Lab Director
Eva Telzer, Ph.D.
Email: ehtelzer@unc.edu | CV | Publications
Eva Telzer is a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at UNC Chapel Hill. She is an Associate Editor at Child Development and Social Cognitive Affective Neuroscience, and the co-director of the Winston Center for Technology and the Developing Mind. Her research examines how social and cultural processes shape adolescent brain development, with a focus on both prosocial and risk-taking behaviors, family and peer relationships, and the role of social media in youth’s lives. She has authored nearly 200 publications and has received numerous awards for her work including an Association for Psychological Science Rising Star Award, an early career award from the Society of Research on Adolescence, a Young Investigator Award from the Flux Congress Society for Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, and the American Psychological Association Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology. She is regularly featured as an expert in psychological science in consultation to government agencies and non-profit associations as well as media appearances in The New York Times, NPR, CNN, ABC, CBS, and NBC. In her free time she enjoys drawing biological illustrations, cooking and baking, reading novels, and playing with her toddler
Research Professor
Kaitlyn Burnell, Ph.D.
Email: burnellk@unc.edu
Kaitlyn Burnell is a Research Assistant Professor with the Winston National Center on Technology Use, Brain and Psychological Development. She received her Ph.D. in Psychological Sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas, with a concentration in developmental psychology. Her research adapts a developmental focus to study how adolescents and emerging adults use digital technologies, including social media and smartphones. Kaitlyn’s research examines the associations between digital technology use and a wide array of psychosocial outcomes, including well-being and mental health, body image, and risky behavior such as substance use. She has a special interest in applying cutting edge methodological approaches to study these linkages, such as the use of passive sensing, eye-tracking, and observational coding. In her free time, she enjoys biking, paddle boarding, reading, and hanging out with her husband, Jake, and dog, JP.
Post-Doctoral Fellows
Jessica Flannery, Ph.D.
Email: jflannery@unc.edu
Jessica Flannery is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Psychology a
nd Neuroscience at the University of North Carolina. She received her Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience from Florida International University under the mentorship of Dr. Matthew Sutherland. Jessica is interested in studying individual differences in social and affective neurocognitive mechanisms during the critical developmental period of adolescence. She aims to leverage longitudinal neuroimaging data to identify antecedences and consequences of substance use. Jessica enjoys painting, running, and conversing.
Angelica Carranza, Ph.D.
Email: afcarran@unc.edu
Angelica Carranza is a postdoctoral fellow in the DSN Lab within the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of North Carolina. She received her Ph.D. in Human Development from the University of California, Davis under the mentorship of Dr. Johnna Swartz. Angelica’s research focuses on how environmental factors and social contexts shape brain development and mental health across adolescence. She aims to identify risk and protective mechanisms that can help inform novel strategies to promote well-being in youth across diverse contexts. In her free time, she enjoys running, yoga, and spending time with friends and family.
Graduate Students
Maria Maza, M.A.
Email: maria.maza@unc.edu
Maria Maza is a fifth-year graduate student in the Developmental Psychology program. She received her B.S. is Neuroscience and Education from Bates College in 2018. Following graduation, she worked as a research assistant and imaging coordinator with Dr. BJ Casey at Yale University. Her research combines neuroimaging, self-report, and community-based participatory research to explore how digital media contexts impact and are impacted by adolescents’ social, emotional, and neural development. In her free time, Maria enjoys dancing, hiking, and baking.
Jimmy Capella, M.A.
Email: jcapella@email.unc.edu
Jimmy Capella is a fifth-year graduate student in the Developmental Psychology program. He received his B.S. in Neuroscience and Behavior from the University of Notre Dame in 2018. Following graduation, Jimmy worked as a Technical Associate for John Gabrieli at MIT. His research examines how family and peer relationships impact adolescent neurodevelopment. He’s particularly interested in how these interactions impact affective processes and behavior. In his free time, Jimmy enjoys hiking, trying new board games, and playing trombone.
Shedrick Garrett, B.S.
Email: sgarrett@unc.edu
Shedrick Garrett is a fourth-year graduate student in the Developmental Psychology program. He received his B.S. in Psychology and Neuroscience with an area of emphasis in Behavioral Neuroscience from West Virginia University in 2021. As an undergrad, he also worked as a summer research assistant at the University of Virginia. His research interests explore the role of social and digital domains on marginalized youths’ socialization experiences and development. In his free time, Garrett enjoys reading, watching movies, and swimming.
Ryan Tsai, M.S.
Email: ryantsai@unc.edu
Ryan Tsai is a second-year graduate student in the Developmental Psychology program. He received his B.S. and M.S. in Psychology from National Taiwan University. He is interested in how adolescents understands themselves in the social world. In his free time, Ryan loves playing video games and cooking.
Jack David, B.S.
Email: dbjack@unc.edu
David Jack is a second-year graduate student in the Developmental Psychology program. He received his BS.c. in Psychology from the University of Jos, Nigeria, in 2019. Following graduation, he worked as a research assistant with the Culture and Mental Health Research Group, supervised by Dr. Dung Jidong at Nottingham Trent University. His research aims to explore social media use and adolescent development from cross-cultural perspectives with a specific focus on adolescents from low-and-middle-income-countries. In his free time, he enjoys photography and spending time with family.
Elizabeth Escalante, B.S
Email: ese@unc.edu
Elizabeth Escalante is a second-year graduate student in the Developmental Psychology program. She received her B.S. in Cognitive and Brain Science from Tufts University in 2021. Following graduation, she worked as a research assistant for Dr. Nadine Gaab at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, looking into the development of reading and math difficulties. In graduate school, Elizabeth is interested in the impact of environmental factors on adolescent neurodevelopment and risk-taking behaviors. She enjoys reading, baking, and hiking in her free time.
Research Staff
Ashley Slocum, B.S.
Email: ashsloc@live.unc.edu
Ashley Slocum (she/her) is a Project Coordinator at both the DSN Lab and CASL Lab. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2022 with a B.S. in Psychology and a minor in English. She previously worked as a research intern for the Triangle Center for Behavioral Health investigating neurodevelopmental disorders in adolescents. She is interested in learning how youth experience with children’s literature affects emotional socialization and neurodevelopment. She plans on pursuing a PhD in Clinical Psychology and working with children. In her free time, she is illustrating a children’s book and enjoys reading, cooking, and running with her dog, Amber.
Lexi Bendl, B.A.
Email: abendl@unc.edu
Lexi Bendl (she/her) is a Project Coordinator at the DSN Lab. She is a 2024 graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Sociology. Lexi is interested in the effects of social media and other advancing technologies on how adolescents communicate with others and plans on pursuing this through a PhD in Psychology. In her free time, Lexi enjoys reading and hanging out with her cat, Suki.
Lance Adkins, B.A.
Email: lacar@unc.edu
Lance Adkins (he/him) is a Project Coordinator at the DSN Lab. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in May 2024 with a B.A. in Psychology. Lance’s research interests focus on the impact of parental behavior within the family context, particularly how it influences youth development, psychopathology, emotional regulation, and external behaviors in adolescence. He is devoted to furthering his passions through a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, with the aspiration of serving as a Clinical Psychologist in the United States Air Force. In his free time, Lance loves going to the gym and exploring nature.
Caroline Cahill, B.S.
Email: ccahill1@unc.edu
Caroline Cahill (she/her) is a Project Coordinator in the DSN Lab. She graduated from Binghamton University in 2024 with a B.S. in Integrative Neuroscience. Caroline is passionate about studying the brain and how various internal and external factors affect adolescent development and psychopathology. Specifically, she is interested in studying how adolescents who are at a higher risk of developing depression may respond differently to digital social rewards and how this impacts their social media experiences. Caroline hopes to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology. In her free time, she enjoys reading, thrifting, running and hiking.Sarah Isenhour, B.A.
Email: smisenho@unc.edu
Undergraduate Research Assistants
- Arsha Tone
- Christian Scott
- Dianne Celemen
- Danielle Gaspar
- Jaya Gupta
- Kyndall Holt
- Katie Whisnant
- Lilia Cottarel
- Lauren Hughes
- Maggie Nail
- Rachel Marcus
- Prem Krishnamurthy
- Ryley McGaughey
- Sampath Immaneni
- Srinithi Raj
- Vraj Parikh
- William Malone
Alumni
To see where our lab alumni are now, please visit our DSNLab Alumni page!