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Dr. Cameron Neece, Primary InvestigatorDr. Cameron Neece is a Professor at Loma Linda University and her idea for her intervention studies grew out of years of research working with families of children with developmental delays and autism spectrum disorders. Much of her published research has shown the impact of parental stress on children’s development. She developed her research projects to support parents, thereby improving outcomes for their children.
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Laurel Benjamin, Project CoordinatorLaurel is a recent graduate from Haverford College with Bachelor’s degrees in psychology and Spanish with a minor in statistics. She is a bilingual researcher interested in studying stress, coping, relationships and family processes among traditionally underrepresented minority groups. In particular, she is interested in exploring how different forms of coping and cultural factors may serve as risk or protective factors in the wake of parenting and relational stress. Her interest in intellectual and developmental disabilities grew out of her undergraduate involvement with Best Buddies. At Loma Linda University, she is currently coordinating the Spanish-speaking cohorts of the PRO-Parenting Project.
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Laura Caldera, Project CoordinatorLaura Caldera is the coordinator for the STEPS and co-coordinator for the Pro-Parenting project. She graduated from the University of California, Riverside with a Bachelor’s of Arts in Psychology. During her time at UCR she volunteered at the UCR Brain Game Center and the Personality and Identity Lab as a research assistant. Through her experience at Dr. Neece’s lab she discovered her interest in working with children with ASD and developmental delays. As a bilingual researcher, her interests broadly include understanding child mental health disorders especially among ethnic minority groups. In the near future, she hopes to become a child clinical psychologist and serve children of Spanish speaking families.
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Dr. Catie Sanner, Postdoctoral FellowDr. Catie Sanner is a postdoctoral research fellow at Loma Linda University. After receiving a bachelor's degree in Health Science, Catie began her doctoral studies with a passion for pediatric psychology. She earned her Ph.D at Loma Linda University, and completed her doctoral internship in pediatric psychology at Phoenix Children's Hospital. Catie's research interests include understanding psychosocial factors that impact health behaviors and the development of health behaviors interventions specifically targeting obesity for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Clinically, she has had the privilege of working with diverse and underserved pediatric populations in both inpatient and outpatient medical settings, and has developed a passion for working with youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families.
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Dr. Neilson Chan, Postdoctoral FellowDr. Neilson Chan is a postdoctoral research fellow at Loma Linda University. He earned his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Loma Linda University, and completed his predoctoral clinical internship at UCSD/Rady Children’s Hospital Department of Psychiatry. His research interests broadly include better understanding and treating co-occurring psychiatric conditions among individuals on the autism spectrum. In his clinical training, Dr. Chan has gained experience working in inpatient and outpatient settings providing evidence-based mental health treatments and psychological assessment for youth and families.
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Hadley McGregor, Doctoral StudentHadley is a 5th year Clinical Psychology Doctoral Student at Loma Linda University currently completing her internship at UCLA’s Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disabilities treatment track. Clinically, Hadley’s focus is on treatment of co-occurring disorders such as OCD, anxiety, and tic disorders and improving social skills in autistic individuals from culturally diverse backgrounds. Additionally, she also has a passion for working autistic individuals who identify as LGBTQIA+ and their families. Her research interests revolve around evidenced-based treatment methods for children with ASD with co-occurring disorders as well as improving family relationships with children with ASD. Hadley has extensive experience working with individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders and is pursuing becoming a clinical psychologist specializing in diagnosing autism and treating co-occurring psychiatric disorders associated with ASD.
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Megan Krantz, Doctoral StudentMegan is a 5th year Clinical Psychology Ph.D. student at Loma Linda University. She is passionate about supporting families of children with developmental disabilities and both developing and implementing evidence based intervention to address the unique challenges faced by these families. Her current research interests include understanding the role of the marital relationship as a protective mechanism in mitigating the effects of parenting stress among parents of children with autism. She is also interested in examining the effects of health behaviors such as sleep hygiene in the etiology and maintenance of behavior problems among children with autism and developmental disabilities that may contribute to overall symptom severity and exacerbated parenting stress.
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Jaime Napan, Doctoral StudentJaime is a 5th year Clinical Psychology Doctoral Student at Loma Linda University. Her research interests revolve around treatment methods for children and adults with neurological disorders. Jaime has extensive experience working with children with ASD and other neurological conditions (i.e., epilepsy, TBIs) and is interested in becoming a Clinical Health Psychologist specializing in assessing and treating comorbid physical and mental health disorders, specifically for the Spanish speaking population.
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Paulina Feghali, Doctoral StudentPaulina is a 5th year clinical psychology PhD student at Loma Linda University. Her clinical interests broadly include pediatric neuropsychology and brief consultation-based intervention in interdisciplinary settings. She has experience providing intervention and diagnostic assessment services to families and children with various presenting problems. Additionally, her training has primarily included neuropsychological assessment among youth with complex medical presentations (e.g., brain tumor, epilepsy, sickle cell disease). She is an active member in two child-focused research labs on campus and is interested in the impact of sleep on cognition in youth, particularly among those with primarily medical diagnoses.
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Monica Vejar, Doctoral StudentMonica is a 4th year Clinical Psychology Doctoral student at Loma Linda University. Her research interest began working with children and families affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder at UCLA in a partial hospitalization program starting in 2015, and continues to grow while in graduate school. She was a behavioral and social skills therapist for 3 years prior to graduate school and has worked in Dr. Neece’s research lab since beginning graduate school. She enjoys getting to know and connecting with the families and children involved in the Child and Family lab research projects throughout the interventions, and loves being a part of such a great research team. Her current research interests involve understanding parenting behaviors and the impact on child emotion regulation, child compliance, and child effortful control.
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Amanda Preston, Doctoral StudentAmanda Preston is currently a third-year Clinical Psychology Ph.D. student at Loma Linda University. Prior to starting graduate school, she worked as a behavioral therapist and coordinated two research studies on parenting stress in families of children with developmental delays. She is interested in researching interventions aimed at improving family functioning and promoting positive parenting. Clinically, she is passionate about working with children with various developmental delays and has additional experience in conducting diagnostic assessments for individuals with autism.
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Diana Marin, Doctoral StudentDiana is a 3rd year Clinical Psychology Doctoral student at Loma Linda University. Her research interests include child/adolescent psychopathology and effective dissemination of behavioral health support for underserved communities. Currently, Diana’s clinical experiences are centered around promoting child and family mental health. Diana hopes to continue her clinical work in pediatric primary care settings.
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Caroline Eskander, Doctoral StudentCaroline is a third year Clinical Psychology Doctoral student at Loma Linda University. She has 2 years of experience as a behavioral interventionist working with children with autism spectrum disorder. She is interested in working with families of children with intellectual and developmental delays as well as grade school students with intellectual disabilities. Her research interests include the family dynamic between children with autism and their typically developing siblings.
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James Hodgins, Doctoral StudentJames is a 2nd year Clinical Psychology Doctoral Student at Loma Linda University. James has extensive experience working with children and adults with neurodevelopmental and psychological disorders. James' current research interests include how to leverage technology-based solutions to improve existing psychological practices and address current treatment gaps.
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Stephanie Puerta, Doctoral StudentStephanie is a 2nd year Clinical Psychology Doctoral Student at Loma Linda University. She currently works in the lab as an assessor for both the STEPS and Pro-Parenting interventions. She enjoys getting to meet families and see the positive trajectory that many often experience as a result of their participation in the studies. Her research interests are related to the Latinx community, cultural stigma, and acculturation. More specifically, she is interested in examining how to reduce the pervasive cultural stigma toward developmental disabilities within the Latinx community. Having a younger sister with Down Syndrome gave her first-hand experience at how cultural values can create a barrier for timely intervention. Seeing how torn her parents were between adhering to their cultural values, which said that developmental disabilities are ignored rather than addressed, and meeting the needs of their child inspired her goal of reducing stigma and empowering parents to make the choice that feels right for them.
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Nuria Morales Coskran, Doctoral StudentNuria is a 2nd-year Clinical Psychology Doctoral student at Loma Linda University. She has experience working with children with developmental delays and is passionate about providing services to Spanish-speaking families. Her research interests revolve around implementing treatments to support children with ASD, as well as their families. In the future, she hopes to become a clinical psychologist who specializes in interdisciplinary approaches to treating pediatric chronic pain.
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Katie Callaci, Doctoral StudentKatie is a 1st year Clinical Psychology Doctoral student at Loma Linda University. She has been working with children with developmental disabilities and their families since high school. She is extremely interested in research that utilizes a family intervention to address the social, emotional, and behavior deficits associated with ASD. Professionally, she aspires to start her own research-based autism center and support individuals on the spectrum.
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Abigail Zelaya, Doctoral StudentAbigail is a 1st year Clinical Psychology, PhD student at Loma Linda University. After Abigail graduated with her bachelor's degree in Psychology, she began working in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis. Abigail has 5 years of experience working with children with developmental disabilities, specifically Autism Spectrum Disorder and Down Syndrome. She is passionate about providing parents with tools and intervention strategies to increase their child's communication and social skills.
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Shaina Casey, Doctoral StudentShaina is a first year Clinical Psychology Doctoral student at Loma Linda University. She was a behavior technician for 2 years prior to graduate school for kids with autism spectrum disorder in the clinic, school, and home setting. She is interested in working with children with autism and their families. Her research interests include the outcomes of reaching the optimal state of arousal in children with autism.
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Nicki Bahri, Doctoral StudentNiki is a first year Clinical Psychology Doctoral student at Loma Linda University. She has prior experience working with children and adults with developmental disabilities in both clinical and research settings. Her current research interests include understanding parents role in social-emotional development, family dynamics, and autism assessment.
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