Kayla Ablin

Kayla Ablin is a first-year master’s student at the Eliot Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development. She previously graduated from Barnard College with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and Sociology. Since graduating, she has worked at the Institute for Family Health where she coordinated care for individuals experiencing homelessness, incarceration, and severe mental illness. She has also worked as an intake coordinator for two CBT and DBT practices. Kayla is primarily interested in researching the impact of parent-child relationships on children’s socio-emotional development to inform the development of evidence-based interventions for families and children. After graduating, she hopes to continue her education as a PhD student. In her free time, Kayla enjoys cooking, crafting, and being outdoors.


Clare Coffman

Clare Coffman is a member of the Tufts undergraduate Class of 2024, majoring in Political Science with a co-major in Education. She is interested in continuing to pursue education policy, as she has experience locally working for the Elizabeth Peabody House and Social Emotional Learning for Massachusetts. Clare has a particular focus on immigrant youth populations and engaging immigrant parents in their children’s education. After graduating, Clare plans to teach through a yearlong program and then return to graduate school. When she’s not reading about education, Clare enjoys hiking, swimming in nature, painting, and singing in her terrible college house band.


Madison Heckman

Madison Heckman is an undergraduate sophomore majoring in Psychology and Child Study and Human Development, with a minor in Sociology. She hopes to pursue school psychology after graduation, and is passionate about education policy and mental health advocacy. Her research interests include education accessibility, and support for neurodiverse students. In her free time, she is always listening to music, and loves reading and creative writing.


Usman Naeem

Usman Naeem is a PhD Student in the Economics & Public Policy joint program between the Economics Department and The Fletcher School at Tufts University. His research focuses on energy markets, air pollution, and disruptive climate change. Prior to his graduate study, he was a Country Economist for the International Growth Centre Pakistan for six years.

Usman holds an MS in Economics from the Lahore University of Management Sciences and a BA in Economics from the National University of Singapore.


Poorvi Sethi

Poorvi is a second-year master’s student at Eliot-Pearson and is on the Clinical-Developmental Health and Psychology track of study. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Psychology from India. Her research interests include health equity, social-emotional development of children, and neurodiversity. She hopes to do meaningful work for children and families in the research and evaluation sectors after graduating. In her free time, she enjoys reading books, watching Modern Family, and spending time with her family.


Irene Yoo

Irene Yoo is an undergraduate senior pursuing a BS in Cognitive Brain Science and a BA/MA in Child Study and Human Development in the Fifth-Year Master’s Degree program. She currently volunteers at the West Somerville Neighborhood School as a literacy tutor. Her research interests include the sense of belonging in school for immigrant children and the relationship between language, cognition, and culture. After graduating from Tufts, Irene aims to attend graduate school for speech-language pathology. In her free time, she enjoys making jewelry, reading books, and playing board games with her family.