Director / PI
Dr. Noa Gueron-Sela
Noa is an assistant professor at BGU in the developmental psychology program at the department of psychology. She completed a Ph.D. in developmental psychology at BGU, and postdoctoral training at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Drawing from developmental psychopathology and biopsychosocial theoretical frameworks, Noa’s research explores the interplay between biological and environmental factors in shaping children’s development over time, with a focus on early childhood (0-3 years). She is particularly interested in the role of the caregiving environment in early development, including aspects such as parental psychopathology, parenting behaviors, and parental self-regulatory abilities. The overarching goal of her research program is to identify pathways to resilience, and the ability to thrive in the face of early life stress and adversity.
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Ph.D. Student
Avigail Gordon-Hacker
Avigail is studying for her PhD degree at BGU under the joint supervision of Dr. Noa Gueron-Sela and Dr. Florina Uzefovsky. She received her BA in psychology and multidisciplinary studies, and her MA in clinical psychology from BGU. In her MA thesis, Avigail examined the links between toddler sleep, maternal sleep and emotional availability in mother-child interaction under the supervision of Dr. Liat Tikotsky. In our lab, Avigail is part of the MAMA research team. In her research she examines mediating and moderating mechanisms of the relations between maternal depressive symptoms and the development of child empathy through infancy. She is specifically interested in the roles of maternal reflective functioning and responsiveness to infants’ distress. In addition, Avigail is clinical psychologist doing an internship in the therapeutic treatment center for foster children at the Summit Institute.
Ph.D. Student
Motty Franko
Motty is studying for his PhD degree in psychology at BGU under the joint supervision of Dr. Noa Gueron-Sela and Dr. Ravid Doron from the Open University. He obtained his BA in psychology and MA in developmental psychology from the Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yaffo (MTA). During his years at MTA, Motty was a research assistant at Dr. Doron’s psychobiology lab where he gained expertise in applying animal models to understand the etiology of depression and anxiety. His research focused on the efficacy of a new herbal antidepressant developed in the lab, and the examination of possible side effects in comparison to traditional SSRI treatments.
In his current PhD research, Motty is building upon Dr. Gueron-Sela’s work on cognitive and social implications of preterm birth, and the moderating role of maternal caregiving on these outcomes. He is specifically interested in better understanding the causal links in this process. To that aim, Motty developed a mouse model of premature birth. Using behavioral and biological methods, Motty’s work mainly tests the cognitive and social-emotional implications of prematurity in the offspring, and the moderating role of maternal behaviors in this process.
Ph.D. Student
Alisa Egotubov
Alisa is a PhD student in the developmental psychology program at BGU University. She received her BA in behavioral sciences and her MA in developmental psychology from BGU University. Her MA research thesis focused on the associations between neonatal risk (i.e., premature birth, low birthweight and medical complications) and infants’ joint attention, and the roles of maternal behaviors and contextual stress in these associations. Alisa is currently part of the MAMA research team. She is particularly interested in examining the links between maternal depressive symptoms and the development of attention skills through infancy, while considering the role of maternal attention directing strategies and mother-infant joint visual attention.
Ph.D. Student
Yael Rozenblatt
Yael is a PhD student in the developmental psychology program at BGU under the joint supervision of Dr. Noa Gueron-Sela and Prof. Naama Atzaba Poria. She received her BA in psychology, cognition and neuroscience, and her MA in developmental psychology from BGU. Her MA research thesis focused on the implications of maternal mobile phone use for infants’ physiological reactivity during mother-child interactions.
Yael also completed a Masters degree in educational counseling at Tel-Aviv University. Her thesis examined mother-child interactions in families of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder from a dyadic dynamic systems approach.
In her current PhD research in our lab, Yael will evaluate a new group-based intervention program that aims to promote reflective functioning in Kindergarten teachers. She is specifically interested in better understanding the mechanisms of change that underlie the effect of the intervention program.
MA Student
Ahmad Mari
Ahmad is studying for his M.A degree in developmental psychology at BGU under the joint supervision of Prof. Naama Atzaba-Poria and Dr. Noa Gueron-Sela. He received his B.A in Psychology from Haifa university in 2019. Ahmad also participated in the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) Student Leaders Program, in which he studied leadership and social projects management at Georgetown University. He is currently interested in studying postpartum depression in Bedouin fathers following the birth of a preterm infant. Ahmad was recently granted the Council for Higher Education scholarship for members of the Arab community.
MA Student
Aseel Massalha
Aseel is studying for her M.A degree in developmental psychology at BGU. She received her B.A in Psychology and Education from Ben-Gurion university. She is interested in studying the association between the social support and postpartum depression in Bedouin women following the birth of a preterm infant. Aseel was recently granted the Council for Higher Education scholarship for members of the Arab community.
MA Student
Dafna Bar
Dafna is studying for her MA degree in developmental psychology at BGU. She received her BA in Psychology and Communication from BGU. In our lab, Dafna is part of the parental mobile device use (PMU) research team. She is particularly interested in infants’ behavioral responses to parental mobile device use, and in the changes in the maternal contingent responsiveness to the infant while the mobile device is present.
MA Student
Gal Doron
Gal is studying for her MA degree in developmental psychology at BGU. She received her BA in Psychology and Middle East studies from BGU. Gal is part of the Maternal Affect, Mood and Attention (MAMA) research team. She is interested in studying stability in maternal emotional availability across time and the different factors that can predict stability vs. change.
MA Student
Amit Gefen
Amit is studying for her MA degree in clinical psychology at BGU. She received her BA in Psychology and Cognitive and Brain Science from BGU. In our lab, Amit is part of the Maternal Affect, Mood and Attention (MAMA) research team. She is particularly interested in studying and understanding the relation between maternal ADHD symptoms and mentalization capacities, such as reflective functioning.
MA Student
Adina Soyonov Carmi
Adina is studying for her MA degree in developmental psychology at Ben-Gurion university. She received her BA in Psychology and Management from BGU. Adina is part of the Maternal Affect, Mood and Attention (MAMA) research team. Her research focuses is on mother-child behavioral synchrony during infancy. She is particularly interested in learning about the role of behavioral synchronization in the relationship between maternal ADHD symptoms and infants’ cognitive control.
MA Student
Agam Gerby
Agam is studying for her MA degree in developmental psychology at BGU University. She received her BA in Psychology and education from BGU. In our lab, Agam is part of the Maternal Affect, Mood and Attention (MAMA) research team. She is particularly interested in examining the links between maternal depressive symptoms and the child's cognitive development, while considering the unique role of child's temperament as a moderator of this association.
MA Student
Shir Shvo
Shir is studying for her MA degree in developmental psychology at BGU. She received her BA in Psychology and Human Resources from the University of Haifa. Shir is part of the MAMA research team. She is interested in examining the relations between prenatal maternal depressive symptoms and maternal cry processing, and the moderating role of maternal self-criticism - a personality profile characterized by excessive concern with self-worth and achievement.
MA Student
Noy Benita
Noy is studying for her MA degree in developmental psychology at BGU. She received her BA in psychology and cognition and neuroscience from BGU. In our lab, Noy is part of the MAMA research team. In her research, she examines how the link between maternal depressive symptoms and cry processing in the prenatal period can be moderated by maternal self-regulatory abilities as measured by behavioral, cognitive, and physiological aspects of self-regulation.
MA Student
Gilad Ben-David
Gilad is studying for his MA degree in experimental psychology, cognition and neuroscience at BGU under the joint supervision of Dr. Noa Gueron-Sela and Dr. Ravid Doron. He received his BA in psychology from the Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yaffo. In our lab, Gilad is working on the preterm mouse model project. He is specifically interested in cognitive deficits associated with premature birth, such as memory functions and problem-solving, and the biological indicators of these outcomes.
MA Student
Yael Mualem
Yael is studying for her MA degree in developmental psychology at BGU. She received her BA in psychology and sociology and anthropology from Bar Ilan University. In our lab, Yael is part of the preterm early development study (PEDS) research team. In her research, she examines how the link between household chaos and effortful control during childhood (age 5.5) can be moderated by neonatal risk, as measured by premature birth, low birth weight (LBW <2,500) and neonatal medical complications.
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MA Student
Shira Dizitzer
Shira is studying for my MA degree in developmental psychology at BGU. She received her BA in psychology and sociology from the Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yaffo. In her thesis, Shira is working on data from the preterm early development study (PEDS), a longitudinal study following the development of infants born preterm. In her research she examines the relations between triadic family interactions during infancy and emotion regulation abilities during childhood.
MA Student
Shir Shvo
Shir is studying for her MA degree in developmental psychology at BGU. She received her BA in Psychology and Human Resources from the University of Haifa. Shir is part of the MAMA research team. She is interested in examining the relations between prenatal maternal depressive symptoms and maternal cry processing, and the moderating role of maternal self-criticism - a personality profile characterized by excessive concern with self-worth and achievement.
MA Student
Yael Rozenblatt
Yael is studying for her MA degree in the developmental psychology program at BGU. She received her BA in psychology, cognition and neuroscience from BGU. She also completed a Masters degree in educational counseling at Tel-Aviv University. Her thesis examined mother-child interactions in families of children with Autism from a dyadic dynamic systems approach. In our lab, Yael is part of the parental mobile device use (PMU) research team. She is particularly interested in infants’ physiological responses to parental mobile device use, as measured through changes in autonomic functioning.
MA Student
Noy Benita
Noy is studying for her MA degree in developmental psychology at BGU. She received her BA in psychology and cognition and neuroscience from BGU. In our lab, Noy is part of the MAMA research team. In her research, she examines how the link between maternal depressive symptoms and cry processing in the prenatal period can be moderated by maternal self-regulatory abilities as measured by behavioral, cognitive, and physiological aspects of self-regulation.
MA Student
Gilad Ben-David
Gilad is studying for his MA degree in experimental psychology, cognition and neuroscience at BGU under the joint supervision of Dr. Noa Gueron-Sela and Dr. Ravid Doron. He received his BA in psychology from the Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yaffo. In our lab, Gilad is working on the preterm mouse model project. He is specifically interested in cognitive deficits associated with premature birth, such as memory functions and problem-solving, and the biological indicators of these outcomes.
MA Student
Yael Mualem
Yael is studying for her MA degree in developmental psychology at BGU. She received her BA in psychology and sociology and anthropology from Bar Ilan University. In our lab, Yael is part of the preterm early development study (PEDS) research team. In her research, she examines how the link between household chaos and effortful control during childhood (age 5.5) can be moderated by neonatal risk, as measured by premature birth, low birth weight (LBW <2,500) and neonatal medical complications.