Kaitlyn Ahlers is a postdoctoral fellow in the Research in Autism and the Brain (RAB) Lab and the UW Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) program. She received her PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Montana. Her research and clinical work focus on the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric co-morbidity in youth with developmental disabilities and the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based practices for this population. She is particularly interested in engaging individuals with developmental disabilities and their families as partners in research.
Stephanie Brewer is a postdoctoral fellow at the School Mental Health Assessment, Research, & Training (SMART) Center. Dr. Brewer’s research aims to promote equitable access to high-quality mental health services for all children and adolescents. To accomplish this goal, Dr. Brewer focuses on school-based mental health and integrates perspectives from implementation science and cultural adaptation of interventions. She is particularly interested in (1) developing school-based interventions that are easy to implement, contextually relevant, and culturally responsive; and (2) improving the implementation of contextually relevant, culturally responsive EBTs in schools. Dr. Brewer was awarded a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship (F32) to better understand what modifications are made to EBTs in real-world practice contexts, thereby allowing for future projects to optimize the implementation of EBTs in accessible service settings such as schools.
Dr. Sandel-Fernandez’s research is focused on predicting impulsive and risk behaviors as they occur in people’s daily lives. She has conducted numerous studies using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) and self-monitoring data from therapy to build person-specific models of symptom dynamics including self-harm, substance use, and suicide attempts.
Dr. Sandel-Fernandez often takes an idiographic (person-specific) analysis approach to answer the question of when in time a person is most at risk for engaging in behaviors they would like to avoid, based on their context, emotions, and personal triggers. Her career goal is to improve treatment outcomes by tailoring evidence-based care to people’s diverse symptom experiences.
