Kimberly Labra-Franco
Kimberly joined the CAT Lab as a research assistant for the Parent-to-Child Anxiety Transmission (P-CAT) Project in January 2024. She earned her B.A in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prio to joining the CAT lab, she worked as an undergraduate student in the Emotions and Social Interactions in Relationships (EASIR) lab studying the role of social interactions and emotions among couples. Kimberly's research interests lie in the environmental, cultural, and relational factors that shape behavior and emotional development. She's interested in studying what contextual factors affect children's emotional regulation ability and as a consequence the development of internalized disorders.
✉ kml7098@psu.edu
Malu Tejada
Malu joined the lab in July 2024 to work on the HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study as a T32 primary care research fellow at Penn State College of Medicine. She was born in Switzerland and earned her MD from the University of Geneva and trained as an ob-gyn. She earned her Master of Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK. Prior to joining the lab, she worked as an educator at Penn State Extension delivering programs on mental health, adult immunizations, vector borne diseases and cancer prevention. She is a certified bilingual Mental Health First Aid instructor. Malu is interested in maternal mental health and perinatal adverse health outcomes.
✉ mltejadasawers@gmail.com
Kaitlin Eberhart
Kaitlin joined the CAT Lab as a research assistant for the HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study in October 2024. She earned her B.S. in Human Development & Family Studies from the Pennsylvania State University. Prior to joining the CAT lab, Kaitlin was an infant and toddler teacher at the Bennett Family Center. She also worked as case manager for children in foster care. Kaitlin’s research interests include early childhood development and factors mitigating adverse childhood experiences.
✉ kme5157@psu.edu
Brooke Seymour
Brooke joined the CAT lab in June 2026 as a research assistant. She graduated from Hope College in Holland, MI, with a BA in Psychology and Leadership. During undergrad, Brooke developed a passion for working on longitudinal projects and working with infants in families. Her research interests include developmental psychopathology, focusing on how early childhood experiences influence the development of mental health disorders, and protective factors that may assist children in overcoming early life challenges.
Maya Page
Maya joined the CAT Lab to work as a research assistant on the Parent-to-Child Anxiety Transmission (P-CAT) Study in August 2026. She earned her B.S. in Communication Sciences and Disorders and her B.A. in Psychology from Northwestern University. She is interested in understanding the impacts of a child’s temperament, identity, and early socioemotional environment on their emotion regulation, cognition, and risk for anxiety, depression, and externalizing behaviors. In the future, Maya hopes to translate research on psychosocial and temperamental risk into accessible identification and intervention programs for children and families that promote healthy cognitive and socioemotional development.
✉ mep6251@psu.edu