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Dr. Pelham is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry in the UC San Diego School of Medicine and a clinical child/adolescent psychologist licensed in the State of California (#33091). Dr. Pelham's research focuses on externalizing spectrum psychopathology in children and adolescents. His current emphasis is on developing new paradigms for conceptualizing and studying how parenting can reduce or exacerbate problem behavior. Dr. Pelham's work is funded by 5 active awards as PI or Co-PI from the National Institutes of Health, state government, and private foundations.

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Dr. Herry Patel earned his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from McMaster University where he characterized symptom associations between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders (SUDs) among differing clinical and community samples. As a Vanier Banting Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California San Diego, he is mentored by Dr. William Pelham and Dr. Susan Tapert to elucidate the etiology of co-occurring trauma and substance use among adolescents. 

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Dr. Waddell earned his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Arizona State University where his program of research examined the etiology of alcohol and cannabis use disorders, with a focus on the dynamic interplay among cognition, personality, and subjective experience in predicting alcohol and cannabis use problems. While at UC San Diego, Dr. Waddell will continue this line of work, focusing on transitions into and out of high-risk alcohol and cannabis use patterns, while integrating ecological momentary assessments, biosensor technology, and longitudinal data. Dr. Waddell’s research has been supported by grants from the National Institute of Health, the Research Society on Alcohol, and the Arizona Institute on Mental Health Research. Jack is currently on his clinical internship at the Phoenix VA and will join the lab in September 2024

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Ms. Davis earned her B.S. in Psychology and Human Development from Cornell University where she conducted research in the Person and Context (PAC) Lab under Dr. Vivian Zayas as well as the Memory and Neuroscience Lab under Dr. Charles Brainerd.  As a Research Coordinator in the Pelham Lab, her work focuses on causal processes linking parental monitoring to externalizing behavior disorders among adolescents.

Ms. Aks earned her B.S. in Cognitive Science with a Specialization in Computing from the University of California, Los Angeles. At UCLA, she conducted research on schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders in the Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience Lab (CCNL) under the mentorship of Dr. Katherine Karlsgodt. Through her independent research project, she examined the implications of early-life adversity on prosocial behavior. As a Research Coordinator in the Pelham Lab, Isabel leverages data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study to characterize the relationship between mental illness and substance use among adolescents.

Ms. Schulze earned her B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Child Development from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. At Cal Poly, she conducted research in the Bennion & Antony Memory lab under Dr. Bennion and Dr. Antony, as well as the Relationships Lab under Dr. Jovanovic.  As a Research Coordinator in the Pelham Lab, Emily's work focuses on the links between parenting and substance use among adolescents.

Athena is in her final year of her B.A in Psychology and Spanish at Middlebury College in Vermont. At Middlebury she conducts research in the Sleep and Anxiety Lab under Dr. Martin Seehuus. As a summer research assistant in the Pelham Lab, Athena will focus on using the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study to improve equitability of screening measures for substance use among adolescents.