Current Members

Dr. Wan-Ling Tseng is an Assistant Professor at the Yale Child Study Center. She received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota and completed her postdoctoral fellowship in the Section on Mood Dysregulation and Neuroscience at the National Institute of Mental Health. Her research focuses on understanding the brain mechanisms mediating abnormal psychological processes associated with irritability and aggression in children and adolescents and how these behaviors and symptoms change over time. Dr. Tseng's current work, funded by her NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00), uses machine learning, a data-driven computational approach, to investigate the neural mechanisms of childhood irritability. Her goal is to understand individual differences in how children process frustrating events, how frustration affects the neural mechanisms underlying attention and other cognitive function, and how these processes are associated with irritability symptoms. She studies irritability using multiple levels of analysis (e.g., brain, behavior, social/experiential factors, environment) in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the etiology and development of irritability. In addition to her recent K99/R00 Award, Dr. Tseng’s work has been recognized by other prestigious awards and organizations including the Society of Biological Psychiatry Travel Award (2015), Career Development Institute for Bipolar Disorder (2015), NIH Fellows Award for Research Excellence (2015), NIMH OFT Trainee Travel Award (2016), American College of Neuropsychopharmacology Travel Award (2021), Doris Duke Fund to Retain Clinical Scientists (2021), and Charles H. Hood Foundation Child Health Research Award (2022).Dr. Tseng is an active member of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) Action Group at the Yale Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine. She believes that diversity fosters creativity, enriches research, and is crucial for scientific progress and discovery. Dr. Tseng is fully committed to efforts toward a more inclusive, equitable, and diverse working space and environment. She has been training and mentoring (and will continue to train and mentor) a diverse body of students entering the field of developmental psychopathology and translational clinical neuroscience.

Undergraduate Research Assistant Vivian is a current undergraduate at Yale University and is majoring in Neuroscience. Her research interests include understanding the neurological and physiological mechanisms of motivation and other behavioral abnormalities among underprivileged youths, particularly in athletic environments. She is a member of the Yale Women’s Tennis team and mentors and teaches tennis to children in minority communities. In the future, Vivian plans to pursue a master’s degree in Cognitive Science with a focus on neurobiology and physiology. In her free time, she enjoys baking, traveling, and hiking.

Sophia is a research assistant at the PACE Lab. Her responsibilities include participant recruitment and data collection. Her research interests lie in the intersection between policy and healthcare, with a particular interest in the development of policy and healthcare services to ameliorate healthcare disparities and encourage culturally competent care. She is currently a freshman at Yale College. In her free time, she enjoy recreating recipes from shows on the Food Network and spending time with her family and their three dogs, two chameleons, and goldfish!

Postgraduate Student Eva is a student in UCL-Yale’s Developmental Neuroscience and Psychopathology MRes programme. She graduated from the University of Sheffield in the U.K in 2017 with a BSc in Psychology. Her research project is focusing on the use of neuroimaging to study childhood aggression and its relation to a child’s attachment to their caregiver. Eva is interested in combining neuroscience and psychoanalytic perspectives in her research, particularly in relation to the development of social cognition. Following her Master’s, Eva would like to pursue a PhD in Developmental Neuroscience.

Postgraduate Associate Cheyanne graduated from Marquette University in 2019 with a BA in Psychology and a minor in Biomedical Sciences. As an undergraduate, she worked in two research labs looking at autism spectrum disorder across the lifespan and resilience in children exposed to violence and other types of adversity. Her research interests revolve around child psychology, particularly looking at empathy and emotion regulation. In the future, she intends to go to graduate school for her Master of Social Work. In her free time, she enjoys yoga, hiking with her dogs, and exploring New Haven.

Undergraduate Research Assistant | Yale Child Study Center | Yale School of Medicine Eve is an undergraduate student at the University of New Haven majoring in Psychology with a concentration in Forensic Psychology. She is currently completing her Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship regarding college student mental health throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and will be continuing this research for her honors thesis. She is hoping to attend graduate school for a PhD in clinical psychology. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, cooking, and spending time with her family and friends.

Undergraduate Research Assistant  Mina Hughes is a senior at Yale majoring in psychology on the neuroscience track as well as in East Asian studies with a concentration on Japan. She is working at the Child Study Center as well as at the Affect, Regulation, and Cognition Lab here at Yale. Mina is currently working on her senior thesis about parental depression and child internalizing and externalizing outcomes. In the future, she hopes to go to graduate school for clinical psychology or neuropsychology and eventually become a psychology professor. In her free time, Mina loves practicing martial arts and hiking.

Undergraduate Research Assistant Jonathan is a current undergraduate student at the University of New Haven and is majoring in General psychology. His research interests include understanding the mechanisms behind youth behaviors, and understanding how MRI technology can be used to help us to understand different areas of the brain. Jonathan has been working part-time for 6 years with children at the YMCA. In the future, Jonathan plans to pursue a PhD in School Psychology. In his free time, he enjoys various hobbies such as working on cars, photography, and cooking.

Undergraduate Research Assistant  Michael is a current undergraduate student at the University of New Haven and is majoring in Clinical Psychology with a minor in Biology. Michael has previous research experience studying the relationship between educational environments and anxiety disorders. His research field of interest involves the neurobiological and psychosocial development of children with ADHD, particularly in academic environments. In his institution, he is an active member of the university’s honors program and works part-time as a biochemistry lab assistant. In the future, Michael plans to pursue a PhD in School Psychology. In his free time, he enjoys various hobbies such as photography, traveling, and running.

Postgraduate Student Kenneth is a MRes student in UCL-Yale's developmental neuroscience and psychopathology programme. He was a student researcher at the Hong Kong Jockey Club Autism Support Network, where he developed a multidisciplinary interest in the socio-cognitive development of Autism Spectrum Conditions. He is also a practitioner of Pivotal Response Training for autistic children and families in the UK. His research project will involve using functional neuroimaging to study childhood irritability in relation to hostile attribution bias towards ambiguous body movements, and parental factors. Academic work aside, he is keen to communicate the latest research findings with the community, and is working on a public open online course on early life adversity for UCL. In the future, Kenneth plans to pursue a PhD in developmental neuroscience with a focus on autism.

Undergraduate Research Assistant Kristina Morreale is an aspiring PhD student in the process of acquiring her bachelor degree in Psychology with a concentration in community-clinical and minors in Criminal Justice and Sociology from the University of New Haven. Towards the completion of her degree, she is independently researching perceived stress of college students during the pandemic, placing a focus on stress’s connection to adverse childhood experiences. Morreale is also a research assistant in the forensic psychology lab at the University of New Haven. Outside of school she is a self taught musician and enjoys playing guitar, flute, piano, and violin.

Undergraduate Research Assistant Sean Morrissey is from West Haven, CT, and he is a senior at the University of New Haven. He is majoring in Psychology with a concentration in Forensic Psychology.

Undergraduate Research Assistant Michelle is a current undergraduate student at the University of New Haven studying Psychology with a concentration in Community/Clinical and with minor in Criminal Justice. Her research interests revolve around child psychology and mental health. Her future goal is to go to graduate school for Child Psychology. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, traveling, and finding new music.

Undergraduate Research Assistant  Julia is a current undergraduate senior at the University of New Haven majoring in general psychology. Her research interests revolve around the neural mechanisms of trauma and Adverse Childhood Experiences. She is considering pursuing her Master's degree abroad in Italy. Julia is a member of her University's club soccer team and in her free time enjoys being with family and friends and attending concerts.

Summer Intern Thomas Shao, from Branford, CT, is an Honors student and STEM Scholar at the University of Connecticut majoring in Physiology and Neurobiology with a minor in Statistics. His research interests involve working with child populations to find effective therapies in memory and behavior abnormalities. At school, he enjoys his role as a Resident Assistant for the Honors to Opportunities (H2O) learning community and serves on the executive board for the Global Health Symposium. In the future, Shao plans to pursue a medical degree to work with kids in underserved areas.

Research AssistantAmanda graduated from the University of New Haven this past spring with a BA in Psychology, (a concentration in Forensic psychology) and a minor in Criminal Justice. She has worked on a capstone project during her senior year where she was a co-researcher, and under the supervision of her professor, she conducted research on evaluating the effect of positive and negatively sound COVID-19 related media on anxiety rates. Her research interests revolve around abnormal psychology, emotion regulation and the development of personality in adolescents. She plans on attending graduate school to pursue a Master's degree. In her free time, she enjoys drawing, hiking, traveling, and spending time with her family.

Graduate Student Claire is a student in UCL-Yale’s Developmental Neuroscience and Psychopathology MRes program. She graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2020 and subsequently worked for a year in a forensic mental health unit, where she researched interventions for offenders with personality disorders. Her project at the YAY Lab will use multiple methods to look at the links between sleep, executive function, and frustration. After her Masters, Claire plans to pursue graduate study in psychology.