People: Staff

Sara Van Den Heuvel

Sara Van Den Heuvel (B.A.) joined the CDN lab in 2007 as an undergraduate research assistant and has been manager of the lab since the fall of 2009. Sara has degrees in Child Psychology and Printmaking. Her research interests include the role early experience on brain development, early deprivation, and the development of emotional perception. In addition to managing the lab, Sara is actively involved in the Impact of Stress and BDNF Genotype on Internationally Adopted Children as well as the Executive Functioning in Low-Risk Children Born Prematurely study projects. Outside of the lab, Sara enjoys doing art related activities, such as painting and printmaking.

Ruskin Hunt

Ruskin Hunt, Ph.D., is a research associate in the Cognitive Developmental Neuroimaing Laboratory. He obtained his doctoral degree in Brain and Cognitive Sciences from the University of Rochester, and currently investigates the neural basis of human learning and memory during development using behavioral, electrophysiological, and functional neuroimaging methods. He is particularly interested in the mechanisms that underlie learning in the absence of awareness and the role such learning mechanisms play in the acquisition of complex behaviors.

Jennifer Wenner

Jennifer Wenner, Ph.D., is a research associate in the Cognitive Development & Neuroimaging Laboratory. She earned her PhD in Child Psychology at the University of Minnesota in 1999. Her expertise is in cognitive development and narrative comprehension in early and middle childhood. In the CDN lab she studies the cognitive, behavioral, and neurological consequences of early life stress.