Current Team

Doctoral Research Project

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My research focuses on the interplay between environmental experiences during childhood (notably the student-teacher relationship) and genetic factors in explaining future adjustment once youth enter college. Specifically, I am interested in investigating a potential gene-environment interaction between a student’s genetic predisposition for high or low self-efficacy and the developmental course of the quality of the student-teacher relationship in elementary school, and whether this interaction can explain interindividual differences in later self-reported self-efficacy at age 19 years. Additionally, I seek to examine whether individual differences in self-efficacy mediate the longitudinal association between the quality of the student-teacher relationship in childhood and subsequent academic achievement in college. This research could provide valuable insights into how early educational experiences and genetic predispositions jointly influence long-term self-efficacy and academic success, potentially informing interventions to support youth development and educational attainment.

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Bursaries and Awards

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2022 - 2023      McGill, Dorothy Osborne Xanthaky Bursery ($1750)

Awarded based on academic achievements by the scholarship committee and the dean of the department of science, Bruce Lennox, from McGill

2022                  Top 10% of the programme in psychology (Honours).

2019                  McGill, Prix d excellence McGill ($300)

        Awarded for performance exceptional in science and mathematics.

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Conference Presentations

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Martinez, V., Sciandra, C., Grooves, I., Hardt, O. (2023, April 13). The Role of Proapoptotic
Signalling in the Active Decay of Long-term Memories. Poster Day 2023, McGill
university, Montréal, QC, Canada.