Dr. Karl Szpunar

Biography

Karl Szpunar earned his HBSc from the University of Toronto at Mississauga and his PhD from Washington University in St. Louis. He completed postdoctoral training at the Rotman Research Institute at Harvard University. At Toronto Metropolitan University, Szpunar directs the Memory Lab, which conducts research elucidating the cognitive and neural mechanisms that support the functional uses of memory in daily life. His areas of expertise include human memory, learning, future thinking, and collective cognition. His ongoing research aims to help learners overcome the limits of attention and memory in traditional educational settings, and to understand how memory gives rise to spontaneous mental simulations of future events that impact behavior and well-being. Insights from his research are used to develop novel interventions aimed at improving educational outcomes and public health. His research activities have been made possible through funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and the National Science Foundation. Szpunar's lab welcomes both undergraduate and graduate students interested in the study of human memory and future-oriented cognition and collaborates with colleagues across social and clinical sciences.

Research Interests

Experience