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Director & Supervisor
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Dr. Stephanie Smith (she/her)

Associate Professor of Psychology,

University of Southern Mississippi

Adjunct Faculty, Yale Child Study Center

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Dr. Smith graduated from Brandeis University in 2003 with a B.A. in Psychology and Anthropology. She then received her M.S. in 2007 and her Ph.D. in 2012 from the Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program at the Florida State University. Prior to graduation, she completed a pre-doctoral internship in Clinical Psychology at the Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota in 2012. Upon graduating, Dr. Smith completed a NIMH T32 Post-Doctoral Training Program in Childhood Neuropsychiatric Disorders at the Yale Child Study Center.

Current Graduate Students
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Fayth Walbridge (she/her)

Sixth Year Graduate Student

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Fayth joined Dr. Smith’s lab in 2018. She received her B.A. in psychology from the University of Wyoming. She is interested in examining the development and treatment of Neurodevelopmental Disorders such as Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in children. Her research interests also include how and why treatments work for children with externalizing behaviors. She is currently on clinical internship at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

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Email: fayth.walbridge@usm.edu

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Tiffany Harris (she/her)

Fifth Year Graduate Student

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Tiffany joined Dr. Smith’s lab in 2019. She received her B.A. in Applied Linguistics from Georgia State University and her M.S. in Clinical Counseling Psychology from Brenau University. Her research interests include the development and treatment of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, specifically Autism Spectrum Disorder and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. She is also interested in examining factors that contribute to comorbid maladaptive externalizing and internalizing behaviors in children with these disorders. She is currently on clinical internship at  The University of Nebraska Medical Center - Munroe-Myer Institute for Genetics and Rehabilitation. 

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Email: tiffany.g.harris@usm.edu

Zachary Wilde (he/him)

Fourth Year Graduate Student

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Zachary joined Dr. Smith’s lab in 2020. From 2013-2017, he served as an active duty Marine in the ammunitions and explosive field. Aside from his primary military occupation, he was responsible for leading, training, and mentoring Marines, finding great joy in doing so. After being honorably discharged from the United States Marine Corps, he pursued a degree in psychology. He received his B.S. in psychology from Washington State University in 2020. His research interests lie in examining the neural correlates of resilience, self-agency and other character strengths in marginalized and at-risk children and adolescents. He is also interested in enhancing treatment outcomes in youth with externalizing behaviors and Neurodevelopmental Disorders.

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Email: zachary.wilde@usm.edu

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Mairin Cotter (she/her)

Third Year Graduate Student

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Mairin joined Dr. Smith’s lab in 2021. She received her B.A. in psychology from Bellarmine University and her M.S. in Clinical Research Methods at Fordham University. She is interested in the development and treatment of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, specifically Autism Spectrum Disorder. Additionally, she is interested in examining the neural correlates related to internalizing and externalizing behaviors in children through neuroimaging techniques such as electroencephalography (EEG). 

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Email: mairinclaire.cotter@usm.edu

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Rachel Kaplan (she/her)

Second Year Graduate Student

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Rachel joined Dr. Smith’s lab in 2022. She graduated from Salem State University with a B.S and B.A. in psychology and philosophy, respectively. In 2021, She earned her M.S. in applied developmental psychology from the University of New Orleans. Her research interests broadly lie in the multimodal examination of the emotion regulation and affective components of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and comorbid internalizing disorders. ​ 

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Email: rachel.kaplan@usm.edu

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Cameron Pothoven (he/him)

First Year Graduate Student

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Cameron Joined Dr. Smiths Lab in 2023. He graduated from the University of Central Florida with a B.S in psychology. His research interests primarily involve examining cognitive deficits in children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) with an emphasis on working memory and attention.

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Email: cameron.pothoven@usm.edu

Lab Alumni

Dr. Kathleen Ramsey

Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Autism Research at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

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Dr. Brandi Ellis

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Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics, Heersink School of Medicine, University of Alabama in Birmingham

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Dr. Kimberly (Barajas) Sood

Clinical Psychologist, Massie Family Clinic, UC Davis MIND Institute

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