Laura is a Research Associate at the University of Colorado Boulder Institute of Behavioral Science. She studies social and cognitive determinants of positive youth development, with particular interests in self-regulation, executive function, social trust, and delay of gratification in early childhood. Laura also works as a senior reviewer with Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development, an independent research registry that certifies intervention and prevention programs for youth based on the credibility of their causal evidence. She received a dual PhD in Psychology and Neuroscience and Cognitive Science from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2017.

Prior to her PhD, Laura completed an MA in Cognitive Psychology at the University of Colorado Boulder in 2013 and received her BA with Honors in Cognitive Science at Vassar College in 2009. She also worked as a Clinical Research Coordinator in the Neuropsychiatry division at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania from 2009-2011.