###Research Interests
Trained as a behavioral neuroscientist in social, emotional and cognitive development, I integrate clinical research and basic models to study affect in both typical and atypical neurodevelopment in the lab. This is challenging, but the approach embodies translational research at its core. I have extensively studied limbic circuitry and how disruptions alter affective processing, as well as how prenatal disruptions in reward circuitry lead to significant changes in behavior and cellular functions throughout development. My laboratory research program merges these two areas of interest towards exploring the neurobiological underpinnings of neurodevelopmental disorders in which disruptions in both affect and reward can have detrimental effects. My laboratory explores functional disruptions in behavior and attempts to elucidate the underlying neural changes responsible for these disruptions by utilizing a combination of techniques in both basic science and clinical research. As basic science and clinical findings continue to reveal the heterogeneity of the genetic underpinnings and behavioral symptoms in neurodevelopmental disorders, we are hopeful that our multidisciplinary approaches to science will allow for the design of individualized interventions for those with neurodevelopmental disorders.
