She completed her Postdoctoral work at the Yale Child Study Center and received her PhD in Experimental Psychology from University of California, San Diego. Dr. Stavropoulos’ doctoral dissertation studied reward anticipation to social versus nonsocial stimuli in children with and without autism spectrum disorders (ASD). As an assistant professor Dr. Stavropoulos will conduct translational studies to continue exploring the reward system in ASD, as well as how anxiety contributes to social deficits often seen in this population. She plans to investigate school-based interventions for children with ASD, and how those interventions affect brain activity, behavior, and school performance. She is also involved in diagnosis of children with ASD and is pursuing clinical licensure.