About me

Hi there! I'm Christian, a perceptual scientist and behavioral researcher.

I'm trained as an experimental psychologist, and earned my Ph.D. in Psychology in 2023, but bring over a decade of experience leading end-to-end mixed-methods research. I've previously worked at Johnson & Johnson MedTech, The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, and multiple universities. During my research career I've been supported by funding from leading scientific agencies like the National Institute of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA).

I have several research interests: broadly, I am interested in understanding how we sense, understand, move, and act within our environment. This process interests me not just for understanding how we behave in our everyday lives, but understanding how we act in specific situations. These can be when we are asked to work or act in a novel, sensorally challenging environment (such as microgravity), when we are experiencing an acute or chronic sensorimotor deficit, or understanding how we change when we move from being a complete novice to an experienced expert in a certain task (such as sport). Investigating behavior through this lens can also inform how we engage with certain products or devices, and help us understand how we can make those devices more accessible and usable.

To do this, I use a broad toolbox of qualitative and quantitative methods taken from psychology, neuroscience, engineering, kinesiology, statistics, and computer science. I have extensive experience tracking eye and body movement, designing and conducting experiments, building and testing statistical models, developing and deploying questionnaires, rapidly designing and prototyping physical devices, and thoughtfully visualizing a variety of data. I am available for scientific consulting; if you are interested, please reach out!

Website last updated: July 25, 2025

What I Do

  • Human-Centered Research

    I've led or supported research on topics like perception, ergonomics, usability, eye tracking, and much more. I've also conducted usability and safety research in the medtech industry, and investigated movement and perception in subclinical populations in non-profit spaces.

  • Statistics and Data Science

    I've collected, analyzed, and visualized data from surveys and interviews, eye and body tracking, demographic data from the U.S. Census, and psychophysical response data. I employ methods from statistics, machine learning, and data science to understand human behavior at a deeper level.

  • Scientific Writing

    As a scientist, I've written and published original work on topics in sensation and perception, ergonomics, usability, virtual reality, eye tracking, and much more. I've also reviewed work for renowed journals in areas including eye-tracking, virtual reality, and human-computer interaction.

  • Mentoring and Advocacy

    As a senior research scientist, I have made intentional efforts to mentor, advise, and help grow the next generation of upcoming scientists. As a first-generation student myself, I take pride in helping junior scientists, particularly from underrepresented groups in STEM, improve and progress professionally.

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Daniel lewis

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Resume

Education

  1. University of Nevada, Reno

    2017 — 2023

    PhD, Psychology, Cognitive and Brain Science

    Dissertation: A quantitative investigation of natural head movement and its contribution to spatial orientation perception.

    MS, Psychology, Cognitive and Brain Science

    Thesis: Underwater virtual reality system for neutral buoyancy training: Development and evaluation.

  2. Oregon State University

    2009 — 2016

    MA, Interdisciplinary Studies

    Thesis: Investigating differences between rural and non-rural students.

    BA, Psychology

Experience

  1. Scientific Consultant, C. Light Technologies Inc.

    2025 (current)

    Led project and stakeholder management for several writing and data deliverables for recently FDA-approved medical device, including scientific manuscripts, ensuring on-time delivery to publishing outlets and other internal and external stakeholders. Developed novel statistical analyses and data visualizations to augment existing materials, uncover novel insights, and increase publication likelihood.

  2. Lead Human Factors Engineer, Johnson & Johnson MedTech

    2024

    Led or supported human factors and user research for robotic surgical devices, ensuring regulatory compliance and informing design through usability testing, failure mode and effects analysis, and collaboration with clinical, engineering, and design teams. Translated sensory perception standards and research into actionable design guidance, and introduced biometric measures like eye tracking to enhance usability insights.

  3. Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute

    2023 — 2024

    Developed a multivariate weighted regression pipeline to quantify sensory deficits in noise-exposed individuals, uncovering an age-dependent link between noise exposure and visual reliance. Led mixed-methods research including motion and eye tracking, and spearheaded NIH workshops and stakeholder initiatives to promote inclusive mentorship and support early-career researchers.

  4. Graduate Researcher, University of Nevada - Reno

    2017 — 2023

    Published research on sensory perception, computer science, and engineering, and presented widely on topics like virtual reality, eye tracking, and self-motion perception. Co-developed a large-scale egocentric video and motion database, led multi-site data workflows, conducted NASA-funded prototyping and user testing for astronaut training, and mentored students in experimental research methods, coding, data visualization, and presenting research.

  5. Academic Advisor, Oregon State University

    2016 — 2017

    Served on four-person team to advise over 2,000 students pursing undergraduate degrees and minors in mechanical, industrial, and manufacturing engineering at Oregon State University. Interviewed prospective interns alongside Multiple Engineering Cooperative Program (MECOP) to place over 600 students into six-month internships.

  6. Undergraduate/Graduate Researcher, Oregon State University

    2013 — 2016

    Designed and conducted cognitive and electrophysiological research on attention, memory, and face perception in neurotypical and sub-clinical populations, while also developing methods to assess academic outcomes in rural college students. Trained junior researchers in EEG and experimental methods, improved study efficiency by deploying online pre-screening tools, and earned honors for research excellence.

Portfolio

Here you can find a set of previous research projects I've led or played some role in.

Blog

Here you'll find some musings or less formal projects of mine. There's nothing here yet!