Past members

Dr. Denise Werchan

Dr. Denise Werchan is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the New York University School of Medicine. Prior to coming to NYU, Denise received her Ph.D. in Cognitive Science from Brown University. Her research broadly focuses on how human brain and cognitive development is shaped by experience in the presence of risk and opportunity in infancy and early childhood.

Stephen Braren

Stephen is a doctoral student in the Developmental Psychology program at NYU Steinhardt. He is interested in how stress, particularly in contexts of socioeconomic disadvantage, affects brain and cognitive development.

Sarah Vogel

Sarah received a B.A. in Psychology and French from the University of Rochester in 2016. She is interested in how early life adversity influences executive functions, and studied relations between early experiences, the gut microbiome, and cognitive development.

Ayomide Popoola

Ayomide studied honors life science with a minor in psychology at McMaster University. Her thesis examined how childhood adverse experiences from stigmatized identities impact adult mental well-being.

Ivelisse Pedreira Garcia

Ivelisse graduated from the University of Puerto Rico, Rίo Piedras Campus with a B.A. in Psychology. She is interested in maternal mental health and its influences on infant language acquisition for monolinguals and bilinguals.

Rodney Jerome

Anna Hsu

Anna is a junior at the Bronx High School of Science with a passion for neuroscience and psychology. She is interested in how environmental factors like stress and adversity influence neural cognitive development.

Priya Lochab

Priya, a third-year psychology student at the University of Bath, completed a year-long placement with the lab. She studies how infant emotional development is shaped by parental risk factors.

Catalina Saavedra

Catalina was a visiting student at NYU pursuing a Biomedical Engineering degree at Universidad de Los Andes. She is interested in developmental research and the impact of healthcare accessibility on child development.

Charlie Li

Sophie Lehman

Sophie is a junior at NYU pursuing a B.S. in Applied Psychology. She is interested in cognitive development of children in bilingual vs. monolingual households and plans a career in developmental psychology research focusing on Hispanic communities.

Nicole Sampaio

Nicole is a senior pursuing a B.S. in Psychology at NYU. She is interested in cognitive development, psycholinguistics, and the factors that influence infant resilience.

Lucy Yan

Lucy is a junior majoring in Applied Psychology at NYU, interested in developmental psychology, neuroscience, and psycholinguistics.

Hillary Allison Ortiz

Hillary is a graduate student at NYU pursuing a Master's in Psychology with a Clinical Neuroscience concentration. She studies neurocognitive development in underrepresented communities.

Ksenia Zuyev

Amaani Beere

Amaani was a third-year undergraduate at the University of Bath, completing a year-long internship at the lab. She studies risk and protective factors that affect development.

Grace Li

Grace is a third-year undergraduate majoring in applied psychology at NYU. She is interested in neurocognitive development and making research more accessible.

Amelia Almonte

Amelia is a third year undergraduate pursuing a B.S. in Neuroscience at Barnard College. She studies how the brain develops during the early years and how bilingualism and SES play a role.

Alexa Guzman

Alexa is a third year undergraduate pursuing a B.S. in Psychology and a minor in Spanish and Latin American Studies at Barnard. She is interested in nature versus nurture in childhood development.

Marielle Sauber

Marielle is a junior pursuing Neuroscience and Spanish at Smith College. She investigates the intersection of childhood development and public health.

Kelechi Nwokoma

Kelechi is a sophomore at NYU pursuing a combined major in Global Public Health and Applied Psychology with a minor in Genetics.

Paloma Castillo

Kyla Mae Bernal

Kyla is a sophomore pursuing Applied Psychology and History at NYU. She advocates for family protection and children's rights and aims to attend law school.

Nikita Ghodke

Nikita is a non-binary disabled researcher from India and an aspiring Speech Language Pathologist. She studies how poverty and inequality affect infant brain and cognitive development in LMICs.

Ashley Greaves

Ashley received a B.A. from Swarthmore College in Neuroscience and Educational Studies. She studies how poverty affects brain and cognitive development, focusing on infant executive functioning, language, and memory.

Tehmeena Salahin

Tehmeena graduated from the University of Virginia in 2019 with a B.A. in Cognitive Science. She helped with COPE data collection, coding, and EEG/fNIRS processing, with interests in preventative health and the gut-brain axis.

Mahima Golani

Mahima is a Master's student at Teachers College, Columbia in Neuroscience and Education with a focus in Early Childhood Policymaking. She is passionate about preventative, trauma-informed family interventions.

Rebecca Klein

Rebecca is a sophomore at Barnard College pursuing a B.A. in Psychology. She is interested in both developmental and social psychology.

Dismell Gabin

Dismell was a senior at NYU completing a B.A. in Psychology and worked with the lab as part of her honors thesis. She studies how a child's environment affects socioemotional development.

Shambaleed Nayyer

Shambaleed was a senior at John Jay College majoring in Forensic Psychology. She studies the intersection of developmental, neuro, and forensic psychology.

Abby Hjort

Abby was a senior at NYU pursuing a B.S. in Applied Psychology on the pre-health track. She is pursuing a career in forensic medicine.

Valeria Bradosche Pallares

Valeria was in her third year at the University of Bath completing a BSc Psychology degree. She joined the lab as part of a year-long internship requirement.

Hawa Nasiri

Hawa is a junior pursuing a B.S. in Applied Psychology with a minor in Chemistry. She studies the role of cultural background on neurocognitive development and mental health.

Nehal Mittal

Nehal graduated from NYU in 2023 with a B.S in Biology and a minor in Child and Adolescent Mental Studies. She hopes to work with children as a physician.

Srinidhi Ananth

Aileen Zhou

Aileen graduated with a B.S. in Applied Psychology at NYU in 2023. She studies how childhood developmental and societal implications impact executive functioning.

Haruka Kokaze

Haruka is a junior pursuing an Accelerated BS/MA in Applied Psychology and Counseling for Mental Health and Wellness at NYU Steinhardt.

Lisa Abe

Lisa graduated from NYU in 2023 with a B.S. in Neural Science with a minor in Public Health. She studies socioeconomic disparities and childhood neurocognitive development.

Aissata Diallo

Aissata is a junior at the Bronx High School of Science. She is interested in cognitive development of children in bilingual vs. monolingual households.

Jenna Katz

Jenna is a junior at Smith College pursuing a B.A. in Psychology. She is especially interested in cognitive development and language acquisition.

Audrey Lin

Audrey is a senior/first year master's student at NYU pursuing a B.S./M.A. in Applied Psychology and Counseling for Mental Health and Wellness.

Isabelle Jacques

Isabelle is a senior majoring in psychology with a minor in chemistry. She aspires to enter medical school and pursue a career as a child psychiatrist.

Meera Arumugam

Meera is a senior at NYU pursuing a joint B.S. in Applied Psychology and Global Public Health, focusing on maternal health care equity.

Natalia Tiller

Natalia is a junior pursuing a B.S. in Applied Psychology with a minor in Chemistry. She studies the relationship between environment and psychology in children with mental illness.

Matthew Weatherhead

Matthew is a junior on the premed track at Princeton studying Psychology. He helped write articles on maternal cortisol/EEG trajectories and the neurophysiology of infant attention.

Grace Kellogg

Grace is a first year graduate student at NYU pursuing an M.A. in Counseling for Mental Health and Wellness. She conducts data collection, behavioral coding, and Spanish-English transcription.

Julia Dudensing

Julia is a second year undergraduate at NYU pursuing a B.S. in Applied Psychology. She studies parent-infant interactions in 9–15 month old infants.

Olivia Wong

Olivia graduated with a B.S. in Applied Psychology at NYU. She studies child language and social development and ending the stigma around child mental health.

Yuhan Liu

Yuhan is a senior double-majoring in psychology and sociology at NYU and aims to pursue a master's in mental health counseling.

Maya Metser

Maya is a junior at NYU pursuing a B.S. in Applied Psychology. She investigates how early environments affect language, cognitive, and socio-emotional development.

Jackie Choi

Jackie was a fifth-year graduate student pursuing a B.S. in Applied Psychology at NYU, focused on home environments and bilingualism in child development.

Julia Clark

Liz Peron

Liz is a junior at Rye High School in Rye, NY. She studies the relationship between home language environment and children's cognitive development.

John Zhang

John graduated in 2021 with a M.S. in Applied Statistics for Social Science Research from NYU. He supports the lab on statistical methods.

Buyong Joo

Buyong graduated from Applied Psychology at NYU Steinhardt with a minor in Business. She is interested in expressive treatments such as art and music therapy for children.

Carol Galloway

Carol received her Master's at NYU in Counseling for Mental Health and Wellness. She studies parenting effects on child neurocognitive development.

Nick Tong

Nick is a senior in NYU's Applied Psychology program. He studies socioeconomic stressors and their effects on psychological and physiological well-being.

Sarah Gouriche

Sarah is a second year student at NYU pursuing a B.S. in Applied Psychology and Global Public Health. She is interested in language and culture in childhood development.

Joy Shen

Joy is a junior pursuing a B.S. in Applied Psychology at Steinhardt, interested in environmental factors on young children.

Akshar Patel

Akshar is a senior in Applied Psychology and Neural Science at NYU. He explores neural correlates of bilingualism and the development of children in various home language environments.

Epifania Gallina

Epifania is a graduate student pursuing a MSED in Mental Health Counseling at Hunter College, focused on early caregiver-child interactions.

Caitlin Rogoff

Caitlin attended Mamaroneck High School in Westchester. She is interested in how parent-child interactions impact child language development.

Makenzie Bayless

Makenzie is a Master's student in NYU's Counseling for Mental Health and Wellness program. She studies how stress in early home environments impacts cognitive development.

Ariel Gianukakis

Ariel is a senior at Wake Forest University majoring in Psychology with minors in Biology and Environmental Studies.

Karina Kozak

Karina graduated in 2014 from Drew University with a BA in Psychology. After Teach For America in rural Arkansas, she joined the lab to study self-regulation in stressful environments.

Fernanda Alonso

Fernanda is a Master's student in Neuroscience and Education at Teachers College, Columbia. Her research interests include cognition, speech, and language in children.

Sarah Harris

Sarah is a sophomore at Colgate University with an intended double major in Psychology and Educational Studies.

Leslie Gaines

Leslie graduated from the University of Richmond with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Theatre. She has experience in psycholinguistics research and early intervention services.

Olivia Sidoti

Olivia is pursuing a B.S. in Applied Psychology with a minor in American Sign Language at NYU Steinhardt.

Liana Magaliff

Liana holds a BS in Neuroscience with a focus in Psychology from Muhlenberg College. She is pursuing a career as a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner.

Anna Lindner

Anna graduated from Calvin College in 2016 with a B.A. in Spanish and History and received an M.A. from NYU in Media, Culture, and Communication.

Clarice Robinson

Clarice is a Master's student at NYU studying Educational Leadership, Politics, and Advocacy. She advocates for child development and public health as social justice.

Jessica Rickel

Jessica graduated in 2017 from Syracuse with a B.A. in Psychology and is a master's student at NYU in Human Development and Social Intervention.

Julia Moses

Julia is pursuing a B.S. in Applied Psychology at NYU's Steinhardt School. She is interested in the neurocognitive aspect of research.

Judith Konamah

Judith is a Senior at Baruch College majoring in Psychology with a minor in Communications. She studies how environment and social influences affect emotional development.

Stefani Wiloejo

Stefani is a junior at NYU Steinhardt pursuing a B.S in Nutrition & Dietetics and Global Public Health, studying how early lifestyle affects future infant behavior.

Emelie Beattie

Emelie is a junior at Macalester College pursuing a B.A. in Psychology with a concentration in community and global health.

Rahil Kamath

Rahil is a senior at Columbia University pursuing a B.A. in Psychology, interested in socioeconomic and cultural factors in early neurocognitive development.

Pedro Abreu

Pedro completed his B.A. in Psychology from Lehman College and interned with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine BOLD program.

Sandra Elena Alcaraz

Sandra is pursuing a B.A. in Psychology at NYU College of Arts and Science with minors in Chemistry and Studio Art. She aims to become an OB/GYN.