I am a Ph.D. student working under guidance of Dr. Aubyn Stahmer at the Collaborative Start Lab at the MIND Institute. Currently, my research interests are in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and the Muslim community. Specifically, I would like to investigate the etiological beliefs of ASD amongst immigrant and refugee Muslims in the United States as well as their sources of knowledge about ASD.

Prior to joining the Human Development program, I completed my undergraduate degree in Psychology here at UC Davis. I was a McNair Scholar and had the opportunity to intern in the Markers of Autism Risk in Babies (MARBLES) lab and the Laboratory on Language Development in Neurodevelopmental Disorders lab at the UC Davis MIND Institute. These internships influenced my desire to research ASD in the Muslim community.

Publications

Vejnoska S., Hochheimer S., Yu Y., Diaz Navarro J., Alkhatib H., Michaelsen J., Iadarola S., Pellecchia M., Gulsrud A., Hassrick E., Mandell D., Kasari C.,  Stahmer A., (2023) Empowering Caregivers Through an Innovative Peer Navigator Program. Autism Spectrum News. https://autismspectrumnews.org/tag/family-resource-centers/