Child Emotion Center (Lemery-Chalfant)

Child Emotion Center (Lemery-Chalfant)
Keywords
Keywords: computational approaches, developmental psychopathology, behavioral genetics and epigenetics, emotion and temperament, plasticity and change
Lab Area
Clinical Psychology
Developmental Psychology
Lab Director
Kathryn Lemery-Chalfant, PhD
Actively Recruiting Undergraduate Researchers
Yes
Actively Recruiting Graduate Students
Yes

At the Child Emotion Center, researchers explore early biological and environmental risk and protective factors for later mental health of children and young adults. Under the direction of the center's founder Professor Kathryn Lemery-Chalfant, trainees use long-term longitudinal studies to understand how genes and environments work together to influence development. Our methods include measures from multiple levels of analysis, such as genetic, physiological, behavioral, and social— in order to better understand mechanisms of development and brain-behavior relationships. The overarching goal of the Child Emotion Center is to identify pathways to resilience, or the ability to bounce back from stress and adversity, or sustain adaptive functioning under stress, and thrive in life.

CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECTS

Arizona Twin Project

The Arizona Twin Project is a long-term longitudinal research study spanning from infancy through adolescence. It is focused on understanding the influence of genetic and environmental factors on developmental pathways from early adversity through emotion dysregulation and epigenetic changes, to mental health. Positive family and social relationship are considered as resilience factors. Our geographical location makes us especially interested in examining these developmental processes among Hispanic families. Having an ethnically diverse sample allows us to consider the interplay between culture and genetics. 

The Arizona Twin Project is funded by two main grants from the National Institutes of Health:

MPI’s Kathryn Lemery-Chalfant & Mary Davis, NICHD 2R01 HD086085, “Genetic and environmental origins of the development of pain in children.

MPI’s Kathryn Lemery-Chalfant and Leah Doane, NICHD 2R01 HD079520-06, “Social and genetic contributions to children’s sleep, health and functioning.

Wisconsin Twin Project

The overarching goal of the Wisconsin Twin Project is to uncover characteristics of children/adolescents and their environment that influence the development of mental health problems. It is a long-term longitudinal study that spans from infancy to mid-life, and we use computational developmental methods to understand risk and resilience. The disorders we focus on include internalizing disorders such as depression and anxiety, and externalizing disorders such as conduct disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and adult alcohol and drug use. We hope to reveal ways to prevent these problems and help individuals develop in healthy ways. The longitudinal study includes numerous environmental, physiological (e.g., cortisol and other hormones), and biological measures (e.g., MRI and fMRI), as well as observational assessments of emotion, temperament, and social relationships.

Additional funding for the Wisconsin Twin Project is under review at the National Institutes of Health:

MPIs Kathryn Lemery-Chalfant & Leslie Leve, NIMH 1U01MH136085-01, “Developing valid and scalable dimensional assessments of mental health problems from early childhood to adulthood.

Early Steps Multisite Study

The Early Steps sample was screened and recruited from Women, Infants, and Children’s nutritional supplement centers when children were 2 years old (N= 731 racially and ethnically-diverse families) and families were selected as at risk on multiple domains. The families were randomly assigned to the Family Check-Up (FCU) preventative intervention, or a control group, and intensively assessed at ages 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 16, 19, 22, and 24 (ongoing). The original Principal Investigators of the study are Professors Thomas Dishion, Daniel Shaw, and Melvin Wilson.  Professor Lemery-Chalfant joined the PI team in 2014 and genotyped the participants in order to study how genetic background may moderate risk and resilience developmental processes for future mental health problems and drug and alcohol use. 

Early Steps is funded by two main grants from the National Institutes of Health:

MPIs Erika Westling, Kathryn Lemery-Chalfant, Jazmin Brown-Iannuzzi, & Daniel Shaw, NIMH R01 MH131670, “Preventing adult mental health problems from early childhood in the contexts of genetic susceptibility, poverty, racism, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

MPI’s Kathryn Lemery-Chalfant & Jenn-Yun Tein, NIDA R01 DA053740, “Parent-Child Interaction Dynamics Mediate Genetic and Prevention Effects on the Development of Adolescent Substance Use Disorders.

Lab Director and Principal Investigator: Kathryn Lemery-Chalfant, PhD, Professor

Dr. Kathryn Lemery-Chalfant is a member of the developmental faculty and also affiliated with the clinical psychology area  Her research focuses on risk and resilience processes that impact children’s mental and physical health. She uses genetically-informative study designs, such as twin studies and studies that include genotyping.  Professor Lemery-Chalfant received her undergraduate degree in Psychology from the Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon, and her doctoral degree in Psychology at the University of Wisconsin—Madison. She joined the faculty at ASU in 2001. 

Laboratory Coordinator: Becca Myers, M.S.
Becca coordinates the daily operations of the interdisciplinary Arizona Twin Project and supervises all staff. She received her undergraduate degrees in Psychology and Family Studies as well as her master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Arizona State University. Her research interests involve child temperament and parental influence on the development of intrinsic motivation as well as perseverance.

Data Collection Coordinator: Martyna Sawicka, M.S.
Martyna coordinates the data collection operations of the interdisciplinary Arizona Twin Project including scheduling, tracking, recruitment, and supervision of the home visit team. She received her undergraduate degrees in Psychology and Sociology from Arizona State University and her master’s degree in Mental Health Studies from King's College London in England. Her research interests include risk and protective factors for psychopathology and psychosocial interventions for psychosis.

Research Specialist: Amanda Fuller, M.S.
Amanda is a research specialist for the Arizona Twin Project. She received her bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in Honolulu and her Master's degree in Education, with an emphasis in Applied Behavior Analysis, from Arizona State University. Her research interests include drawing connections between the genetic and evolutionary components of learning and behavior in children and adolescents.

Post-doctoral Fellows

Candace Lewis, PhD
Dr. Lewis received her BA in Psychology from the University of Alaska Anchorage (2009), and her doctoral degree in Psychology at Arizona State University (2015). She is currently on a Fulbright fellowship at the University of Zürich characterizing the effects of psilocybin, the active component of magic mushrooms, on neuronal activity with neuroimaging techniques. When she returns to Arizona, Candace will complete a two year post-doctoral Bisgrove fellowship from the Science Foundation Arizona as a joint appointment with the ASU Department of Psychology and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (www.TGen.org). Her research focuses on the relation between early life experiences, epigenetic regulation of health related genes, and behavioral and physiological outcomes in the Arizona Twin Project.

Samantha Miadich, PhD
Dr. Miadich received her BA in Psychology from the University of Dayton, a MA in Clinical Psychology from Ball State University, and her doctoral degree in Health Psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University. Her research focuses on examining stressors associated with health disparities in children and adolescents with chronic conditions and has previously worked with children with asthma. Additionally, her research interests focus on implementing novel technologies in her work, specifically through ecological momentary assessment (EMA). Dr. Miadich joined the Arizona Twin Project team in fall 2017.

Sierra Clifford, PhD
Sierra's research interests include children’s temperament and mental health, resilience, and behavior genetic methodology, particularly the twin design. Her research is currently focused on the measurement and genetic and environmental etiology of different facets of social withdrawal in childhood. Sierra received her undergraduate degree in Psychology from Boise State University and her doctoral degree in Developmental Psychology from Arizona State University.

Doctoral Students

Reagan Styles Breitenstein, Doctoral Student, Developmental Psychology, Department of Psychology
Reagan graduated from Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC, in 2013 with a BS in psychology and a minor in sociology. Reagan is interested in how sleep interacts with and influences stress and emotional health, leading to individual differences in adjustment and well-being. Her master’s thesis focused on the association between familial factors, such as parenting and sibling conflict, and childhood sleep behavior, including the genetic and environmental influences on these relations.

Veronica Oro, Doctoral Student, Developmental Psychology, Department of Psychology
Veronica is from New Orleans, LA and received her BA in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her primary research interest is the intergenerational transmission of psychopathology from parents to offspring and the impact of gene-environment interplay on this transmission.  She explores these interests using the twin method and looks forward to further developing her knowledge of the behavior-genetic approach.

Gianna Rea-Sandin, Doctoral Student, Developmental Psychology, Department of Psychology
Gianna is a doctoral student in the Developmental Psychology program. In 2012, she earned a BA in Psychology, with a minor in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, from the University of Colorado Boulder. Her primary research interests include utilizing the twin design to study children's executive functioning and academic achievement. In terms of behavior genetic methodology, Gianna is particularly interested in the moderation of heritability.

Shannon Moore, Doctoral Student, Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychology
Shannon graduated from University of Delaware in 2011 with a BA in psychology and sociology. Her research interests include examining resiliency over the life course, and the impact of socioeconomic factors in the development and management of chronic health conditions. Shannon's master's thesis examined how financial stress, income, and psychosocial resources were related to pain and fatigue in adults with chronic pain. She plans to continue to investigate the intersection between socioeconomic status and physical and mental health well-being.

Undergraduate Research Assistants

Abigail Romero

Hayley Sowards

*Navneet Kaur

*Anaelle Ganase

Justin Lodge

Pauline Lee

Ariana Ruof

Kelly Luong

Peter Lucas

Carlie Mills

Kordell Lacy

Robin Jaquez

Cassandra Leedom

Laura Hemphill

Sanya Virani

*Cindy Le

Lily Ludwig

*Trevor Smith

*Derek Tang

Linda Vela

Winter Roth

*Emily Vakulskas

Madison Mcbeath

Hala Tarin

Natalie Arena

* Indicates Honor's Project

Select Publications

 * indicates student or post doc trainee

  • Rea-Sandin, G., Li-Grining, C. P., Causadias, J. M., Doane, L. D., Gonzales, N. A., & Lemery-Chalfant, K. (2023). Novel measures of family orientation and childhood self-regulation: A genetically informed twin study. Journal of Family Psychology.
     
  • Tein, J. Y., Wang, F. L., Oro, V., Kim, H., Shaw, D., Wilson, M., & Lemery-Chalfant, K. (2023). The role of early intervention for adolescent mental health and polydrug use: Cascading mediation through childhood growth in the general psychopathology (p) factor. Developmental Psychology.
     
  • Lecarie, E. K., Doane, L. D., Stroud, C. B., Walter, D., Davis, M. C., Grimm, K. J., & Lemery-Chalfant, K. (2022). Does stress predict the development of internalizing symptoms in middle childhood? An examination of additive, mediated, and moderated effects of early family stress, daily interpersonal stress, and physiological stress. Developmental Psychology, 58(10), 1849-1862. doi: 10.1037/dev0001400.
     
  • Rea-Sandin, G., Clifford, S., Doane, L. D., Davis, M. C., Grimm, K. J., Russell, M. T., & Lemery-Chalfant, K. (2023). Genetic and environmental links between executive functioning and effortful control in middle childhood. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 152(3), 780. doi:10.1037/xge0001298.
     
  • *Savell, S. M., Wilson, M. N., Lemery-Chalfant, K., & Shaw, D. S. (2023). Dynamic associations among caregiver romantic satisfaction, depressive symptoms, and school-aged child problem behavior. Journal of Child and Family Studies.
     
  • *Castro, S. A., Infurna, F. J., Lemery-Chalfant, K., Waldron, V. R., & Zautra, E. (2023). Are the harmful consequences of childhood abuse on daily socio-emotional and stress regulation reversible in midlife? Evidence from a randomized clinical trial of an online social intelligence training program. Prevention Science
     
  • Wang, F. L., Bountress, K. E., Lemery-Chalfant, K., Wilson, M. N., & Shaw, D. S. (2023). A Polygenic Risk Score Enhances Risk Prediction for Adolescents’ Antisocial Behavior over the Combined Effect of 22 Extra-familial, Familial, and Individual Risk Factors in the Context of the Family Check-Up. Prevention Science, 24(4), 739-751.
     
  • Ohrt, T. K., Perez, M., Iida, M., Luecken, L. J., Lemery-Chalfant, K., & Liew, J. (2023). The interdependent nature of mother’s and children’s temperament and eating behaviors on weight. Maternal and Child Health Journal. doi.org/10.1007/s10995-023-03696-3
     
  • Goldsmith, H. H., Hilton, E. C., Phan, J. M., Sarkisian, K. L., Carroll, I. C., Lemery-Chalfant, K., & Planalp, E. M. (2022). Childhood inhibition predicts adolescent social anxiety: Findings from a longitudinal twin study. Development and psychopathology, 34(5), 1666-1685. doi: 10.1017/S0954579422000864.
     
  • Elam, K. K., Bountress, K. E., Ha, T., Shaw, D. S., Wilson, M. N., Dick, D. M., & Lemery-Chalfant, K. (2022). Developmental genetic effects on externalizing behavior and alcohol use: Examination across two longitudinal samples. Development and Psychopathology, 1-10. doi:10.1017/S0954579422000980.  
     
  • *Moore, S., Davis, M., *Lecarie, E., & Lemery-Chalfant, K. (2020). The effectiveness of maternal distraction during children’s acute pain: The moderating effect of socioeconomic status. European Journal of Pain
     
  • *Miadich, S., *Shrewsbury, A., Doane, L.D., Davis, M.C., Clifford, S. & Lemery-Chalfant, K. (2020). Children’s sleep and temperament: Shared genetic etiology and implications for developmental psychopathology. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.13328.
     
  • *Breitenstein, R. S., Doane, L.D., & Lemery-Chalfant, K. (2020). Children’s objective sleep assessed with wrist-band accelerometers: Strong heritability unique from parent-reported sleep. Sleep. doi: 10.1093/sleep/zsaa142.
     
  • Elam, K. K., Clifford, S., *Ruof, A., Shaw, D. S., Wilson, M. N., & Lemery-Chalfant, K. (2020). Genotype-environment correlation by intervention effects underlying middle childhood peer rejection and associations with adolescent marijuana use. Development and Psychopathology.
     
  • *Pelham III, W., West, S., Lemery-Chalfant, K., Goodman, S., Wilson, M., Dishion, T., & Shaw, D. (in press). Depression in mothers and behavior problems in children: Moving from association to causation. Journal of Abnormal Psychology.
     
  • *Lewis, C. R., *Sowards, H. A., Huentelman, M. J., Doane, L. D., & Lemery-Chalfant, K. (2020). Epigenetic differences in inflammation genes of monozygotic twins are related to parent-infant emotional availability and health. Brain, Behavior and Immunity.
     
  • *Lewis, C., *Breitenstein, R. S., Henderson-Smith, A., *Sowards, H. A., *Beekman, C., Huentelman, M. J., Doane, L. D., & Lemery-Chalfant, K. (2020). Harsh parenting is related to novel HPA receptor gene methylation and NR3C1 methylation predicts cortisol daily slope in middle childhood. Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology.  doi:10.1007/s10571-020-00885-4. PMID: 32472381.
     
  • *Mauer, V., *Savell, S., *Davis, A., Wilson, M., Shaw, D., & Lemery-Chalfant, K. (2020). Identification of multiracial adolescents in research samples: An examination and critique of existing practices. Journal of Early Adolescence. doi.org/10.1177/0272431620950471.
     
  • *Wang, F., *Galán, C. A., Lemery-Chalfant, K., Wilson, M. & Shaw, D. (2020). Evidence for two genetically-distinct pathways to co-occurring internalizing and externalizing problems in adolescence characterized by negative affectivity or behavioral inhibition. Journal of Abnormal Psychology129, 633-645. doi:10.1037/abn0000525.
     
  • Clifford, S., Doane, L., *Breitenstein, R. S., Grimm, K., & Lemery-Chalfant, K. (2020). Effortful control moderates the relation between electronic media use and objective sleep indicators in childhood. Psychological Science, 31, 822-834doi.org/10.1177/0956797620919432. PMID: in process.
  • *Wang, F. L., Feldman, J. S., Lemery-Chalfant, K., Wilson, M. N., & Shaw, D. S. (in press). Family-based prevention of adolescents’ co-occurring internalizing/externalizing problems through early childhood parent factors. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 87(11), 1056-1067. doi: 10.1037/ccp0000439. PMID: 31556651.
     
  • Lemery-Chalfant, K. & Clifford, S. (2020). Temperament and child psychopathology: Specificity in shared genetic effects. Y. Kim (Series Ed.) & K. Saudino and J. Ganiban (Vol. Eds.). Behavior genetics book series: Behavior Genetics of Temperament and Personality. New York: Springer.
     
  • *Moore, S., Davis, M. & Lemery-Chalfant, K. (in press). Children’s physical pain: relations with maternal and paternal pain and prediction from maternal depressive symptoms and hope during infancy. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 1-10. doi: 10.1080/13548506.2019.1659980. PMID: 31450956.
     
  • *Rea-Sandin, G., Vasquez-O’Brien, C., & Lemery-Chalfant, K. (2020). The protective role of parent positive personality and emotional availability in toddler problem behaviors. Merrill Palmer Quarterly.
     
  • *Hentges, R. F., Krug, C. M. W., Shaw, D. S., Wilson, M. N., Dishion, T. J., & Lemery-Chalfant, K. (2020). The long-term indirect effect of the early Family Check-Up intervention on adolescent internalizing and externalizing symptoms via inhibitory control. Development and Psychopathology, 1-11. doi:10.1017/S0954579419001482.
     
  • Schmidt, N. L., Lemery-Chalfant, K., & Goldsmith, H. H. (2019). Wisconsin Twin Project overview: Temperament and affective neuroscience. Twin Research & Human Genetics, 1-6.
     
  • *Ebbert, A. M., Infurna, F. J., Luthar, S. S., Lemery-Chalfant, K. & Corbin, W. R. (2019). Examining the link between emotional childhood abuse and social relationships in midlife: The moderating role of the oxytocin receptor gene. Child Abuse and Neglect, 98, 104151. doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.104151.
     
  • Schmidt,N. L., Brooker, R. J., *Carroll,I. C., Gagne,J. R., Luo,Z., *Moore,M. N., *Planalp, E. M., *Sarkisian,K., Schmidt, C. K., Van Hulle,C. A., Lemery-Chalfant, K., & Goldsmith, H. H. (2019). Longitudinal research at the interface of affective neuroscience, developmental psychopathology, health, and behavioral genetics: Findings from the Wisconsin Twin Project. Twin Research & Human Genetics, 22, 233–239. doi:10.1017/thg.2019.55. PMID: 31619304.
     
  • Lemery-Chalfant, K., *Oro, V., *Rea-Sandin, G., *Miadich, S., *Lecarie, E., Clifford, S., Doane, L. D., & Davis, M. C. (2019). Arizona Twin Project: Specificity in risk and resilience for developmental psychopathology and health. Twin Research and Human Genetics22, 681-685. doi:10.1017/thg.2019.113. NIHMS in progress.
     
  • Elam, K. K., Clifford, S., Shaw, D. S., Wilson, M. N., & Lemery-Chalfant, K. (2019). Gene set enrichment analysis to create polygenic risk scores: A developmental examination of aggression. Translational Psychiatry, 9(1), 1-12. doi: 10.1038/s41398-019-0513-7. PMID: 31477688.
     
  • Connell, A. M., Shaw, D., Wilson, M., *Danzo, S., Weaver-Krug, C., Lemery-Chalfant, K. &Dishion, T. J. (2019). Indirect effects of the early childhood Family Check-Up on adolescent suicide risk: The mediating role of inhibitory control. Development and Psychopathology31(5), 1901-1910. doi: 10.1017/S0954579419000877. PMID: 31370914.
     
  • *Breitenstein, R. S., Doane, L. D. & Lemery-Chalfant, K. (2019). Early life socioeconomic status moderates associations between objective sleep and weight-related indicators in middle childhood. Sleep Health, 5(5), 470-478. doi: 10.1016/j.sleh.2019.04.002. PMID: 31153801. NIHMS: 1527562.
     
  • Brooker, R., *Moore, M. N., Van Hulle, C. A., *Beekman, C. R., *Begnoche, J. P., Lemery-Chalfant, K., & Goldsmith, H. (2019). Attentional control explains covariation between symptoms of Attention Deficity/Hyperactivity Disorder and anxiety during adolescence. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 1-16. doi.org/10.1111/jora.12506. PMID: 31095814.
     
  • *Miadich, S. A., Doane, L. D., Davis, M. C., & Lemery-Chalfant, K. (2019). Early parental positive personality and stress: Longitudinal associations with children’s sleep. British Journal of Health Psychology, 24, 629-650. doi:10.1111/bjhp.12372. PubMed PMID: 31004419; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC667591. NIHMS: 1025577.
     
  • *Castro, S., Infurna, F., Lemery-Chalfant, K., Waldron, V., & Zautra, E. (2019). An online psychoeducational training reverses harmful effects of childhood adversity in midlife. Behavioural Research and Therapy, 118, 65-76. doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2019.03.012. PMID: 30999262.
     
  • *Lewis, C. R., *Henderson-Smith, A., *Breitenstein, R. S., *Sowards, H. A., Huentelman, M. J., Doane, L. D. & Lemery-Chalfant, K. (2019). Dopaminergic gene methylation is associated with cognitive performance in a childhood monozygotic twin study. Epigenetics, 14(3), 310-323. doi: 10.1080/15592294.2019.1583032. PMID: 30806146.
     
  • *Rea-Sandin, G., Clifford, S., Valiente, C., & Lemery-Chalfant., K. (2019). Toddler risk and protective characteristics: Common and unique genetic and environmental influences. Social Development, 28(2), 482-498doi: 10.1111/sode.12347. NIHMS: 995920, PMID: 31543571.
     
  • Shaw, D. S., *Galán, C. A., Lemery-Chalfant, K., Dishion, T. J., Elam, K. K., Wilson, M. N., & Gardner, F. (2019). Trajectories and predictors of children’s early-starting conduct problems: Child, family, genetic, and intervention effects. Development and Psychopathology, 31(5), 1911-1921. doi:10.1017/S0954579419000828. PMID: 31370912.
     
  • Doane, L. D., *Breitenstein, R. S., *Beekman, C., *Clifford, S., *Smith, T. J. & Lemery-Chalfant, K. (2019). Early life socioeconomic disparities in children’s sleep: The mediating role of the current HOME environment. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 48(1), 56-70. doi.org/10.1007/s10964-018-0917-3. PMID: 30121716. NIHMS: 1504214.
     
  • Davis, M. C., Lemery-Chalfant, K., *Yeung, E. W., Luecken, L., Zautra, A.J. & Irwin, M. R. (2019). Interleukin-6 and depressive mood symptoms: Mediators of the association between childhood abuse and cognitive performance in middle-aged adults. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 52(1), 29-38. doi: 10.1093/abm/kay014. PMID: 29562248.
     
  • Lemery-Chalfant, K., Clifford, S., Dishion, T. J., Shaw, D. S., & Wilson, M. N. (2018). Genetic moderation of effects of the Family Check-Up intervention on children’s internalizing symptoms: A longitudinal study with a racially/ethnically diverse sample. Development and Psychopathology30, 1729-1747.  doi.org/10.1017/S095457941800127X.  PMID: 30451141.
     
  • *Breitenstein, R. S., Doane, L. D., *Clifford, S., & Lemery-Chalfant, K. (2018). Children’s sleep and daytime functioning: Increasing heritability and environmental associations with sibling conflict. Social Development, 27(4), 967-983. doi.org/10.1111/sode.12302. PMID: 30686863.
     
  • Van Hulle, C., Lemery-Chalfant, K. & Goldsmith, H. H. (2018). Parent-offspring transmission of internalizing and sensory over-responsivity symptoms in adolescence. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 46(3), 557-567. doi: 10.1007/s10802-017-0300-y. PMID: 28393325.

Veronica Oro, Ph.D. obtained her doctoral degree under Dr. Lemery-Chalfant's mentorship in December of 2020. Dr. Oro is currently a postdoctoral scholar in the Basic and Applied Prevention Science Lab at the University of Oregon. She leverages behavior genetic approaches to examine genetic and environmental mechanisms underlying parent-offspring transmission of physical and mental health. Moreover, Veronica's research focuses on the role of sociocultural factors in the manifestation of mental health. Her passion lies in applying these findings to ultimately mitigate health disparities incurred by historically marginalized populations. 



Gianna Rea-Sandin, Ph.D. obtained her doctoral degree under Dr. Lemery-Chalfant's mentorship in May of 2022. Dr. Rea-Sandin is currently a NIDA T32 postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Psychology at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Rea-Sandin’s program of research examines the complex interplay between biological and contextual influences that contribute to the development of youth self-regulation. More specifically, she is interested in self-regulation as an intermediate phenotype linking genomics to outcomes, as well as understanding the neurobiology of executive functioning in the context of psychopathology. Dr. Rea-Sandin is also passionate about the inclusion of underrepresented populations in psychological research and taking a strengths-based approach to understanding the various factors implicated in the development of socioemotional competencies for children from all backgrounds.

Contact Us

Interested undergraduate students: Please email our project manager, Becca Myers, M.S., at becca.myers@asu.edu for an application and interview.