The Murrar Lab

Postdoctoral Fellow

Liz is a postdoctoral researcher in social psychology at UIC working with Drs.  Sohad Murrar and Jin Goh. She received her PhD in social psychology from Purdue in 2025. She had additional certificates in advanced statistics and instructional excellence. Her research focuses broadly on intergroup relations, systemic bias, how minorities' wellbeing is harmed and ways to promote their well-being.  She is especially interested in developing evidence-based strategies that foster allyship and improve climate across diverse groups. See more about her research here.

Outside of academia, as a Chicago native, Liz enjoys exploring Chicago’s food and cultural scene, stand-up comedy, and exploring coffee shops around the city. 

Ph.D. Student

Louis is a third year PhD student in Social and Personality Psychology at UIC. He received his BA from Northwestern University, double majoring in Neuroscience and Psychology. His research focuses on how patients are perceived, with a focus on the perception of patient pain levels and the accuracy of their symptom description. He is currently conducting work examining how shifting to a patient-centric method of clinical documentation may increase trust of symptoms and desire to help patients. Additional work focuses on how the racial and gender identities of patients and providers influence judgements of pain and symptom legitimacy, with a focus on women and racial minorities. His research is designed and conducted with the goal of creating evidence-based interventions to promote health equity.

Ph.D. Student

Milena (she/they) is a first year PhD student in Social and Personality Psychology at UIC. Berestko received BA from Lafayette College, double majoring in Psychology and Theatre, with a minor concentration in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies. Before joining UIC, Milena worked as a lab manager at Kellogg School of Management (NU), and University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research focuses on social norms interventions and person-place interactions. Currently, she’s conducting work on the impact of peer vs institutional norms on threat attenuation and resulting behavior outcomes. 

Research Affiliate

Lina is a research affiliate working with Dr. Murrar on examining the nature of bias toward different religious groups and the effect of entertainment media on bias. Lina received her PhD in social psychology from Rutgers University and her BA in public and international affairs from Princeton University.

Research Assistant

Julia is a fourth year undergraduate student majoring in Applied Psychology and minoring in Sociology. She plans to go into a career in Clinical/Pediatric Psychology and wants to conduct research on disadvantaged groups and their experience with the healthcare system. 

Sannam Bassanpal was a research assistant in the lab from Fall 2024 to Spring 2025. She was pre-medicine and majored in neuroscience.

Leslie Tulip was a research assistant in the lab from Fall 2024 to Spring 2025. She majored in Applied Psychology and minored in Black Studies.

Alyssa Sierra was a research assistant in the lab from Fall 2023 to Spring 2024. She majored in psychology at UIC.

Yinqing Zheng was a lab manager in the lab from Fall 2022 to Fall 2023. After UIC, Yinqing joined the Krosch Lab at Cornell University as a lab manager.

Marya Hamoui was a research assistant in the lab from Fall 2022 through Fall 2023. She double-majored psychology and communications at UIC.

Aastha Chouhan was a research assistant in the lab during the 2022/2023 academic year. She majored in psychology during her time at UIC.

Maddie Warren was an RA in the lab during Spring 2023 during her senior year. She majored in psychology and minored in philosophy at UIC.

Amtul Najiyah was a RA in the lab during Fall 2022. She was a senior majoring in psychology and minoring in business administration.