About Us
Katharine Simon, PhD
Katharine Simon is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, at UC Irvine and the Assistant Director of Research in Pediatric Sleep at the Children's Hospital of Orange County. She is a licensed clinical psychologist with specialties in pediatric health and behavioral sleep medicine. She obtained her B.A. at UC Berkeley and her doctorate in both Clinical Psychology and Cognition & Neural Systems at the University of Arizona under the guidance of Drs. Lynn Nadel, Rebecca Gomez, and Richard Bootzin. Her graduate work focused on sleep and memory in early development, memory reconsolidation, and targeted memory reactivation for forgetting. She completed her clinical internship and postdoctoral fellowship at the Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC).
Dr. Simon's current primary research interests are the mechanisms underlying sleep, memory, and mental health across development in healthy and patient populations, memory modification, and developing new sleep-based interventions. Her work is currently funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the Children's Hospital of Orange County.
Lia GAlut, Assistant Clinical Research Coordinator, CHOC
I graduated from UCI in 2022 with a B.A. in Psychological Science. I have had so much fun supporting the SLEEP lab as a research assistant for the past 2 years! My research interests lie in using technology to investigate and track how pediatric sleep patterns could predict future mental health disorders. In my free time, I love to spend time with my friends and family and express my creativity through art and crocheting!
Andrés PEÑa, Associate Clinical Research Coordinator, CHOC
Andrés Peña is currently a clinical research coordinator with dual affiliation, both with CHOC(Children's hospital Orange county) and UCI. He graduated from UCI with a BA in Psychology back in 2020. And has been working as a clinical research coordinator for the past 3 years. Over those 3 years he has developed skills that help deal with both project management and regulatory activities like the IRB. His interests in sleep research include exploring the cognitive aspects of memory and dreaming, sleep and memory, and the possible interactions between depression, cognitive functioning, and sleep. In his free time he likes to draw, play video games, cook, and watch TV.
Brandon dang, RESEARCH ASSISTANT
I am a 2nd year Biological Sciences major here at UC Irvine! I'm a pre-dental student aspiring to specialize in pediatrics. I'm grateful for the opportunity to work as a Research Assistant in the SLEEP Lab where I can explore my interests in psychology and neurobiology while working in pediatrics. In my free time, I love cooking and baking for my friends and family.
Kalysa Bui, RESEARCH ASSISTANT
I am a Pharmaceutical Sciences major at UC Irvine, and I plan to attend medical school to become a doctor. In my free time, I enjoy spending time with family and friends, reading, playing games, and traveling.
ALI Fakhreddine, RESEARCH ASSISTANT
I am a 4th year Informatics B.S. major at UC Irvine. I am interested in pursuing a career in medicine and hope to intersect my knowledge about technology into my work as a physician. Some of hobbies include hiking and traveling!
ISA KITagawa, RESEARCH ASSISTANT
I'm currently a third year bio major at UCI. I joined the sleep lab to pursue my interests in research and how everyday life tasks such as sleep can affect our overall neurological development and mental health. I'm very excited to be a part of this team and see what we can discover!
Michael Nguyen, RESEARCH ASSISTANT
Hello! I'm a 3rd year Developmental and Cell Biology major attending UC Irvine. I am excited to be working with the SLEEP lab where I have the opportunity to study the impact of sleep on pediatric development. In the future, I plan to be a doctor and specialize in pediatrics or oncology. In my free time, I enjoy bowling and watching baseball (go Angels) !
Ketaki Lole, RESEARCH ASSISTANT
Hi everyone! My name is Ketaki and I'm a 2nd year Biological Sciences major at UC Irvine. I am excited to be working in the SLEEP lab where I have the chance to study the intersections of sleep, memory retention, and emotion in childrens' ever-growing, fascinating minds! In the future, I hope to attend medical school and become a pediatrician. In my free time, I love to dance, try new restaurants with my friends, and catch up on my favorite tv shows!
Aaliyah Peeran, RESEARCH ASSISTANT
I am a second-year Biological Sciences major pursuing a career in medicine. I joined the SLEEP Lab to further my aspirations of becoming a doctor and aiding in advancing research. In my free time, I love to spend time with people I love and try new coffee shops! So grateful and happy to be a part of the team!
Diana Vega, RESEARCH ASSISTANT
I am a Psychological Science major at UCI who joined the lab to explore the correlation between children’s sleep and their memory and emotional well-being. In the future, I hope to use the skills I developed here to positively impact the pediatric field with research-proven treatments as a clinician scientist. You can find me reading, crocheting, or doing art when I am not in the lab or classroom
Chris Sun, RESEARCH ASSISTANT
I'm a Computer Science major here at UCI, and I am very excited to use Minecraft in research since it has been my favorite game for years. I hope that I can learn more about different technologies and use them to improve users' experiences. I love listening to music, my favorite artists being Umbrabyte and CHALKEY
Kimberly Ngoc Luu, RESEARCH ASSISTANT
I’m a third-year Psychology B.S. major at UC Irvine. I joined the SLEEP lab to explore how sleep influences development, memory, and mental health in children, as I’m passionate about pediatric care and hope to become a pediatrician in the future. In my free time, I love visiting museums, hiking, and discovering new places. I’m very excited to be part of this lab and can’t wait to see what we can discover as a team!
Akhil Baidya, RESEARCH ASSISTANT
I’m a Computer Science & Engineering Major at UCI. I’m excited to explore how to develop convenient applications, improving as a programmer, to assist and contribute to research in pediatrics! Outside of programming, I love experimenting with art, like telling stories, poetry, and music. When these things combine - take one of my favorite games The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - it’s breathtaking.
Estella knobbe, RESEARCH ASSISTANT
I am a third year psychology student at UC Irvine. I joined the SLEEP lab to pursue my interest in sleep and how it correlates with cognitive function and health. I hope to utilize the skills I gain in this lab to help further my career aspirations in clinical psychology. In my free time I enjoy running, reading, and going to the beach
Collaborators & PArtners
SLEEP CENTER CHOC Hospital
SLEEP CENTER CHOC Hospital
SLEEP CENTER CHOC Hospital
Our lab is integrated into the Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC). We collaboratively work with physicians and are integrated into the CHOC Sleep Center to investigate how sleep impacts the cognition and mental health of pediatric patients.
Paola Malerba, PhD Nationwide Children's Hospital
SLEEP CENTER CHOC Hospital
SLEEP CENTER CHOC Hospital
Our research focuses on understanding how neural networks produce brain rhythms and what role they play in brain function. We are currently studying sleep rhythms in the human brain, how they relate to cognition and neurodevelopment – both translationally and in terms of fundamental mechanisms.
Sara Mednick, PhD University of California, Irvine
SLEEP CENTER CHOC Hospital
Neal Nakra, MD Children's Hospital of Orange County
Our research is interested in understanding who we are as humans by investigating how we form memories. We also investigate how interactions between the central nervous system and autonomic nervous system support sleep-dependent memory.
Neal Nakra, MD Children's Hospital of Orange County
Neal Nakra, MD Children's Hospital of Orange County
Neal Nakra, MD Children's Hospital of Orange County
Dr. Nakra is the Chief of Pediatric Pulmonology at Children's Hospital of Orange County and an Associate Professor at the University of California, Irvine. Dr. Nakra is board certified in Pediatrics, Pediatric Pulmonary, and Sleep Medicine. Under his leadership, the CHOC Sleep Center has increased in volume and has become one of the lar
Dr. Nakra is the Chief of Pediatric Pulmonology at Children's Hospital of Orange County and an Associate Professor at the University of California, Irvine. Dr. Nakra is board certified in Pediatrics, Pediatric Pulmonary, and Sleep Medicine. Under his leadership, the CHOC Sleep Center has increased in volume and has become one of the largest pediatric programs in the state. In conjunction with Dr. Simon and her team, we have a goal at the CHOC Sleep Center of making every clinical encounter into a research encounter, with multiple on-going clinical research studies.
Kinnari Atit , PhD UC Riverside
Neal Nakra, MD Children's Hospital of Orange County
Kinnari Atit , PhD UC Riverside
Kinnari Atit is an Associate Professor in the School of Education at the University of California, Riverside. She received her Ph.D. in Psychology from Temple University. After receiving her doctorate, she was a postdoctoral researcher at Johns Hopkins University and also at Northwestern University. Her areas of research include the inter
Kinnari Atit is an Associate Professor in the School of Education at the University of California, Riverside. She received her Ph.D. in Psychology from Temple University. After receiving her doctorate, she was a postdoctoral researcher at Johns Hopkins University and also at Northwestern University. Her areas of research include the intersection of spatial thinking and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. More specifically, her work comprises three lines of inquiry: 1) leveraging students’ spatial skills to improve their mathematics achievement, 2) supporting students’ understanding for spatial STEM concepts, and 3) examining K-12 teachers’ use of pedagogical practices that support spatial learning in the classroom. Our research together explores spatial cognition using Minecraft.