Meet the Team

Samantha Murphy is a Clinical Research Coordinator for the DRIVES lab. She completed her Bachelor’s degree in psychology and trauma studies certification at University of Missouri – St. Louis. She recently obtained her Master’s degree in clinical psychology from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Samantha has worked in various labs across the St. Louis area focusing her research on various neuropsychological topics. Her main research focuses have been on traumatic brain injury, family burden factors, and performance validity testing.

Alexis Walker is a Clinical Research Coordinator for both the DRIVES Project and ARCHES Study. She completed her Bachelor’s degree in cognitive neuroscience and African and African-American studies at Washington University in St. Louis in May of 2021. This project contributes to her interest in the intersection between various neuropsychological topics and vulnerable communities (i.e. geriatric, pediatric, racial minorities, etc.).

Taylor Brown is a Clinical Research Coordinator for the DRIVES lab. She completed her bachelor’s degree in economics and philosophy at Columbia University in the City of New York in May 2022 and is currently completing the Post-Baccalaureate Premedical Program at Washington University in St. Louis. She is interested in better understanding how socioeconomic, gender, and educational disparities intersect with a variety of health outcomes in aging populations.

Hailee Domash is a Clinical Research Coordinator for the DRIVES lab. She completed her Bachelor’s degree in psychology at Maryville University of St. Louis. Prior to the DRIVES project, Hailee worked at clinics specializing in addiction treatment and recovery. Her previous research experience focused on the interplay of working memory, emotional stimuli, and physiological responses. She holds a particular interest in neuroplasticity and is involved with researching numerous factors involved with cognitive decline and preclinical Alzheimer’s Disease.

Ann Johnson joined Washington University School of Medicine in September 2000 and works for the Center for the Center for Clinical Studies. She currently coordinates multiple studies including Fitness to Drive, Driving Simulator Norming, Driving Simulator Stroke, Factors and Evolve: Traumatic Brain Injury in Service Members. She has worked with the DRIVES lab since 2012 and supports study coordination of the R01 grant.

Noah Riley is a Clinical Research Coordinator for the DRIVES lab. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in clinical and behavioral neuroscience at Drury University in Springfield, MO. Previously, Noah worked as a medical assistant in both the fields of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology. He is passionate about social determinants of health and how those interact with cognitive reserve, as well as the prevention of neurodegenerative disease.

Christian Banks is a Clinical Research Coordinator for the ARCHES Study and The DRIVES Project. He is currently completing a Bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Management at Southern New Hampshire University. Christian previously worked as a Medical Scribe in the field of Emergency Response during the initial outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic for multiple hospitals, simultaneously. He most recently was a Health Information Specialist/Medical Assistant at an ENT Center where he worked with medical codes and assisted in-office procedures. Christian is passionate about helping others and is determined to identify solutions for the multitude of socioeconomic inequalities that contribute to the development of degenerative diseases in underrepresented groups.

Dr. Ling Chen is an Assistant Professor of Biostatistics at Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine. Dr. Chen received a M.D. in medicine and a M.S. in medicine from Beijing Medical University (China), a MSPH in Biostatistics from the University of South Carolina and a PhD in Statistics from University of Missouri. She holds a secondary appointment as Assistant Professor of Medicine. Dr. Chen’s research interests include survival analysis, multiple imputation for missing data, longitudinal data analysis, clustered data analysis and sample size calculation. She has been actively involved in research related to physical therapy, occupational therapy, nursing and Ophthalmology.

Dr. Ashwin Sabapathy is a Senior Scientist at the DRIVES Lab. He earned his Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Hawaii in Manoa where his research focused on transportation behavior modeling and air pollution exposures to particulate matter and carbon monoxide. He was a Fulbright award recipient in 2013 to carry out research on total exposure assessment at the East-West Center in Honolulu.

He was involved in applied research for a decade, working on urban and corporate sustainability, and has published several articles in this area. Over the past ten years, he has worked in product development in the telematics sector, where he has led data science teams to build new products, services, and features by applying machine learning and deep learning techniques on high-frequency vehicle sensor data. He was also a Chevening CRISP Fellow at the Said Business School, University of Oxford, in 2017.

Wenqing Zha graduated in May 2023 with her Master of Public Health with a specialization in Epidemiology/Biostatistics from the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. She is currently a statistical data analyst in the DRIVES Project. Her research interests lie in improving the health of older adults and promoting health equity. Prior to working with Dr. Babulal, Wenqing worked on the Education Equity and Quality in Afghanistan and Pakistan (EEQAP) project, Aging project, and the Child Resilience in Afghanistan Study (CRAS) as a part-time research assistant with Dr. Jean-Francois Trani.

Jenna Gopman is a Graduate Research Assistant for the DRIVES Project and ARCHES Study. Jenna received her Bachelors of Science in Psychology with a focus in Behavior Analysis from the University of Florida and is currently working toward her Doctor of Occupational Therapy at the Washington University School of Medicine. She is currently part of the E-Board for the OT program’s Coalition of Occupational Therapy Advocates for Diversity chapter. Her areas of interest in future OT practice include neurological rehabilitation and hippotherapy, as well as the role of caregivers and their wellbeing in the recovery process.

Dr. Monique Williams is a geriatrician and the Medical Director of Oak Street Health, a model of care located in St. Louis that provides comprehensive, coordinated care and assists older adults to age in place. She is also a member of the National Medical Association and the current President of Mound City Medical Forum. Additionally, she is a member of the NIA Health Disparities Resource Person Network, Gerontological Society of America, Biological Sciences Executive Committee, and Minority Issues in Gerontology Committee. Her research focuses on minority aging and health, Alzheimer’s disease, ethical issues in research and disparities across the lifespan. Dr. William’s bring her expertise on issues of health disparities, Alzheimer’s disease and inclusion of racial and ethnic minorities in aging research to our research.

Brad Garland has been a part of the DRIVES lab since 2015 and  brings over 16 years of experience as the driving evaluator for our research studies. Brad has a BS in Education with an emphasis in Kinesiology, and a Driver Education and Safety endorsement. Brad has completed numerous post graduate hours of study in Educational Leadership and he is a co-owner along with his wife of My Tutor Learning Center and Driving School. Currently, My Tutor has 10 certified driving instructors on staff. Several thousand students and adults have received their driver’s license with the assistance of My Tutor’s certified instructors.  My Tutor services approximately 250 drivers annually.