Lab Members

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Tracy Riggins, Ph.D.     CV
Professor • Department of Psychology • Biology/Psychology Building 2147J

Tracy Riggins received her Ph.D. in Child Psychology from the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota. She completed postdoctoral fellowships in pediatric neuroimaging at the University of California, Davis and the University of Maryland, School of Medicine in Baltimore. The goal of her research program is to provide better understanding of the neural bases of cognitive development, particularly in the domain of memory. The empirical research conducted in her laboratory (known as the Neurocognitive Developmental Lab or NCDL) involves both typically developing children and children at-risk for cognitive impairments and uses a combination of behavioral, electrophysiological, and neuroimaging methodologies. Findings from her research have shown accelerated rates of change in children’s episodic memory abilities during early childhood that are associated with changes in hippocampal structure and function. Recently, she has begun to explore how individual differences in experiences such as sleep or parenting impact memory and brain development. Her research has been funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Science Foundation.
Dr. Riggins currently teaches an undergraduate course in Developmental Psychology (PSYC355) and a graduate seminar on Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience.


Current Graduate Students


Jade Dunstan  

Jade is a third-year graduate student in the Developmental Area of the Psychology Department. She graduated from Boston College in 2016 with a B.S. in in Psychology and held a full-time Research Assistant position in the Gaab Lab at Boston Children's Hospital from 2016-2020. Her research interests include the neural mechanisms underlying the development of autobiographical memory in children.


Brooke Kohn  

Brooke is a first-year graduate student in the Clinical Area of the Psychology Department. She graduated from Kenyon College in 2018 with a B.A. in in Psychology and a minor in English. She has held full-time Research Assistant positions in the Nelson and Faja Lab at Boston Children's Hospital (2018-2021) and Dr. Moriah Thomason's lab at New York University (2021-2022). Brooke is interested in studying dimensions of dyadic synchrony and environmental stressors that influence neurodevelopmental trajectories and child self-regulatory capabilities.


Bella Schneider  

Bella is a first-year graduate student in the Developmental Area of the Psychology Department. She graduated from New York University in 2020 with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Studies. She has held Research Assistant positions in the Computational Cognitive Neuroscience & Psychiatry Lab (2020 - 2022) and the Child Developmental Lab (2022 - 2023) and was an MRI Technologist at the University of Maryland, College Park. Bella is interested in the relationship between sleep, episodic memory, and brain development in early childhood.


Isabel Wilder  

Isabel is a first-year graduate student in the Developmental Area of the Neuroscience and Cognitive Science (NACS) program. She graduated from the University of Maryland in 2022 with degrees in psychology and medical anthropology. She worked for 2 years as a full-time postbaccalaureate research fellow in the Section on Integrative Neuroimaging within the Clinical & Translational Neuroscience Branch at the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, MD. Isabel is interested in studying stress, sleep, and neurocognitive development in early childhood.



Staff


Zehua Cui  

Postdoc
University of Georgia (2022)
Major: Human Development and Family Science


I am a postdoctoral fellow at the Neurocognitive Development Lab. I received my Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Science from the University of Georgia in 2022. My research focuses on examining the impact of early life stress at multiple ecological contexts (e.g., family, school, neighborhood, etc.) on children’s socio-emotional, behavioral, brain, and cognitive development. In addition, I seek to explore and identify multilevel processes and protective factors that elucidate the developmental mechanisms of resilience among children in adverse contexts.

Aleyah Perry  

Postbac
University of Maryland, College Park (2024)
Major: Psychology


Morgan Jones  

Postbac
Penn State University (2023)
Major: Psychology, Neuroscience and Communication Sciences and Disorders


Erin Ratliff  

Postdoc
Oklahoma State University (2021)
Major: Human Sciences



Lily Nolan  

Postbac
Johns Hopkins University (2023)
Major: Psychology and Cognitive Science



Alejandra Tovar  

Postbac
University of Maryland (2021)
Major: Psychology and Studio Art



Maaike van der Veer  

Postbac and Master's Student in Clinical Psycchological Sciences
University of Louisville (2024)
Major: Psychology



Undergraduate Student RAs


Aditi Gubba

Sam Halling

Megan Quan

Isa Bernat

Jenny Nguyen-Khoa

Tracy Ly

Leah Freisinger

Darsana Alagarsamy

Madison Blaustein

Injoo Lee

Yusra Umer

Nicole Ahmadpour

Aidan Vaca

Reva Mannan

Emma Johnson

Leah Han

Megha Krishnakumar

Emma Rourke

Anna Richardson

Abby McFeaters

Darcie Gleason

Henry Abramson

Jessica Zuniga

Rishi Makam

Riyana Kapur

Saathvi Arunkumar

Varsha Parsi

Sofia Bernat



Lab Alumni

Mallika Ghimire

Christian Diaz

Keshav Mittu

Rohan Jaggi

Cansu Erkan

Paige Dent

Titiksha Magesh

Mia Collins

Melissa Casillas

Jonathan Booker

Dunsin Akinyemi

Annette Eldo

Mark Wehland

Anna Karan

Madison Brumagin

Darshini Babu Ganesh

Mary Lorenz

Emily Herberholz

Jennifer Tabet

Kayla Kellner

Rhea Tiwari

Abby Hsiung

Ada Wong

Agnes Varghese

Alan Siegel

Alexa Noppenberger

Tamara Allard

Alexis Spiotta

Alice Jackson, Ph.D

Alicia Gordon

Alison Gruber

Alison Robey, Ph.D

Allie Isrin

Allison Jean

Allison Weber

Amber Wallace

Amna Zehra

Anastasiya Filippova

Andrew Cherenzia

Andrew Garinther

Arcadia Ewell

Avery Arena

Avi Eisenstein

Becka Banerjee

Ben Weinberg

Bridget Sundel

Brittany Baum

Carli Fine

Chris Parker

Clara Ehrman

Dana Schindler

Daniela Vasquez

Danielle Flores

Dasylia Willoughby

Dayna Mazza

Dee Adedipe

Eliana Abel

Eliana Sudikoff

Elianna Lopez

Elizabeth Dolin

Elizabeth Woytowicz

Emily Burr

Emily Kim

Erin Van Seeters

Faith Champion, Ph.D

Galya Oberman

Giovanna Morini

Hima Patel

Isabel Wilder

Jamie Rosen

Jamie Schwartz

Janet Adelola

Jeanne Caron

Jennifer Taylor

Jenny Sloane

Jessica Albrecht

Jessica Grisez

Jessica Kreuger

Jon Segars

Jordana Zwerling

Julia Wall

Julie Adhya

Kaitlyn Gardner

Katherine Lopez

Kelly Walsh

Kelsey Canada, Ph.D

Kelsey Woods

Kemy Ndubuizu

Kimia Abtahi

Kishan Dharmasena

Kyle Schiller

Laura Prindeze

Lauren Howard, Ph.D

Lauren Rabon

Lauren Rather

Lauren Weiss

Lena Meredith

Leslie Rollins

Lia Rios

Lindsay Gerber

Liz Mulligan

Louis Marti

M. Graciela Mujica

Maggie Sundel

Maria Massiani, M.S.

Marianne Sales

Marissa Clark

Martin Folkoff

MaryEmily Ballas

Meghan Graham

Melissa Robinson

Meredith Polm

Miles Stroud

Mills Wallace

Morgan Botdorf

Naeha Gupta

Nari Lee

Nikki Schoenbrun

Nikki Thaker

Nimra Naeem

Nina Shea

Noah Myers

Olivia Antezana

Paige Munshell

Pooja Patel

Poorna Sreekumar

Pradhab Kirupaharan

Preston Ge

Rachel Peissner

Rae Herman, Ph.D

Rylee Duncan

Samantha Holder

Samuel Seidenberg

Sanaa Amin

Sarah Blankenship

Sarah Dean

Sarah TanVeer

Schuyler Ames

Selamawit Addissie

Shane Wise

Shannon Janney

Sharon Amir

Sigalle Bahary

Sonali Patel

Sope Lanlokun

Sruthi Ganesh

Stephanie Lidd

Stephanie Lighter

Sucheta Swaminathan, M.S.

Svetha Mohan

Tammy Tran

Theresa Bullen

Vanessa Williams

Victoria Smith

Vivian Zohery

Zachary Cherna, Ph.D