Jennea Franklin

Research Specialist

Jennea Franklin graduated from Howard University in May 2025 with a B.S. in Psychology and a minor in Criminology. Throughout her undergraduate career, Jennea worked as a Research Assistant in the Neuropsychology department at Kennedy Krieger Institute. While there, she researched the development of those (newborns to 31-year-olds) with ASXL syndromes. She is passionate about children with neurodevelopmental and genetic disorders such as ASD and Down syndrome. She is also interested in and has worked with children with various rare neurogenetic syndromes, such as ASXL syndrome and fragile X syndrome. Jennea plans to continue her education by pursuing a PhD in either clinical or school psychology. 

Karina Sheth

Research Specialist

Karina Sheth graduated from the University of South Carolina in May 2026 with a B.S. in Neuroscience and a B.A. in Spanish. Throughout her undergraduate career, Karina worked as a research assistant in the CANDi Lab. In the CANDi Lab, she studied heart activity in children with ASD and fragile X syndrome. She is excited to continue working with kids with neurodevelopmental disorders and plans to pursue a PhD in clinical psychology or communication sciences and disorders.

 

Marc-Joelitza (Joelie) Montgomery

Research Specialist

Marc-Joelitza (Joelie) Montgomery graduated from Case Western Reserve University in May 2025 with a B.A. in Psychology and Anthropology. Her minors are in Childhood Studies and Ethics. Throughout her undergraduate career, Joelie worked as a Research Assistant in the Language, Autism, Motor & Behavior (LAMB) Lab, where she examined the strengths and needs of caregivers of autistic individuals. Joelie is passionate about uplifting children with neurodevelopmental disorders such as ADHD. She is also interested in examining the influence of early learning environments, family processes, and culture on child development. Joelie plans to continue her education by pursuing a PhD in Clinical Child Psychology or School Psychology.

Júlia Romagnoli

Research Specialist

Júlia Romagnoli graduated from Tulane University in May 2026 with a B.S. in Neuroscience and Psychology. Throughout her undergraduate career, she worked as a Research Assistant in the Learning and Brain Development Lab, where she contributed to participant recruitment, behavioral testing, and data management for a longitudinal study examining attention development across infants’ first year of life. Júlia also volunteered as a Program Director for the New Orleans ACEing Autism community program, where she led tennis lessons for children with autism. She is passionate about working with children with autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders, and she aspires to become a pediatric neuropsychologist specializing in neurodevelopmental conditions.

Former Research Specialists

Alison Dahlman

Alison has joined the Social Emotional NeuroScience Endocrinology (SENSE) lab as a research assistant under the mentorship of Dr. Corbett. 

Danielle Lynch

Danielle joined Syracuse University as graduate student in the School Psychology program. Danielle is continuing to pursue her interests in early detection and intervention in high-risk population under the mentorship of Dr. Natalie Russo at the Center for Autism Research and Electrophysiology (C.A.R.E.) Lab.

Nichole Mayberry

After working at the NDD Lab, Nichole continued her work in advocacy, including serving as a coordinator for the Carolina Autism and Neurodevelopment Research Center and Brain Injury Association of South Carolina.

Kayla Smith, PhD

Kayla completed her PhD in Health Sciences under the mentorship of NDD Lab collaborator Hayley Crawford, PhD, at University of Warwick. She is currently completing a postdoctoral research fellowship at the Intellectual Disabilities Research Institute at the University of Birmingham. 

Ramsey Coyle

Following her time at the NDD Lab, Ramsey received a master’s degree in Speech Language Pathology at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.

Libby Bull (née Tillman)

Pursuing her interest in disability advocacy, Libby is received a law degree from Georgia State University College of Law.

Kayla Jarvis, OTD

Kayla started the Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) program at Presbyterian College in January 2021.

Carly Moser, PhD

Carly Moser completed her PhD in Communication Sciences and Disorders at the USC Arnold School of Public Health under the direction of Dr. Jessie Klusek. Dr. Moser subsequently started a postdoctoral fellowship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Alexis Brewe, PhD

Alexis completed her PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Alabama. She worked with Dr. Susan White at the Center for Youth Development and Intervention conducting research in comorbid psychopathology and emotion regulation for individuals with autism spectrum disorder.

Aylin Ulker, OTD

Lisa Hamrick, PhD (née Rague)

Lisa earned a PhD in Clinical Psychology under the mentorship of NDD Lab-collaborator Dr. Bridgette Kelleher at Purdue University. Dr. Hamrick returned to the NDD Lab in 2024 to complete her postdoctoral fellowship.

Emily Schworer, PhD

After working as a research specialist in the NDD Lab, Emily attended Colorado State University, earning a PhD in Applied Developmental Science. Emily subsequently transitioned to a postdoctoral research fellowship at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in the Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics.