Meet the Team
Jodi A. Quas, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology, Social Behavior, and Nursing Science
Research Interests: Memory development, effects of stress on memory; consequences of legal involvement on youth victims and witnesses; development and testing of methods to improve identification of and interventions for high-risk children and adolescents.
Fun Fact: I am late to the airport almost every time I travel, and I miss at least one flight per year.
Rachel Dianiska, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Research Interests: contribution of cognitive and developmental processes to interviewing and disclosure, credibility assessment, and the development of false memories; improving identification, interviewing, and responses to adolescent victims and witnesses.
Fun fact: I will travel internationally for concerts, and I don’t have a single artistic talent myself but I collect ceramics and stained glass.
Nan Xiao, Ph.D.
Research Scientist
Research Interest: I study how social exclusion and adversity affect development longitudinally, and create community-based, tech-assisted interventions to support children’s relationships. My work spans peer victimization, media use, residential childcare, and home–school connections (My Website).
Fun fact: I’m a huge cat lover… but sadly, I’m allergic to cats.
Emma Simpson
Doctoral Student
Research Interests: How children and adolescents (particularly those with histories of maltreatment or exploitation) remember, disclose, and respond in legal contexts; improving community and policy responses to vulnerable youth
Fun fact: I love word games -- crosswords, scrabble, bananagrams, etc.
Ashley Zieper
Project Manager
Research Interests: How children and adolescents encode, store, and retrieve memories under situational and contextual stress, and how this understanding can inform decision-making and services provided to youth in various educational, legal, and community-based mental health settings.
Fun fact: I love traveling and have been to 14 different countries.
FALL 2025 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANTS
Ben Miyahara
Cas Sherrill
Cassandra Pignataro
Cathy Chang
Daniela Reyes
Elliot Kim
Grace Kenyon
Hugo Herrera
Jocelyn Gomez
Kiara Kuriakose
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Lauren Finkel
Leslie Finkel
Rajas Aathavan
Rayna Vora
Rebecca Levy
Riley Behrstock
Sammy Hwang
Sufie Sheikh-Bahaei
Zoya Sheikh​
View Adolescent and Childhood Experience Lab alumni here.