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SARAH L. BLANKENSHIP
Updated: April 2015
0123 Biology/Psychology University of Maryland • College Park, MD 20740
EDUCATION
[email protected]
Doctor of Philosophy, Neuroscience and Cognitive Science (NACS)
2012 – Present
University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Advisors: Tracy Riggins, Ph.D. and Lea Dougherty, Ph.D.
Committee Members: Luiz Pessoa, Ph.D., Donald Bolger, Ph.D., Erica Glasper, Ph.D.
Research topic: Neurocognitive and emotional development of high-risk children
Master of Science, Neuroscience and Cognitive Science (NACS)
2015 (expected)
University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Committee Members: Tracy Riggins, Ph.D., Lea Dougherty, Ph.D., Elizabeth Redcay, Ph.D.
Title: Development of hippocampal functional networks during childhood
Bachelor of Science (cum laude), Psychology
Minor in Neuroscience, Honors Citation
University of Maryland, College Park, MD
2007 - 2011
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Neurocognitive Development Lab, College Park, MD
2010 – Present
Positions: Graduate Assistant, Faculty Research Assistant, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Primary investigator: Tracy Riggins, Ph.D.
Research Topic: Neural bases of memory development
Child Stress and Emotion Lab, College Park, MD
2010 – Present
Positions: Graduate Assistant, Undergraduate Research Assistant
Primary investigator: Lea Dougherty, Ph.D.
Research Topic: Effects of early experiences on neurobiological, cognitive, and emotional
development
Maryland Neuroimaging Center, College Park, MD
2013 - 2014
Position: Graduate Research Assistant
Primary Investigators: Luiz Pessoa, Ph.D. and Wang Zhan, Ph.D.
Research Topic: Design and optimization of high-resolution functional MRI scan sequences
Center for Substance Abuse Research, College Park, MD
2009 - 2010
Position: Undergraduate Research Assistant
Primary Investigator: Amelia Arria, Ph.D.
Research Topic: Investigation of young-adult health behaviors and consequences
Child Development Lab, College Park, MD
2008 – 2009
Position: Undergraduate Research Assistant
Primary Investigator: Nathan Fox, Ph.D.
Research Topic: Influence of early temperament on subsequent developmental outcomes
PUBLICATIONS
Dougherty, L., Padmala, S., Blankenship, S.L., Spechler, P., Pessoa, L. (under review). An fMRI pilot
study of cognitive reappraisal in children: Divergent effects on brain and behavior.
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Riggins, T., Blankenship, S.L., Mulligan, E., Rice, K., Redcay, E. (under review). Developmental
differences in relations between episodic memory and hippocampal subregion volume during early
childhood.
Blankenship, S.L., Riggins, T. (under review). Developmental differences between parent-reported
executive function and unitized and non-unitized memory representations during childhood.
Blankenship, S.L., Redcay, E., Dougherty, L., Riggins, T. (in preparation). Development of hippocampal
functional networks during childhood.
PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATIONS
Blankenship, S.L., (May, 2015). Normative and divergent hippocampal functional development during
childhood. Talk presented at NACS Research Day, College Park, MD.
Blankenship, S.L., Smith, V.C., Riggins, T., Dougherty, L.R. (April, 2015). Interaction between maternal
lifetime depression and early negative parenting on brain development. Talk presented at University of
Maryland Graduate Research Interaction Day, College Park, MD.
Riggins, T., Blankenship, S.L., Redcay, E., Dougherty, L.R. (March 2015). Development of hippocampal
resting-state networks during childhood. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Cognitive
Neuroscience Society, San Francisco, CA
Mulligan, E., Blankenship, S.L., Leppert, K., Merwin, S., Dougherty, L.R., Riggins, T. (March 2015).
Developmental differences in relations between episodic memory and hippocampal subregion volume
during early to middle childhood. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience
Society, San Francisco, CA
Sundel, M., Hsiung, A., Blankenship, S.L. , Marti, L., Mulligan, E., Riggins, T. (March 2015). The effects of
emotional valence and arousal on item and source memory across development. Poster presented at the
biennial meeting of the Society for Research on Child Development, Philadelphia, PA.
Blankenship, S.L., Smith, V.C., Riggins, T., Dougherty, L.R. (March, 2015). Interaction between maternal
lifetime depression and early negative parenting on hippocampal connectivity. Poster presented at the
biennial meeting of the Society for Research on Child Development, Philadelphia, PA.
Riggins, T., Blankenship, S.L., Leppert, K., Marti, L., Segars, J., Gruber, A., Dougherty, L.R. (March, 2015).
Relations between hippocampal functional connectivity during rest and memory performance in 5- to 8year-old children. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research on Child
Development, Philadelphia, PA.
Redcay, E., Rice, K., Blankenship, S.L., Riggins, T. (March, 2015). Amygdala-prefrontal network
development during early childhood. Talk presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research
on Child Development, Philadelphia, PA.
Blankenship, S.L., Dougherty, L.R., Redcay, E., Riggins, T. (March, 2015). Development of hippocampal
resting-state networks during childhood. Talk presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for
Research on Child Development, Philadelphia, PA.
Riggins, T., Mulligan, E., Blankenship, S.L., Rice, K., Redcay, E. (March, 2015). Developmental differences
in relations between episodic memory and hippocampal subregion volumes in early childhood. Talk
presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research on Child Development, Philadelphia, PA.
Riggins, T., Blankenship, S.L., Dougherty, L. (November, 2014). Effects of early life stress on brain
networks supporting memory during childhood. Poster presented at the Shaping the Developing Brain:
Prenatal through Early Childhood Fifth Annual Aspen Brain Forum, sponsored by The New York
Academy of Sciences, New York City, New York.
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Blankenship, S.L., Langeslag, S.J.E., Smith, V.C., Riggins, T., Dougherty, L.R. (April, 2014). Longitudinal
associations between negative parenting during early childhood and hippocampal resting-state networks
three years later. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, Boston,
MA.
Spechler, P., Blankenship, S.L., Padmala, S, Pessoa, L., Dougherty, L. (2013, November). The neural
basis of emotion regulation in children. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for
Neuroscience, San Diego, CA.
Blankenship, S.L., Rice, K., Redcay, E., Riggins, T. (2013, October). Structural development of the
hippocampus and episodic memory in early childhood. Talk presented at the Maryland Neuroimaging
Retreat, College Park, MD.
Robey, A., Rollins, L., Blankenship, S.L., Weiss, L., Riggins, T. (2013, October). Neural correlates of
memory in early childhood. Poster presented at the Cognitive Development Society meeting, Nashville,
TN.
Blankenship, S.L., Redcay, E., & Riggins, T. (2013, April). Influence of hippocampal volume and
connectivity with the prefrontal cortex on memory ability in early childhood. Poster presented at the
biennial meeting of the Society for Research on Child Development, Seattle, WA.
Riggins, T., Blankenship, S.L., Rollins, L., Weiss, L., & Redcay, E. (2013, April). The role of the
hippocampus in recollection during early childhood. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of the
Society for Research on Child Development, Seattle, WA.
Blankenship, S.L., Redcay, E., & Riggins, T. (2013, April). Influence of hippocampal volume and
connectivity with the prefrontal cortex on memory ability in early childhood. Poster presented at the
annual meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, San Francisco, CA.
Woods, K., Sudikoff, E., Blankenship, S.L., Johnson, M., & Riggins, T. (2012, May). Longitudinal
investigation of frontal lobe function in childhood using the competing programs task. Poster presented
at the University of Maryland Undergraduate Research Day, College Park, MD.
Miller, A., Dougherty, L., Newman, R., Bernstein Ratner, N., Blankenship, S.L. (2011, November). Does
maternal depression affect how children benefit from child-directed speech? Poster presented at the
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Annual Convention, San Diego, CA.
HONORS AND AWARDS
Society for Research in Child Development Student Travel Award
Janet W. Johnson Student Travel Grant
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship – Honorable Mention
University of Maryland Dean’s Summer Fellowship
Janet W. Johnson Student Travel Grant
University of Michigan’s Training Course in fMRI Fellow
Jacob K. Goldhaber Travel Award
University of Maryland Dean’s Summer Fellowship
Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society Elected Member
Golden Key International Honor Society Member
2015
2015
2014
2014
2014
2013
2013
2013
2011
2008
Society for Research in Child Development, Student Member
Cognitive Neuroscience Society, Student Member
Association for Psychological Science
Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology
2013 - Present
2012 - Present
2013 - 2014
2013 - 2014
PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY MEMBERSHIPS
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INSTITUTIONAL SERVICE
Neuroscience and Cognitive Science (NACS) Student Grant Review Committee
Reviewer for University of Maryland’s Graduate Research Interaction Day
Maryland Neuroimaging Center Student User’s Meeting Coordinator
BSOS Undergraduate-Graduate Student mentoring Program - Graduate Mentor
Neuroscience and Cognitive Science (NACS) Outreach Committee
Graduate Recruitment (“NACS-fest”) Committee
Neuroscience and Cognitive Science (NACS) Seminar Speaker Driver
2015-Present
2015
2013-Present
2013-Present
2012-Present
2012-2015
2012-2013
MGH/MIT Freesurfer Workshop
University of Michigan Training Course in fMRI
Maryland Neuroimaging Center’s Summer Institute
(Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience)
BioPac Training for EEG and fMRI
Maryland Neuroimaging Center MRI Operator Training
Johns Hopkins DTIStudio Workshop
NIH Analysis of Functional NeuroImages (AFNI) Bootcamp
Maryland Neuroimaging Center Level 2 Safety Training
Maryland Neuroimaging Center Safety Training
The Program in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science MATLAB Training Course
2014
2013
RESEARCH TRAINING
SOFTWARE/PROGRAMMING EXPERIENCE
2013
2012
2012
2012
2012
2012
2011
2011
Analysis of Functional Neuroimages (AFNI)
Brain Electrical Source Analysis (BESA)
Computerized Language Analysis (CLAN)
E-Prime
Freesurfer
MATLAB
Microsoft Office Suite
Presentation
R
Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS)
Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM)
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REFERENCES
Tracy Riggins, Ph.D.
Graduate Advisor, Employer, Undergraduate Research Mentor
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology
University of Maryland, College Park
Neurocognitive Development Lab
2147E Biology/Psychology
College Park, Maryland 20742
301.405.5905 (office)
[email protected]
Lea Dougherty, Ph.D.
Graduate Advisor, Undergraduate Research Mentor
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology
University of Maryland, College Park
Child Stress and Emotions Lab
1123G Biology/Psychology
College Park, Maryland 20742
301.405.5464 (office)
[email protected]
Luiz Pessoa, Ph.D.
Committee Member, Supervisor
Professor, Director of Maryland Neuroimaging Center
Department of Psychology
University of Maryland, College Park
Laboratory of Cognition and Emotion
3123C Biology/Psychology Building
College Park, Maryland 20742
301-405-2423 (office)
[email protected]
Donald Bolger, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Assistant Professor
Department of Human Development
University of Maryland, College Park
Laboratory for the Neurodevelopment of Reading and Language
3304N Benjamin Building
College Park, Maryland 20742
301.405.9103 (office)
[email protected]
Elizabeth Redcay, Ph.D.
Research Collaborator
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology
University of Maryland, College Park
Developmental Social Cognitive Neuroscience Lab
2147D Biology/Psychology
College Park, Maryland 20742
301.405.7612 (office)
[email protected]
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