Lab Member Alumni and Accomplishments

Graduate Student Alumni

Alexa Duran

Master’s Student Alumni
Email: alexaduran7262@gmail.com

Alexa is currently a clinical psychology PhD student at Northern Illinois University under the mentorship of Elizabeth C. Shelleby. Her research broadly focuses on intervention moderators and mechanisms of change (e.g. contextual stressors, family economic stress, emotion regulation) for children with disruptive behavior problems using a developmental psychopathology perspective.

Munira Hasan

Master’s Student Alumni
Email: munirabintehasan@gmail.com

Munira’s research interests center on youth mental health and developmental psychopathology in minority groups. During her graduate training, she developed experience in scientific writing, data analysis, and research methodology while contributing to projects focused on irritability, neurological correlates of developmental psychopathology, and biopsychology. She hopes to continue her career as a full-time researcher in either an academic or industry setting, that advances understanding in underserved and underexplored areas through scientific rigor.

Qiongru Yu

Doctoral Student Alumni
Email: qyu5775@sdsu.edu

Qiongru graduated from the SDSU/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology in May 2026. She completed her clinical internship in Washington, D.C.

Yifan Yuan 

Master’s Student Alumni
Email: yi.fan.yuan@rutgers.edu

Yifan will be attending Rutgers University to pursue a clinical psychology PhD.

Valeria Cordeiro 

Master’s Student Alumni
Email: valeriacordeiro97@gmail.com

Valeria is currently working as a Data Ethics & Sharing Officer for an international Non-Governmental Organization under the Data Management and Intelligence Department based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. She is very grateful for her time and all the knowledge acquired during her years as a Research Assistant and later as a Master Student at TEND lab, this experience gave her all the tools for a job in a data-driven industry. She is currently working on supporting sensitive data sharing issues and implementing data ethics policies.

Tasmia Alam

Master’s Student Alumni
Email: tasmiaalam@hotmail.com

Tasmia is currently a Survey Statistician for the U.S. Census Bureau under the Department of Commerce. She is grateful and excited to be applying the analytical knowledge and skills that she acquired during her time at TEND lab, to provide quality data reports for this nation’s people. She is currently working under the Economic Management division, where she is excited to grow into her new role and eager to expand her statistical knowledge.

Marvin Yan

Master’s Student Alumni
Email: myan5421@sdsu.edu

Marvin is currently a Ph.D. student in the Clinical Science & Psychopathology Research program at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities under the mentorship of Drs. Bonnie Klimes-Dougan and Kathryn Cullen. His research broadly focuses on using neuroimaging and neuromodulation to better understand the neural mechanisms underlying suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Marvin’s most recent project examines the clinical utility of applying causal discovery analytic techniques to fMRI data from depressed patients in a combined tDCS-mindful breathing intervention study.

Lizzie Hodgdon

Master’s Student Alumni
Email: ehodgdon@unm.edu

Lizzie is continuing her research endeavors as a doctoral student in Clinical Psychology at the University of New Mexico under the mentorship of Dr. Kristina Ciesielski. Her research examines the neural, cognitive, and affective underpinnings of pediatric psychopathology, particularly autism spectrum and obsessive-compulsive and related disorders.

Maria Kryza-Lacombe

Doctoral Student Alumni
Email: mkryzalacombe@gmail.com

Maria graduated from the SDSU/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology in 2022. She went on to complete her clinical internship in Neuropsychology at the San Francisco VA Health Care System. Following this, she completed a Neuropsychology/Geropsychology fellowship at the San Francisco VA. Maria is now an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at UC San Francisco’s School of Medicine. Her current research focuses on the intersection of affective and cognitive processes and examines brain-behavior relationships drawing on perspectives from neuroscience, neuropsychology, and clinical psychology.

Michael Liuzzi

Master’s Student Alumni
Email: liuzzitmichael@gmail.com

Michael graduated from SDSU’s Psychology M.A. program in May 2020. He went on to complete his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in May 2026. At UWM, his research focused on investigating neural vulnerability for developing depression and PTSD following acute trauma in youth. He completed his clinical internship at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University/Hasbro Children’s Hospital. Michael is now a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pittsburgh Medical School, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.

Karen Schwartz

Master’s Student Alumni
Email: kgarelik@gmail.com

Karen graduated with her M.S. in Psychology from SDSU, and went on to earn her Ph.D. from the SDSU/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology. She completed her clinical internship at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA. After receiving her doctorate, Karen joined the ADHD Program at the University of Maryland as a Postdoctoral Associate, where she coordinated a randomized trial testing the effectiveness of a school-based depression prevention program for high schoolers with ADHD against referrals to care. Karen is now an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Arcadia University. Here, her scholarship focuses on developing evidence-based depression and suicide prevention programs for youth and families.

Cindy Kiefer

Master’s Student Alumni
Email: ckiefer02@gmail.com

After graduation, Cindy worked as a Clinical Research Coordinator in oncology clinical trials at UCSD’s Moores Cancer Center for 2 years. In the last year, she has been working as a Clinical Research Associate for a clinical research organization called PRA, where she performs site management for pharmaceutical research. Most recently, Cindy worked on Janssen’s COVID vaccine trial.

Lab Staff Alumni

Grace Kathman​ 

Former Research Coordinator 
Email: grace45mk@gmail.com

Erin Peterson​ 

Former Research Coordinator 
Email: erin.olivia.peterson@gmail.com

Erin began her graduate studies as a Clinical Psychology Ph.D. student at The Ohio State University in Fall 2025.  

Stephanie Kaiser​ 

Former Research Coordinator 
Email: skaiser034@gmail.com

Stephanie is currently in the final phases of her Master’s in Mental Health Clinical Counseling program through Northwestern University. As she finishes her clinical training and classes, she is looking forward to being able to provide therapy full time for both children and adults. She is excited to use her extensive research background and neuroscience knowledge to be curious about other people and helping them learn about themselves, in addition to using connections between the mind and body to help improve mental healthcare for a diverse range of clients.

Sophie Krivonosov​

Former Research Programmer
Email: sophiekrivonosov@yahoo.com

Sophie will be joining Costar Group full-time as an Associate Software Engineer in San Diego. She looks forward to applying the hands-on research and development experience she gained at the TEND Lab to real world challenges in the tech industry. In the coming years, she hopes to stay connected to research and pursue a master’s degree that bridges her interests in neuroscience and her growing experience in software engineering.

Conner Swineford

Former Research Programmer
Email: conner.swineford@gmail.com

Conner began his next role as a Data Steward at Cramer Fish Sciences, an organization whose mission is to provide quality, expert science which supports policy decisions and advances the field of natural resources management. Specifically, Conner uses data to find reliable and practical solutions to challenges with fish populations and riparian and aquatic ecology.

Nathan Kirk

Former Research Coordinator
Email: nkirk2@sdsu.edu

Nathan is currently a Ph.D. student in the school psychology program at Lehigh University. He has been working as a graduate research assistant with Project PEAK (Promoting Engagement with ADHD Pre-Kindergarteners) under Drs. George DuPaul, Lee Kern, and Bridget Dever. His interests broadly lie in increasing the effectiveness of and accessibility to mental health interventions for youth. His most recent research has investigated cultural adaptations seen in broadband mental health screeners, the current state of universal social, emotional, and behavioral screening in schools, and the efficacy of a parent training intervention for preschoolers with ADHD using a positive psychology approach.

Lauren Bozzetto

Former Lead Clinical Interviewer
Email: lbozzetto@sdsu.edu

Lauren was previously a Research Coordinator in the TEND Lab for the Project Trauma x Gompers Study, where she oversaw data collection efforts and protocol adherence. Following the end of this study, Lauren became the Lab Manager and gained clinical experience in administering the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM Disorders (SCID) and the Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment (PAPA) for the BIG-Emotions Study.

Research Assistant Alumni

Geneva Toledo
Madison Gratalo
Natalia Iturri
Raechel Rodda
Andy Villaba
Katie Nynas
Yonca Cam
Katrina Cole
Diego Velasquez
Ysabella Panggat