Dr. Elena Grigorenko is the primary mentor for graduate students who apply to work in the GENESIS Lab, whether applying to the clinical psychology or DCBN program. 

Fields of study: developmental psychology, child clinical psychology, neuropsychiatric genetics, epigenetics, forensic sciences.
Topics of currently funded studies: language and learning (reading and mathematics) disabilities, autism, conduct disorders and juvenile delinquency, developmental sequelae of HIV/AIDS.

Points of particular interest:

In accordance with its mission statement, the GENESIS lab has a strong emphasis on research that will involve activities such as participation in ongoing funded projects, literature reviews, or the analyses of archived data sets. Such activities will culminate in the generation of student authored or co-authored poster presentations, publications, and grant applications. Therefore, a successful applicant will have research ideas that he/she is interested in pursuing in graduate school that fall under the domains explored in the GENESIS lab. In addition, successful applicants should have strong GRE scores and GPA, research experience in psychology, and well-supported letters of recommendation.

Following acceptance to the UH Psychology graduate program to work in the GENESIS lab, students in the DCBN program are expected to participate in one or more research projects in the lab. Activities will vary according to the needs and timeline of active projects (see Current Projects). They may include the development of research instruments (e.g., surveys and assessments), data collection, data management, or data analyses. All students will engage in paper-writing activities.  Clinical students are expected to participate in lab research projects as well as the Academic Skills Clinic. The Academic Skills Clinic is a specialty clinic run by Dr. Lesley Hart and Dr. Elena Grigorenko, providing comprehensive neuropsychological assessments for students with complex learning profiles.

Through their research in the GENESIS Lab, graduate students will have the opportunity to meet and interact with researchers at other institutions in the U.S. and abroad. For example, students may collaborate with colleagues from diverse backgrounds topics ranging from the developmental trajectories of children in Russia at risk for language difficulties; interventions that may best support orphans and vulnerable children in rural Zambia; to the development and evaluation of innovative teaching programs for juvenile delinquents at risk for reading disabilities.

Every graduate student who joins the GENESIS Lab may expect to be funded as a Research Assistant (RA) at 50% by the project on which they will be primarily working. This will be given as a monthly lab RA stipend.  Other benefits include an excellent comprehensive state employee health benefit package (after a 60-day waiting period) at low cost to the student, a waiver of non-resident tuition rates for out-of-state students, and a doctoral tuition fellowship that covers the cost of twelve credit hours for the Fall and Spring semesters and up to six credit hours for the Summer semester plus fees.  Thus, students should not expect to pay for tuition and fees out-of-pocket.  In order to qualify for the health benefits and a waiver of out-of-state tuition, students must maintain at least a 50%-time employment appointment, be registered as a full-time student, and remain in good standing.  To qualify for the tuition fellowship, students must be registered as a full-time student and in good standing.  As part of the application for admission to graduate school, students are also considered for available scholarships.