Introducing New YCSC Community Members: Meet Alexa Zelaya & Hannahlise Wang

Yale Child Study Center (YCSC)—which serves as the Department of Child Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine—welcomes and introduces new community members on an on-going basis. All new faculty, staff, and trainees are invited to share bios and photos upon joining the department, and those who wish to participate are announced approximately monthly. This summer, in addition to the new trainees who were recently announced, the department welcomes two new postgraduate associates who joined YCSC in June, Hannahlise Wang, in the Anxiety and Mood Disorders Program, and Alexa R. Zelaya, with the Affective Youth Lab.

Hannahlise Wang, BS, is working with Emily Olfson, MD, PhD, on a genetic study of youth anxiety, as well as with Rebecca Etkin, PhD, on a parent-based treatment for adolescent anxiety. She earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Maryland in May. During her time there, she served as a head research assistant supporting a treatment study for parents with attention deficit/hyperactivity disortder (ADHD) and their children. Her honors thesis examined the role of parental responsibility in the familial link of anxiety. Wang also served as an undergraduate counselor at Camp Baker and Confident Kids Camp, implementing behavioral interventions for children with ADHD and selective mutism.

Alexa R. Zelaya, BS, joined the YCSC Affective Youth (YAY) Lab to study the neurological and behavioral indices of youth irritability, after graduating from the University of California, Riverside (UCR) with a bachelor’s of science in psychology and a minor in education. At UCR, she was involved in multiple research labs and fellowships, with a specific focus of empathy, climate anxiety, and future-oriented cognition. Zelaya’s research interests remain consistent, with a desire to translate her previous research experiences and skills to the YAY Lab.