Graduate Students

Hilary Aime, MA

Hilary is a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program. She is supervised by Dr. Grace Iarocci and Dr. Tanya Broesch.

Research Interests: ASD and other neurodevelopmental disorders, social learning in ASD, socialization of attention, and using cross-cultural methodologies to examine development.

Philippa Hood, MA

Philippa is a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program at SFU. Her Master's thesis (2020), under the supervision of Dr. Alexander Chapman, examined the roles of mindfulness and emotion regulation as mechanisms of change in dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT). Her Ph.D. research, supervised by Dr. Chapman and Dr. Grace Iarocci, is a feasibility and acceptability trial of DBT for self-harming autistic adults. Philippa's research has been funded by the Canadian Institute for Health Research (CIHR), the British Columbia Graduate Scholarship (BCGS), ISIT DBT, and SFU's Community Engaged Research Initiative (CERI).

Research Interests: Participatory research and the autistic voice, third-wave psychotherapies, and suicide and self-harm

Marisa Mylett, MA

Marisa is a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program. She received her BA (Hons.) degree in Psychology at Simon Fraser University.

Research Interests: ADHD, autism, identity, social expectations, gender differences, social inclusion, and co-occurring internalizing mental health problems of depression and anxiety.

For more information please click here.

Troy Boucher, MA

Troy is a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program. Troy completed his BA (Hons.) in 2018 and his MA in 2022 with Dr. Grace Iarocci at SFU. Troy is a Vanier Scholar funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. 

Research Interests: Intense interests and social development, health and wellbeing, autistic experiences and inclusion, and social attention and perceptual learning.

For more information, please click here.

Madelaine Ressel, MA

Madelaine is a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program.

Research Interests: Community-engaged research methods, equity of access to ASD services, and ASD and other co-occurring mental health issues.

Meryssa Waite

Meryssa is a Master's student in the Clinical Psychology program. She received her BSc (Hons.) in Psychology at the University of Victoria. Meryssa has worked with individuals with developmental disabilities as a respite care provider, community support worker, and educational assistant. Her research is partly funded by SFU's Community Engagement Initiative.

Research Interests: Developmental disabilities and mental health, community inclusion, and identifying gaps in services available for individuals with developmental disabilities.

For more information, please click here.

Lab Manager

Alyssa Minniss

Alyssa is the Lab Coordinator of the ADDL. She is also an undergraduate student currently working towards a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, with the intent to pursue grad school one day. Alyssa became interested in disability advocacy and research through her experience in supporting disabled and autistic individuals through a community support organization, and is excited to merge experience she has in the community with academic knowledge. Alyssa’s big goals are to increase community inclusion and access in society for autistic and disabled people and continue the work of the deinstitutionalization movement. Alyssa also greatly enjoys skiing, coffee, and buying way too much stationery.

Research Interests: Mental health resource access for autistic and disabled people, inclusion of disabled people in faith spaces, deinstitutionalization, experiences and impact of institutionalization, community inclusion, self advocacy of disabled individuals

Dara Penner

Dara is the Lab Manager of the ADDL. Dara has completed a B.A. in Psychology (Hons.) with a minor in Counselling and Human Development. Additionally, Dara is a research assistant in the Adolescent Health Lab, directed by Dr. Marlene Moretti. Dara plans to pursue a graduate degree in Clinical Psychology.

Research Interests: Anxiety disorders in adolescents and young adults, developmental psychopathology, developmental disabilities, and attachment and attachment-based treatment.

Research Assistants

Shana Harrison

Shana Harrison is a 4th year undergraduate student who is currently completing her BA in Psychology with a Concentration in Applied Behavior Analysis. In the future, Shana hopes to pursue graduate studies to become a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) and to potentially pursue a doctoral degree. 

Research Interests: Girls with Autism, Social Camouflaging, Substance Use Disorder, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities, Applied Behaviour Analysis 

Hooman Salavati

Born and raised in Kurdistan, Iran, Hooman immigrated to Canada during his youth. He recently completed his BA in Psychology at Simon Fraser University. With the goal of pursuing a Master’s degree in Counselling Psychology, he is currently focusing on research and working in the mental health field. While completing his degree, Hooman worked with neurodiverse youth, adults, and seniors as a residential care worker. He loves to spend his free time running, doing anything involving soccer, and volunteering at various organizations.  

Research Interests: ADHD, Developmental disabilities, cultural barriers and stigma in mental health, developmental disabilities in immigrant youth and adults, emotional dysregulation and social difficulties in individuals with ADHD, Men’s mental health

Current Research Assistants (alphabetical order)

Alana Pace

Anh-Thu (Bonnie) Vu

Thomas Maloney

Vivian Ly

Amanda Hodges 

Siobhan Bostock