Tara Mandalaywala, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and lead researcher for the Cognition Across Development (CAD) Laboratory which explores the development of social cognition across human and nonhuman primates. Her research examines how young individuals make sense of and cope with the complex social world around them. Dr. Mandalaywala is interested in how people from low socioeconomic (SES) families exhibit resilience even in the face of adversity. 

As a CRF Scholar, she plans to explore how early-emerging such as one's beliefs about social mobility, might predict relative risk or resilience to economic disadvantage. She hopes this knowledge will serve to develop low-cost interventions to improve health outcomes among at-risk populations.