Spring 2025 Postgraduate associate Travel Award Recipients Announced

Supported by the Yale Child Study Center (YCSC), a departmental travel award offers $500 towards the travel expenses of YCSC postgraduate research associates attending national or international scientific conferences. The award is typically offered twice per year, and prior awardees are not eligible.

The goals of this travel award are to encourage postgraduate associates to present their research at scientific conferences, facilitate interaction with leaders in their fields of interest, and support career development. The awardees and related details for this round are as follows.

Yulan Chen

Project title: Cognitive-Motivational Phenotypes in Late Childhood

Mentor: Youngsun T. Cho

Conference: Society of Biological Psychiatry

Gihyun Kim

Project title: Association Between Irritability and Brain Activity During Attention Orienting Following Frustration

Mentor: Wan-Ling Tseng

Conference: Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD)

Emilio Gray

Project title: Investigating the Impact of Internalizing Symptoms on the Efficacy of Pivotal Response Treatment

Mentor: Pamela Ventola

Conference: International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) Annual Meeting

Cate MacDonald

Project title: Examining the role of peer experiences and friendship in suicide risk among adolescents with social anxiety

Mentor: Wendy Silverman

Conference: Anxiety & Depression Association of America (ADAA)

Grace Bell

Project title: Familiarity of a Social Partner During Interactions Increases Attention in Toddlers with Autism: Evidence from a Live Eye Tracking Study

Mentors: Kasia Chawarska and Angelina Vernetti

Conference: International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) Annual Meeting

Applications are typically accepted in the fall and spring with deadlines of October 1 and April 1, with a total of ten awarded per year. Eligible candidates must hold a position as YCSC postgraduate research associate and must submit an abstract that has been accepted for presentation (poster or oral presentation) at a national or international scientific conference with a focus on research performed as part of their role in the department. Additional information and application instructions are available on the center’s intranet.