Team

Cherisse Watts is a doctoral student in the School of Nursing at University of California Los Angeles, and a graduate of Wellesley College and Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science. Her research interests include investigating health disparities and improving quality of care among Black and Latinx children. Her research efforts are concentrated on advocating for medically underserved and low-income families of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and ensuring that they have access to resources needed to achieve optimal health.

Cherisse participates in IDD research with her advisor, Dr. Lauren Clark, Professor and Shapiro Endowed Chair for... more

Dr. Nurit Benrey is a postdoctoral scholar in the Lord Lab. She received her PhD in Clinical Psychology with a Health Emphasis from Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology. She has extensive experiencing working with neurodiverse youth and adults across a variety of clinical and research settings. In terms of research, Nurit has utilized single-channel VEP recordings to advance understanding of the neural differences in autism. Nurit is also passionate about contributing to the Tarjan Center’s mission of advancing the self-determination, inclusion, and quality of life of neurodiverse people and their families.

Giselle Salinas, Ph.D. is a postdoctoral fellow at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior in the Program for Education Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS®) Clinic and the Tarjan Center. Dr. Salinas earned her doctorate in special education at UC Riverside, where she studied the high school transition planning experiences of autistic adults and/or intellectual disability (ID) and their parents. As a graduate student, Dr. Salinas worked closely with Spanish-speaking families at a free autism screening clinic, where she guided families in special education advocacy and autism assessments. Her research interests revolve around the transition to adulthood for young... more

Yuriko Matsuo (Yuri) is a third-year doctoral student at the UCLA School of Nursing. She received her BSN and MSN from the University of Pennsylvania. She has experience working as a psychiatric nurse practitioner in a crisis service for pediatrics. Her research interests lie in the adulthood of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), with a special focus on Down syndrome and their family caregivers, in their mental health, Alzheimer’s disease dementia, and quality of life.

Yuri participates in IDD research with her advisor, Dr. Lauren Clark, Professor and Shapiro Endowed Chair for Developmental Disability Studies at UCLA. Projects include the... more

Dr. James Yang is a postdoctoral scholar at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior in the Program for Education Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS®) Clinic. He earned his doctorate in Human Development and Psychology from UCLA’s School of Education and Information Studies. As a graduate student, he studied the employment and post-secondary education attainment of high school students with autism in addition to training teachers to implement the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI). His research interests include further understanding the role of adaptive functioning skills and self-determination on employment and educational outcomes of... more

Elsa Cincione is a Clinical Psychology Intern in the Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disabilities Treatment Track at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. She is also a PsyD candidate at the PGSP-Stanford Consortium, where she completed training and research in the Stanford Autism Center. In addition to her work in the Tarjan Center at UCLA, Elsa is involved with the Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS™), the Child and Adult Neurodevelopmental (CAN) Clinic, and the Parent-Child Interaction Therapy Clinic. Elsa is passionate about supporting self-advocates and her research revolves around enhancing and supporting problem-solving and... more

Samara Wolpe is a practicum student in PEERS®. She is a PhD candidate at UCLA studying under the mentorship of Dr. Jeffrey Wood, and was a UC Leadership Education and Neurodevelopment and Related Disabilities (LEND) trainee. Samara is a PEERS® Certified provider with experience working with PEERS® for teens and young adults, an Educational Psychologist for autistic and neurodivergent teens and young adults, and a published researcher who advocates for neurodiversity-forward, community partnership based research in the autistic community. Samara is passionate about improving outcomes in employment, education, social and emotional welfare, and quality of life in autistic adults.