Research Participation Opportunities

The faculty of the Psychology departemnt are involved in a wide variety of research projects, and would appreciate your participation.

Autism Spectrum Research

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  • CARD - Center for Autism and Related Disabilities

    Our center, based at the University of Miami and Nova Southeastern University, is one of seven state-funded, university-based outreach and support centers in Florida dedicated to optimizing the potential of people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), dual sensory impairment, sensory impairments with other disabling conditions, and related disabilities. In addition to ASD, CARD also serves a variety of related disabilities including deaf-blindness, sensory impairments with other disabling conditions, developmental delays in children under 5 who also present with autistic-like behaviors, and genetic disorders that may co-exist with autism symptoms (e.g., Fragile X Syndrome, Rett Syndrome, Tuberous Sclerosis, Angelman Syndrome, among others). Over the years, CARD’s constituency has grown from 88 families in 1993 to over 12,000 families today in Monroe, Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

  • ASAC - Autism Spectrum Assessment Clinic

    ASAC is a specialty clinic at the University of Miami dedicated to conducting in-depth, "gold standard" evaluations of individuals who are suspected of having an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or other social, communication, behavioral, emotional, or learning difficulties. ASAC also provides therapeutic services to children, adolescents, and adults with ASD and social-communication challenges. ASAC's team of specialists is highly experienced, and uses the latest, state-of-the-art evaluation and treatment methods. Our clinicians implement only empirically-supported, evidence-based techniques as part of the University of Miami's commitment to research excellence and world-class standards of care. Situated on the Coral Gables campus of the prestigious University of Miami, our spacious clinic is centrally located and accessible. Our ASAC family is dedicated to providing your family with the very best in sensitive, compassionate, and highly individualized care that you can trust.

Health and Coping Research

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  • FAMILY Lab - Facilitating Adjustment to Medical ILlness in Your family

    The primary goals of the UM FAMILY (Facilitating Adjustment to Medical ILlness in Your family) research lab are:

    1. to examine the psychosocial, physical, and spiritual impact of cancer on the family and develop programs and services to assist families in meeting their needs
    2. to investigate psychosocial and biobehavioral mechanisms of impact of cancer linking to the health of the patients and their family members/caregivers
    3. to promote healthy lifestyle behaviors among cancer survivors and their family and friends.
    Research members have been involved in a number of projects that identify subgroups of patients and their family caregivers who are vulnerable to adverse effects of having cancer in the family and investigate the interpersonal processes that play out in the course of cancer.  We are also currently working on projects that investigate psychological and biological correlates and interpersonal mechanisms of cancer experiences and that examine the efficacy of healthy lifestyle interventions among adult cancer survivors and their family members.

  • URose - Reducing Obesity in Students Everywhere

    The The University of MiamiROSE program is committed to overweight and obesity prevention in youth. The The University of MiamiROSE program offers prevention and intervention strategies and health education for children and their parents. We address issues pertaining to overweight and obesity in children and encourage adopting and maintaining a health promoting lifestyle.

    From 2013 - 2014, the The University of MiamiROSE program was supported by a generous gift from Dr. Howard and Mrs. Muriel Rose.

Infant & Child Studies Actively Recruiting

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  • The Infant and Child Studies

    The Infant and Child Studies Group at the University of Miami is committed to understanding growth over time, including how infants and children think, feel, and interact with other people. Our studies typically involve your child playing games, listening to songs or other sounds, watching short videos, interacting with toys, or looking at pictures. Most visits are 30 to 60 minutes long and are compensated. For more information about each study, and to be contacted when you child is the right age for a specific study, please complete this form: https://redcap.miami.edu/surveys/index.php?s=WPJNTRMDDJ


    We are currently looking for:

    • Pregnant women (third trimester, at least 28 weeks pregnant)
    • Newborn infants (birth to 28 days old)
    • Infants (birth through 1 year old) who have a biological relative (such as an older sibling) who has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder
    • Toddlers and preschoolers (1 to 5 years old)
    • Children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (up to 5 years old)

NeuroImaging Studies Actively Recruiting

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  • The Brain Group

    The Bridging Research on Anxiety, Innovations, and Neuroscience (BRAIN) Group at the University of Miami is committed to understanding the neural correlates of anxiety across the lifespan, and applying this knowledge to the development of novel treatments for anxiety disorders.

    Find out about our Current Studies here

  • Brain Connectivity and Cognition Lab

    Our lab is broadly focused on investigating the relationship between brain connectivity and cognition in typical and atypical development. Within a cognitive neuroscience framework, our research combines functional connectivity analyses of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data and structural connectivity analyses of diffusion-weighted imaging data to examine the organization of large-scale brain networks supporting high-level cognitive processes.

    FInd out about our Current Studies here

  • Social and Cultural Neuroscience Laboratory

    We combine theory and methodology from anthropology, psychology, and neuroscience to understand the complex relationships between culture, the brain, and health. Ultimately, we believe that this interdisciplinary approach has the potential to refine and expand our understanding of the human mind and brain, and inform translational approaches in domains such as health care and education.

    Visit our lab Website here

  • B.R.E.A.T.H. Lab

    The B.R.E.A.T.H. Lab utilizes functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to identify neural networks supporting various domains of neuropsychological and cardio-autonomic functioning. We are primarily interested in exploring the effects of aging and chronic disease, (Hypertension & HIV), on the functionality of these networks while performing cognitive/affective/interoceptive tasks as well as during the resting state.

    Visit our lab Website here

  • MANATEE Lab

    A guiding interest of the lab is to examine the temporal dynamics of emotion – in particular the temporal dynamics of positive emotion and how it relates to individual differences in functioning. The majority of neuroimaging studies of emotion examine the mean magnitude of neural activity, but there is a substantial amount of information in examining these neurodynamics of affect. We have found that reduced positive emotion (ie., anhedonia) characteristic of many patients with depression appears to be due to a lack of sustained activity in fronto-striatal reward circuits as opposed to simply a reduced mean activity in these circuits

    Visit our lab Website here