratory, where she completed a thesis examining current inpatient rehabilitation practices and policies at hospitals across the United States. Outside of academics, Abbey volunteered with a music therapy organization, worked in WashU’s admissions center, and performed with various musical groups on campus. She is particularly interested in the neurological basis of memory and neurodegenerative diseases and plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience.