Lauren Eales is a 5th-year doctoral student under the mentorship of Dr. Ferguson and Dr. Klimes-Dougan at The University of Minnesota. Lauren’s work primarily focuses on clinically concerning media use in children. Lauren developed a program of research on problematic media use (PMU) and led an online study that assessed media use behaviors in well-resourced children as well as parent perceptions of media over the past three years. As a graduate student, Lauren has earned numerous accolades and has consistently published in high-impact journals. As a recipient of a predoctoral T32 from the National Institute of Mental Health, Lauren’s research has both scholarly and real-world impacts. In addition, Lauren utilizes her research to inform her evidence-based clinical practice with children and adolescents, and is passionate about teaching, mentoring, and improving graduate school for future students. Lauren serves on her department’s graduate student committee while leading the clinical DEI committee and founded a mentorship program for underrepresented graduate students. Congratulations to Lauren on all her accomplishments!

Jordan C. Foster is a 2nd-year doctoral student under the mentorship of Dr. Dylan Gee at Yale University. Jordan’s work primarily focuses on delineating the complex associations between stress, emotion, and memory as they are represented across development, in the brain, and in psychopathology. His current research has deepened the mechanistic focus of his work on early-life stress to specifically examine the key role of emotional memory in both the development and treatment of stress and anxiety disorders in youth. Additionally, Jordan’s work integrates more basic developmental science with community-engaged approaches, and he is currently involved in several projects that aim to leverage and promote how community-engaged strategies can improve the context, meaning, and impact of clinical science research. Alongside his research, Jordan has developed and led initiatives to promote community engagement and racial equity through serving as a student leader of the Committee for Racial Equity and Justice’s Community Engagement workgroup at Yale, mentoring underrepresented students, and providing evidence-based culturally informed treatments to a variety of individuals. Jordan aims to use his position as a doctoral student to create more inclusive spaces for individuals from diverse backgrounds to thrive in the fields of clinical research and practice. Congratulations to Jordan on all his accomplishments!

Emily Vinet is a Junior at Loyola University New Orleans who is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Psychology and minoring in Criminology. Emily is highly passionate about the field of clinical child psychology. Her research examines the influence of intellectual ability and rejection on the relation between social anxiety and conduct problems in children with autism spectrum disorder. Emily promises to be an outstanding scholar, as exemplified by her high GPA and involvement in multiple research projects resulting in various poster presentations and a recent journal publication. Emily also has obtained a practicum experience at the Children’s Hospital of New Orleans shadowing the psychology department supervisor, and a leadership position as a psychology department representative at Loyola University New Orleans. Emily hopes to pursue a research career studying anxiety and conduct concerns in youth from diverse backgrounds.  Congratulations to Emily on all her accomplishments!

Sadaf Khawar is a rising 5th-year doctoral candidate in the clinical psychology program at Montclair State University, New Jersey, under the mentorship of Dr. Erin Kang. Sadaf has extensive experience in assessment and delivering evidence-based treatments to children and adolescents in a variety of home, school, and mental health settings. Sadaf is committed to her goal of developing accessible, effective, and culturally sensitive interventions that would improve the quality of life of youth, caregivers, and families, particularly from minoritized backgrounds. Further, Sadaf is wrapping up her clinical training at the Autism Spectrum Disorder Service at the NYU Child Study Center and will soon start her predoctoral clinical internship at Kennedy Krieger Institute at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (July 2023). In addition to her exceptional clinical work and commitment to evidence-based practices, Sadaf is seeking to explore barriers to ASD diagnosis and treatment access as well as disparities in service use in underrepresented minorities through her research. Sadaf has taught multiple introductory and advanced-level undergraduate psychology courses, engaged in various community service projects, and advocated to mobilize resources at the grassroots level to support families. Congratulations to Sadaf on all her accomplishments!