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LABORATORY DIRECTOR
A. Rebecca Neal, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology
The University of Texas at Austin
E-mail: nealr@psy.utexas.edu
Curriculum Vita: [PDF]
A. Rebecca Neal, Ph.D., director of the Child Development in Context Laboratory, received a dual program doctorate in child clinical and applied developmental psychology from the University of Miami in 2002. She completed her internship and an NRSA postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for the Study of Children at Risk, part of the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Dr. Neal joined the psychology department at the University of Texas in January 2005 as a research fellow and lecturer. She was promoted to Assistant Professor in January 2009. Dr. Neal has received grant funding from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Her research program focuses on the identification of markers and mechanisms of developmental delay in at risk populations. Current projects include an examination of the development of joint attention and regulatory function at-risk infants and toddlers. A second, and related line of study is focused on the social-emotional and social-cognitive functioning of children affected by autism spectrum disorders.
GRADUATE STUDENTS
Arianna Kyra Stefanatos, B.S. (3rd year)
E-mail: akstefanatos@utexas.edu
Arianna Kyra Stefanatos, a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, graduated from the University of Toronto in 2008 with an Honours Bachelor of Science degree as a Specialist in Psychology. Arianna then worked for a year as a Clinical Research Project Assistant with Dr. Maureen Dennis at the Hospital for Sick Children and the University of Toronto. She contributed to two multicenter grants funded by the National Institute of Health examining the social outcomes of children and adults suffering from Traumatic Brain Injury and Spina Bifida. Arianna entered the University of Texas at Austin clinical psychology program in 2009.
Arianna’s research interests involve the early identification of developmental delays in young children, specifically in socio-communicative domains. She is currently examining the biological and environmental determinants of prosocial and emotional behaviors, focusing on the role of the serotonin transporter gene in conferring differential susceptibility to various outcomes and behaviors.
Bridget Gamber, B.A. (2nd year) 
E-mail: bridget@mail.utexas.edu
Bridget Catherine Gamber joined the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program and the CDCL in the fall of 2010. She completed her undergraduate studies with honors in Psychology and Studio Art at the University of Miami. Bridget conducted her undergraduate thesis under the direction of Heather Henderson and Peter Mundy. The project assessed gaze following deficits in adolescents with high-functioning autism using eye-tracking technology. She has worked with children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders and other disabilities since 2005.
Bridget is currently focused on exploring prodromal symptoms in infants at elevated risk for autism spectrum disorders. Specifically, she is interested in examining differences in joint-attention development and their relation to language and diagnostic outcomes. Identifying markers of developmental delay will facilitate early detection and intervention for individuals with autism.
2009-2010 LAB PHOTO
 From left to right, Arianna Stefanatos, Rebecca Neal, Daniel Faso, Renee Guenther, Natalie Raff, Kathleen Seybt, Hang Phan, and Lorena Urbina.
2010-2011 LAB PHOTO
Top row, Blair Barton, Rebecca Neal, Bridget Gamber, Brittany Fellwock, Caitlin Tallent, Eithan Kotowski, Lorena Urbina
Bottom row, Arianna Stefanatos, Natalie Raff, Lisa Sperle, and Saiqa Hasan
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