People
Faculty
Jenny Padilla
Jenny Padilla is an Assistant Professor of Psychology and Collegiate Chair of the William J. Shaw Center for Children and Families. She is also a Faculty Fellow for the Institute for Latino Studies and the Eck Institute for Global Health. She earned her BA from the University of California, Los Angeles, and her Ph.D. from the Pennsylvania State University. Her research focuses on the influences of sibling-related family dynamics on adolescent development. Dr. Padilla is particularly interested in how cultural values, such as familism/familismo, shape family roles, responsbilities, and relationships in Latino families.
Graduate Students
Adriana Miranda
Ariana is from the Chicagoland area. She is a first-year psychology Ph.D. student in the developmental program at the University of Notre Dame. She received a B.S. in Psychology with a concentration in developmental and a B.S. in Communication with a concentration in interpersonal relationships at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is interested in research involving health disparities in ethnic minority communities for children and adolescents, and the intersection of family dynamics and culture. During her free time, she enjoys reading, going to sporting events, and spending time with family and friends.
Yunyan Zhao
Yunyan Zhao received her B.Sc. in psychology from Central China Normal University, and M.Ed in developmental psychology from Beijing Normal University. She is interested in child and adolescent development, family dynamics and family system theory, and person-centered methods. She likes to go to movies and plays, go to fairs and other outdoor activities. She does yoga and watch volleyball games. Besides that, she is a huge fan of glutinous rice products.
Undergraduate Students
Alyson Chin
Alyson is a senior from Brooklyn, NY. She is a part of the Program of Liberal Studies and the Glynn Honors Program. Alyson loves getting involved in interdisciplinary research and hopes to study topics in gerontology, family, and health as it relates to different ethnic groups after college. While at Notre Dame she worked as an undergraduate research fellow in the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Studies (Cohort 2020-21) where she supported various projects in literature, sociology and psychology, and founded Lyons Hall’s dorm bubble tea restaurant in 2021. Last semester she studied abroad in Chile where alongside classes, volunteered for the Programa Adulto Mayor at the university and enjoyed backpacking in Chile’s Patagonia region. Outside the classroom, she enjoys spending time with her housemates off-campus and playing competitive sports. Alyson hopes that during her time in LASF she can learn how projects are developed from beginning to end as well as develop new research skills along the way.
Kenzie Crowley
Kenzie Crowley is a junior majoring in Psychology and minoring in Theology at the University of Notre Dame. Her hometown is Arlington, Virginia, but she currently resides in McGlinn Hall. She is interested in child development and sibling relationships.
Maggie Gallagher
Maggie Gallagher (she/her) is a senior from Goshen, Indiana. She is majoring in Psychology and Gender Studies and minoring in Italian. Outside of the LASF lab she works with TutorND and is involved with the psychology and Italian clubs, as well as Big Brothers Big Sisters South Bend. Maggie is also a member of Triota, the ND Gender Studies honor society. Her main academic interests include prison abolition, along with disability and mad studies.
Iliana Gamboa
Iliana is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Letters with a major in Psychology, a supplemental major in Pre-Health, and a minor in Latino Studies. She currently participates in various clubs on campus including SUB and Diversity Council, she tutors elementary to middle school students three days a week for TutorND, and she volunteers for Heartland Hospice on the weekends. After graduation she hopes to attend graduate school and be a part of a psychology program.
Kyle Garcia
Kyle is a junior currently studying Applied Computational Mathematics and Statistics (ACMS) and double majoring in Psychology. He is from San Diego, CA and he lives in Keenan Hall, where he serves as the Athletic Commissioner. This year, he is serving as the president of the Michael Good Chapter of Silver Wings, which is a nationwide organization that aims to spread awareness about national security and air and space. He is interested in learning more about the intersection of psychology, statistics, and data science. He enjoys nature, spending time with his family, his dog, and his cat, and having fun playing sports.
Mikaela Gonzalez
Mikaela is a sophomore at The University of Notre Dame. She lives in Pasquerilla East Hall and serves as a Multicultural Commissioner for her dorm. Along with being a Neuroscience and Behavior Major with a supplementary major in Latino Studies, she is also a Questbridge Finalist and a Fighting Irish Scholar. She was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY along with her 6 other siblings. She is the proud daughter of two Ecuadorian immigrants and is very family oriented.
Lydia Lang
Lydia is a senior at Notre Dame from Albany, NY majoring in Neuroscience and Behavior with minors in Anthropology and Science, Technology, and Values (STV). In addition to working in the LASF Lab, she is a TA for molecular biology, a Building Bridges scholar and Learning Coach, and a Digital Outreach Intern for the nonprofit Pandemic Parenting! Before working in this lab, she worked in the Zhou Lab at the Harper Cancer Research Institute studying breast cancer for two and a half years. Outside of class, she enjoys drawing, traveling to new places, and spending time with family and friends!
Tony Perez
Tony (he/they) is a 5th-year senior. His primary major is in Psychology, and he also has a supplementary major in Latino Studies. He is from San Diego, California, and after graduation, he is moving to Queens, New York to work within the medical field. His passions specifically involve in working with the Latino community, the LGBTQ+ community, and in mental health. In his free time, he has been performing in the theater for over three years. Most notably, he performed in Show Some Skin 2020, in multiple online productions during Covid, and as King Duncan in Hamlet.
Ely Rodriguez
Ely Rodriguez (she/her) is a senior studying Neuroscience and Behavior at the University of Notre Dame. She also has two minors in Compassionate Care in Medicine and Health, Humanities, and Society. She is from Atlanta, Georgia and her parents are from Mexico. In addition to being a part of this lab, she serves as the Co-Chair of Diversity Council's Student Life Committee, a senior fellow for the Gender Relations Center, and am active within my dorm community at Pasquerilla West Hall.
Andrea Romero
Andrea is a senior at the University of Notre Dame majoring in Psychology and Sociology. She is from the southwest side of Chicago, and she plans on returning after graduation to work in the nonprofit sector. Outside of the lab she works at the Meruelo Center for Career Development, and she is a member of several clubs on campus such as the Frontline Multicultural Advocacy Club, Latino Student Alliance, Student Coalition for Immigration Advocacy and is the co-president of the Balfour Student Board for the Balfour-Hesburgh Scholars Program.
Sarah D'Spain
Sarah D’Spain is a sophomore majoring in neuroscience and behavior at the University of Notre Dame. She is from a small town in Texas called Boerne, but she currently lives in Lyons Hall at Notre Dame. She is hoping to work with the special needs community in the future through speech and language pathology.
Vanessa Villalpando
Vanessa is a current junior from northwest Indiana studying Neuroscience and Behavior. She currently intends on attending medical school and pursuing a career in neurology. She has a particular interest in how environmental factors can shape the anatomy and physiology of the brain. In Dr. Padilla’s lab, she is able to express her research interests, expand her skills as a researcher, and applys them to her future career goals.