Updates

LEED welcomes two new doctoral students! Welcome Sarah Martinez to our DCBN program and Jordan Denaver-Thabit to our Child Clinical Psychology program.

Kelly Barry presents at FIT'NG. Clinical Psychology doctoral student Kelly Barry presented a poster at the annual Fetal, Infant, & Toddler Neuroimaging Group (FIT'NG) conference. Congratulations, Kelly!

New BrainPALS publication. LEED and UTHealth collaborators published “Protocol and Preliminary Findings from the BrainPALS Study in Very Preterm Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Digital Parenting Program” in Children.

LEED receives a new NICHD R01. The award supports a randomized controlled trial of a parenting program designed to support healthy brain development and mental health in infants born preterm.

Pediatric neuroimaging training at LEED. LEED hosted a week-long pediatric neuroimaging workshop for visiting scientists from Bangladesh as part of the final year of an R01 study.

Congratulations to our SURF recipients! Jonas Amaya, Rini Hatty, Jana Saidy, and Leslie Gonzales received Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) awards.

New Harvey Mom Study publication. Dr. Rebecca Lipschutz, a former LEED doctoral trainee, and collaborators published “Impact of Prenatal Stress on Autonomic Nervous System Functioning and Psychopathology Risk in Early Childhood: The Harvey Mom Study” in Infant and Child Development.

Haley Laughlin advances to doctoral candidacy. Congratulations to Haley Laughlin, M.A., for passing her DCBN comprehensive exams!

New publication on visual engagement in premature toddlers. Haley Laughlin and LEED published “Individual Variability in Neural Correlates of Visual Engagement in Premature Toddlers” in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience.

Congratulations, Ifrah Ahmad! Ifrah successfully defended her honors thesis and graduated with a B.A. from the University of Houston.

LEED undergraduate researchers present their work. Jonas, Rini, Ifrah, and Leslie presented their independent research at the University of Houston Poster Day.

New pilot funding. LEED received pilot funding from the University of Houston to study neurophysiological processes and socio-emotional development in infants born preterm.

Marguerite Knudtson presents at INS. Clinical Psychology doctoral student Marguerite Knudtson presented a poster at the International Neuropsychological Society conference.

LEED receives funding for simultaneous EEG-fMRI. University of Houston funding will support the development of methods for simultaneous EEG-fMRI to better understand brain development in typically developing infants and infants born preterm.

Congratulations to Jonas Amaya and Drew Cash! Our undergraduate volunteers received Provost Undergraduate Research Scholarship (PURS) awards to support their research training in LEED.

Congratulations to Kelly Barry! Clinical Psychology doctoral student Kelly Barry passed the EPPP and is now a Licensed Psychological Associate.

LEED presents at ISDP. Dr. Bick and the PALS team presented new findings on ERPs and face processing in toddlers born prematurely at the International Society for Developmental Psychobiology conference in San Diego.

New publication from Livia Merrill and LEED. “Maternal Childhood Maltreatment Is Associated With Young Children's White Matter Microstructure: Evidence for Intergenerational Neurobiological Embedding of Early Life Adversity?” was published in Developmental Psychobiology.

Congratulations to Haley Laughlin! Haley successfully defended her M.A. thesis, “Neural Indicators of Visual Attention in Prematurely Born Toddlers.”

Congratulations to Xinge Li! Xinge successfully defended her dissertation, “EEG-Based Neural Correlates of Emotional Face Processing and Socioemotional Risk in Prematurely Born Toddlers.”

LEED welcomes two new doctoral students! Welcome Joshua Litwin to Clinical Psychology and Brookelyn Mayfield to the DCBN program.

Pediatric Neuroimaging Methods for Global Health Contexts. LEED conducted a week-long training for visitors from Bangladesh in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Congratulations to our Ph.D. graduates! Congratulations to Dr. Xinge Li and Dr. Livia Merrill. We are so proud!

LEED presents at SRCD. Dr. Bick and the PALS team presented new ERP research at the Society for Research in Child Development conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

New publication from Haley Laughlin and LEED. “Social and Economic Correlates of Prenatal Depression in Rural Bangladeshi Women” was published in the Maternal and Child Health Journal.

Congratulations to Dr. Livia Merrill! Livia successfully defended her doctoral dissertation.

LEED welcomes new research assistants. Welcome Jana Saidy, Leslie Gonzalez, Jonas Amaya, and Ramaisa Saleem!

Undergraduate Research Day. Congratulations to Aila Khan, Ashlie May, Ifrah Ahmad, and Tyler Banks for presenting their research posters at the University of Houston Undergraduate Research Day!

LEED research featured in Science. Science published an article about a large study linking children's social environments with white matter structure, featuring commentary from LEED director Dr. Johanna Bick.

Congratulations to former LEED research assistants Megan Chan and Aila Khan on their acceptances to medical school!

Welcome, Tyler Banks! LEED welcomes Tyler as a new research assistant.

Congratulations to Kelly Barry! Kelly passed the Clinical Psychology comprehensive examination.

Celebrating the BrainPALS team. LEED and collaborators at the Children's Learning Institute at UTHealth celebrated the team's hard work collecting BrainPALS data.

Welcome, Samantha Taraby! LEED welcomes Samantha as a new research assistant.

Welcome, Zisan Orak and Ifrah Ahmad! LEED welcomes two new research assistants to the team.

LEED at FLUX 2024. Congratulations to Livia Merrill, Andrea Ortiz-Jimenez, and Anna Galvan for presenting their posters at the FLUX conference in Baltimore, Maryland.

LEED at FIT'NG 2024. Congratulations to Haley Laughlin for presenting a flash talk at the FIT'NG conference in Baltimore, Maryland.

Welcome, Marguerite Knudtson! LEED welcomes Marguerite, a Clinical Psychology doctoral student, to the team.

Celebrating our research assistants. At the end of the semester, LEED research assistants presented what they learned and the projects they worked on. We celebrated their hard work with a friendly game of bowling!

Neuroimaging training at LEED. LEED hosted neuroimaging training for visiting colleagues from Bangladesh and Sam Houston State University.

Congratulations to Xinge Li as she begins her internship!

Congratulations to Haley Laughlin! Haley was invited to present at the Fetal, Infant, & Toddler Neuroimaging Group conference in Baltimore.

FLUX poster acceptances. Congratulations to Livia Merrill, Andrea Ortiz-Jimenez, and Anna Galvan on having their posters accepted to the annual FLUX conference.

Welcome, April Aragon and Ashlie Mai! LEED welcomes two new summer volunteers.

Best wishes to Xinge Li! LEED celebrated Xinge's last day in the lab before beginning her internship.

Race to Camp 5K. LEED participated in the Race to Camp 5K Fun Run, supporting opportunities for children to attend summer camp.

Welcome, Holden Frick! LEED welcomes a new volunteer intern to the team.

Brain Night for KIDS. LEED and the Children's Learning Institute volunteered at Brain Night for KIDS at the Houston Health Museum and enjoyed sharing brain science with children and families.

New paper accepted. Livia Merrill's paper examining age-dependent associations among RSA reactivity, regulation, and psychopathology risk was accepted for publication in Developmental Psychobiology.

Congratulations to Livia Merrill! Livia received a CLASS Summer Fellowship.

Congratulations to Xinge Li! Xinge successfully matched with an internship program.

Good luck to Xinge Li as she interviews for internship opportunities!

LEED at FLUX 2023. Congratulations to Xinge Li, Kelly Barry, Haley Laughlin, and Anna Galvan for presenting their research at the FLUX conference in Santa Rosa, California.

Congratulations to Dr. Rebecca Lipschutz! Rebecca successfully defended her doctoral dissertation.

Neuroimaging training at LEED. LEED hosted a week-long neuroimaging training for visiting colleagues from Bangladesh and Sam Houston State University.

Welcome, Megan Chan! LEED welcomes Megan as a new undergraduate research assistant.

Congratulations to Shutian Shen! Shutian successfully defended her master's thesis.

LEED at SRCD. Congratulations to graduate students Kelly Barry and Parsa Taheri for presenting their posters at the Society for Research in Child Development conference.

New publication accepted. Clinical Psychology doctoral student Rebecca Lipschutz had her manuscript accepted for publication in Development and Psychopathology.

Congratulations to Xinge Li! Xinge passed the Clinical Psychology comprehensive examination.

LEED welcomes new undergraduate research assistants. Welcome Alia Khan and Maya Flores!

WOMBS enters the analysis phase. The Women's Experience and Baby Brain Study completed data collection and moved into data analysis.

LEED Lab Picture Day! The team gathered for a new lab photo.

LEED at ISDP. Dr. Johanna Bick, Livia Merrill, and Andrea Ortiz-Jimenez attended the International Society for Developmental Psychobiology conference in San Diego, where Livia and Andrea presented posters.

Xinge Li presents at FLUX. Clinical Psychology doctoral student Xinge Li presented a poster at the 2022 FLUX conference.

ISDP poster acceptances. Congratulations to Livia Merrill and Andrea Ortiz-Jimenez on having their posters accepted to the 2022 ISDP conference.

LEED welcomes three new doctoral students. Welcome Kelly Barry to Clinical Psychology and Haley Laughlin and Parsa Taheri to the DCBN program.

Congratulations to Juan Pablo Guardia! Juan completed his Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship with LEED, working across the PANDA and WOMBS projects.

PANDA enters the analysis phase. The Preschool Neurodevelopment and Adjustment study completed data collection and moved into data analysis.

Congratulations to Xinge Li! Xinge defended her master's thesis.

Congratulations to Livia Merrill! Livia defended her master's thesis.

Livia Merrill advances to doctoral candidacy. Livia passed her qualifying examination.

Congratulations to Livia Merrill! Livia received the Anh Lac Tran Scholarship.

UH features LEED collaborative research. The University of Houston published a story about a pilot study involving researchers from the UH College of Pharmacy and Department of Psychology, including Dr. Johanna Bick and Brian Biekman.

Congratulations to Anna Galvan! Anna was promoted to Research Technician I.

Congratulations to Andrea Ortiz-Jimenez! Andrea was promoted from post-baccalaureate research technician to LEED Lab Manager.

LEED welcomes three new research assistants. Welcome Anna Galvan, Mariana Ramos-Celedon, and Juan Pablo Guardia!

Congratulations to Shutian Shen! Shutian's poster was accepted for presentation at the annual ISDP meeting.

Xinge Li presents at the fNIRS Virtual Conference. Clinical Psychology doctoral student Xinge Li gave an oral presentation.

LEED at the Mayor's Back to School Festival. Our team had fun teaching children about measuring brain function with EEG and fNIRS.

Congratulations to Rebecca Lipschutz! Rebecca received the Cullen Graduate Student Success Fellowship to support her dissertation research on prenatal stress and infant development.

LEED receives new pilot funding. Funding from the UH Division of Research supported research examining how prenatal stress and other risk and protective factors shape brain development before birth, in collaboration with colleagues at Baylor College of Medicine.

Livia Merrill presents at SRCD. DCBN doctoral student Livia Merrill presented a poster at the Society for Research in Child Development conference.

Congratulations to Brian Biekman! Brian received the Clinical Case Presentation Award as part of the UH Clinical Psychology program's Diversity Day.

UH features the Harvey Mom Study. Dr. Bick and Rebecca Lipschutz were interviewed about the Harvey Mom Study and research examining how Hurricane Harvey may influence child development.

Welcome, Livia Merrill! LEED welcomes Livia as a new doctoral student in the DCBN program.

LEED receives NIH funding for research on preterm development. The collaborative study examines whether a remotely delivered early parenting intervention can support healthy self-regulation and brain development in toddlers born extremely preterm, in collaboration with Drs. Susan Landry and Dana DeMaster at UTHealth.

LEED receives NIH funding for prenatal stress research. The collaborative study examines how prenatal stress influences biomarkers of health and brain development in partnership with investigators at Baylor College of Medicine.

LEED welcomes two new graduate students! Welcome Shutian Shen to the DCBN program and Xinge Li to the Child Clinical Psychology program.

Dr. Bick quoted in The New York Times. Dr. Bick discussed the developmental impact of traumatic separation from parents in migrant families.

LEED research featured on NPR's The Pulse. The segment explored whether maternal stress may affect offspring across generations.

LEED interviewed by ABC13. The story highlighted new research examining how stress related to Hurricane Harvey may affect pregnant mothers and their babies.

LEED launches the Hurricane Harvey Mom Study. The study examines how prenatal stress associated with a natural disaster influences maternal well-being and infant outcomes, in collaboration with Dr. Suzanne King and colleagues at McGill University and the Douglas Mental Health University Institute.

LEED welcomes new graduate students. Welcome Rebecca Lipschutz to the Child Clinical Psychology track and Brian Biekman to the Clinical Neuropsychology track.

LEED opens at the University of Houston! The Laboratory of Early Experiences and Development begins research at UH.