Current Fellows

Dylan Douglas-Brown graduated summa cum laude from Emory University in 2023, completing a B.S. in Psychology and minoring in Quantitative Theory and Methods. While studying, she also worked as an undergraduate research assistant in the Children’s and Mothers’ Emotions Lab (CAMEL), under the mentorship of Dr. Sherryl H. Goodman. She worked with Blaire Pingeton in her first years in the lab, assisting with a meta-analysis of the differential effects of pre- and post-natal depression on a variety of child outcomes. She continued to explore family relationships in the following years, zooming in on the dynamics of early parent-child interaction and development, under the guidance of Elizabeth (Elly) Kushner. She then completed an honors thesis exploring possible interactive effects of caregivers’ postpartum depression and infants’ likelihood of developing autism on infants’ eye-looking in early face-to-face interactions.

During her time as a Cohen Fellow, she hopes to continue to investigate the intricacies of caregiver-infant relationships, with the help of eye-tracking technology. She would like to better understand the reciprocal nature of these early interactions and consider ways in which developmental disruptions might be introduced from either side of the parent-child dyad. Following her time as a fellow at Marcus, she aims to complete a doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology, focusing on strategies with which to support children and caregivers simultaneously in early social development.

Julia Zielke (Jules) graduated from Stanford University in 2024, with a B.A.H. in Psychology, with Departmental Honors, Class Distinction, and Phi Beta Kappa, as well as a minor in Music. At Stanford, Jules completed her senior honors thesis entitled Examining the Causal Role of Reappraisal on Emotion Beliefs and Affective Wellbeing in the Stanford Psychophysiology Lab, led by Dr. James Gross. In her thesis, Jules utilized ecological momentary assessment methodology to find that a daily reappraisal intervention can increase young adults’ endorsement of adaptive lay beliefs about the utility of emotions and contribute to increased socioemotional wellbeing over time. Additionally, Jules was awarded numerous research grants and fellowships with which she conducted a line of independent research under the supervision of Dr. Carol Dweck on the role of growth mindset in communication, community-based research on autistic women’s perspectives on autism diagnostic and screening processes under the supervision of Dr. Lawrence Fung, and a line of music cognition research in Stanford’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics on the relationship between musical features and the psychological state of flow supervised by Dr. Jonathan Berger. In addition to research, Jules is passionate about teaching and advocacy. She was an instructor for the first undergraduate-led course in Stanford’s Psychology Department, as well as a teaching fellow and assistant. She was also a camp counselor at Stanford Neurodiversity Project’s Research, Education, and Advocacy Camp for High Schoolers.

Jules pivoted her focus to autism research in her senior year after partaking in a tutorial of autism science during her time studying abroad at Oxford University in the UK (2022-23). Now, as a Cohen Fellow, Jules will analyze neuroimaging and eye-tracking data with infants, school-aged children, and adults. She plans to investigate gender differences in social-visual engagement in autistic infants and children that may underlie and contribute to differential presentations of autism across genders. After her time at Marcus, Jules intends to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology and conduct neuropsychology research investigating gender differences in autism prestation as well as factors contributing to the later and underdiagnosis of autistic women. In her natural habitat, Jules can be found playing the flute and piano, composing music, writing short stories, or stargazing.

Moura Saad is an international student from Lebanon who graduated summa cum laude from Macalester College in 2024 with a B.A. in Neuroscience and B.A. in Anthropology, a Biology minor, and a Community and Global Health concentration. During her undergraduate studies, she was involved in multiple research projects in Neuroscience and Anthropology, including the consequences of COVID19 on K-12 education in Saint Paul (MN) and Mount Lebanon (Lebanon) at Macalester, hemisphere asymmetries in facial expression recognition at Macalester, spatial navigation in the aging brain and motor sequence learning projects at Emory University, and Deep brain stimulation (DBS) as a treatment for Parkinson’s disease on non-human primates at the University of Minnesota. She also initiated and completed two independent research projects at Macalester, the first studying the consequences of historical silencing in Lebanon after 1943, and the second investigating cortical and subcortical processing of faces in different hemispheres by designing a device similar to a Haploscope.

Moura is interested in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) due to her direct experience with several family members. As a Cohen fellow, she will be using eye-tracking, EEG and neuroimaging techniques to study the social development of children with low and high likelihood of ASD, with a focus on preferential attention, audition and biomarkers for monogenic and polygenic conditions. After completing the fellowship, Moura hopes to pursue an MD/PhD.

Elena Bien graduated summa cum laude from Haverford College in 2024 with a B.S in Neuroscience with honors. While at Haverford, Elena was first introduced to research in a behavioral endocrinology lab, led by Dr. Laura Been, where she studied reproductive behaviors in mice models and helped pilot immunohistochemistry protocol. She then pivoted her studies to cognitive neuroscience and completed an independent senior thesis project with the Cognitive Neural Stimulation Lab at the Perelman School of Medicine led by Dr. Roy Hamilton. Her project focused on researching the effects of speech and language therapy paired with non-invasive brain stimulation for patients with Primary Progressive Aphasia. This research sparked Elena's interest in speech and language therapies and translational research approaches.

Alongside her interest in neuroscience research, Elena has a passion for education, inclusion, and cross-cultural learning. Elena has previously worked at a residential summer camp for children with disabilities, the Phebe Anne Thorne Kindergarten, an Early Intervention Center and at The Village Education Center for Special Education in Thailand. She hopes to grow her knowledge and experiences working with children with and without autism as a teaching assistant at the Samsky Preschool. As a Samsky Educational Sciences fellow, Elena hopes to research inclusive education models and creative ways to best support children. She is interested in the diversity of communication means and is excited to learn more about verbal and nonverbal communication through experiences at specialized centers at Marcus. Following the fellowship, Elena hopes to apply for a masters in speech and language pathology and continue working on inclusive educational practices.

Sarah Serros-Myers graduated cum laude from Vanderbilt University in 2023, earning a B.S. in Honors Computer Science and Child Development. As a research assistant in the Artificial Intelligence and Visual Analogical Systems (AIVAS) Lab, Sarah contributed to developing a video game intervention to enhance social reasoning skills in adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Under the mentorship of Dr. Maithilee Kunda, she helped establish a systematic framework using concept mapping to assist children in grasping theory of mind concepts. This framework leverages the logical thinking strengths of individuals with ASD, providing a safe space for users to practice their social reasoning skills without the fear of negative peer feedback. Following her graduation, Sarah received a Fulbright scholarship in Penghu, Taiwan, where she served as a cultural ambassador and co-teacher at Longmen Elementary School. This experience deepened her understanding of the contextual factors affecting child development, reminding her of the importance of cultural competency and the unique challenges faced by children with ASD in different communities.

Currently, as a joint Samsky and Cohen fellow, Sarah is focused on researching naturalistic interventions to promote healthy social and emotional development in children. She aims to explore how educational environments can effectively teach coping strategies during early childhood, fostering resilience and emotional well-being. Specifically, she is drawn to the roles of play and social interaction as essential components of learning and growth. Her long-term aspiration is to pursue a doctoral program in Clinical Psychology, specializing in child and adolescent psychology. Sarah seeks to understand how systemic influences shape individual well-being and is committed to developing holistic strategies that enhance connection and resilience among children and families.

Rachel Young graduated magna cum laude from the University of Rochester in 2023 with a B.S. in Brain and Cognitive Sciences and a B.A. in Psychology with honors in research. As an undergraduate, Rachel worked in Dr. Judith Smetana’s Developmental Psychology lab studying social development and family processes, and in Dr. Loisa Bennetto’s Developmental Neuropsychology lab studying the neurocognitive bases of autism. In her senior year, she pursued an independent honors thesis examining the development of personal choice in autistic and non-autistic adolescents. She collected online survey data from both adolescents and their parents to determine their perceptions of who should have authority in various situations, and if those opinions differed in dyads with autistic adolescents.

As a Clinical Research Fellow, Rachel administers diagnostic assessments to aid in clinical characterization and uses eye-tracking technology to examine social-visual engagement. Rachel’s research interests include continuing to examine the parent-child relationship and how that may differ in autism. She is also interested in looking at sibling dyads, to better understand both autism heritability and the effects of autism on sibling relationships. After her time at Marcus, Rachel plans to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology, with a focus in Child Neuropsychology.

Jessica Benson graduated from the University of California, San Diego in 2024 with a B.S. in Developmental Psychology. During her undergraduate studies, she worked at the Early Learning & Cognition Lab as a research assistant exploring toddlers’ ability to infer abstract relations. She developed her honors thesis to explore this aspect of development in autistic preschoolers, initiating a collaboration with the Developmental Neuroscience Lab. Here, she created a behavioral protocol for a study which examined anticipation of social stimuli in autistic 3- and 4-year-olds using event-related potentials. Outside of research, Jessica volunteered as a clinical assistant at the Autism Center of Excellence in La Jolla, shadowing psychologists who completed developmental assessments. She also enjoyed working as a Developmental Autism Specialist, providing DRBI therapy to clients with ASD.

As a joint Clinical and Cohen fellow, Jessica is excited to learn and administer a range of assessments and diagnostic measures. She is eager to use eye-tracking and EEG technologies to explore various markers of social development and hopes to investigate audiovisual features which contribute to preferential looking. After completing her fellowship at Marcus, Jessica hopes to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology, with a specialization in developmental neuroscience.

Alexander Kolios graduated summa cum laude from Emory University in 2024, earning a B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Music. While at Emory, Alexander worked as a research assistant at the Brain, Behavior, and Broader Learning Lab, examining factors contributing to the development of learning and reading skills. Under the mentorship of Dr. Brianna Yamasaki, he conducted an independent honors research project which explored bilingualism as a protective factor for executive dysfunction in children with ASD. Additionally, Alexander worked as a clinical intern at the University of Washington’s APEX Summer Camp, where he assisted children with autism and ADHD as they received treatment in a neurodiverse-affirming camp setting.

As a joint Clinical and Cohen fellow, Alexander hopes to understand how upcoming research investigating sex-based differences in autism may contribute to changes in our understanding of the autism phenotype. He is also interested in learning about specific diagnostic assessments and how they uniquely contribute to building patients’ cognitive and developmental profiles. After his time at Marcus, Alexander would like to join a doctoral program in Clinical Psychology.

Selena Valladares Ortiz, originally from Phoenix, Arizona, graduated from Middlebury College in 2023 with a double major in Psychology and French. While at Middlebury, Selena worked as a JusTalks facilitator to foster conversations on social justice issues across campus. She led group and campus-wide conversations regarding topics such as race, class, and managing microaggressions. Selena also worked as an intern for the Kathryn Wasserman Davis Collaborative in Conflict Transformation, where she applied her knowledge of Self-Determination Theory to develop a toolkit that identified motivational factors to engage students in Conflict Transformation in their daily lives. Additionally, Selena was a Mental Health Peer Educator and helped integrate ProjectConnect, an intervention that aims to increase belongingness and well-being, at Middlebury.

As an ACCESS Fellow in Implementation Science, Selena aims to understand the implementation of interventions in families that are typically excluded in research. She is dedicated to actively involving key stakeholders such as patients, caregivers, and community partners in research. Currently, Selena is investigating the delivery of anxiety reduction programs for children with Autism and is researching the outcomes of Early Intervention Programs and access to services to Spanish-speaking families in Georgia. After finishing the fellowship, Selena plans to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology, continuing her work to improve healthcare accessibility for underserved communities.

Lyric Ransom graduated Magna Cum Laude from The Ohio State University in 2024, earning a B.A. in Psychology with Research Distinction, and a minor in Youth Development. During her undergraduate career, Lyric volunteered in various research labs, including the Vision & Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, led by Dr. Julie Golomb. Under the mentorship of Dr. Golomb, Lyric completed an independent senior thesis project titled “Effective Distribution of VWM, does not Depend on VWM Capacity.” Her project focused primarily on Visual Working Memory (VWM) and how low- and high-VWM capacity individuals differ in their ability to allocate resources.

Her role(s) in the Vision & Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, coupled with her experiences within the Cognitive Development Lab, led by Dr. Vladimir Sloutsky, sparked an interest in cognitive differences amongst children. Furthermore, leading her into volunteering in the Intellectual Developmental Disabilities (IDD) Lab, led by Dr. Katherine Walton. In this lab, she mainly focused on autism, and realized how limited resource access is, within this population. This resulted in her pondering on how scarcer these opportunities are, for children with intersectionality, and lower socioeconomic status. She explored this idea within the Sleep Empowers Lab, led by Dr. Mattina Davenport, where she evaluated social determinants of health/biases, and how that impacts the quality/imbalance of autism referrals/diagnoses.

Currently, Lyric is a first-year ACCESS research fellow, under the mentorship of Drs. Katherine Pickard and Jocelyn Kuhn. She plans on addressing disparities within systems, that cause an imbalance in receiving adequate care for underserved communities. She is passionate about health equity and bridging the gap(s) for receiving autism diagnosis referrals—especially for children with intersectionality. Her goal is to investigate how interventions can be implemented within school(s), and/or the broader community, to expand access to care. After completing the fellowship, Lyric intends to pursue a PhD in School Psychology.

Marycruz Valdivia Acosta graduated early from Carleton College in 2024 with a bachelor's degree in Sociology/Anthropology. During her time in Minnesota, she spearheaded an independent two-year research project titled "El Amor y El Autismo: Latine Parents' Values of Love Towards Their Autistic Children," where she conducted interviews in her Milwaukee hometown with Latino families to explore and discuss their experiences with their autistic children. Her work provided valuable insights into the unique challenges and strengths within these communities, particularly honing in on the importance of the love and care demonstrated in neurodiverse familial spaces. As a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow, Marycruz presented her research at various conferences, including the MMUF Midwest Conference and the Latinx Studies Association Conference in 2022 through 2024.

Currently, Marycruz is a first-year research fellow at the Marcus Autism Center, working in the ACCESS lab under the mentorship of Dr. Katherine Pickard and Dr. Jocelyn Kuhn. Her focus is on integrating research and practical implementation to address systemic issues in autism research, particularly emphasizing the lived experiences of families of color. Her passions in the field include improving translation services, enhancing healthcare system understanding, and fostering a resilient perspective on disability in academia. Marycruz aspires to continue her journey in autism research, combining her dedication to empirical study with her commitment to practical solutions that benefit diverse communities.