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Sara Sánchez-Alonso, PhD

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Instructor in the Child Study Center
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About

Titles

Instructor in the Child Study Center

Biography

Dr. Sara Sanchez-Alonso is an Associate Research Scientist at the Child Study Center. She specializes in language neurodevelopment and multi-modal imaging (fMRI-fNIRS). Dr. Sanchez-Alonso received a Master of Science in speech and language pathology funded by an Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters scholarship from the European Commission. Subsequently, she completed post-baccalaureate research training in Dr. Angela Friederici's lab at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, Germany. She holds a Ph.D. from Yale University, where she trained in psychology and neurobiology of language. During her postdoctoral training, Dr. Sanchez-Alonso worked with Dr. Richard Aslin at Haskins Laboratories and implemented the first fMRI/fNIRS integrated data collection effort at the Yale Brain Imaging Center. She joined the Yale Child Study Center as research faculty in 2023.

Appointments

Other Departments & Organizations

Education & Training

Postdoctoral fellow
Haskins Laboratories (2021)
PhD
Yale University (2018)
Post-baccalaureate
Max Planck Institute (2011)
MSc
Potsdam University (2010)

Research

Overview

Dr. Sanchez-Alonso's research focus is on human language. She is particularly interested in early childhood, an important period to establish foundational language skills, which are crucial for later language and educational achievements. Most language delays and disorders emerge during the first years of life and are diagnosed only in the absence of expected behavioral milestones. Although behavioral milestones in language acquisition have been extensively characterized, it is virtually unknown how language-related neural systems develop over time and how they may contribute to early diagnosis of developmental disorders.

Dr. Sanchez-Alonso's research program addresses this gap by investigating language-related neural and behavioral variation using complementary multi-modal neuroimaging techniques. Specifically, her work combines functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) –a more practical method for pediatric studies than fMRI– to map developmental neurobehavioral variation. The goal of Dr. Sanchez-Alonso's research is to inform typical and atypical development and advance paradigms for cross-age (infant-to-child) comparisons of language acquisition. Furthermore, her research aims to inform neural markers of language delays that can provide early detection and clinical intervention during key windows of neuroplasticity.


Specific research areas:

  • Basic mechanisms in language neurodevelopment
    • How do core developmental patterns emerge during language learning
    • What is the impact of the social environment and maturational constraints on the learning process?
  • Translation to neurodevelopmental disorders
    • Implementation of multi-modal neuroimaging techniques that are accessible for pediatric samples
  • Predictive biomarker development
    • Leveraging large-scale development datasets with neuroimaging and behavioral data to examine neurobehavioral variation across development as it relates to language skills

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)

Autism Spectrum Disorder; Child Language; Functional Neuroimaging; Language Development; Speech Disorders; Speech-Language Pathology

Research at a Glance

Yale Co-Authors

Frequent collaborators of Sara Sánchez-Alonso's published research.

Publications

2022

2021

2020

Academic Achievements & Community Involvement

  • activity

    Yale Wu Tsai Institute, SPC Committee

  • honor

    Postdoctoral Merit Award

  • honor

    NARSAD Young Investigator Award

Get In Touch

Contacts

Academic Office Number
Mailing Address

Child Study Center

300 George Street

New Haven, CT 06511

United States

Events