2024 J. Steven Reznick Diversity and Psychological Research Grant Recipients & Honorable Mentions

We are delighted to announce that the following students have been selected as the recipients of the 2024 J. Steven Reznick Diversity and Psychological Research Grant—Jazlyn Dunn and Dalia Marquez. Emma Chow and Sholeh Najafian are recognized with an Honorable Mention.

JAZLYN DUNN is a second-year student majoring in Neuroscience and minoring in Spanish for the Health Professions. This is Jazlyn’s first semester pursuing research in which she hopes to explore the relationship between sociocultural factors influencing ADHD prevalence and diagnosis. With the support of Reznick, Jazlyn plans to pursue related research in Dr. Jessica Cohen’s Lab.

DALIA MARQUEZ is a senior undergraduate Psychology and Music major. Dalia has been an undergraduate research assistant working at the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities for two years. She is interested in how differences in culture may influence access to effective interventions for children with autism, specifically looking at developing culturally tailored interventions to support Black caregivers and their children with autism. She will pursue her research in Dr. Shauna Cooper’s Lab while conducting her senior honors thesis.

EMMA CHOW is a third-year Psychology and Information Science major. She is an undergraduate research assistant for the Institute for Trauma Recovery and UNC Neurocognition and Imaging Research Lab. Emma is passionate about contributing to clinical psychology research and developing new treatments and interventions for psychiatric illnesses. Her research interests focus on investigating information processing patterns among women from minority populations with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

SHOLEH NAJAFIAN is a senior undergraduate Psychology and Human Development & Family Science (HDFS) double major with a minor in Chinese. She has been an undergraduate research assistant in the Early Learning Lab for the past year. Her research interests focus on socioemotional learning and the development of self-regulation in children, specifically through parent-child interaction and conversation. Sholeh will continue her research with a cross-cultural lens as she will analyze conversational patterns in American and Chinese families for her senior honors thesis with the guidance of Dr. Kathryn Leech.

The J. Steven Reznick Diversity and Psychological Research Grant honors Dr. Reznick, a close friend and colleague in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience. He earned his B.A. in Psychology from UNC chapel Hill, M.A. from Wake Forest University, and Ph.D. from University of Colorado. He was a proud alumnus of UNC Chapel Hill and served on our faculty from 1998 until his death in 2016. Dr. Reznick made many contributions to enriching diversity in student experiences at UNC Chapel Hill and we thank him for his lifelong commitment to education, research, and Carolina. The Reznick Research Fund honors Dr. Reznick and encourages undergraduate students who conduct exemplary research on topics of concern to diverse populations as well as undergraduates from groups that have been traditionally underrepresented in psychological research.