The EDEN Lab works with collaborators across institutions and disciplines whose expertise strengthens and extends our research. These partnerships bring together complementary perspectives, methods, and areas of expertise to advance our understanding of child development, developmental psychopathology, and the processes that shape children's social and emotional development.
Nicholas Wagner, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Boston University
Nicholas Wagner is an Associate Professor and Developmental Science Program Director at Boston University, where he directs the Biobehavioral and Social-Emotional Development Lab. His research examines how early relationships and experiences interact with children’s developing self-regulatory and psychobiological systems to shape social and emotional development. His work focuses on pathways to both externalizing and internalizing psychopathology, including callous-unemotional traits, anxiety, behavioral inhibition, and social withdrawal, with particular attention to the role of parents, peers, and broader social contexts.
John D. Herrington, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychiatry; Co-Director, Developmental Neuroimaging Program
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia / University of Pennsylvania
John Herrington is a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania and Co-Director of the Developmental Neuroimaging Program at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. His research focuses on social and emotional information processing in neurotypical and neurodiverse populations, with particular emphasis on anxiety in autism. His work spans neurobiological, behavioral, and clinical levels of analysis and increasingly incorporates computational approaches, including computer vision and computational linguistics, to better characterize emotional and psychiatric symptoms.
Julia Parish-Morris, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychiatry; Director, Social Attention and Language (SoAL) Lab
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia / University of Pennsylvania
Julia Parish-Morris is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania and Director of the Social Attention and Language Lab at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Her research examines the intersection of language and social cognition in autism and other neurodevelopmental conditions, using methods including computational linguistics, eye tracking, and immersive virtual reality. Her work aims to better understand real-world communication challenges, individual differences in social development, and pathways to earlier identification and more individualized support.
Lauren White, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia / University of Pennsylvania
Lauren White is a developmental psychologist whose work integrates behavioral, EEG, and fMRI methods to study the cognitive and affective processes that shape emotional development. Her research examines how biological and environmental influences—including early adversity, pregnancy experiences, and family interactions—work together to influence children’s developmental trajectories. A central goal of her work is to identify processes that can inform more effective support for caregivers and children and promote healthier outcomes for families.
Wanjikũ F.M. Njoroge, M.D.
Associate Professor; Medical Director, Young Child Clinic
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia / University of Pennsylvania
Wanjikũ F.M. Njoroge is an Associate Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and Medical Director of the Young Child Clinic at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Her research focuses on prevention and early intervention in infancy and early childhood, with particular attention to parenting, psychosocial stress, trauma, and the role of culture in shaping children’s development. Her work examines how parental beliefs, cultural norms, and social context influence early development, especially among vulnerable and historically underserved families.