Social Cognition Lab, University of Miami

05/28/2026

Are you a sibling of someone with autism and starting your own family — or have you recently welcomed a baby?

You may be eligible for ASF’s Next Gen Sibs Project, a landmark study examining autism heritability and the factors that shape autism risk.

Participating families receive expert developmental evaluations, clinical feedback, and multi-year guidance.

Learn more or refer a family: https://nextgensibs.org

04/28/2026

Our research team—Nashmia, Danita, Georgia, & Anastassia—presented some of our lab's new findings on newborn social attention development at the RCIF conference (https://ugr.miami.edu/rcif/)! Warm thanks to Arushi, Shuo, & Tiffany for their mentorship of this amazing crew. And big thanks to all of the families who participated. We look forward to sharing the paper with you when it's accepted - stay tuned!

02/20/2026

02/13/2026

02/13/2026

Now looking for infants between 12 to 16 months old for the friendship study!

New study on infant friendship (12 to 16 months)! 🤗 https://umiami.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0lg5DAvKQKVfaaq

01/22/2026

“Sharing the same spaces and social interaction in the first year of life with peers contributes to the development of our microbiome… the unique set of bacteria that each of us carries”

The microbiome of infants is shaped by social relationships from an early age and not only by family sources, finds a recent study published in the journal Nature.

01/20/2026

Kicking off the spring 2026 semester with this groovy crew! Back row: Cat, Georgia, Shuo. Front row: Nashmia, Danita, Arushi. (Not pictured: Anastassia.)

01/08/2026

Welcome to our new research assistant, Danita Hullu! Danita earned her B.S. in psychology from the University of Florida & plans to pursue graduate studies in developmental psychology. She is passionate about working with children & is particularly interested in research on parent-child bonds & attachment. In her free time, she enjoys creating personalized playlists for friends and family, playing the guitar, staying connected with friends abroad, & attending workout classes.

01/06/2026

Want to support science on infants' emotions? Parents of babies (2-24 months) can complete our short, online study: https://umiami.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_e3EErawIQxZAniu

11/18/2025

Don't miss out on our 5-9-year-old kid scientist study! Sign up by November 30th for our 1-hour visit to play fun games and receive these prizes: a tote bag, magnet, toy, and $25 Amazon gift card. Reserve your spot today! [email protected]