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Internship Placements

2025 Undergraduate Developmental Science Summer Internship

Intern: Dianne Celemen, UNC Chapel Hill
Mentor: Erin Warnick, PhDTitle: Evaluating Use of Evidence-Based Treatments for Outpatient Youth with Trauma History at the Yale Child Study Center

Intern: Suzanne Cole, Sewanee: The University of the South
Mentor: Michael Crowley, PhD
Title: Attention Bias to Threat in Anxious Individuals: A Meta-Analysis

Intern: Heidi Du, University of Iowa
Mentors: Dylan Gee, PhD & Amanda Dettmer, PhD
Title: Cross Species Comparison of Parental Warmth as a Predictor of Prosocial Behavior Across Early Environments

Intern: Amanda Shelton, Sewanee: The University of the South
Mentor: Denis Sukhodolsky, PhD
Title: Sensory Sensitivities and Irritability in Adolescents with ASD: Assessing Parent-Child Rating Discrepancies

Intern: Lucy Yang, Cornell University
Mentor: Dustin Scheinost, PhD & Wan-Ling Tseng, PhD
Title: Sensory-Motor Neural Variability Predicts Social Behavior in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Intern: Karis Gillen, Grand Valley State University
Mentor: Dustin Scheinost, PhD &
Title: Sensory-Motor Neural Variability Predicts Social Behavior in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Intern: Samuel Muwanika, St. Edwards University
Mentor: Amanda Dettmer, PhD
Title: Hair Cortisol: DHEA ratio as a predictor of growth in juvenile rhesus macaques

Intern: Samuel Grace, Sewanee: The University of the South
Mentor: Deepa Camenga, MD
Title: Exploring the duality of adolescent vaping discourse: A qualitative study of middle school students perceptions of nicotine & cannabis use in schools & communities

Intern: Lexie Lewis, Northeastern University
Mentor: Gunjan Tiyyagura, MD
Title: Universal IPV Education Provider Perspectives in Pediatric Primary Care

Intern: Sreoshi Adhora, Sewanee: The University of the South
Mentor: Richard Pierce, MD
Title: Investigating the effects of simvastatin on endothelial barrier functions

Intern: Valentino Cheek, Sewanee: The University of the South
Mentor: Karim Ibrahim, PsyD
Title: Sex differences in structural brain correlates of internalizing symptoms in youth

Intern: Oleksii Pidlypenets, Sewanee: The University of the South
Mentor: Nadia Ameen, MBBS
Title: Non-genomic stress-induced inflammatory effects in jejunum of SGK1 KO mouse intestine

2024 Undergraduate Developmental Science Summer Internship

Intern: Jordyn Barkley, Spelman College
Mentor: Christina Cipriano, PhD
Title: Most frequently used emotion regulation strategies of black students reflect parental socialization

Intern: Maya Steiger, Otterbein University
Mentor: Christina Cipriano, PhD
Title: Validating and invalidating teacher behaviors in elementary school classrooms

Intern: Adriana Rivera Vega, San Diego State University
Mentor: Christina Cipriano, PhD
Title: Examining cross cultural inclusive practices for students with intellectual & developmental disabilities (IDD)

Intern: Logan Marco, Sewanee: The University of the South
Mentor: Michael Crowley, PhD
Title: Self-referential processing and negative rumination: A meta-analytic approach

Intern: Sofia Ferrucci, University of Georgia
Mentor: Uche Aneni, MD, MHS
Title: Association between Adolescent Anxiety, Cannabis Use, and Family Functioning: A Cross-Sectional
Observational Study

Intern: Joshua Fairhead, Sewanee: The University of the South
Mentor: Ellen Hoffman, MD, PhD
Title: Mutations in Autism Risk Genes Cause Behavioral Phenotypes in Zebrafish

Intern: Ash Chinta, Dartmouth University
Mentor: Dustin Scheinost, PhD
Title: Understanding ADHD through naturalistic fMRI data: symptoms & whole-brain connectivity

Intern: Cindi Blanco Villanueva, Vanderbilt University
Mentor: Carla Stover, PhD
Title: A systematic review of migration and mental health outcomes among Latino children

Intern: Olivia Ciocca, University of Vermont
Mentor: Karim Ibrahim, PhD
Title: Sex differences in transdiagnostic structural brain correlates of emotion regulation in youth with disruptive behavior problems

Intern: Addison Cassada, Sewanee: The University of the South
Mentor: Erin Warnick, PhD
Title: Comparing clinician, parent, and youth CGI improvement ratings at discharge

Intern: Rob Sullivan, Sewanee: The University of the South
Mentor: Hilary Hahn, MPH, MEd & Declan Barry, PhD
Title: Understanding MOMS partnership program participants according to Maslow’s hierarchy of
needs

Intern: Arianna Medina, St. Edwards University
Mentor: Emily Olfson, MD, PhD
Title: Rare de novo DNA Mutations found in ADHD and other NDDS are enriched for nervous system and sensory system functioning

Intern: Akansha Magal, UCLA
Mentor: Wan-Ling Tseng, PhD
Title: Positive parenting may moderate associations between reward sensitivity and state irritability

Intern: Mia Tan, University of Virginia
Mentor: Denis Sukhodolsky, PhD
Title: Inhibitory control and irritability in autistic adolescents

Intern: Caroline Alessio, Sewanee: The University of the South
Mentor: Dylan Gee, PhD
Title: Family factors related to response to parent-based treatment for child anxiety disorders

Intern: Claire Chiles, Sewanee: The University of the South
Mentor: Nadia Ameen, MBBS
Title: Immunofluorescence: an important tool to study CHE cells

Intern: Mc Noriel Baldonado, Sewanee: The University of the South
Mentor: Sacit Omay, MD, FAANS
Title: Effect of central diabetes insipidus on social- emotional functioning in patients with hypothalamic-pituitary tumors

2023 Undergraduate Developmental Science Summer Internship

Intern: Annabelle Ross, Davidson College
Mentor: Christina Cipriano, PhD
Title: K-12 social emotional learning interventions and mental health in the United States: a systematic review of program features

Intern: Ashlyn Richards, Sewanee: The University of the South
Mentor: Michael Crowley, PhD
Title: A meta-analysis on post-event processing social anxiety

Intern: Chandler Brown, Alabama State University
Mentor: Uche Aneni, MD, MHS
Title: Associations between adolescent cannabis use, attention & food insecurity: a cross-sectional observational study

Intern: Christie Cambridge, Howard University
Mentor: Ellen Hoffman, MD, PhD
Title: Targeting high-confidence ASD risk gene ASHIL in zebrafish using CRISPR-Cas9

Intern: Christopher Le, Sewanee: The University of the South
Mentor: Dustin Scheinost, PhD
Title: Connectome-based predictive modeling as a novel approach in assessing pain perception in individuals with opioid use disorder

Intern: Fiona Wu, Vanderbilt University
Mentor: Craig Bailey, PhD
Title: Early childhood emotional vocabulary in naturalistic settings: a pilot study with CHILDES

Intern: Genessee Torres, Sewanee: The University of the South
Mentor: Carla Stover, PhD
Title: Overall reflective functioning in fathers with IPV

Intern: Isabel Rodden, Williams College
Mentor: Amanda Lowell, PhD
Title: Mixed-methods analysis of parenting in a high-risk maternal sample

Intern: Julian Esmer, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Mentor: Karim Ibrahim, PhD
Title: Lage-scale intrinsic networks predictive of anxiety in youths with and without autism spectrum disorder

Intern: Kara Cooksley, Sewanee: The University of the South
Mentor: Erin Warnick, PhD
Title: Variance in Medicaid reimbursement rates for behavioral health by state and region

Intern: Kelly Walker, Sewanee: The University of the South
Mentor: Declan Barry, PhD
Title: Patient terminology preferences with regards to substance use

Intern: Kylea Michael, Sewanee: The University of the South
Mentor: Karen Hanson, MSSA, LCSW
Title: The relationship between parental wellbeing (as measured by parental stress, depressive symptoms, and early relational trauma) caregiving confidence and competence.

Intern: Madison Reid, Sewanee: The University of the South
Mentor: Emily Olfson, MD, PhD
Title: Meta-analysis of the prevalence and gender distribution of excoriation disorder

Intern: Mara Xiong, Cornell University
Mentor: Wan-Ling Tseng, PhD
Title: A systematic review of parental emotion socialization and pediatric aggression, anger, and irritability

Intern: Marina Lieberman, University of California Santa Cruz
Mentor: Denis Sukhodolsky, PhD
Title: Association of irritability with restricted repetitive behavior in children with ASD

Intern: Mark Wilson, Sewanee: The University of the South
Mentor: Michael Bloch, MD
Title: Comparison of ketamine and its metabolites: mean plasma concentrations in adult and pediatric populations

Intern: Martha Goldsmith, Sewanee: The University of the South
Mentor: Kieran O'Donnell, PhD
Title: Impact of prenatal per and poly-fluoroalkyl (PFAS) exposure on child cognition: evidence from an early caregiving intervention

Intern: Mary Sommer, St. Mary’s University
Mentor: Christopher Cutter, PhD
Title: Residential treatment for dually diagnosed adolescents: what do we know about the parent perspective?

Intern: Moon Gomes, Sewanee: The University of the South
Mentor: Sarah Lichenstein, PhD
Title: Systematic review of the impact of COVID19 on students’ cannabis use patterns in the US

Intern: Nicholas Clate, Sewanee: The University of the South
Mentor: Kartik Pattabiraman, MD, PhD
Title: The 22q11DS Microdeletion syndrome – disrupted thalamocortical connectivity

Intern: Shara Reimer, Northwestern University
Mentor: Jamie McPartland, PhD
Title: Associations between birth order, language, and communication in autistic children

Intern: Sofina Behr, Sewanee: The University of the South
Mentor: Nancy Borstelmann, PhD
Title: Social, emotional, and physical health outcomes in childhood cancer survivors at the Yale HEROs Clinic

Intern: Victor Esparza, Sewanee: The University of the South
Mentor: Amanda M. Dettmer, PhD
Title: Coding non-verbal face-to-face interactions between mother-infant dyads in macaques and humans

Intern: William Trosch, Sewanee: The University of the South
Mentor: Denis Sukhodolsky, PhD
Title: Parent-rated adolescent irritability is associated with parental stress