Current Students

Current Doctoral Students

Kathryn Bailey, B.S. – Research Assistant

Kate received bachelor’s degrees in Neuroscience and Psychology from Michigan State University in 2017. While at MSU, she also worked as a research coordinator for a lab studying a parent-mediated language intervention for children with ASD. Kate came to Vanderbilt in 2018 for her master’s degree in Special Education on the Severe Disabilities track. She came to KidTalk in 2020 and is currently pursuing a PhD in Early Childhood Special Education.

 

 

Kelsey Dillehay, M.Ed. – Interventionist 

Kelsey received her Bachelor’s degree from Berry College in Psychology and Family Studies, and her Master’s in Human Development Counseling from Vanderbilt University. After interning with KidTalk for two years on various projects, she now enjoys working full time with minimally verbal children with autism and their families.  She is currently pursuing her doctorate degree

 

Keysha Martinez-Torres MS, CCC-SLP – Interventionist 

Keysha completed her BA in Elementary Education from the University of Puerto Rico Bayamon Campus and MS and Speech and Language Pathology from Carlos Albizu University in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She is currently a Bilingual Speech Pathologist at the Bill Wilkerson Center at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and a PhD student at Vanderbilt University. Her clinical work focuses on early intervention services, providing support to families of the Latinx community who have children with developmental disabilities (i.e. ASD, Language and Speech Disorders, Down Syndrome). Her research work focuses on understanding the prevalence of disabilities in early childhood, availability of resources, and aims to expand the literature on best practices for the Spanish speaking communities in the US and its territories (i.e. Puerto Rico).

 

Natalie Pak, M.A., CCC-SLP – Assessor

Natalie received her B.A. in Spanish and Speech-Language-Hearing in 2013, as well as her M.A. in Speech-Language Pathology in 2015, from the University of Kansas. She then worked as a speech-language pathologist in a public school district in Colorado for three years at the preschool and elementary levels. Natalie came to the KidTalk lab in 2018 to pursue a PhD and contribute to research on communication interventions for children and families.

 

Mary Rodgers, M.S., BCBA – Research Analyst

Mary received her B.S. in Psychology from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in May 2015.  During her time there she completed practicum hours at the Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute serving adults in the long-term care unit and at the Johnson Mental Health Center serving children with emotional disturbances.  In December 2016 she graduated with her M.S. in Psychology from Lipscomb University, then returned to complete her graduate certificate in Applied Behavior Analysis by August 2018.  Originally an intern, Mary is now a full-time Research Analyst for KidTalk and plans to one day complete her Ph.D. in Psychological Sciences.

 

Current Masters Students

 

Lauren Donahue, B.A. – Research Assistant

Lauren graduated from McDaniel College in December 2017 with a B.A. in Chemistry- Exercise Science. After graduation, she worked with multilingual children in Vienna, Austria for over a year. Returning to the US right before the pandemic, she began working as an RBT. Both experiences inspired her to pursue a Master’s in Special Education on the Early Childhood and ABA track.

 

Natalie Formento, B.S. – Research Assistant & Susan Gray School Fellow

Natalie received her Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood and Special Education from New York University in 2021. While at NYU, she student taught and worked as a teacher for gifted and talented early childhood students in 2018 and 2019. Natalie came to Vanderbilt to pursue her Master’s in Special Education on the Early Childhood track. She joined the KidTalk lab in 2021 and is currently a Teaching Fellow at the Susan Gray School at Peabody. 

 

Yang Hu, B.S. – Research Assistant & Susan Gray School Fellow

Yang received her Bachelor’s degree in Applied Learning and Development: All-level Special Education from The University of Texas at Austin in 2020. She taught 3 to 5-year-olds with developmental delays for a year in Austin after graduation. She joined the KidTalk lab in 2021 and is currently pursuing her Master in Early Childhood Special Education with an ABA track add-on at Vanderbilt University.

Current Undergraduate Students

Gabi Conde – Research Assistant

Gabriela is an undergraduate student at Vanderbilt University and is a part of the transcription and coding team.