Research Assistant Professor
CLARE MCCORMACK
Clare is a researcher whose work focuses on women's psychological health in pregnancy and the peripartum, how these are shaped by maternal stress and trauma, and the intergenerational transmission of adversity. She is also interested in the interaction between brain, biology, and the environment in shaping adaptation to parenthood. Dr. McCormack received her PhD in public health in 2016 from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Center at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, where she studied alcohol use during pregnancy and infant cognitive development. She then completed an interdisciplinary postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University as a Robert A. Burt Presidential Scholar in Society and Neuroscience. Dr. McCormack joined the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at NYU Grossman School of Medicine in 2022 as a research assistant professor.
Postdoctoral Fellow
CASSIE HENDRIX
Cassie is a postdoctoral fellow whose work examines how our earliest experiences, as well as the experiences of our parents, shape neurobiological development and stress responsivity. She is particularly interested in biobehavioral processes that are linked to long-term psychiatric risk and resilience.

Research Associate
HARINI SRINIVASAN
Harini is a 4th year undergraduate at Barnard College studying Neuroscience and Behavior and Science and Public Policy. Harini has been conducting research with Dr. Moriah Thomason since September 2020, and she is a member of the COPE Study's Data Acquisition and Data Processing Teams. In addition, Harini is pursuing her senior thesis studying the associations between prenatal maternal stress, fetal hippocampal functional connectivity and toddler executive functioning. After graduating in May 2022, Harini plans to conduct research before pursuing a degree in medicine, specifically in the field of psychiatry.
Research Associate
LESLIE GAINES
Leslie Gaines is a graduate of the University of Richmond. During her studies, she worked in a psycholinguistics lab and was a summer volunteer with NYU's ISLAND Lab. Since graduating, she has been working in the field of education. She is very excited to be returning to the field of psychology and to be working with the SCAN Lab.

Data Analyst
MARK DUFFY
I am an Irish native who moved to New York City. I completed a Bachelor of Biomedical Science degree at the University of Galway and following this, a Master of Neuroscience degree at Trinity College Dublin. My research interests range from neurodevelopment and autism spectrum disorders to inflammation, stress and neurodegenerative diseases. Through my work, I hope to achieve a significant impact in the field of neuroscience, increasing our understanding of human brain development and the pathogenesis of neurological disorders, ultimately contributing to the development of treatments for those who need it most.

Research Assistant
ODETTE RODRIGUEZ GARCES
I am 19 years old (about to turn 20 on June 30) and I am an undergraduate at NYU, majoring in Biology and planning to minor in CAMS. I was born in Cuba and moved to the U.S. when I was 9 years old. I love animals and I have a tabby cat named Juliette. I currently live in New York City with my family and we all love going sightseeing around the city. I have traveled to Spain and Italy, but I plan to travel the world as much as I can.

Research Assistant
JENNA JOHN
Jenna John is a student at Macaulay Honors College at CUNY studying psychology and is originally from Staten Island. She is interested in social work in medical or educational settings, specifically in pediatrics, maternal and palliative care, and has a strong interest in social justice and diversity. She also likes to read, write, and sing!

Research Assistant
ANUSHKA GUPTA
Anushka Gupta is a sophomore at NYU majoring in Psychology and minoring in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Studies (CAMS). She is very passionate about mental health advocacy and is involved in many organizations both on an off campus that support student mental health. In her free time, Anushka enjoys cafe hopping and going for long walks while listening to her favorite music.

Research Assistant
CHRISTINE LEE
Hello! My name is Christine and I am a current junior at NYU majoring in Psychology and minoring in Data Science and Korean. I'm originally from the suburbs of Chicago, so being in NYC has been such a wonderful and crazy experience. I also work as an intern at GPEG at Columbia University and I am also hoping to find a job as a server to support myself in this beautiful but expensive city. I hope that I can bring as much positivity and help as I can to this lab :)

Research Assistant
EMMA VERON
Emma is an undergraduate student at New York University majoring in Applied Psychology with a double minor in Child Adolescent Mental Health Studies and Teacher Education, specializing in Special Education. In the future, she plans to get her doctorate in Clinical Psychology and research Externalizing and Neurodevelopmental Disorders. She is an NYC native, and loves fitness, romance novels, and true crime TV shows!

Research Assistant
ALEXIS MCKAY
I am a junior at New York University, majoring in psychology on the pre-med track. I am passionate about developmental psychology and its applications to neuroscience, particularly in how early environments can affect a child's development. I'm excited to gain more experience in psychology and neuroscience research while working in this lab! After I graduate, I plan to become a pediatric physician.

Research Assistant
MAX FU
Max is a junior at the Gallatin School of Inidividualized Study (New York University) studying Multidisciplinary Healthcare Studies, concentrating primarily in the topics of clinical and medical ethics, behavioral and mental healthcare, hearing and communicative disorders, and healthcare practices compliance law. His scientific research interests pertain to the contemporary impacts of the COVID-19 global pandemic on aggregate and inidividual mental health, physical health, and child development, as well as biofeedback technology systems for speech and hearing rehabilitation. He is also pursuing a Master of Public Health at the NYU School of Global Public Health, focusing on Social and Behavioral Health.
Project Coordinator, Social Worker
TESSA VATALARO
Tessa specializes in working with children, adolescents, and families, and her clinical interests are in providing evidenced based, trauma informed interventions to underserved populations. Tessa is committed to the engagement of diverse and under represented groups in research in order to facilitate culturally competent services and inform future interventions.
Research Associate
AUTUMN
AUSTIN
Autumn is recent graduate from New York University mastering in Psychology with a clinical concentration. Autumn’s thesis focused on sex differences in fetal MRI amygdala connectivity in toddlers with ASD traits. In the next year she plans to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology.
BRYAN YOON
Postdoctoral Fellow
Bryan is a postdoctoral fellow with a background in biomedical engineering and medicine (psychiatry). Bryan is interested in exploring the development of disorder origins and how environmental factors contribute to the development of illnesses. He examines these questions using neuroimaging tools.
IRIS MENU
Postdoctoral Fellow
Iris' research aims at articulating different data modalities (cerebral, genetic, behavioral and environmental) using statistical tools derived from applied mathematics (network analysis, structural equation modeling, machine learning) to better characterize cognitive development and learning. She is particularly interested in the early factors that may play a role in neurocognitive development. In her postdoctoral work, she is focusing on the effect of fetal inflammation and prematurity on both cognitive and cerebral development.
LANXIN JI
Postdoctoral Fellow
Lanxin Ji is a postdoctoral fellow with a background in biomedical engineering. Her interest is to understand fetal and infant brains with cutting-edge fMRI analysis models and tools, such as interactions between key functional networks and the brain connectivity dynamics. Lanxin is also interested in developing denoising methods and optimizing pre-processing pipelines to manage the unique challenges in baby brain imaging.
ELLYN KENNELLY
Clinical PhD Student
Ellyn is a current Clinical Psychology Ph.D. student at Wayne State University in Detroit Michigan. She is interested in early life mechanisms that promote adaptive neural and behavioral development in order to better understand risk and resilience in historically underserved youth.
MAYA RUIZ
Program Associate
Maya Ruiz is the Program Associate in The Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department. She works closely with the Vice Chair to manage and maintain a conducive workflow. While Program Associate is her primary job function by day, she also has a love for the arts! Maya has earned her degree in Recorded Music from New York University Tisch School Of the Arts.
BRADLEY SUSSKIND
Research Associate
Bradley Susskind graduated with high honors from Lehigh University in 2022 where he studied Psychology and minored in Biology and Health, Medicine and Society. Bradley has prior research experience working at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia within their Center for Autism Research, and has also studied within the family and integrative medicine realm at St. Luke’s University Health Network. Following his time as a Research Associate working with Dr. Moriah Thomason at NYU Langone, Bradley plans to pursue a degree in medicine and has a particular interest in child and adolescent psychiatry.
AISHA KANUTEH
Research Assistant
Hi, My name is Aisha Kanuteh, and I'm currently a junior at NYU CAS. I'm studying psychology with minors in genetics, CAMS, and chemistry on the pre-med track. Im Gambian and Malian, raised in the city. I speak about 5 languages and hope to learn more and travel to the places where these languages are spoken.
SEYEON YIM
Research Assistant
Seyeon Yim is a sophomore at New York University studying psychology on the pre-med track. Her interest in medicine arose from a desire to research the neuropsychology of music throughout her life as a dancer. As she pursues her pre-med journey, she wishes to expand her interests and study the effects of various environmental factors on the cognitive and behavioral development of children. As a research assistant in COPE's MRI Team, she looks forward to gaining insight on how research is performed at the intersection of psychology and neuroscience.
ARTHUR YOON
Research Assistant
My name is Arthur (Hae Seok) Yoon. I am currently a third year student @ New York University under a psychology major at the CAS school. Some of my hobbies includes sports, working out, and socializing with my friends. I want to pursue a career in medicine as a doctor, and I hope to further my understanding of science through this lab as well. In my spare time, besides doing my hobbies, I love to go trying out new things within the city, and catching up on studying for the rest of my classes (sad).
DHRUVI PATEL
Research Assistant
My name is Dhruvi Patel, and I am a third-year student at the College of Arts & Sciences at NYU, majoring in neural science and minoring in chemistry & psychology. I am on the pre-medical track, and I hope to attend medical school in the near future. I have always been interested in studying more about how COVID-19 affects the normal developmental trajectory of pediatric populations, and I am looking forward to working as a research assistant on the COPE team!
TANYA BHATIA
Data Analyst
Tanya graduated with a degree in Biopsychology and a minor in statistical science from the University of California, Santa Barbara in Spring 2022. She is part of the data management and processing team of the HBCD Study at NYU Langone. While in college, she researched retinal implant devices, the needs of blind people with activities of daily living, memory and decision-making in neuroscience labs. She also led a program to teach tennis to kids with autism. She is interested in leveraging neuroscience and data science to improve healthcare outcomes, especially of vulnerable populations.