Biobehavioral Research Laboratory Meet Our Team

Michelle Bosquet Enlow, PhD

Dr. Bosquet Enlow, principal investigator of the BRL, is a developmental and clinical psychologist with specialized training in infant mental health (birth to age 5), the assessment and treatment of traumatic stress in children and adults, the development of child stress regulation, and the etiology and maintenance of anxiety. She received a B.A. in Psychology from Yale University (mentor Dr. Alice Carter) and a PhD from the Developmental Psychopathology and Clinical Science Program at the University of Minnesota (mentor Dr. Byron Egeland). She completed an internship in Clinical Psychology and a fellowship in Infant Mental Health at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center (mentor Dr. Joy Osofsky) and an APA-accredited postdoctoral fellowship in Clinical Psychology through the Boston Consortium in Clinical Psychology (mentor Dr. Glenn Saxe). Dr. Bosquet Enlow is particularly interested in understanding how risk for mental health difficulties throughout life are established in early development. Ultimately, she aims to inform the design of interventions that support healthy development and prevent the occurrence of mental health problems, particularly in highly vulnerable populations.

Dashiell Sacks, PhD

Dashiell (Dash) received his PhD at the Thompson Institute, University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia in 2023, under the supervision of Professor Daniel Hermens. During his PhD, Dash worked on the Longitudinal Adolescent Brain Study (LABS), a project investigating adolescent brain development using a combination of neuroimaging (EEG, MRI), neurocognitive, and psychological assessments. His thesis investigated EEG phase-amplitude coupling, a measure of synchronization between neural activity, as a potential neurobiological marker for mental health and cognition during early adolescence. Dash has published papers investigating both MRI and EEG correlates of youth mental health. At Boston Children’s Hospital, Dash is excited to be working on the Emotion Project, combining EEG and behavioral, cognitive, and clinical measures to investigate emotion processing and early markers of anxiety risk and resilience.

Marialuisa Cummins
Clinical Research Specialist, Associated Staff

Marialuisa received her BS in Psychology and Health with a concentration in Public Health; additionally, she minored in Sociology with a concentration in Health and Medicine as well as in Human Development and Family Studies from the University of Houston. Marialuisa served as a bilingual Clinical Research Assistant and Study Coordinator for the ECHO Study. Her research interests include working with the Latinx population, including understanding how cultural stigmas such as familism, stress, and their surroundings influence child development and mental and behavioral outcomes. In the future, Marialuisa aspires to earn a PhD in Clinical Psychology to contribute to growing knowledge about how cultural backgrounds affect a child's development into adulthood while also taking a clinical approach to help break down stigmas surrounding mental health disorders within the Latinx community.

Anna Kierski 
Clinical Research Assistant

Anna earned her BS in Neuroscience with a minor in Scientific Computing from the University of Notre Dame in 2025. During her time as a student, she served as a Research Assistant on a range of projects, including investigations into the effects of vagus nerve stimulation on mood regulation in adolescents at risk for self-harm, the impact of childhood socioeconomic status on adult executive functioning, and structural brain changes associated with childhood trauma in individuals with euthymic bipolar disorder. For her honors thesis, Anna explored the mental health challenges faced by single parents, focusing on the roles of stigma, substance use, and socioeconomic barriers. She is excited to be a part of the ECHO Project as a Clinical Research Assistant and plans to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology with a focus on child development.

Mariana Orihuela
Clinical Research Assistant

Mariana received her BA in Psychology, with a minor in Neuroscience, from the University of South Carolina in 2024. During her undergraduate studies, she worked on multiple research projects focused on health disparities and children’s health. Her research interests include working with children from underrepresented communities and exploring ways to prevent and reduce the effects of childhood trauma. Mariana currently works as a bilingual Clinical Research Assistant for the ECHO Study. She is excited to continue serving the community with care and kindness as a healthcare professional in the future. 

Asja Abron
Clinical Research Coordinator

Asja received her BS in Psychology and BA in Education for Human Development & Family Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2023. In her undergraduate career, Asja worked as a Research Assistant on projects focused on social and neural correlates of risk-taking among adolescents, the parenting practices of Black fathers, and self-injury among menstruating teenagers. Outside of research, Asja has experience working with adolescents through her work with students at an education non-profit that prepares first-generation and low-income students for college and careers. Asja joined the Emotion Project in the BRL in 2023. She hopes to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology to further study the development of psychopathology in youth, particularly in marginalized communities.

Pauline Vartany
Clinical Research Assistant

Pauline received her BA in Psychology, with minors in Cognitive Science and Musicology, from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2024. As an undergraduate, Pauline worked as a Research Assistant on projects focused on social communication behaviors in children and adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder, cognitive and physical health outcomes of race-based stress among college students, and the association between parent-child interactions and emotion. She completed her honors thesis on executive functioning outcomes among children with comorbid ADHD and anxiety. Pauline is very excited to be a part of the Emotion Project in the BRL as a Clinical Research Assistant. She hopes to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology to continue studying cognitive development and psychopathology in children.

Madalon “Maddy” Hammell 
Clinical Research Assistant

Maddy received her BS in Behavioral Neuroscience and minor in Art from Northeastern University in 2025. As an undergraduate, she worked as a research assistant in the Learning and Brain Development Lab, studying the development of decision making and learning processes across adolescence. Her honors thesis focused on the association between internalizing symptoms and emotional face processing. Maddy is excited to extend her understanding of neurodevelopment in her role with the Emotion Project as a Clinical Research Assistant and to contribute to work with exciting clinical applications. In the future, she hopes to pursue a degree in Clinical Psychology and work with pediatric populations to improve mental health outcomes with early interventions.