Our Team — DF&SRL

Dr. Sarai Coba-Rodriguez

Lab Director

Dr. Sarai Coba-Rodriguez is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She received her Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is a program faculty member in Human Development and Learning, where she teaches a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses. Broadly, Dr. Coba-Rodriguez’s qualitative scholarship 1) challenges misconceptions about Black, Latine, and Korean-American families with young children and 2) reveals families’ experiences as they navigate various educational and medical spaces (e.g., preschool, access to therapies).

As a qualitative researcher, Dr. Coba is an expert at conducting in-depth, semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews, and photo-elicitation interviews. She also has experience conducting neighborhood observations. She is a Faculty Fellow at the Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy and a Faculty Fellow in the Honors College at UIC.

In her free time, she enjoys doing anything & everything outdoors!

Graduate Research Assistants

Amber Ruiz

lab coordinator

Amber is a graduate student in the Educational Psychology department at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and the recipient of the 2024 Summer Research Opportunity Early Graduate Admissions Fellowship. She is interested in researching early childhood special education, early childhood mathematics, and school readiness. She is a licensed teacher with an LBS1 (Learning Behavior Specialist) certification and a Bilingual Spanish endorsement.

Rabia Zahid

Rabia is a doctoral student in the Educational Psychology program at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Rabia is interested in researching how individual and environmental factors like intergenerational transmission of poverty and ecological context influence the academic achievement of school-aged children from low-income ethnic minority backgrounds.

Melinda Young

Melinda Young is a doctoral student in Educational Psychology in the Human Development and Learning program at the University of Illinois Chicago. She currently serves as the Assistant Director of the CCAMPIS grant-funded Little Sparks Program, where she supports UIC parenting students through access to child care, campus resources, and family-centered initiatives. With nearly two decades of experience in early childhood education, her research interests focus on parenting student success and culturally responsive approaches that support the development and success of Black and Brown children, families, and educators.

Undergraduate Research Assistants

Haleigh Lusinski

Haleigh is a third-year student at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She majors in Applied Psychology with a minor in Philosophy. After graduation, she plans on pursuing a master's in clinical mental health counseling, wishing to work with families and couples.

Hannah Cosby

Hannah is a third-year student at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is majoring in Public Health with minors in Black Studies and French. After graduation, she intends to get her master's in public health and focus on child/family health sciences. She plans to focus her work on maternal-child health, disability public health, and pediatric public health.

Doctoral Lab Alumni

Jola Dohrmann, Ph.D.

Jola Dohrmann, Ph.D., is a 2026 graduate of the DFSR Lab. She holds a Professional Educator License with an endorsement in Early Childhood Education and a bilingual concentration and serves as a Lead Educator at the Chicago Children’s Museum.

Jasmin Brown, Ph.D

Jasmine Brown-Hollie, Ph.D. is a 2024 graduate of the DFSR Lab. She is an Occupational Therapist for Chicago Public Schools.

Science Inquiry and Research (SIR) Scholars

Senna Ahdab (2026)

Senna is a third-year student at Hinsdale Central High School. She is interested in learning more about human behavior and mental health, particularly how social and psychological factors shape individuals' experiences and well-being. Through research and the SIR Advanced program, she hopes to deepen her understanding of these topics and contribute to work that can positively impact communities.