Stephanie Nicole Ross Foundation, Inc.

Catherine is entering her sixth year of the Ph.D. program in Clinical Psychology, focusing on neuropsychology at the University of Florida. Cat’s research focuses on identifying vascular risk factors that put older adults at increased risk for postoperative cognitive complications. She is also interested in understanding the contributions of anesthesia to cognitive decline. She hopes that her research will help identify people who are most at risk for cognitive change after surgery, intervene earlier, and potentially reduce or avoid brain-related complications due to surgery. Outside of the office, Cat enjoys outdoor activities, including kayaking at the springs, long walks, and berry picking.

Czarinah is starting her first year of the Psy.D Clinical Psychology program, with a concentration in Clinical Neuropsychology, at Nova Southeastern University. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a triple major in biology, cognitive science, and psychology and a double minor in computer science and data science. For three years, she was involved in clinical research studies at the UCSF Neuroscape lab where she discovered her interests in neuropsychology. She’s interested in studying neurodevelopmental disabilities such as ASD and ADHD, and neurological disorders, especially brain tumors and epilepsy. Her goal is to help improve methods for diagnosing, preventing, and treating various neurological and psychiatric disorders. During her free time, she loves to read books, ballroom dance, and figure skate. 

Margaux is a second-year graduate student pursuing her Master of Social Work at Florida State University. She plans to become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) to practice mental health therapy focused on developmental disorders, particularly autism and ADHD, and the challenges those populations face in adulthood. Her goal is to provide financially accessible autism evaluations for adults in the South Florida area. When not thinking about neurodivergence, Margaux spends her time organizing fandom spaces and reading as much fiction as possible.

Cheshire has nearly completed her final year before entering the internship portion of her graduate training, which is the last step before officially earning her Ph.D. She has spent the last year preparing and interviewing for internship programs, and she was placed at her top internship program at the University of Chicago! She is looking forward to broadening her clinical experiences to include more diverse patient populations and continuing to be involved in the healthcare of the community. She will be defending her dissertation in late May, which show brain functions that change after cognitive training in older adults. She hopes that her findings can help develop treatment recommendations for older adults with cognitive decline. Thanks to the help of virtual conferences, she has also been able to present her research at five different research conferences over the past year, one of which she was lucky enough to attend in Spain. She has been able to publish her dissertation findings as a first-author publication and she is looking forward to her move to Chicago and entering her last year in the Ph.D. program!