Research Team
Meet the members of our lab!
Dr. Catherine Haden
Graduate School: Emory University (1995)
Undergraduate: Wake Forest University (1989)
Current: Professor of Psychology at Loyola University Chicago (since 1997)
Interests: Information about Dr. Haden's research and teaching interests is available here
When she isn't working, Dr. Haden enjoys watching her daughter swim, and her son run, and walking her dog Sugar.
Dr. Graciela Solis
Current: Post-doctoral Fellow, Engaging Engineering Experts Project
Graduate School: University of California, Santa Cruz
Undergraduate: Roosevelt University
About: Graciela is very passionate about research and social justice. Specifically, she is interested in how children’s literacy and science-related skills develop in social and cultural contexts and whether these skills are recognized by educators. Her doctoral research examined whether mothers from three cultural communities varied in their overall narrative talk and in their life lesson and academic elaborations in two storytelling contexts. Her goal, is to use her work examining conversational practices at home to help implement changes that will aid children from non-dominant communities succeed in school.
Diana Acosta
Current: Doctoral Graduate Student, Developmental Psychology
Undergraduate: University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), BA Psychology, Suma Cum Laude
About: Diana's research interests include: understanding how children are learning about STEM at the museum, children’s narrative reflections, identifying ways that parents can scaffold their children’s learning, and cultural variations in informal learning. In her free time, Diana enjoys watching and attending Chicago Blackhawks hockey games, watching Netflix, and playing with her nephew.
Lauren Pagano
Current: Doctoral Graduate Student, Developmental Psychology
Undergraduate: Loyola University Chicago, BS Psychology, Magna Cum Laude & Psychology Honors
About: Lauren gained an interest in parent-child interactions and children’s informal learning when working in the Children’s Memory and Learning Lab as an undergraduate. She plans to continue researching this topic in graduate school. When outside of the lab, Lauren enjoys creative writing, drawing, animation, and voice acting.
Juan Vicente Nuno Hermosillo
Current: Master's Graduate Student, Modern Languages
Undergraduate: Columbia College Chicago, BA Film & Video
About: Literature, language and films are Juan’s passion and he hopes to become a Spanish teacher someday. Juan joined the research team in Fall 2016 and applies his Spanish fluency in his work as a transcriber, translator and coder. When he is not in class or collecting data at the Chicago Children’s Museum, Juan can be found: cooking, walking his dog Molly, taking yoga classes or traveling the world. Juan loves to travel, meet new people and learn about new cultures.
Autumn Crowe
Current: Project Coordinator, Tinkering and Reflection Project
Undergraduate: BS Psychology, Loyola University Chicago
About: Autumn has enjoyed the opportunity to work with cross-sectional data, and learn more about research in service-to-practice. In addition, she has been able to explore her interest in parent and child interactions through the lens of parent engagement with their children in an informal learning environment. Autumn plans to pursue a Ph.D. in child clinical psychology with an emphasis in pediatric psychology. Apart from her research endeavors, Autumn enjoys cheering for the Cubs, watching Netflix, brunch dates with friends, and spending time with her family and pets
Meriem Sadoun
Current: Project Coordinator, Engaging Engineering Experts Project
Undergraduate: BS Psychology, Loyola University Chicago
About: Meriem has conducted research domestically and abroad in Tunisia, England and South Africa. Her current research explores the social influences on the athletic experiences of young Muslim women on high school sports teams. Meriem is excited to be working with the Engaging Engineering Experts (EEE) project at the Children’s Memory Lab because of it’s focus on narrative formation. She hopes to continue developing her technical skills in storytelling and applied research.
Undergraduate Research Assistants |
|---|
Ellen DeFrank
About: Ellen is a fourth year Psychology major planning on pursuing a future career in school psychology. She enjoys working at the lab because it has been improving her ability to organize and interpret data, while providing the opportunity to work hands on with children. Ellen loves studying and interacting with children. After graduation, she plans to earn her master's degree in school psychology and continue working with children. Ellen hopes her time with the lab will continue preparing her for her future endeavors.
Rogelio De La Vega-Verda
About: Rogelio is a dual major in Psychology and Studio Art with a focus on painting and drawing, and hopes to acquire an Art Therapy degree after undergrad. Rogelio has been a part of Dr. Haden’s research team for over a year: transcribing, translating and collecting data at the Children's Museum. He hopes to one day be able to help families break the stigma and language barrier in the Hispanic community. When Rogelio is not collecting data at the Chicago Children’s Museum and translating or transcribing a video at the lab, you can catch him on the train drawing, or hosting art workshops at home every Friday.
-330x396.jpeg)
Kiersten Dietrick
About: Kiersten is a third-year Psychology major and is working towards becoming a psychiatrist with an interest in children. By working in the lab, she hopes to gain a better understanding of how minds develop at a young age. Kiersten believes an essential part of helping future patients is to have a solid understanding of how the mind works. In her free time, you can catch her hanging out with her sorority sisters in Phi Sigma Sigma, taking a nap or playing guitar.
Prachi Gandhi
About: Prachi is a senior undergraduate student working towards her BS in Psychology with a minor in Bioethics. She is planning on taking a gap year before entering medical school. In the past, Prachi has worked at Thorek Memorial Hospital as a psychiatric intern where she performed patient summaries and assisted in conducting diagnostic tests. Her research interests include child psychopathy and the influence of learning on childhood development. Prachi is the Vice President of the Hindu Student Organization, and enjoys cooking and spending time with friends.
Andrea Moreno
About: Andrea is currently a junior studying Psychology who loves working with children and aspires to focus on developmental psychology in the future. Her main career goal is to become a professor at a university in Illinois. Andrea hopes to learn more about different research methods and methods of data analysis by working in this lab. She is a transfer student from Arrupe College of Loyola and this lab is also a way for Andrea to get more involved on this new journey at Loyola University.
Patrick Palmer
About: Patrick is a Psychology major pursuing a career in psychiatry. In participating in this research opportunity, he hopes to broaden his understanding of psychology which he intends on implementing in his future career practicing medicine. Patrick believes that exploring how children develop is a crucial aspect in patient care and enabling future patients to achieve their full potential.
Ashley Prabakar
About: Ashley is a Health Systems Management major and is pursuing a future in medicine, specifically in pediatric medicine. She hopes to learn more about observational research and gain skills in different research methods by working with the Children's Memory and Learning Study. In her free time, Ashley enjoys baking, running, and watching X-Factor.
Simron Sahoo
About: Simron is a senior on the pre-med track, and is majoring in psychology while pursuing minors in biology, neuroscience, and math. She aspires to be a physician someday working in a field pertaining to child psychology. Apart from studying, she has a passion for writing, serving as a contributing writer for souldoctors.com and is the Vice President of Loyola’s campus edition of PreMedLife magazine. Simron also loves dancing, so you can often catch her in Halas freestyling.
Krista Smith
About: Krista is currently in her junior year pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Psychology with minors in Criminal Justice and Social Work. She aspires to be a school psychologist and hopes to use her time in the lab to gain a better understanding of children's memory and learning. Krista is passionate about working with young kids and adolescents. In the past, she has worked as a camp counselor, at the Shedd Aquarium, and is currently also working in the Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (CAN) Lab at Loyola. Krista is on the executive board of Loyola's chapter of Psi Chi, the International Honors Society in Psychology.
Jennifer Wilson
About: Jenny is a second year Biology student and is minoring in bioethics. She plans on going onto medical school after she graduates from undergrad, and pursue a career in ENT (ear, nose, throat doctor) and pediatric plastic surgery. Working in this lab is Jenny's introduction into research and allows her to explore her interest in child psychology.
Lab Alumni
Maria (Mia) Marcus, Ph.D. (2016)
Postdoctoral Fellow, Northwestern University
Erin Wilkerson, Ph.D. (2011)
Visiting Assistant Professor, Binghamton University
Nora Brodson Benjamin, Ph.D. (2007)
Instructor, College of Lake County
Karen Kolmodin MacDonell, Ph.D. (2006)
Research Associate Professor, Pediatric Prevention Research Center, Wayne State University
Amy Hedrick, Ph.D. (2006)
Associate Professor, Lenoir-Rhyne College
Sam Fazio, Ph.D. (2005)
Director of Medical and Scientific Relations, Alzheimer's Association
Part-Time Faculty, Northeastern Illinois University
David Rudek, Ph.D. (2004)
Associate Professor, Aurora University
Barbara Havlik O’Brien, Ph.D. (2002)
Lecturer in Psychology, Washington University in Saint Louis
