Research Team

Brenna Hassinger-Das, PhD

Dr. Hassinger-Das is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Pace University. Her research examines children’s play and learning in home, school, and community contexts, particularly for children experiencing poverty. Her areas of expertise encompass executive functioning, early number sense, and vocabulary acquisition. She is particularly interested in investigating the role of play and games for learning. She is committed to translating her research for use by the public through community-based research projects as well as blog posts and commentaries featured in outlets such as The Huffington Post, WHYY, and as well as additional outlets.

Graduate Assistants

Katherine Aloisi

Katherine Aloisi is a graduate student in the School-Clinical Child Psychology Psy.D. program at Pace University. She previously received her Bachelor of Arts with a double major in Psychology and Africana Studies at Gettysburg College. She currently works as a graduate assistant for the Psychology Department at Pace, as well as being employed part-time as a residential counselor at a psychiatric community home for adolescents.

Research Assistants

Alexis Ferguson

Alexis Ferguson is a graduate student in the School-Clinical Child Psychology Psy.D. program at Pace University. Prior to her graduate studies, she received her Bachelor of Arts with a double major in Psychology and Exercise Science at Rutgers University. She currently works as a graduate research assistant for the Pace Psychology Department, in addition to being on the clinical team at an alternative school, and being employed as a residence counselor at a psychiatric community home for adults.

Iris Nguyen

Iris Nguyen is an honors undergraduate Psychology and Philosophy major at Pace University. She has experience of doing art therapy with children with Down syndrome as a leader of a non-profit organization in Vietnam. She is interested in using participatory research and developing subtle interventions in everyday contexts to foster learning through play.

Ashley S. Quinones

Ashley S. Quinones is a graduate student in the MA Psychology program at Pace University. She previously received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology with a minor in Disability Studies from the CUNY College of Staten Island. She currently works with individuals with disabilities as a Direct Support Professional and Life Skills Professional. Her goal is to one day obtain her Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology with a focus on children.