Prior to coming to FIU, I completed my BA in Psychology at California State University, Long Beach, where I worked under Dr. Arturo Zavala examining childhood risk factors for susceptibility to the rewarding effects of drugs in adolescent rats. My growing research interests broadly lie in examining the development of emotional and reward systems in adolescence, with special focus on how these systems can go awry to contribute to the onset and maintenance of anxiety, depression, and substance use problems. I hope to blend developmental neuroscience and clinical science to identify modifiable treatment targets (e.g., sleep) for promoting mental health and mitigating risk for psychopathology in teens.

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