Liana has a M.A. in Psychology with an emphasis in Neuroscience, as well as a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies, from SDSU. Prior to joining the lab in 2025, her previous research was investigating the neurobehavioral effects of prenatal drug exposure (e.g. alcohol, THC, nicotine) in rodent models. Now working with a clinical population, she is interested in how prenatal drug exposure affects behavior in children and how their quality of life can be improved.

Ashley graduated in December 2024 from San Diego State University with a B.A. in Psychology with an emphasis in Neuroscience! She joined lab to further explore neuropsychological research in clinical and neurodevelopmental populations, particularly focusing on cognitive, emotional, and behavioral functioning. She is especially interested in research involving autism, FASD, and ADHD. The upcoming fall she will be obtaining her Master’s degree at University of Chicago, and afterwards she plans to further her education by pursuing a Ph.D. Outside of academics, she enjoys spending time with friends and family, reading, and visiting the beach!

Madison Kelm is a NIAAA T32-funded postdoctoral fellow who joined the Mattson Lab in 2025. She earned her M.S. in Developmental Psychology from Penn State in 2022 and holds a B.A. in Psychology and Spanish from the University of Oregon. Dr. Kelm’s research focuses on prenatal risk factors including the impact of prenatal alcohol and other substance (e.g., tobacco, cannabis, cocaine) exposure on maternal-child biobehavioral health. Her previous research examined co-occurring maternal substance use, psychological distress, and mood unpredictability during pregnancy and their impacts on child physiological and behavioral regulation. Dr. Kelm has a breadth of data collection and analysis experience related to child and adult neural and physiological data, parent-child and couple interactions, and management of large, multi-site longitudinal datasets. To test her developmentally-informed research questions, Dr. Kelm utilizes structural equation modeling, multilevel modeling, and growth mixture modeling.

Originally from Chicago, Riley Felicicchia graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 2019 with a B.S. in Psychology. She joined the lab in 2021 as a student in the SDSU/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology (Neuropsychology Track). She is interested in risk and resilience factors in children with prenatal alcohol exposure.

Daniel graduated from San Diego State University with a B.A. in Psychology with an emphasis in Neuroscience. He is interested in neuroimaging techniques, the neuroscience of addiction, and how substance use impacts varying neurological conditions. He is now earning his Ph.D at the University of California Riverside 

Dr. Courchesne-Krak was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at SDSU in the department of Psychology. She has diverse experience in quantitative research (e.g., data collection, analysis), public health intervention design and implementation, and grant writing. Her interests include child neurodevelopment and neurobehavioral functioning, pregnant women with substance use disorders, alcohol and opioid use disorders, poly-substance use, and genetics.

Matthew graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University with a Bachelor of Science in Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience and Psychology. He is interested in substance use, early life experiences, diagnostics, and functional connectivity. Matthew is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Neuropsychology at the University of Houston.

Tara Jahan was a student in the SDSU M.A. in Psychology program. She is originally from San Diego and graduated from SDSU in 2020. She is interested in learning, memory, and executive function. She is now earning her doctoral degree.