SO YEON SHIN

I received my PhD in Education from Harvard University in 2021 under the mentorship of Dr. Meredith Rowe. I am broadly interested in understanding how environmental factors influence children's language and cognitive development, and how such relations may vary across cultures. In my dissertation research, I examined the role that mothers play in shaping children's early language experiences and development in South Korea, with a focus on analyzing linguistic elements of parent-child interactions. Within the Child Development Lab, I will be working on the Healthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) study to examine how perinatal and early environmental factors interact with and influence children's development prior to formal schooling, in addition to continuing to investigate the role of parent-child interactions on early language and cognitive development.  Check out So Yeon’s CV here.

ALYSA HERRERA TAYLOR

I am originally from Phoenix, Arizona, but have been in the DMV area since 2012. During that time I completed my bachelors, masters, and PhD in developmental psychology with a minor in neuropsychology at Howard University under the mentorship of Dr. Debra Roberts and Dr. Jules Harrell. My general research interests include ethnic/racial identity, cultural socialization, and psychological and physiological outcomes for children and adolescents. My dissertation examined the relationship between exposure to racism and psychophysiological outcomes, as moderated by racial identity among college age students. As a member of the child development lab, I will be part of the HBDC study working to recruit families with the goal of gaining a deeper understanding of how the brain develops when the child is exposed to psychosocially toxic environments while in utero and after birth.

Dylan Gilbreath

I received my PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences under the mentorship of Linda Larson-Prior. During my PhD, I collected and analyzed neuroimaging data across multiple clinical research projects and participant demographics. My dissertation work focused on how different environmental variables during infancy effected subsequent neurodevelopment. Specifically, I used electroencephalography (EEG) to determine whether human milk or commercial formula had a measurable effect on the emerging functional development of the brain throughout infancy. In the Childhood Development Lab, I will continue to study how environmental variables interact to shape the functional dynamics of infant neurodevelopment as a part of the Healthy Brain and Childhood Development study. Check out Dylan’s CV here.