PhD in ABA
Meet Our Current PhD Students
2021 Cohort

Arturo Garcia, M.A., BCBA
Research Interests:
- ABA in Child Welfare and foster care system
- ABA within Department of Juvenile Justice
- Assessment and acquisition of verbal behavior
- Assessment and treatment of automatically maintained problem behaviors
Current Research Projects:
- An experimental analysis of voice volume for children with autism spectrum disorder
Classes Taught or Currently Teaching:
- Behavioral Assessment and Intervention Planning in ABA (Doctoral Teaching Assistant)
- Single Case Experimental Design (Doctoral Teaching Assistant)

Jesenia Giambrone, MS, BCBA
Research Interests:
- Assessment and treatment of severe problem behavior
- Contextual variables and barriers to treatment effectiveness
- ABA and the treatment of symptoms of mental diagnoses (RAD,
ODD, PTSD)
Classes Taught or Currently Teaching:
- Fundamentals of Applied Behavior Analysis (Doctoral Teaching Assistant)
- Functional Assessment (Doctoral Teaching Assistant)
Ariandna Martinez, MS, BCBA
Research Interests:
- Autism/developmental disabilities
- Assessment and treatment of problem behavior
- Skill acquisition
- Early intervention and family centered intervention
- Caregiver and teacher training
Classes Taught or Currently Teaching:
- ABA Graduate Practicum Seminar (Doctoral Teaching Assistant)
- ABA Undergraduate Practicum Seminar (Doctoral Teaching Assistant)
Sharayah Tai, M.S., BCBA
Research interests:
- ABA in health, sports, and fitness
- Increasing long-term motivation in individuals
- Enhancing athletic performance and improving athletic behaviors to reduce injury-risk factors
TA courses:
- Research Methods and Ethical Issues in ABA
Basic Principles of ABA
2020 Cohort
Shreeya Deshmukh, M.S.
Research Interests:
- ABA and health, sports, and fitness
- Behavioral interventions and coaching procedures
- ABA therapy in a dance context
Current Research Projects:
- A comparison of the effectiveness of verbal feedback and video feedback to improve dance skills
- An analysis of the accuracy and completeness of verbal and video feedback during dance training
- Reviewing behavioral interventions used to promote physical activity in individuals
with IDD
Classes taught or currently teaching:
- ABA in Complex Communities (Instructor)
- Research Methods and Ethical Issues in Behavior Analysis (Instructor)
- ABA Basic Principles (Doctoral Teaching Assistant)
Asha Fuller, M.S., BCBA
Research Interests:
- Behavioral interventions in child welfare settings
- Interventions for addiction recovery and maintenance
- Teaching safety and self-advocacy skills
- Staff training
- Translational research
Current Research Projects:
- A systematic review of delay discounting and alcohol use interventions in humans
- Evaluating BST to teach identification of choking hazards to substitute caregivers
- A meta-analysis of behavioral interventions in child welfare settings
Classes taught or currently teaching:
- Observational Methods and Functional Analysis (Instructor)
- Behavioral Assessment and Intervention Planning in Applied Behavior Analysis (Instructor)
- Applied Behavior Analysis in Complex Community Environments (Doctoral Teaching Assistant)
- Experimental Analysis of Behavior (Doctoral Teaching Assistant)
- Single Case Experimental Design (Doctoral Teaching Assistant)
Justin B Han, M.S., BCBA
Research Interests:
- Functional Analysis Methodology and Training
- Assessment and Treatment of Problem Behaviors
- Cultural Adaptation of Behavior Technology
- Translational Research
Research Projects Underway:
- Visual-Inspection Fidelity of Functional Analysis
- Implementation and Efficacy of Indirect and Descriptive Assessment
Classes Taught or Currently Teaching:
- Fundamentals of Applied Behavior Analysis (Doctoral Teaching Assistant)
- Visual-Analysis of Functional Analysis Data (Graduate Level)

Alyssa Rojas, M.S., RBT
Research Interests:
- Prevention of problem behavior
- Assessment and treatment of severe problem behavior
- Assessment and treatment of automatically maintained problem behavior
- Early intervention
- Interdisciplinary school-based intervention
- Teacher training
Current Research Projects:
- Systematic literature review of antecedent based strategies for vocal and motor stereotypy
- Precursor Identification Assessment
- Descriptive study on appropriate behaviors of typically developing preschoolers
- Function analysis of topographies of problem behavior
Classes taught or currently teaching:
- Applied Behavior Analysis in Autism and Developmental Disabilities (Instructor)
- Applied Behavior Analysis in Autism and Developmental Disabilities (Doctoral Teaching Assistant)
- Practicum Seminar (Doctoral Teaching Assistant)
Danielle Russo, M.S., BCBA
Research Interests:
- Multidisciplinary school-based services
- Assessment and treatment of problem behavior
- Evidence-based staff training
- Early intervention
- Increasing quality of school-based behavioral assessment and intervention
Current Research Projects:
- Using class-wide intervention to increase handwashing in schools
- Review of multicomponent function-based interventions implemented by school personnel for students with disabilities
- Review of teacher training on use of function-based interventions for students with disabilities
- Evaluation of teacher-implemented latency-based functional analysis and intervention in the classroom setting
Classes taught or currently teaching:
- Functional Assessment (Teaching Assistant)
- Behavior Modification (Teaching Assistant
- Practicum Seminar in ABA (Co-Instructor)
- Practicum Seminar in ABA (Instructor)
2019 Cohort

Rasha Baruni, M.S., BCBA
Research Interests:
- BST and safety skills
- Clinical practices and safety skills training for children with ASD
- Increasing behavior variability for children with ASD using lag schedules of reinforcement
- Assessment and treatment of problem behavior
Current Research Projects:
- A survey of safety skills training
- An evaluation of an enhanced safety skills program for practitioners
- Critical issues in teaching safety skills to children
- An evaluation of video self-modeling to teach firearm safety skills
- An evaluation of parent implemented web-based behavior skills training for firearm safety skills
- Using behavioral skills training to increase fidelity of staff room searches at a juvenile residential facility
- Passive cooperation: A review of procedures to teach tolerance of unavoidable aversive events in daily life for individuals with autism or related disabilities
- Evaluating behavioral skills training to train online gaming safety skills
- Teaching poison safety skills to children with autism using small-scale simulation training
Classes taught or currently teaching:
-
Fundamentals of ABA (Co-instructor)
-
ABA Basic Principles (Teaching Assistant)
-
Fundamentals of ABA (Instructor)
-
Behavior Assessment and Intervention Planning (Instructor)
-
Supervision in ABA (Instructor; Fall 2021)

Amalix Flores, M.S., BCBA
Research Interests:
- Translational Research
- Adventitious reinforcement of problem behavior/ errors
- High-Probability Instructional Sequence Procedural Variations and Effectiveness
Research Projects Underway:
-
High-Probability Instructional Sequence: A Review on Current Procedural Variations
-
A Survey on Current Practices for Designing and Implementing High-Probability Instructional Sequences
-
The Effects of Choice on High-Probability Instructional Sequence Effectiveness
-
Assessment of the Reinforcer Value of High-Probability Instructional Sequence
-
Behavioral Principles Survey
-
Evaluating the Effects of Multiple Exemplar Training on Tact-to-Mand Transfer in Children with Autism
-
Evaluating the Class Pass Intervention: Reducing Disruptive Behaviors of Children with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders
Classes taught or currently teaching:
- Single-Case Experimental Design
Child Clinical Psychology- Behavior Therapy
-
Basic Statistics
-
Psychology: Basic Process
-
Behavior Modification
-
Research Methods
-
Health Socio-Anhropology
-
Practicum Seminar in Applied Behavior Analysis
-
Applied Behavior Analysis and Developmental Disabilities
-
Practicum in Applied Behavior Analysis
2018 Cohort

Trevor Maxfield, M.A., BCBA
Research Interests:
-
Safety Skills
-
Incorporation of technology into treatment
Research Projects Underway:
- An Investigation into the Effectiveness of Bullying Interventions: A Meta-Analysis
- Video Self-modeling to Teach Firearm Safety Skills
- Evaluation of Parent Implemented Web-Based Behavior Skills Training for Firearm Safety Skills Group Study
Classes taught or currently teaching:
-
Practicum in Applied Behavior Analysis
-
Research Methods and Ethical Issues in Applied Behavior Analysis
Program Graduates (by year)
2021
Jennifer Cook/Summer
Jesse DePaolo/Summer
Natalie Mandel/Summer
2020
Marlesha Bell/ August
Anthony Concepcion/ August
Hannah MacNaul/ May
Bryon Miller/ August
Heather Zerger/Fall
2019
Spencer Gauert/ December
Karie John/May
Daniel Kwak/August
Jessica Moore/ May
Marissa Novotny/ May
Merritt Schenk/ August
Lindsey Slattery/ May
Jennifer Weyman/ May
2018
Claudia Campos/ August
Anna Garcia/ May
Cynthia Livingston/ August
Sindy Sanchez/ August
Leslie Singer/ December
Diego Valbuena/ May
2017
Rocky Haynes/ May
Mallory Quinn/ May