Current T32 Post-Doctoral Research Trainees
Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities
Announcing 2022 T32 Postdoctoral Trainees in Neurodevelopmental Disorders
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We are pleased to note that for the current academic year we continue with six post-doctoral research fellows in our training program on neurodevelopmental disorders research. Continuing post-doctoral trainees include: Tehila Nugiel (working with mentor Jessica Cohen ), Dewran Kocak (working with mentor Bryan Roth), Catheryn Wilson (working with mentor Scott Parnell), and Kelly Caravella (working with mentors Heather Hazlett and Joe Piven), who is continuing for a third post-doctoral year transitioning her research on early developmental trajectories in autism, to focus on health inequities in outcomes for individuals with autism and their families, capitalizing on a grant she obtained to conduct research on this topic from the NC Tracs Program. The CIDD welcomes Drs. Tyler McFayden, and Stefan Lemke as our incoming T32 postdoctoral trainees. We are thrilled to have these talented postdoctoral fellows join our interdisciplinary program in neurodevelopmental disorders and would like to welcome them and introduce them to the community.
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2022
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Dr. Tyler McFayden
Dr. Tyler McFayden received her PhD in Clinical and Developmental Psychology from Virginia Tech working with Dr. Thomas Ollendick. Her research examines brain and behavioral metrics of social communication in infancy, youth with neurodevelopmental disorders, and individuals who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing. As a UNC CIDD T32 Fellow, Dr. McFayden will work with Dr. Clare Harrop and Dr. Michael O'Shea to examine developmental trajectories of social communication in autistic youth and preterm infants. The ultimate goal of her program of research is to improve our multi-modal systems of early language detection and communication interventions for autistic youth.
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Dr. Stefan Lemke
Dr. Stefan Lemke completed his PhD in Neuroscience at the University of California, San Francisco working with Dr. Karunesh Ganguly. His research examines how different regions in the brain interact to generate complex movements. He is currently a postdoctoral associate at UNC working with Dr. Adam Hantman, where he is studying how the brain's distributed motor network controls behavioral flexibility. As a T32 Fellow at the CIDD, Dr. Lemke will investigate potentially abnormal neural dynamics in mouse models of Angelman Syndrome and Autism.
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2021
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Dr. Dewran Kocak
Dr. Dewran Kocak completed his PhD in Biomedical Engineering in the Gersbach laboratory at Duke University. During his graduate work he developed methods for increasing the specificity of genome-engineering. He is currently a postdoctoral associate in the Roth laboratory at UNC's Department of Pharmacology, where he is developing genome-engineering methods for the correction of Angelman Syndrome. |
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Dr. Tehila Nugiel
Dr. Tehila Nugiel received her doctorate in Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin working with Dr. Jessica Church. Her research examines brain systems supporting cognitive control in children with developmental disorders, such as learning disorders and ADHD. As a T32 Fellow at the CIDD, Dr. Nugiel will work with Dr. Jessica Cohen to examine large-scale brain systems involved in cognitive control and reward processing in ADHD, with a focus on how stimulant medication changes these systems. The ultimate goal of this program of research is to inform the development of individualized treatments targeted to dysfunctional brain systems. |
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Dr. Catheryn Wilson
Dr. Catheryn Wilson completed her Ph.D. at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), where she studied the convulsant and cannabimimetic effects of drugs of abuse, known as synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists, using preclinical models. At UNC-Chapel Hill, she will work in the lab of Scott Parnell, Ph.D., to investigate the neurobiological underpinnings of prenatal alcohol exposure-related seizure susceptibility in mice. In addition, she hopes to examine the potential role of the endogenous cannabinoid system in relation to such seizures. |
2020
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Kelly Caravella, PhD
Mentors: Heather Hazlett, PhD; Karen Grewen, PhD
Dr. Kelly Caravella earned her doctorate in Clinical-Community Psychology from the University of
South Carolina under the mentorship of Dr. Jane Roberts. Dr. Caravella’s research focuses on the
longitudinal development of autism symptomatology in infants and toddlers with fragile X syndrome (FXS). As
a T32 postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Caravella will be working under the mentorship of Drs. Hazlett and Grewen to
compare neurobiological and behavioral markers of autism spectrum disorder across groups of infants at high
risk for developing autism spectrum disorder (ASD), specifically, infants with FXS, infant siblings of
children with ASD and infants who experienced prenatal drug and alcohol exposures. Dr. Caravella’s program
of research aims to identify risk and protective factors in these high risks groups to inform early
detection and intervention efforts to improve quality of life and support optimal developmental outcomes. |
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