People

Nancy McElwain is a professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies and a part-faculty member at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. Her research advances understanding of the dynamic early-life interactions between parents and children that shape children’s developing abilities to regulate stress. She adopts an interdisciplinary approach that combines neuroscience, psychophysiology, linguistics, and developmental psychology. Through investigating stress regulation during early development, she aims to promote healthy parent-child relationships and children’s long-term social and emotional well-being.

Hannah Apsley is a Beckman-Brown Postdoctoral Fellow in the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. She received her PhD in Human Development and Family Studies from Penn State in May 2025. Her research interests center around the dynamic mother-child dyad in the context of maternal substance use and recovery. She aims to develop interventions and technologies that simultaneously 1) foster positive developmental outcomes for children affected by maternal substance use, as well as 2) promote long-term health and recovery for mothers with a history of substance use. 

Kexin Hu is a third year Ph.D. student in Human Development and Family Studies. She received her bachelor degree in Psychology, Beijing Normal University. She enjoys working with infants and children. Her research interests center around the dynamic parent-child interactions and its influence on child social-emotional development. She is also passionate with using interdisciplinary approaches to explore physiological and neural synchrony between parent-child dyads in daily life.

Gyuri Kim is a third year Ph.D. student in Human Development and Family Studies. Her research interests lie in exploring mechanisms underlying the associations between family factors and socioemotional development during childhood and adolescence. She is particularly interested in taking an interdisciplinary approach to elucidate the role of parent-child interactions in children’s psychopathology development.

Jiaxuan Zhang is a first year Ph.D. student in Human Development and Family Studies. She received her B.S. in Psychology from Peking University. Her research interests generally focus on parents’ influence on children’s social-emotional development. She is particularly interested in understanding the dyadic interaction patterns between caregivers and children. She is also curious about children’s individual differences in susceptibility to early-life experiences in family context.

Jordan Bodway graduated from the Human Development and Family Studies program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In 2020, she returned to the university as a lab manager. Since then, she has contributed to many aspects of LittleBeats—ranging from device manufacturing to implementing protocols that make it possible for families across the country to participate in research. Jordan continues to enjoy collaborating with an incredible team of faculty and students. Now a first-time mom, the work feels more meaningful than ever! Outside the lab, you’ll usually find her hiking, reading a good book, or playing with her two dogs.

Beverly Bolster graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park, in May 2025 with degrees in Sociology and Geospatial Data Science and minors in Spanish and Sustainability. She worked as a counselor at a therapeutic camp over the summer before joining the LittleBeats™ Baby Rhythms Project as a Project Coordinator. Her favorite part of the project is engaging with infants and their parents, as well as learning from others on the research team. In the future, Beverly hopes to attend graduate school in developmental clinical psychology in order to work directly with children who have faced adverse childhood experiences.

Outside of work, she loves reading, running, and experimenting with new recipes!

Clara Yen graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a B.S. in Psychological and Brain Sciences and a minor in Applied Psychology in June of 2025. As a Project Coordinator for the LittleBeats™ Baby Cues Project, she manages recruitment and data collection. Her favorite part of being on the team is getting to meet families and babies during outreach events and lab visits. In the future, Clara hopes to attend graduate school and obtain a doctorate degree in Developmental Psychology to further research how infant-family relationships influence early learning and development. 

Outside of work, Clara enjoys making matcha and experimenting with different kinds of fruit purees and syrups!

Lizeth Sepulveda graduated from Smith College with a degree in neuroscience and psychology in May 2025. She has since then joined the LittleBeats project as a Project Coordinator! She is interested in pursuing a career in developmental neuropsychology and hopes to work to empower youth from marginalized communities. Her favorite part of the project is getting to hold cute babies and playing a hands-on role in data collection. 

Outside of work, she also enjoys reading and learning how to crochet!