The Team
B.A. Wesleyan University
M.Ed. Boston College
Ph.D. University of Michigan
Dr. Rhiannon Luyster is the director of the LI+TLE Lab at Emerson College and a Full Professor in Communication Sciences and Disorders. She is a developmental psychologist who studies social communication and language in young children with autism.
B.A. University of Southern California
M.A. University of Pennsylvania
Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania
Dr. Sudha Arunachalam is the director at the Language Experience and Acquisition Research at NYU Lab. She is a Full Professor of Communicative Sciences and Disorders, and she studies language development in young children ages 0 to 5 years. In her research program, she examines how infants, toddlers, and preschoolers acquire their native language. She studies children who are developing typically, children with autism, and children with language delay. She is particularly interested in the learning mechanisms underlying language acquisition and in how caregiver-child interactions support learning.
Clinical Psychologist
B.A. University of San Diego
Psy.D. California Institute of Integral Studies
Dr. Catherine Sancimino is a licensed clinical psychologist and Assistant Professor at the Seaver Autism Center within Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She has expertise in comprehensive assessment to determine the presence of autism spectrum disorder. She has provided psychological services in diverse settings, including pediatric primary care, outpatient psychiatry, public schools, and research labs. Dr. Sancimino is interested in learning how multisensory processing and adaptive skills develop in children with autism.
Thuy Buonocore
Project Assistant, LI+TLE Lab
B.A. University of California, Los Angeles
M.A. New York University
Thuy Buonocore has extensive experience in patient care coordination in clinical settings through her work at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and South Shore Hospital. She is passionate about bringing people together and building community, especially for families with young children.
Kelly Steen
Associate Research Scientist, NYU LEARN Lab
B.A. University of Colorado
M.S. Emerson College
Kelly is a pediatric speech-language pathologist with experience in educational, clinical, and research environments. She has worked with young children and their families in a variety of settings including Early Intervention, pediatric private practice, preschools, daycare centers, Head Start classrooms, and home-based programs while collaborating with public school systems. Kelly previously served as a Clinical Research Coordinator for several autism research studies at Massachusetts General Hospital. She values the importance of participating in clinical research to contribute to the field on a broader scale.
Lauren B. Nehilla
Research Affiliate
B.A. University of Rochester
M.S. Emerson College
Lauren is a licensed and certified speech-language pathologist with clinical experience in Early Intervention and public schools. As a clinical educator and instructor, Lauren’s supervision and classroom teaching focuses on the clinical processes for treatment and assessment of developmental and school-aged speech and language disorders. She has been involved in clinical research efforts (service learning through a parenting program for incarcerated mothers; understanding and supporting the needs of Autistic college students) and serves on graduate thesis committees in the Communication Sciences and Disorders Department.