People

Lara Pierce, Ph.D.

Lab Director

Lara Pierce (she/her) is the director of the Pierce Experience & Development Lab and an Assistant Professor of Psychology at York University. She received her Ph.D. from McGill University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School. Lara uses developmental cognitive neuroscience tools to explore how variation in the early environment impacts the development of neural systems, particularly those supporting language. She aims to a) identify mechanisms by which specific variables (e.g., those associated with socioeconomic variation and early life stress) shape both early neurodevelopment and the early language environment, and b) explore the role that individual differences play in the development of language and cognitive abilities, and c) uncover variation in early neurodevelopment contributes to later learning. She uses tools such as electroencephalography (EEG/ERP), language recordings, and behavioural assessments in infants and children to address these questions. Lara is also a mom to the world’s most patient developmental science teacher and EEG pilot participant.

Developmental Science graduate program

Ana Badal, MA Student

Ana Badal is a master’s student in the Developmental Science area of the Graduate Psychology program at York University. She received a bilingual specialized honours BA in psychology with a concentration in neuropsychology at York University’s Glendon Campus. Ana’s research interests are focused on the neuropsychological development of infants and children from disadvantaged environments. She started working with Toronto’s homeless shelter system in 2019, building rapport with the community in hopes of developing future research projects and inspiring the innovation of current social programs. Ana is currently a research assistant for the Cognitive Health Center at York, creating a guide for young francophone volunteers helping dementia patients across the country. Ana is also collaborating with St. Micheal’s Hospital to develop protocols to better engage minority patients partaking in psychiatric treatment

Heala Maudoodi, MA student

Heala Maudoodi (she/her) is a graduate student in the Pierce Experience and Development Lab at York University. She received her HBSc from the University of Toronto, specializing in neuroscience and psychology. She recently completed her undergraduate honours thesis on how conditioned inhibition develops under varying experimental conditions while examining the neural substrates that are activated using immunohistochemistry and cFos, in the rodent model. Prior to this research, Heala completed an independent project partnered with ManyBabies, focusing on the social and moral evaluation of infants. Her current research will investigate how early language experiences and variation in socioeconomically diverse contexts shape children’s developing neurophysiology – particularly cognitive functions like memory and attention – by using electroencephalography and behavioural assessments. Besides research, Heala enjoys spending time with family and friends, cycling in newly discovered trail parks, and reading novels.

Yara Odeh, MA Student

Yara Odeh is an M.A. student working with Dr. Lara Pierce in the Pierce Experience & Development Lab. A York native, Yara has completed a B. A Specialized Honours of Psychology at York University and is now furthering her academic career at York. Throughout her beginning university years, she has always had an interest in language and developmental science with a focus on neurodevelopmental disorders such as ADHD. This led her to specialize in her bachelor’s in developmentally based fields while taking numerous language courses. Throughout the years, however, Yara, who has ADHD, has made a personal discovery on the effects ADHD has on language, as she has personally found differences between herself, who is bilingual, and individuals with ADHD who are monolingual. Through her literature review, she has found Dr. Lara Pierce. With similar interests and a shared focus, Yara has joined Dr. Lara Pierce in her work and hopes to be able to contribute to the many mysteries found within the language and developmental science field.