Andrew Marin
Andrew graduated in May 2024 with a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from UC San Diego. His dissertation work in the DN Lab explored how the adult, autistic, and infant brain predicts sounds through dynamic visual cues, such as a ball colliding with a wall. Andrew has since begun a postdoctoral position at Columbia University, working in the Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience (DCN) Lab under Dr. Dima Amso. His research at the DCN lab aims to better understand how genetic risk markers for autism in infancy shape emerging functional and perceptual abilities during early development.
Amanda Salatino
Amanda was an undergraduate research assistant at UCSD, double majoring in ICAM and Psychology. She was interested in the intersection of neurodiversity—specifically ASD and ADHD—and their interaction with art and cognitive processes. In the future, she plans to combine her background in psychology and computing to design video games that integrate cognitive neuroscience principles.
Danna Wu
Danna was a third-year undergraduate Research Assistant at UCSD majoring in Psychology. She is interested in understanding more about the human psyche and how human interaction shapes experiences. After undergraduate, she hopes to pursue a career in the medical field.
Sophia Bokovikova
Sophia was a second-year Research Assistant at UCSD majoring in Human Developmental Sciences with a minor in Biology. She joined the lab in the spring of 2023 and is interested in the interplay between genetics and the environment throughout the lifespan, as well as brain development and degeneration. In the future, Sophia aims to become an obstetrician or genetic counselor.
Mincong Wu
Mincong was a 2023 UCSD graduate Research Assistant with a Bachelor of Science degree Psychology at UCSD, with a minor in cognitive science. Since joining the Developmental and Neuroscience Lab in Spring 2023, Mincong has assisted with data entry and preprocessing of EEG data using MATLAB and R scripts. Upon graduation, Mincong hopes to pursue a graduate degree in the field of developmental psychology.
Zoe Tauxe
Zoe was a graduate student in the lab working on understanding infants ability to learn in contingent interactions with their caregivers. Her research began as an undergraduate at Colorado State University. She is currently working at Cortica, an Autism and Neurodevelopment research center and clinic in San Diego.
Jae Engle
Jae was a joint graduate student of Dr. Leslie Carver and Dr. Caren Walker. She received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience in 2021. Her research interests revolved around improving scientific reasoning skills in young children using both behavioral and EEG methods. She is currently the interim graduate coordinator for the Department of Psychology.
Isa Hutching
Isa was a first-year graduate student in the lab working on understanding social motivation in toddlers. Her research on the brain began as an undergraduate at Cornell University. After serving in the Peace Corps in Ecuador, she also studied public health at Emory University before coming to UC San Diego. Currently, she is a law student at UC Berkley.
Victoria Licht
Victoria was a research assistant in the DN Lab for 4 years. She was the lead experimenter for the Real Event Segmentation study but was also a part of several other studies throughout the years. Currently, she is in a Masters program in Germany.
Katherine Stavropoulos
Katherine received her Ph.D in July of 2014. Her dissertation examined the role of social motivation in children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder. She is currently an assistant professor at the University of California, Riverside.
Amy Pace
Amy received her Ph.D in August of 2013. She is currently a post-doctorate researcher at Temple University.
Lisa Tully
Lisa received her Ph.D in UCSD’s experimental program after defending her dissertation on Social Cognition. She is interested in how adult behavior can shape the behavior of children by looking at the effects of praise on help seeking behavior. She is particularly interested in examining ways to build resiliency in young children.
Rebecca Cunningham
Rebecca received her B.A. in psychology and minor in human development from UC San Diego in 2008. She was the manager of the lab for four years was responsible for memory and social referencing testing at 9, 18, and 32-36 months. She is currently attending graduate school in occupational therapy at USC.
Chelsea Hays
Chelsea was an undergraduate Honors student at UCSD who worked on the Lie Telling study. Her research interests are in neuropsychology, specifically pediatric traumatic brain injury.
Emily Little
Emily graduated with a PhD from the developmental psychology program and studied culture and infant-caregiver interaction. She has done fieldwork in Vanuatu, Bolivia, and Guatemala, where she has volunteered with local NGOs on maternal-infant
health programs while documenting cultural variation in early socialization.
See Emily’s personal website for more information.
Hannah Van Etten
Hannah got her PhD from UCSD’s Department of Psychology. Her research focused on how children with Autism Spectrum Disorder are impacted in their social communication skills as a result of difficulties in understanding social cues. Hannah’s interest in Autism research stem from her time as Teacher’s Assistant and Behavior Therapist for children with Autism while residing on the east coast.
Other Lab Alumni: