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, Clinical Research Coordinator I, CHOC
Lia is a Clinical Research Coordinator I with dual affiliation at CHOC Children's Hospital of Orange County, part of Rady Children's Health, and UC Irvine's SLEEP Lab. She has worked with Dr. Katharine Simon since August 2021, beginning as an undergraduate research assistant, and graduated from UC Irvine in 2022 with a B.A. in Psychological Science.
Lia supports CHOC and the SLEEP Lab by coordinating various research studies; assisting with regulatory submissions; engaging with parent, youth, and adult participants; overseeing data collection and organization; and supervising undergraduate research assistants and visiting professionals. Lia is passionate about mental health translational research and bridging the gap between scienctific discoveries and patient care. Her research interests include using technology to investigate and track how pediatric sleep patterns and children's parent and peer relationships can predict future mental health disorders.
In her free time, she loves to spend time with her friends and family; express her creativity through art, crocheting, and knitting; and enjoys kickboxing.
Andrés PEÑa, Clinical Research Coordinator I, 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.
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Shun iwata, Assistant Specialist
Shun Iwata is an Assistant Specialist in the SLEEP Lab, where he has worked with Dr. Simon since January 2024, initially as an undergraduate at UC Irvine. He graduated in 2024 with a B.S. in Mathematics. Shun supports the lab’s data workflows by developing MATLAB pipelines to validate, organize, and process wearable and cognitive task data collected through the HowRU app, as well as using R for data visualization. He also developed an AI chatbot for motivational interviewing training in collaboration with the Train New Trainers program and the code used to evaluate physician's interview performance. His research interests focus on methodological rigor, particularly validating data quality and establishing the reliability of data collection and processing methods. Outside the lab, Shun plays ultimate frisbee. He has played for the San Diego Growlers in the Ultimate Frisbee Association (UFA) and competed at USA Ultimate (USAU) Nationals with the SoCal Condors.
Kavya PAbbaraju, Junior Specialist
Kavya Pabbaraju is a recent Software Engineering graduate from UC Irvine. She joined the SLEEP lab after working with Dr. Simon on a AI-based senior capstone project, and she is excited to continue developing the AI patients and contributing to research. She is currently pursue a career in software engineering that combines her interests in technology, health data, and patient care. Outside of academics, she enjoys reading, photography, going to concerts, and traveling.
Chris Sun, RESEARCH ASSISTANT
Chris is a Computer Science major at UC Irvine who is excited to incorporate Minecraft, one of his favorite games for years, into research. He hopes to expand his knowledge of different technologies and explore how they can be used to enhance user experiences. In his free time, Chris enjoys listening to music, with Umbrabyte and CHALKEY among his favorite artists.
Toby Tran, RESEARCH ASSISTANT
Toby is a 2nd year Biological Sciences major at UC Irvine. He is fascinated by the role sleep plays in daily life, particularly how it influences cognitive function and social interactions. At the SLEEP Lab, he looks forward to exploring these patterns and engaging with participants to contribute to ongoing research. Outside of school and the lab, Toby enjoys exploring new foods, baking, traveling, reading science fiction, working out, fashion, graphic design, and all things milk tea!
Mizuki Shirakawa, RESEARCH ASSISTANT
Mizuki is a 3rd year Nursing Science major at UCI! She is thrilled to be a part of the SLEEP Lab as a Research Assistant, especially because she is fascinated by how the lab incorporates games like Minecraft into its research studies. She looks forward to exploring how sleep influences daily functioning and spatial memory in pediatric populations, which aligns with her interest in pursuing a career in pediatric nursing. In her free time, Mizuki enjoys playing tennis, spending time with friends, and going to the beach!
annafleur (anni) von ende, RESEARCH ASSISTANT
Anni is a 3rd year Human Biology major at UC Irvine. She is excited to be part of the SLEEP Lab as a Research Assistant, where she hopes to deepen her understanding of how sleep influences cognitive development, memory, and overall well-being. Aspiring to pursue a career in pediatric medicine, Anni is particularly interested in the role sleep plays in children's growth and development and hopes to apply the knowledge she gains through research to her future career as a physician. In her free time, Anni enjoys going to the beach, swimming, hiking, traveling, and thrifting!
Kara ngo, RESEARCH ASSISTANT
Kara is a 2nd year Pharmaceutical Sciences major at UC Irvine with a minor in Business Management. She is excited to be part of the SLEEP Lab and to learn more about how sleep influences cognitive development, memory, and daily functioning in children and adolescents. As someone who hopes to pursue a career in pediatric pharmacy, Kara aims to apply the knowledge and experience she gains through her research to support the health and well-being of younger populations. Outside of research, she enjoys exploring new food spots, visiting photobooths, and spending time with her family.
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.