The "LEED"-ERS

Johanna Bick, Ph.D.

Associate Professor
Director, Laboratory of Early Experience and Development (LEED)
Clinical Psychology
Developmental, Cognitive, & Behavioral Neuroscience
Ph.D., University of Delaware
jrbick@uh.edu

Dr. Johanna Bick is an Associate Professor in the Psychology Department at the University of Houston. She received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Delaware in 2011. She then completed research fellowships at the Yale Child Study Center and the Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience at Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School, prior to coming to UH in the fall of 2016.

Livia Merrill

Graduate Student

Livia Merrill is a doctoral student in the Developmental, Cognitive, and Behavioral Neuroscience program at the University of Houston. She graduated from Tulane University in 2012 with a B.S. in Neuroscience and in 2014 with a M.S. in Neuroscience. Her main research interests explore how adversity affects various aspects of childhood development and the relationships among different factors that contribute to resiliency. For her dissertation, she is currently examining the effects of prenatal stress exposure from Hurricane Harvey on the preschool brain and behavior. Livia is a certified yoga instructor and loves hiking!

Xinge Li

Graduate Student

Xinge Li is a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program, specializing in Clinical Child Psychology, at the University of Houston. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Northeast Normal University in 2012 and obtained an M.A. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Houston in 2022. Her primary research focus revolves around examining the influence of familial environmental factors, such as family stress, maternal psychological distress, and parenting style, on child psychopathology through the lens of developmental neuroscience. Additionally, she is actively exploring research opportunities related to neurodiversity, bridging her clinical interests with research inquiry.

Kelly Barry

Graduate Student

Kelly is a graduate student in the Clinical Psychology program, on the Child and Family track. Her research focuses on understanding how experiences of stress impact brain development during sensitive developmental periods. She is particularly interested in identifying neuroendocrine and cognitive processes that confer risk for psychopathology. Before coming to UH, she received her masters' degree in clinical research methodology from Fordham University and bachelor's degree from Clemson University.

Haley Laughlin

Graduate Student

Haley is a first-year doctoral student in the Developmental, Cognitive, and Behavioral Neuroscience program at the University of Houston. She graduated from University of Iowa in 2020 with a bachelors degree in Psychology and a certificate in writing. After graduation, she worked as a lab manager in a developmental neurocognition lab at the University of Iowa for two years. During those two years, she also served as the University of Iowa's fNIRS technician. Her research interests include investigating the sources of individual variability of outcomes in children who experience stress and adversity. In her free time, she enjoys concerts, reading, and exploring the Houston area.

Marguerite Knudston

Graduate Student

Marguerite’s research interests include examining the effects of early life adversity on children’s emotion regulation and behavioral outcomes through effects on neurodevelopment, and identifying family environment factors that contribute to resiliency.

Andrea Ortiz Jimenez

Lab Manager

Andrea Ortiz Jimenez is a post-bacc in the lab with a B.S. in Psychology and minor in Human Development and Family Studies from the University of Houston in 2021. She joined the LEED Lab team in July 2021 as a research assistant, with research interests towards the biological predictors of psychopathology in children following traumatic events. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical Child Psychology.

 

Anna Galvan

Research Tech II

Anna Galvan is a research assistant in the lab with a B.S in Psychology and a minor in Biology. She graduated from University of Houston in December 2021. She joined the LEED Lab team in February 2022, with research interests in child’s brain development and how their environments may influence development.

 

Current UH research assistants

• Tyler Banks
• Aila Khan
• Ashlie Mai
• Holden Frick
• Zisan Orak
• Ifrah Ahmad
• Samatha Taraby

Alumni & Former Students

Former Graduate Students:

• Shutian Shen
• Rebecca Lipshutz, Ph.D.
• Brian Biekman
• Parsa Taheri

Former Staff:

• Maya Flores
• April Aragon
• Leslie Perez
• Deja Hatcher
• Juan Pablo Guardia
• Mariana Ramos- Celedon
• Ashley Acuna
• Megan Chan
• Laura Delgado
• Miranda Dominguez
• Marie Douge
• Mikayla Gilliam
• Natalie Hosseini
• Maya Ibrahim
• Maiah Jackson
• Kate Koontz
• Hana Mohamad
• Nesreen Mattar
• Ainash Montgomery
• Oluwashina Ojo
• Emmanuel Oketunmbi
• Camila Quintero
• Catherine Ramos