Research Team
Our lab members include research faculty, post-doctoral scientists, master’s and doctoral students, post-baccalaureate researchers, and undergraduate students. Our members have expertise and background in neuroimaging, cognitive neuroscience, clinical neuropsychology, developmental psychology, computational science and bioinformatics, linguistics, and neuroanatomy.
Interested in joining our team? Current positions can be found here! We also offer research opportunities to highly motivated undergraduate and graduate students. For more information, email BDIL@sdsu.edu
Co-Directors
Ruth Carper, Ph.D. — Research Associate Professor, Co-Director
Research Interests: Aging in ASD, Neurodevelopment in ASD
Dr. Carper has been studying the brain bases of autism, from childhood to aging, for more than 20 years. She has two primary areas of research examining the long-term phenomenology of autism spectrum disorders: (1) Using multiple imaging techniques (structural, diffusion, spectroscopy MRI) to study the neurobiology of autism, how it changes during development, and how these changes help to explain differences in cognition. (2) Examining how middle-aged and older adults with autism fare as they age with respect to cognition, neurobiology and overall function. For more than 8 years she has led an NIH-funded longitudinal study examining these changes in 40 to 65 year-olds with autism. In addition, Dr. Carper collaborates extensively with other faculty at BDIL to combine cognitive, structural and functional MRI measures to better understand the development of sensory systems in autism and associations between sleep problems and neurodevelopment in ASD.
Inna Fishman, Ph.D. — Associate Research Professor, Co-Director
Research Interests: Autism and neurodevelopment across the lifespan; Clinical and developmental neuroscience of autism
Dr. Fishman’s broad research interests lie in understanding neural mechanisms underlying human social behavior. Her current research efforts focus on applying multimodal approaches (EEG, fcMRI, DTI) to examine the connectivity patterns in brain networks associated with social cognition in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Dr. Fishman’s research has been funded by the Autism Science Foundation (ASF), Autism Speaks, and NIMH (K01 and BRAINS R01 awards). Her current work is focusing on characterizing structure and function of cortical networks at the time of first behavioral signs of autism (at age 1.5-3 years), and tracking changes in brain network organization throughout childhood. For more information on Dr. Fishman’s current projects, see scan.sdsu.edu.
Founding Director (emeritus)
Ralph-Axel Müller, Ph.D.
— Professor Emeritus
Dr. Müller (aka Axel) has specialized in functional brain imaging of neurodevelopmental disorders and typical child development for over 20 years. Following postdoctoral work on functional plasticity in children with early brain damage, he has applied neuroimaging techniques in autism since the late 1990s. He founded the Brain Development Imaging Laboratory in 2001, which became Brain Development Imaging Laboratories in 2016.
Principal Investigators & Faculty
R. Joanne Jao Keehn, Ph.D. — Research Associate Professor
Research Interests: Neural and Behavioral Development of Multisensory Processing in ASD
Dr. Jao Keehn’s research interests focus on the development of neural and behavioral mechanisms underlying visual, haptic, and multisensory processing in children with and without autism spectrum disorders. Her work involves the use of multimodal methods, including experimental task paradigms, task-based functional MRI, and functional connectivity MRI among others, to examine sensory development, salience detection, and internalizing behaviors in children with autism.
Annika Linke, Ph.D.— Research Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Neural Mechanisms of Development
Dr. Linke received her doctorate in Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of Cambridge in England and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Brain and Mind Institute, Western University in Canada. Her main interest is understanding how brain function changes over the course of development, and how it is altered in neurodevelopmental disorders. She has extensive experience with neuroimaging neonates, infants, children and adults.
Janice Hau, Ph.D. —Research Assistant Professor
Research interests: Neural Circuits and Autism
Post-Doctoral Fellows
This Could Be You!
Graduate Students
Giovanna Arantes de Oliveira Campos — Doctoral Student
Research Interests: Structural Connectivity; Functional Connectivity; Multimodal Neuroimaging Methods; Early Development
Giovanna is a first-year Clinical Psychology PhD student and NSF Graduate Research Fellow under the mentorship of Dr. Inna Fishman. They earned their B.S. in Neuroscience at Temple University, where they studied the white matter correlates of memory across typical development using diffusion MRI methods. They are very glad to keep refining their expertise in diffusion MRI as well as learning other neuroimaging methods at BDIL to study early brain markers of ASD and other developmental disorders, with a focus on connectivity.
Alex Boxberger — Doctoral Student
Research Interests: Autism, ADHD, Neurodevelopment, Functional connectivity, Early childhood
Alex Boxberger is a third year Clinical Psychology PhD student under the mentorship of Dr. Annika Linke. After earning her B.S. in Psychology from the University of Oregon’s Clark Honors College, she worked as a research assistant at the Yale Child Study Center’s Social and Affective Neuroscience of Autism Lab. At the BDIL she is excited to continue studying early neural and behavioral development of autism, with a growing interest in the influence of co-occurring conditions (e.g., ADHD) on developmental trajectories.
Bloomer — Doctoral Student
Research Interests: Autism, Cerebellum, Developmental Neuroscience, Aging, Sensory Processing, Executive Functioning, Neuroimaging
Bess Bloomer is a second-year Clinical Psychology PhD student under the mentorship of Dr. Ruth Carper. After earning her B.A. at University of Maryland, she worked as a clinical research coordinator in the Clinical and Cognitive Neuroscience Center at Indiana University. Following her time at Indiana University, she earned a post-baccalaureate Intramural Research Training Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), working with Dr. Jack Yanovski. She is excited to continue her work with the BDIL through investigating neural mechanisms of aging in autism, particularly in the role of cerebellar structure and function in aging trajectories across neurodiverse and neurotypical populations. As an autistic researcher, she is also dedicated to understanding the lived experiences of autistic individuals across gender and co-occurring psychopathology across the lifespan.
Meagan Herrera — Master’s Student
Research Interests: Neural organization and function in ASD
Meagan Herrera is a first year master’s student under the mentorship of Dr. Joanne Jao Keehn and Dr. Annika Linke. She received her B.A. in Psychology with an emphasis in Neuroscience from SDSU in May 2023. She is interested in functional connectivity and brain organization of sensory processing in kids with Autism spectrum disorder.
Yeawon Jeon — Master’s Student
Research Interests: Neurodevelopmental disorders across the lifespan; Neural Mechanisms of Development in ASD
Yeawon Jeon is a first year master’s student in the Psychology Department at SDSU, mentored by Dr. Inna Fishman. After earning her BS in Psychology from Gordon College, she gained experience administering neuropsychological assessments for neurodevelopmental disorders. She is passionate about using neuroimaging to understand the neural mechanisms underlying ASD, with a particular focus on how brain network organization relates to executive functioning and social communication during development.
Savannah Scarlett — Master’s Student
Research Interests: Structural Connectivity, Diffusion MRI, Social Perception
Savannah Scarlett is a second year Master’s student in the Psychology department mentored by Dr. Janice Hau. She received her Bachelor’s degree from UC Santa Cruz, where she double majored in Neuroscience and Psychology. She is currently studying the neural circuitry implicated in dynamic social perception in children with and without ASD. She hopes to continue her education in the future by pursuing a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology.
Research Staff
Tess Do — Research Associate
Tess graduated from San Diego State University with a B.A. in Psychology (emphasis in Neuroscience), and a minor in Child & Family Development. She joined BDIL in June 2022 and is a research associate supporting the Multisensory Study. Tess hopes to go to graduate school to study and learn more about neurodevelopmental disorders.
Maya Elden — Project Coordinator
Maya received her B.A. in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences with a minor in Interdisciplinary Studies from San Diego State University in May 2024. She joined the BDIL team in July 2024 as a Project Coordinator, supporting the Aging and Gray Matter projects. Maya is passionate about expanding resources and furthering research for individuals of all ages with autism. She plans to pursue graduate studies to deepen her impact in this field.
Sabrena Tuy — Project Coordinator
Sabrena Tuy is a SDSU Master of Arts graduate working as an Imaging Research Associate under Dr. Ruth Carper. She is interested in further exploring neurodevelopment and neurodiversity within the context of a neuroimaging setting, exploring neural differences, and potentially expanding in the future to study the linkage to neurodegeneration.
Research Assistants
Ella Bentley — Undergraduate Research Assistant
Ella is a fourth year Psychology major and Counseling and Social Change minor at SDSU. She joined the lab in September of 2023, originally under the Toddler Study, and later joined the Sleep Study. Ella is planning on attending graduate school to further study counseling, to pursue a career as a therapist for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).
Jenny Chau — Post-bacc Research Assistant
Jenny is a research assistant at BDIL.
Brys Elbers — Undergraduate Research Assistant
Brys joined the lab in October of 2025. He is a research assistant for the Aging study. Within the lab, he hopes to research more about the brain activity of someone with Autism and how it differs from someone without it. Outside of the lab, he hopes to one day research brain activity in PTSD patients and how it can alter the brain.
Zara Fearns — Undergraduate Research Assistant
Zara is a fourth year clinical psychology major at UCSD and joined the lab in July of 2025. She currently works on the Sleep, Auditory, and Multisensory studies. She is specifically interested in pursuing a PhD in clinical psychology, with a focus on the development of Autism Spectrum Disorder as well as studying how it intersects with other co-occurring disorders such as ADHD.
Yvonne Fuller — Undergraduate Research Assistant
Yvonne is an undergraduate student at SDSU pursuing a double major in Psychology and Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. She joined the lab in November 2025 as part of the Aging and Autism study. She hopes to research the auditory and mechanical interfaces between the ear and brain as well as neurologic differences encompassing behavior and language.
Alysa Singson — Undergraduate Research Assistant
Alysa is a 4th-year undergraduate student at San Diego State University pursuing a B.S. in Psychology. She joined BDIL in 2025 and is a research assistant for the Aging in Autism study. She hopes to pursue higher education after graduation and aspires to work in the field of clinical psychology.
Kaitlyn Trinh — Undergraduate Research Assistant
Kaitlyn is an undergraduate student at the University of California, San Diego majoring in Neurobiology and is expected to graduate in Summer 2026. She joined the BDIL in August 2024 and supports multiple studies across the lab based on current research needs, including prior work assisting with white matter hyperintensity (WMH) tracings for graduate student manuscripts, which provided extensive exposure to MRI-based research. She plans to continue into the BS/MS program in Biology at UCSD and hopes to attend medical school, with the goal of pursuing interventional neuroradiology.
Anna Skylar— Undergraduate Research Assistant
Anna is is an undergraduate student at San Diego State University pursuing a B.S. in Kinesiology. She is on the pre-Physician Assistant track. She joined BDIL in January 2026 and is a research assistant for the Sleep study.
Kyla Tadina — Undergraduate Research Assistant
Kyla is an undergraduate student at SDSU pursuing a B.A. in psychology with an emphasis in neuroscience and a minor in child and family development. She joined BDIL in August 2025 and is a research assistant for the Toddler study. She plans to pursue occupational therapy post graduation.
Hana Wei — Undergraduate Research Assistant
Hana is an undergraduate student at San Diego State University and is expected to graduate Spring of 2026 with a Bachelors of Arts in Psychology and Minor in International Studies. Hana has been working at the BDIL under the Sleep, Auditory, and Multisensory studies since April 2025. She hopes to pursue a higher education with a PsyD, and she aspires to join the field of clinical pediatric neuropsychology with her passion for treating children’s brain disorders.
This Could Be You! — Undergraduate Research Assistant
We are always looking for more research assistants to get hands-on research experience.
Collaborators
Alumni
Past Post-Doctoral Researchers (and where they are now)
Katherine Turner, Ph.D. — Associate Director of Psychology Undergraduate Advising, SDSU
Erica Palmer, Ph.D. — Research Scientist, Pacific Science & Engineering Group, Inc.
Monika Kast, Ph.D. — School Psychologist, Zurich School District, Switzerland
Dinesh Shukla, Ph.D. — Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, University of Maryland
A.R. Jac Fredo, Ph.D. — Assistant Professor, School of Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi, India
Mikaela Kinnear, Ph.D. — Clinical Psychologist, West Coast CBT
Jonni Johnson, Ph.D. — Sr. Research Specialist, California Department of Public Health
Past Graduate Students (and where they are now)
Michaela Cordova
Stephanie Pedrahita, M.A. — SDSU/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology
Gabe Garcia
Judy Mahmalji, M.A.
Naomi Meave Ojeda, M.A.
Noelle Abbott
Likitha Bommasani
Molly Wilkinson, Ph.D
Jiwandeep Kohli, M.A, M.S., Ph.D
Bosi Chen, Ph.D
Lindsay Olson, Ph.D — Clinical Psychology Intern, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Maya Reiter, Ph.D — Clinical Psychology Intern
Tiffany Wang
Afrooz Jahedi
Cynthia Ibarra, M.A. — Clinical Research Coordinator at UCSD Stein Institute for Research on Aging
Michael Olson M.A.
Chris Liu M.A.
Shiming Zhang M.A.
Adam Schadler M.A. — Research Associate, UCSD, San Diego, CA
Lisa Mash, PhD — Neuropsychology Fellow, Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children’s Hospital
Feifei Gao, PhD — Pediatric Neuropsychology Fellow, Children’s National Medical Center, Research Affiliate, Georgetown University, Washington DC
Christopher Fong, M.A. — Doctoral student, SDSU/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego, CA
Angela Abbott, M.A. — Psychometrist, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ
Surina Basho, Ph.D — Director of Research in Learning Disabilities, Morrisey-Compton Educational Center, San Francisco, CA
Christine Brown, M.A. — Director of Research and Compliance, Pacific Science & Engineering Group, Inc.
Laurie Brenner, Ph.D. — Assistant Professor, Dept. of Neurology, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, VA
Erin Burns, M.A. — Lab Manager, The Child Language and Cognitive Processes Lab, SDSU
Colleen Chen, M.A. — Doctoral Student in Cognitive Science, UC Irvine
Mike Datko, Ph.D. — Postdoctoral Fellow, MGH/HST Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging
Janae Deyoe, M.A. — Study Coordinator, UC San Diego CARE Program
Michael Gaffrey, Ph.D. — Assistant Professor, Dept. of Psychology & Neuroscience, Duke University
Merage Ghane, B.S. — Doctoral Student in Clinical Psychology, Virginia Tech
Emily Grenesko, LMFT — Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Chicago Center for Evidence Based Treatment, Chicago, IL
Kai Hwang, Ph.D. — Assistant Professor, Dept. of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Iowa
Kiley Hill, M.A. — Research Assistant, Gleeson Neurogenetics Lab, UC San Diego
Amanda Kahn, Ph.D. — Postdoctoral Fellow in PTSD, San Francisco VA Health Care System, San Francisco, CA
Brandon Keehn, Ph.D. — Associate Professor, Departments of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences and Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, Indiana
Chris L. Keown, M.A. — Doctoral Student in Cognitive Science, UCSD
Anna Christina Macari, M.A. — BSN to DNP Nurse Midwifery Student at Oregon Health & Science University
Samantha Marshall, M.A. — Psychology Faculty, Oxnard College
Alecia Moser, M.S. — Graduate Student at Binghamton University
Aarti Nair, Ph.D. — Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Loma Linda University, California
Sangeeta Nair, M.A. — Doctoral Student in Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birgit Öttl, Ph.D. — Professional School of Education, , Germany
Erin Parks, Ph.D. — Clinical Psychologist, Director of Outreach and Admissions, UC San Diego Eating Disorders Center
Theo Perrod Uwimana, M.S. (Visiting Graduate Student) — Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL)
Colin Porter, M.A.
Mike Rubio, M.A., BCBA — Case Manager, Psychiatric Centers at San Diego (PCSD)
Sandra Sanchez, M.A. — Study Coordinator, UC San Diego CARE Program
Mark Shen, Ph.D. — Assistant Professor, Dept. of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina School of Medicine
Patricia Shih, M.A. — Data Scientist at Seeking My Next Challenge!
Claire Stewart, M.A. — Research Associate, Affiliated Research Institute
Vicky Weiqi Zhao, M.A. — Doctoral Student in Cognitive Science, UC San Diego
Aina Eill, M.A. — Project Manager, Scripps Health
Past Research Staff (and where they are now)
Adriana Rios
Gioia Toro
Sara Bock
Madison Salmina
Stephanie Peña
Kalekirstos Alemu
Shadia Assi, M.P.H. — Dept. of Family Medicine and Public Health, UC San Diego
Sarah Reynolds —Graduate Student, Master of Social Work, University of Utah
Mikaela (Mikki) Orner — Clinical Operations Associate, Allergan, Irvine, CA
Ian Shryock — Doctoral student in Psychology, University of Oregon
Vinton Omaleki — Center of Gender Equity and Health
Lindsey Ringlee — PhD student in Clinical Psychology
Past Undergraduate Students (and where they are now)
Lars Ecklund
Akiko Mizuno, Ph.D. — Postdoctoral Fellow, Geriatric Psychiatry, Western Psychiatric Institute, Pittsburgh, PA
Christine Barseghian
Aubrey Cabigao
Delaney Drewes
Julia Geer
Mackenzie Jatta
Julia Pinheiro Moreira Salles Lima
Mia Racine
Raquel Rodriguez
Ángel Rodriguez
Camilla Trolle
Julia Rios Valois
Nicole Zhou
Eliza Cranston
Jacob Chen
Jade Foyston
Madison Marie
Tatum Flynn
Christian Ong
Alexis Dozier
Jessica Vu
Hope Porter
Kristina Briggs
Christine Barseghian
Anna Ferrante
Alexis Walker
Alexa Davis, B.A. — Post-bacc Research Assistant, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, IL
Alexis Rivkin, B.A.
Ally LeVine
Aurora Ramos, Ph.D. — Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, College of Coastal Georgia, Brunswick, GA
Becky Bazzill, B.A.
Brad Monk, M.A. — Doctoral Student in Cognitive Sciences, UC San Diego
Brent Jensen, B.A. — Post-Baccalaureate Research Assistant, Center for Understanding and Treating Anxiety
Camilla Catignas — a senior at SDSU working on Bachelor’s in Public Health Science
Chantal Chaaban — Graduate Student, Master in Occupational Therapy, University of St. Augustine
Cassidy Kinderman, B.A.
Devin Brown, B.A.
Elly Pueschel, B.A. — Doctoral Student in Developmental Psychology at University of Southern California (USC)
Emma Churchill — Graduate Student, MA Psychology, SDSU
Fardowsa Hassan, B.A.
Francisco Velasquez, Ph.D. — Integrated Brain Imaging Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Halie Shea Doan
Hannah Levine, B.A. — Occupational Therapy Practitioner Assistant, Chicago Speech Therapy, Chicago, IL
Ian Martindale, B.A. — MA Program in Psychology, San Diego State University. Also working at the NeuroCognition Laboratory
Irem Sogutlugil — Special Education Technician, San Diego Unified School District
Irene Demarco, B.A. — Traveling the world post-graduation
Jansyn Spradling, B.A. — Doctoral Student, Alliant University, San Diego
Jeff Treiber, M.D. — Neurosurgery residency, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
Jenna Foster, B.A.
Julia Cataldo, B.A. — Undergraduate in Psychology & SACNAS chapter president to promote diversity in STEM, SDSU, San Diego, CA
Julia Pastrana, B.A.
Katherine Paszek, B.A. — Master student in the Applied Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle WA, Case Manger at STEPPS ABA Company
Kelly Leyden, B.A. — Doctoral Student in Psychology, University of Birmingham, UK
Kimberley D’Aquisto, B.A.
Lancey Pratt, B.A. — Doctoral Student in Speech, University of Colorado, Boulder
Laura Alba, M.A. — Doctoral Student in School Psychology at UC Riverside
Mari Arcadio Arce, B.A.
Mercedes Palacio, B.A. — Applying to graduate programs in Clinical Psychology
Merna Nissan, B.A.
Michael Apostol — a senior at University of San Diego working on Bachelor’s in Psychology
Michael Toussaint, B.A. — Master’s Student in Neuropsychology, University of Maastricht
Michelle Gaspar, B.A.
Michelle Ortega, B.A. — Master’s Student in Special Education with specialization in Autism, SDSU
Michele Villalobos, Ph.D. — Assistant Professor and Clinical Director of TEACCH Autism Center, UNC School of Medicine
Monica Deyski, B.A.
Nicholas Ray, M.Ed.
Nicole Baggett, B.A. — Doctoral Student in Clinical Psychology at Pacific University
Nicky Harpster, B.A. — applying to graduate programs in Industrial/Organizational Psychology
Nicole Janessari
Omar Maximo, Ph.D. — Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Alabama, Birmingham
Quynn Ton
Ryan Cardinale, Ph.D. — Postdoctoral Fellow in Clinical Psychology, Kaiser Permanente, Sacramento, CA
Ryan Tung, B.A. — Doctoral Student, Neuroscience, University of Michigan
Saba Al-Jawad, B.A. — Research Technician, Johnson & Johnson
Sarah Levy, B.A. — Doctoral Student in Clinical Psychology, Suffolk University
Seraphina Solders, B.A. — Doctoral Student in Neuroscience at UCSD
Shae Dinino, M.A. — Doctoral Student in Neurobiology and Behavior, University of Washington
Shelly Jones, B.A.
Tamae Sugiura, B.A. — Graduate student in Speech and Language Pathology Masters Program, SDSU, San Diego, CA
Tamara Pinhassian, B.A. — Masters student in Early Childhood Mental Health, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA
Valerie Posada, B.A.
Wanda Snell, B.A. — Behavioral technician in San Diego, CA
Yuliana Cabrera, B.A. — Project Coordinator, UCS Alzheimer’s Therapeutic Research Institute (ATRI)
Zoe Damon, B.A. — Project Coordinator, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA