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Jessica Girault's headshot

Jessica Girault, PhD

Principal Investigator

Location: Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities

Education and Training:

BS, Biology, Salem College

PhD, Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Research:

Dr. Girault is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry with an appointment at the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities. Her research utilizes state-of-the-art neuroimaging techniques and laboratory-based behavior assessments to study the dynamic interplay between brain and behavioral development during infancy and early childhood. A major focus of her work is to understand how brain-behavior associations across development are modulated by genetic factors. Currently, Dr. Girault is the principal investigator of projects funded by the National Institutes of Mental Health and the Foundation of Hope to study how genetic background and genetic risk factors shape brain and behavioral development in autism spectrum disorder, fragile X syndrome, and Down syndrome.

 

Tyler McFayden, PhD

Clinical Psychology Fellow

Location: Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities

Education and Training:
BS, Psychology, Davidson College

PhD, Clinical and Developmental Psychology, Virginia Tech

APA Internship, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Research:

Tyler McFayden is a clinical psychology fellow at the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities. Her research aims to evaluate how social communication develops in the absence of spoken language. Accordingly, her work focuses on three populations: pre-verbal infants, individuals who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing, and autistic youth. Tyler uses a multi-modal approach to understanding language and communication including using behavioral and neurophysiological/neuroimaging (e.g., EEG, fMRI, fNIRS, eye tracking) approaches. Tyler‘s current projects include (a) evaluating the relationship between white matter microstructure and language in neurodevelopmentally-at-risk infants, (b) best practices of assessing autism in the presence of hearing loss, and (c) developmental trajectories of social cognition in preterm infants.

 

Lindsay Mullin

Graduate Research Assistant, Lab Coordinator

Education:
BA, Developmental Psychology with a minor in Neuroscience, Emmanuel College Boston

Doctoral student, School Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Background:

Lindsay is the Girault Lab’s Coordinator. She supports study startup and manages study participation. She is the main point of contact for families who participate in Girault Lab studies. Her research interests center around neurodevelopmental disabilities in children and implications for early detection and intervention to improve quality of life. Her prior experience includes coordinating research studies of autism and dyslexia in young children, and implementing behavioral therapy for children with autism in school, camp, and home environments. Lindsay is currently a graduate student at UNC studying School Psychology.

 

Tessa Buscher

Undergraduate Research Intern

Education:

BS, Biology; BA, Disability Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Background:

Tessa has worked as an undergraduate research assistant for two years with the CIDD studying the initial environmental exposure on early brain behavior development related to ASD using infant bloodspots. Her interest in Disability Studies and Biology intersectionality has guided her work at the Girault Lab with emphasis on data entry for both Down Syndrome and fragile X syndrome participants. In her free time, she plays Water Polo for UNC and can often be found walking her dog around campus. After completion of her undergraduate degree, Tessa has plans to get her masters in biomedical sciences with a focus on genomics before continuing on to a doctorate degree.

 

Ruchi Garuda

Undergraduate Research Intern

Education:

BS, Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience (BCN), Minor in Quantitative Methods in Social Science (QMSS), University of Michigan at Ann Arbor

Background:

Ruchi has worked as an undergraduate research assistant in molecular biology, neurodegenerative, and public health labs and hopes to utilize those perspectives to inform autism-based research. At the Girault Lab, she is exploring the familial associations between anxiety and fragile X syndrome and outreach for the ORIGINs project. After graduating from her undergraduate program, she plans to refine her research experience and gain clinical experience before applying to a Clinical Psychology PhD program. Her research interests involve utilizing behavioral genetic data to inform more effective interventions for children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Apart from her academic and career interests, she loves baking and watching TV shows and movies.

Libby Forsen

Undergraduate Research Intern

Education:
BS, Biology; BA, German Literature and Culture, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Background:

Libby worked as an undergraduate research assistant for two years studying associations between language profiles in siblings pairs with autism.  Libby has a passion for language and is fluent in German. Her interest in the intersections between language, biology, and autism has guided her work in the lab. In her free time, she is an avid UNC basketball fan and watches as many games as possible. After her time in the Girault lab, Libby worked in the laboratory of Dr. John Constantino at Washington University, as well as training as an EMT in her hometown of St. Louis, MO. She is now pursuing her medical degree at Washington University School of Medicine.

Kai Xia, PhD

Research Associate Professor, Biostatistician

Education:

PhD, Bioinformatics, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

 

Josh Rutsohn, DrPH

Biostatistician

Education:

DrPH, Biostatistics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

 

 

Kevin Donovan's headshot

Kevin Donovan, PhD

Biostatistician

Education:
BS, Mathematics; BS, Economics, Syracuse University

PhD, Biostatistics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Background:

During his PhD with his advisor Dr. Kinh Truong, Kevin worked on developing methods extending independent component analysis to analyze functional connectivity and point process data. Through his work at the Carolina Institute of Developmental Disabilities, he used machine learning to predict future autism diagnosis in infants based on behavioral and brain image data, conducted inference on associations between autism diagnosis, behavioral outcomes, and brain measures, and taught statistical concepts and R programming.

 

 

Collaborators and Scientific Consortia

IBIS News

Infant Brain Imaging Study Network

PI: Joseph Piven, UNC Chapel Hill

 

Early Brain Development Study logo. Outline of a child's head with a colorful brain. EBDS acronym with 'early brain development study' written underneath

The UNC Early Brain Development Study

PI: John Gilmore, UNC Chapel Hill

 

 

Stein Lab

SteinLab.org

PI: Jason Stein, UNC Chapel Hill

 

Shen Lab

MarkShenLab.org

PI: Mark Shen, UNC Chapel Hill

BSRC acronym with text: Autism Baby Siblings Research Consortium. Outline of two children holding hands.

Baby Siblings Research Consortium

 

Enigma Logo. Brain with the word "enigma" written across the bottom

ENIGMA ORIGINs Working Group

PI: Rebecca Knickmeyer, Michigan State University