Past Fellows

Originally from San Diego, CA, Megan Micheletti graduated with honors from UCLA with a B.S. in Psychobiology and a minor in Applied Developmental Psychology. Her undergraduate honors research at UCLA’s Semel Institute focused on the parent and child factors associated with ASD service receipt. She also worked as a research assistant in UCLA’s ADHD and Development Lab and the Fernald Child Study Center. As a Donald J. Cohen Fellow in Developmental Social Neuroscience, Meg worked on projects quantifying the moment-by-moment changes in infants’ visual attention over the first two years of life and investigating the effects of early developmental surveillance on ASD children’s clinical outcomes. Meg is currently a clinical psychology Ph.D. student at The University of Texas at Austin.

Originally from Erie, PA, Julia Yurkovic graduated from the University of Rochester in 2015. She graduated with a B.S. in Brain and Cognitive Sciences, a B.A. in Psychology, and a minor in American Sign Language. Her senior thesis used fMRI and behavioral measures to test how visuospatial working memory and numerical processing contributed to mathematical achievement and the fronto-parietal math network in 3- to 5-year-old children. As a Donald J. Cohen Fellow in Developmental Social Neuroscience, her projects include examining visual social engagement patterns in a large sample of school-aged children to provide a framework for parsing heterogeneity in autism. Julia is now a graduate student in Developmental Psychology and Cognitive Science at Indiana University.

Originally from Portland, OR, Lindsay Olson graduated from Whitman College in 2012 with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Spanish. Her senior honors thesis examined the effects of socioeconomic status on identity development in adolescents. After Whitman, Lindsay worked as a behavior interventionist with young children who have autism and related disorders. She was also a research assistant at Oregon Health and Science University where she investigated differences in pragmatic language use between children with ASD and those who are typically developing. As a Donald J. Cohen Fellow in Developmental Social Neuroscience from 2014-2016, she participated in eye-tracking research with infants, toddlers, and adolescents with and without autism. She investigated the extent to which longitudinal patterns of social engagement differentiate typically developing infants from those diagnosed with ASD. She is now completing a PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of California San Diego.

Originally from New Jersey,Robin Sifre graduated from Brown University with a B.S. in Cognitive Neuroscience. Her senior honors thesis explored the cognitive mechanisms underlying punishment judgments, and why we punish accidental agents. In addition, she also investigated how the development of controlled visual attention in infants interacts with learning and memory. As a Donald J. Cohen Fellow in Developmental Social Neuroscience from 2014-2016, her research examined how visual attention to social stimuli during infancy influences later cognitive and social outcomes. Robin is now a PhD student in Child Psychology at the University of Minnesota.

Rachel Sandercock, a Philadelphia native, graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2013 with a B.Phil. (B.S. with honors) in Psychology and a B.A. in English literature with a certificate in children’s literature. Rachel’s undergraduate research focused on the role of gesture use as a predictor of language development in infants at high genetic risk for autism spectrum disorder. As a Donald J. Cohen Fellow in Developmental Social Neuroscience from 2013-2015, Rachel examined how smiling behavior in infants with ASD may be indicative of very early deviations from the normative course of social development. She is currently completing a Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

A military kid, Alaina Wrencher was born in the Netherlands. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2013 with a B.Phil. (B.S. with honors) in Psychology, a minor in Administration of Justice, and a certificate in American Sign Language. Her senior honors thesis explored whether a novel, syllable-based orthography of English that utilizes face images (as opposed to letters) might improve reading skills for individuals with reading disorders, such as dyslexia. As a Donald J. Cohen Fellow in Developmental Social Neuroscience, her research assessed the extent to which eye-tracking measures of social disability can serve as successful endpoints for the assessment of new treatments. Alaina is now a PhD student in Public Policy at Georgia State University and works as a graduate research assistant at the Georgia Health Policy Center’s Center of Excellence for Children’s Behavioral Health.

Originally from Diamond Bar, CA, Eugene Kim graduated from the University of California, Irvine in 2012 with a B.A. in Cognitive Psychology and a minor in Linguistics. As an undergraduate, Eugene was involved in a visual perception and neuroimaging laboratory where he investigated the effects of biological motion cues on visual-spatial attention. As a Donald J. Cohen Fellow in Developmental Social Neuroscience, he participated in eye-tracking research with infants, toddlers and adolescents with autism. Eugene is interested in the early learning mechanisms implicated in the ontogeny of adaptive social functioning and their underlying neural substrate. He is currently completing a PhD program in Developmental Psychology at Indiana University at Bloomington.

Grace Ann Marrinan graduated from Princeton University in 2012 with an A.B. in Psychology and a Certificate in Neuroscience. Her undergraduate thesis investigated the relationship between verbatim memory for language and a local bias of attention within other perceptual domains among typical individuals. As a Donald J. Cohen Fellow in Developmental Social Neuroscience she assisted with eye-tracking studies of infants, toddlers, and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Grace Ann is interested in exploring intrinsic motivations and characteristics of the visual scene that contribute to patterns of dynamic visual scanning of individuals with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder. She plans to complete a post-baccalaureate, pre-medical training program.

Serene Habayeb, who grew up in Dubai, UAE, graduated from the University of Rochester in 2011 with a B.S. in Brain and Cognitive Sciences and a minor in Psychology. As an undergraduate, she conducted research in a developmental neuropsychology lab working on an fMRI study investigating the neural basis of audiovisual integration and language comprehension in autism. Serene was a Donald J. Cohen Fellow in Developmental Social Neuroscience from 2011-2013. She is currently at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC completing a PhD in Clinical Psychology with a concentration in children, families and culture.

Tawny Tsang graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in music. She was involved in a cognition and action laboratory as an undergraduate where she explored a variety of topics including cerebellar ataxia, reaching in virtual environments, and the role of dopamine in reward and movement. As a Donald J. Cohen Fellow in Developmental Social Neuroscience from 2011-2013, Tawny explored the development of oculomotor functions in infants at high- and low-risk for developing ASD and their relation to visual social scanning. She is currently completing a PhD program in Developmental Psychology at UCLA and plans to continue researching the relationship between visual behaviors and social cognitive development.

Originally from Atlanta, GA, Jessica Jones graduated from Stanford University in 2010 with a B.A. in Human Biology. As an undergraduate, she conducted independent research designed to investigate the relationship between social support provided to parents after a child’s traumatic brain injury and subsequent child and family outcomes. She was a Donald J. Cohen Fellow in Developmental Social Neuroscience from 2010-2012. Jessica is interested in the relationship between early neuro-plasticity in children and the effectiveness of early intervention for children with ASD. Jessica now attends medical school at Case Western Reserve University.

Andrea Trubanova graduated from Princeton University with an A.B. in Psychology and a Certificate in Neuroscience in 2010. As an undergraduate, Andrea was involved in research exploring the perception of audiovisual speech. As a Donald J. Cohen Fellow in Developmental Social Neuroscience from 2010-2012, Andrea was interested in extending her undergraduate research to investigate how toddlers with autism perceive audiovisual synchrony under varying degrees of social context. In addition, she worked as a research coordinator and volunteer in an early intervention program at the Marcus Autism Center. Currently, Andrea is a clinical graduate student at Virginia Tech exploring co-occurring symptoms, such as anxiety, in adolescents with autism.

A native of Oakland, CA, Jenn Moriuchi is a graduate student in Clinical Psychology at Emory University. She received her B.A. in Neuroscience from Wellesley College, where she conducted research in a behavioral neuroscience laboratory using a mouse model of Rett Syndrome. As a Donald J. Cohen Fellow in Developmental Social Neuroscience from 2009-2011, Jenn studied gaze aversion in toddlers with autism as well as phenotypic heterogeneity in school-age children with autism. She continues to work with Ami Klin and Warren Jones at the Marcus Autism Center on studies of developmental processes impacting outcome in autism.

Originally from Iowa City, Iowa, Katherine Rice received her B.A. in Psychology and Linguistics from the University of Michigan in 2009. A Donald J. Cohen Fellow in Developmental Social Neuroscience from 2009-2011, Katherine is interested in the early detection of autism spectrum disorders and in the relationship between social cognition and language development in both typically developing infants and in infants at risk for autism. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in developmental psychology at the University of Maryland.

Laura Edwards, originally from Kingston, Jamaica, graduated from Yale University with a B.S. in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology in 2008. She was a Donald J. Cohen Fellow in Developmental Social Neuroscience from 2008-2010. Laura conducts research on the neurological underpinnings of social cognition, in order to inform the design of developmentally appropriate educational curricula and interventions for children with ASD. She received her doctorate in education from Harvard University in 2015 and is currently working as a postdoctoral research fellow in the Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience at Boston Children’s Hospital

Jessie Northrup 2008-2010 graduated from the Cornell University in 2008, with her B.A. in Psychology and Anthropology. As an undergraduate, Jessie was involved in research exploring the social mechanisms that help infants and toddlers develop language. As a Donald J. Cohen Fellow in Developmental Social Neuroscience from 2008-2010, Jessie was interested in applying her undergraduate research to investigate language development in infants with autism and how deficits in social interaction could affect language learning. Her research in the Social Neuroscience Lab investigated perception of audiovisual synchrony under varying degrees of social context in toddlers with autism. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in clinical psychology at the University of Pittsburgh.

Originally from San Francisco, CA, Anna Krasno received her BA in Cognitive Science with a minor in Environmental Studies from UC San Diego in 2006. During her time as a Donald J. Cohen Fellow in Developmental Social Neuroscience from 2007-2009, Anna investigated implicit measures of social attribution by visual scanning in children with autism. Anna is interested in joint attention, speech development, and finding early diagnostic markers of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Anna completed her PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of California in Santa Barbara. She is a Registered Psychologist and is completing her postdoctoral training hours at the Child Abuse Listening & Mediation Center in Santa Barbara, CA.

Casey Zampella graduated from the University of Rochester in 2007 with her B.S. in Brain and Cognitive Sciences and a minor in Clinical Psychology. Casey is interested in brain-behavior relationships in clinical populations, particularly in young children with autism spectrum disorders. Her research as a Donald J. Cohen Fellow in Developmental Social Neuroscience from 2007-2009 investigated oculomotor function in school-aged children with ASD during a natural viewing task. Casey is currently studying clinical psychology at the University of Rochester.

Sarah Shultz, Ph.D., was a Donald J. Cohen Fellow in Developmental Social Neuroscience from 2006-2008. She is currently an Assistant Professor at the Emory University School of Medicine.

Kelley Knoch graduated from the University of Rochester in 2006, with her B.A. in Brain and Cognitive Science. As a Donald J. Cohen Fellow in Developmental Social Neuroscience from 2006-2008, Kelley investigated the temporal dynamics of visual fixation patterns in high functioning adolescents with autism while viewing naturalistic social situations. She is currently a Neuropsychology Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Connecticut.

Katelin Carr was the Donald J. Cohen Fellow in Developmental Social Neuroscience from 2005-2006. Katelin did research as an undergraduate on social skills training for children with autism and completed her degree in History at Yale University. While a Fellow, Katelin studied visual salience in 2 year-old children with autism. She completed her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology with Dr. Deborah Fein in the Early Detection Study of Autism Spectrum Disorders at the University of Connecticut. Currently she is a Post-Doctoral Fellow in Pediatric Neuropsychology at Connecticut Pediatric Neuropsychology Associates.

Phillip Gorrindo was the Donald J. Cohen Fellow in Developmental Social Neuroscience from 2005-2006. As an undergraduate, Phil studied Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University, and worked on electrophysiology research in the lab of Dr. Patricia Goldman-Rakic. While a Fellow, Phil worked on computational strategies for analyzing visual scanning as a function of physical image properties. Phil is currently a resident at Northwestern University.

Aiden Ford graduated from the University of Connecticut in 2017 with a B.S. in Physiology & Neurobiology and Neurodevelopment & Health, and minors in Anthropology and Neuroscience. At UConn, she conducted undergraduate research assessing the behavioral and neurostructural phenotypes of animal models of neurodevelopmental pathology with specific focus for her honors thesis on the TS2-neo mouse model of Timothy Syndrome mediated-ASD.

As a Cohen Fellow, Aiden collects eye-tracking data from infants and toddlers across the developmental spectrum. Her first year project focuses on mapping the patterns of time-dependent visual scanning in cohorts of children with ASD and Williams Syndrome during moments of gaze-cued joint attention with the aim of investigating the pathways by which children orient to intentional object use.

Originally from Philadelphia, PA, Sarah Markert graduated with honors from University of Pittsburgh in 2017 with a B.S. in Psychology and a minor in Children’s Literature. She worked as an undergraduate research assistant in the Infant Communication Lab, part of Pitt’s Early Autism Study, researching infant language, gesture, and motor development. Her undergraduate research culminated in a senior honors thesis that examined maternal responses to infant pre-speech vocalization types and subsequent language development in children at high and low risk for ASD.

As a Donald J. Cohen Fellow in Developmental Social Neuroscience, Sarah conducts eye-tracking research with infants and toddlers with and without ASD. At Marcus, she is currently pursuing a project investigating the adaptive value of attending to social stimuli in children with ASD and William’s Syndrome, specifically interested in identifying disorder-specific visual attention patterns, and how moment-to-moment attention to different features of the face impacts language development. After the fellowship, Sarah plans to pursue a doctorate in developmental or Clinical Psychology.

Tristan Ponzo graduated with distinction in 2018 from Cornell University with a B.S. in Human Development, concentrating in Human Behavioral Neuroscience and minoring in Biological Sciences.  During his time there, Tristan participated in research examining the hot and cold cognitive factors of risky decision making in adolescents and adults at both the behavioral and neural levels.  He used the imaging skills he accumulated in this role to complete a research fellowship at the Mayo Clinic, where he applied various imaging techniques to examine the myocardial mechanics of early-stage metabolic syndrome as well as folic acid-induced acute kidney damage in porcine and rodent models. As a Cohen fellow, Tristan investigated the predictive power of eye-tracking data compared to gold standard diagnostic measures of ASD. Tristan also works on the neuroimaging team, where he seeks to relate features of infant brain networks to measures of variance in social visual engagement. Tristan is currently a medical student at Vanderbilt University.