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!
Spencer Polk, Assistant Clinical Research Coordinator, CHOC
I obtained my B.S. Psychology degree from UCI in 2022. I am eternally grateful to be a researcher in the SLEEP Lab where my interests include cognitive neuroscience, neural networks and machine learning.
Sherry WU, RESEARCH ASSISTANT
I am a UCI undergrad majoring in B.S. Psychology. I’m proud to be a member of the SLEEP Lab and my primary research focus is sleep, mental health, and social media in youth patients. I’m also a cat mom who loves to watch movies and soccer games in her free time.
Sacha Nekouie, RESEARCH ASSISTANT
I am a 2nd year Psychology B.S. major at UC Irvine. I am interested in pursuing a career in research focusing on cognitive and intellectual development in children. My hobbies include reading, crocheting, and journaling!
Celina Padilla, RESEARCH ASSISTANT
I am a Psychology B.S. major here at UCI. Sleep is fascinating as it is something everyone needs and does, but it has so many intricacies that not many know about!
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!
Collaborators & PArtners
Paola Malerba, PhD Nationwide Children's Hospital
SLEEP CENTER CHOC Hospital
Sara Mednick, PhD University of California, Irvine
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
Sara Mednick, PhD University of California, Irvine
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.
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.