Graduate Students/Post-Doctoral Fellows

Janna Guilfoyle, Ph.D. Student, Research Project Co-Manager
jannaguilfoyle2024@u.northwestern.edu

Janna is a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Program at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Her clinical emphasis is pediatric neuropsychology, and her clinical interests are focused on the neuropsychological evaluation of individuals with autism and co-occurring neurological conditions.

Her research focuses on examining features of speech and language in children with neurodevelopmental conditions and their relatives, with the goal of disentangling neurocognitive mechanisms and component speech and language skills that contribute to broader pragmatic language differences. Prior to joining the NDL, Janna worked as a clinical research coordinator in the Behavioral and Developmental Neuropsychiatry lab at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, focused on studying auditory neurophysiology, and examining neural mechanisms in the context of heterogenous responses to intervention.

Janna is aiming toward a career as a pediatric neuropsychologist in an academic medical center, specializing in the neuropsychological evaluation of children with complex medical conditions with increased rates of autism. She hopes to develop an independent research career focused on disentangling neurocognitive mechanisms that impact more complex and integrated speech, language, and social outcomes, and which can be used to develop targeted and individualized treatment approaches.

Janna earned her B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Sociology at North Carolina State University, her M.A. in Psychology at American University, and her M.S. in Clinical Psychology at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine.

Jiayin Xing, Ph.D. Student
jiayinxing2018@u.northwestern.edu

Jiayin Xing is a doctoral student in the Roxelyn and Richard Pepper Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders.

Jiayin has worked with children with autism and infants with a higher genetic risk of autism throughout her undergraduate career. She is especially interested in exploring the neuropsychological profiles of individuals and family members affected by autism and other neurodevelopmental disabilities, specifically in language, social functioning, and cognitive functioning.

Currently, Jiayin is developing independent projects focused on the lab’s new cross-cultural studies of autism. She also assists with other lab projects with participant testing, analysis and interpretation of study results, and presentation of findings in manuscripts to share findings with the scientific and clinical communities, as well as with the general public. Prior to joining the NDL, she worked as a research assistant in the Developmental Neuroscience Lab at University of California – San Diego and in the Child Cognition Lab at Peking University.

Career-wise, Jiayin wants to continue her research on communication difficulties in children with autism. She earned her B.S. in Psychology at Beijing Normal University in China.

Emily Landau, Ph.D. Student
emily.landau@northwestern.edu

Emily Landau is a doctoral student in Clinical Psychology, and is specializing in Child and Adolescent Psychology and Neuropsychology.

Emily has worked with children with autism and related neurodevelopmental disabilities for many years. Currently, Emily works closely with our participating families on recruitment and testing, and she plays a key role in data coding and analysis for several lab projects. She is especially interested in understanding social-communication in autism. Prior to joining the NDL as a graduate student, Emily was a research assistant in the NDL, and she also worked in the Developmental Neuropsychology Lab at the University of Rochester.

Emily is aiming toward a career as a pediatric neuropsychologist specializing in autism and related neurodevelopmental disabilites. She would like to work in an academic medical center where she can continue to engage in research and clinical work.

Emily earned her B.A. in Psychology with minors in Brain and Cognitive Science and American Sign Language from the University of Rochester in Rochester, NY, and her M.S. in Clinical Psychology at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine.

Stephanie Crawford, Ph.D. Student
stephanie.crawford@northwestern.edu

Stephanie Crawford is a doctoral student in Communication Sciences and Disorders who has worked with children with autism and related neurodevelopmental disabilities for many years.

Stephanie has worked with Dr. Losh since 2012, beginning as a research assistant in the lab and later as a research project manager where she played a central role in managing the lab’s ongoing grants and projects. As a doctoral student, Stephanie continues to play an important role in the lab’s projects, including working closely with families, mentoring undergraduate students, and coding and analyzing data for projects and manuscripts. She is especially interested in understanding social-communication in autism and related developmental disabilities.

Stephanie is aiming toward a career as a clinical researcher in an academic setting specializing in autism and developmental disabilities.

Stephanie earned her B.A. in Speech and Hearing Sciences at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, IA.

Mitra Kumareswaran, Ph.D. Student
mitra.kumareswaran@northwestern.edu

Mitra Kumareswaran is a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Program at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Her clinical emphasis is in Child and Adolescent Psychology, and Pediatric Neuropsychology. Mitra is specifically interested in working with children with neurodevelopmental disabilities including autism spectrum disorder and/or intellectual disability.

Mitra has been working with children with neurodevelopmental disabilities for the past ten years in both research and therapeutic settings. During her undergraduate career at the University of Georgia, Mitra worked as a research assistant at the UGA Clinical and Cognitive Neurosciences Lab and the UGA Child Autism and Attention Research/Evaluation Lab. Prior to joining the NDL, she completed a pre-doctoral research fellowship in Speech Science and Engineering at the Marcus Autism Center in collaboration with Emory University and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

Mitra is aiming towards a career as a pediatric neuropsychologist in an academic center. She intends to combine her love for clinical practice with scientific inquiry.

Mitra earned her B.S. in Biology (with an emphasis in neuroscience) and B.A. in English at the University of Georgia, and her M.S. in Clinical Psychology at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine.

Sarah Ethridge, Ph.D. Student
sarah.ethridge@northwestern.edu

Sarah Ethridge is a doctoral student in Clinical Psychology, and is specializing in Child and Adolescent Psychology and Neuropsychology.

Prior to joining the NDL, Sarah worked with individuals with neurodevelopmental disabilites for many years. Her interest in neurodevelopmental research stems from both her work as a Youth Ambassador for Tourette syndrome and her education in neuroscience at Davidson College. Most recently, Sarah worked as a Postbaccalaureate IRTA at the National Institute of Mental Health, contributing to research projects investigating the behavioral phenotypes of rare genetic disorders associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disability (ID), such as fragile X syndrome.

Through this work, Sarah has developed interests in the etiology, assessment, and evidence-based treatment of social communication deficits associated with neurodevelopmental disorders. Currently, she contributes to research efforts assessing prosody and characterizing prosodic profiles associated with social communication deficits in individuals with ASD and fragile X syndrome.

Sarah hopes to gain training in clinical child psychology and developmental neuropsychology. Long-term, her goals include working in an academic healthcare system developing and validating assessment instruments measuring social communication in individuals with ID, who constitute an under-researched clinical cohort.

Maureen Butler, Ph.D. Student
maureen.butler@northwestern.edu

Maureen is a doctoral student in Clinical Psychology specializing in Child and Adolescent Psychology and Neuropsychology.

Maureen has worked with the autistic community for many years, both in research and clinical settings. During her undergraduate studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she worked as a research assistant at the Waisman Center’s Child Emotion Research Lab. Prior to joining the NDL, she completed a post-baccalaureate research fellowship at the Yale Child Study Center’s Social and Affective Neuroscience of Autism Laboratory. She then worked with the NDL as a research coordinator before beginning her graduate studies.

Maureen is interested in understanding the neurocognitive and psycholinguistic mechanisms that underly complex language differences in individuals with autism, their family members, and individual with related developmental disabilities.

Maureen hopes to build a career as a pediatric neuropsychologist at an academic medical center, where she can make meaningful contributions to research while simultaneously serving families through clinical practice.

Maureen earned her B.A. in psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.