CLINICAL PROFESSOR OF PSYCHOLOGY IN PSYCHIATRY
Columbia University Medical Center
/ Lab Members
Beatrice Beebe, PhD | Lab Director
As a leading expert in the analysis of mother-infant interaction, Dr. Beatrice Beebe is a clinical professor of psychology at Columbia University Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department. She is faculty at several psychoanalytic institutes and has a private practice for adults and mother-infant pairs. She is the author or co-author of six books. Her work focuses on the mutual mother-infant bond and optimizing 4-month infant social development. Her studies examine; the roles of infant distress and maternal distress (such as depression and anxiety) on mother-infant communication; the effects of early mother-infant communication patterns on emerging infant attachment styles and infant cognition; the long-term continuity of communication and attachment styles from infancy to young adulthood.
Olivia Marsh | Lab Manager
Olivia graduated from The New School with a degree in Psychology in 2023. She spent three years working in the Childhood Attachment Lab at The New School, where she spent her time coding Reflective Functioning, analyzing data on how extreme poverty impacts child development and parental bonding. Before working with Dr. Beebe, Olivia worked as a Facilitator at The Motherhood Center, a part-time hospitalization program for mothers with perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. She plans to pursue a doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology after her 2 years in Dr. Beebe’s lab, and use her experience with the mother-infant dyad to go into reproductive psychology.
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Katherine McKane | Research Assistant - Coder
Katherine received her BA in Liberal Arts concentrating in Chemistry and Psychology from Sarah Lawrence College in May 2023. After graduating, Katherine worked in Dr. Flyak's Lab in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Cornell University as a Laboratory Technician, maintaining their cell line. She has also previously worked as a Lead Coach for her local swim club working with children of all ages, and was a volunteer Teaching Assistant at Sarah Lawrence College's Early Childhood Development Center in their 4/5s classroom and their 2s classroom. These combined experiences have solidified that Katherine both enjoys conducting research and also loves working closely with children on an individual level that aids in their development. Katherine is currently pursuing her MA in Clinical Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University. She joins Dr. Beebe's Lab as a coder and is excited to learn more about mother-infant communication and statistics. In the future, she hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology.
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Clayre Attisani | Research Assistant - Head of First Year Coders
Clayre Attisani obtained her BA in Philosophy from The University of Virginia and an MSc in Creative Arts and Mental Health with Distinction from Queen Mary University of London. Her previous roles across the education, psychology, and non-profit sectors have focused on community and connection as essential for improving mental health outcomes and quality of life. Apart from her position at Dr. Beebe’s lab, she conducts research in the field of psychedelic medicine with the Psychedelics and Humanities Lab at The New School for Social Research. She hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology.
Angelo Wei | Research Assistant - Coder
Angel Wei is a Master's student in the Clinical Psychology program at Teachers College, Columbia University. Previously, she earned a double degree in Music Therapy and Performance from Berklee College of Music. She completed her music therapy internship at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, where she gained valuable experience in family-centered therapeutic communication and child development. She has a particular interest in exploring the intersections of therapeutic communication, mother-infant bonding, and social development, aiming to deepen her understanding of attachment and developmental processes through the study of mother-infant interactions. In the future, she hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, studying the impact of early communication patterns and attachment on lifelong mental health and social outcomes.
Ashley Cortes | Research Assistant - Coder, Filming Team
Ashley is a Master's student in the Psychology in Education program at Teachers College, Columbia University. Previously she received a Bachelor's degree in Cognitive Science from University of Connecticut. Ashley was a research assistant for the Swaddling Ear to Ear program. She provided individualized resources for English and Spanish speaking families with children that are Deaf/Hard of Hearing about Connecticut’s Early Hearing Detection and Intervention program to make educated decisions regarding available services and care options. In addition to her work on Dr. Beebe's coding team, Ashley is a volunteer Believe New York Client Advocate. She supports and connects individuals and families in NYC (and beyond) to resources that will best fit their needs. She facilitates weekly checks in to ensure they are moving forward in their goals, ensures the resources provided are improving their situation, and the client is on track to improve their goals. In the future, Ashley intends to pursue a doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology and plans to use her experience in Dr. Beebe’s lab to work with young children and their mothers.
Ivy Liu | Research Assistant - Coder
Ivy earned her B.S. in Psychology from Indiana University Bloomington and is currently pursuing an M.A. in Clinical Psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University. As an undergraduate, she worked as a research assistant in Dr. Linda Smith’s Cognitive Development Lab, where she studied mother-infant interactions during toy-play sessions. Her honors thesis explored the impact of parental scaffolding on infants' learning outcomes. Ivy joins Dr. Beebe’s lab as a mother touch coder. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, focusing on mood disorders, emotion regulation, and psychopathology. In her free time, she enjoys reading and dancing.
Saba Malik | Project Coordinator
Saba is currently a Clinical Psychology Master's student at Teacher's College, Columbia University and joined Dr. Beebe's lab during fall of 2024 as the Project Coordinator. In May of 2023, she earned her B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Neuroscience at the University of Maryland. After graduation, she worked as a Research Assistant researching first-episode psychosis at Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine in Baltimore. Saba's current research interests are perinatal mental health and how postpartum depression or psychosis can affect attachment of mothers and babies. She has grown a strong interest in maternal health and is excited to be working with new mothers, and is excited to be working with Dr. Beebe and her amazing research team. Saba plans on continuing her research interests by pursuing a doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology in the future.
Julia Peralta | Research Assistant - Coder, Filming Team
Julia is a master's student in Clinical Psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University. She earned her B.S. in Biology and Psychology from Texas A&M University in 2022. After graduating, she worked as a research assistant at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, contributing to two projects: one bringing STEM programs to low-income elementary schools to increase STEM interest and challenge gender stereotypes, and another developing evidence-based practices to improve children’s oral language skills. Her research interests include mother-child interactions, socioemotional development, and early childhood psychopathology, with attention to multicultural contexts. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, focusing on perinatal and child mental health within marginalized, particularly Latine, communities.
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Hannah Lubowitz | Lab Manager Understudy
Hannah Lubowitz graduated from the University of Michigan in May 2025 with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a minor in Education. At Michigan, she was a research assistant in Dr. Ethan Kross’ Emotion and Self-Control Laboratory and completed her Honors thesis in Dr. Amie Gordon’s Well-Being, Health, and Interpersonal Relationships Laboratory. There, she explored how interacting with an artificially intelligent companion impacts users’ social-emotional well-being (e.g., loneliness and the motivation to socialize). During her undergraduate summers, Hannah worked as a group leader at a sleepaway camp in Massachusetts, where she especially enjoyed guiding young girls in their social and emotional development and collaborating with their parents in supporting their growth. Hannah plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical or School Psychology and is excited to be working in Dr. Beebe’s Lab to deepen her understanding of early relational dynamics between infants and caregivers, continue building her research skills, and be part of its supportive community. In her free time, Hannah enjoys taking hot-yoga classes, spending time with friends and family, and running in Central Park park.
Maya Shkolnik | Media Team Lead
Maya Shkolnik earned her BA from Columbia University in May 2025. There, she studied a combination of psychoanalysis, visual arts, computer science, and Russian language. For her senior thesis, Maya staged a 2-hour performance with her mother in the style of Dr. Beebe's dual camera mother-infant video. In an accompanying paper, Maya wrote about the role of the camera in these mother-infant interactions. Maya is an aspiring photographer and filmmaker and centers her own family in her work, keeping psychoanalytic themes in mind. Her works have been featured in the Harvard Film Festival (May 2025), Oxford University Isis Magazine, and UCLA Slavic Journal. The Columbia spectator interviewed about psychoanalysis and photography for a feature in May 2025.
Lily Roche VanOot | Project Coordinator Understudy
Lily graduated from Georgetown University with a B.A. in Psychology in 2025. At Georgetown, she worked as a research assistant at the Thrive Center for Children, Families, and Communities, where she evaluated the DC Maternal, Infant, Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV) by analyzing qualitative data and preparing reports from the DC Health client database. She has also built a strong foundation in education and child development through her work with JumpStart, where she supported preschool-aged children in developing early literacy and social-emotional skills, and through Teach for America’s Ignite Fellowship, where she led small group lessons for elementary students in underserved schools and collaborated closely with teachers to adapt instruction to student needs. These research and teaching experiences have fostered her interest in how early environments and family systems shape development, and she plans to pursue a doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology with the goal of integrating research and practice to support children and families across diverse contexts.
Amelia Cohen | Research Assistant - Coder
Amelia earned her BA in Psychological and Brain Sciences from Colgate University in 2025. During her undergraduate studies, she actively participated in various research projects, including her senior thesis, which examined the effects of interparental conflict and parent-child attachment on future romantic relationships. In addition to her academic pursuits, Amelia gained experience in clinical settings, where she received training in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy adapted for Selective Mutism (PCIT-SM). Through this work, she supported children facing communication challenges, further fueling her passion for developmental psychology and attachment theory. Amelia is committed to advancing her expertise in child development and clinical research. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, with a focus on early intervention and attachment-informed therapies.
Nalinda Wanikpun | Research Assistant - Coder
Nalinda is a Master's student in Clinical Psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University. She received her bachelor's degree in psychology at New York University, where she also minored in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Studies. During her undergraduate studies, she was a research assistant for Dr. Moira Dillon at the Lab for the Developing Mind at NYU and for Dr. Jay Van Bavel at the Social Identity and Morality Lab. Nalinda's interests are within researching mentalization based treatments and its application to families who have undergone trauma and neglect, as well as mothers with personality disorders. In the future, she hopes to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology to work in family therapy. In her free time, Nalinda enjoys rock climbing, playing chess, and watching F1 with her friends.
Patrick Diao| Research Assistant - Coder
Patrick Diao is an MA student in Clinical Psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University. He graduated from the University of Southern California with a dual BA degree in Psychology and History. Patrick is currently a research assistant at the Mother-Infant Communication Sciences Lab at New York State Psychiatric Institute (focusing primarily on vocal rhythm coding) and the Regulation of Emotion in Anxiety and Depression Lab (READ) at Teachers College, Columbia University. Patrick is particularly interested in how patterns of early mother–infant affective attunement shape emotion recognition and emotion granularity later in life, and how disruptions in these developmental processes contribute to maladaptive emotion regulation strategies such as non-suicidal self-injury for patients with severe distress and personality disorders. He is also passionate about incorporating developmental and psychodynamic insights to enrich evidence-based interventions. He plans to pursue a Clinical Psychology PHD and loves reading philosophy in his free time.
Peixin Kate Zhou | Research Assistant - Statistics Team
Peixin Kate Zhou is a Stat team Research Assistant at Dr. Beatrice Beebe’s Mother–Infant Communication Lab at Columbia University Medical Center. She earned her M.Ed. in Human Development and Education from Harvard University and her B.S. in Psychology from Northeastern University. Kate is interested in the impact of early parent–infant interaction and cross-context learning environments on later social-emotional development and learning outcomes. In the future, Kate plans to pursue a doctoral degree in Developmental Psychology or Education. In her free time, she loves skiing, cooking, sleeping, and playing with her cat, Vitas.
Noa Bornstein | Research Assistant - Coder
Noa graduated from Tufts University with a BA in Biopsychology and Child Study & Human Development, cultivating an interdisciplinary understanding of human behavior and a strong interest in the bidirectional nature of relationships. Her core insight, that people simultaneously shape and are shaped by those around them, has guided her work across clinical, advocacy, and research settings. In her previous work at Union Square Practice, she conducted intake assessments and facilitated care for individuals with diverse clinical presentations, and she currently provides crisis intervention for survivors of violence as a volunteer Victim Advocate. While she has extensive experience working with children, Dr. Beebe’s lab offers her an exciting opportunity to explore these processes for the first time in infancy, at their most foundational stage.
Deandre Samples | Research Assistant - Coder
DeAndre obtained a BA in psychology from Stony Brook University in 2020. He previously completed an undergraduate project focusing on the effect of race/ethnicity on the Attachment and Bio-behavioral program (ABC). Currently, he works at Power Of Two as a parent-coach/parent mentor delivering the ABC program and the Fostering Relationships program. Research interests include early-childhood development, child maltreatment, and early childhood adversity. He hopes to pursue a Phd in clinical psychology.