Director

Donna Murdaugh, Ph.D., ABPP-CN

Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology/Oncology
Associate Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology
Member, Institute for Cancer Outcomes and Survivorship
Member, O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center

Scholars @ UAB profile

Study Staff

Lauren Lindsey

Clinical Research Coordinator

Lauren attended Mississippi State University, graduating with a BS in Biological Sciences and then obtained a Master of Science in Agriculture. Lauren assists with participant recruitment, study coordination, administering cognitive testing, and coordinating MRI scans for all C-READY studies. When not at work, Lauren can likely be found reading, journaling, or painting.

Grace Turner

Clinical Research Coordinator

Grace graduated with a Bachelors degree in English from Wellesley College in May 2023. While in undergrad, Grace participated in research with the MIT AgeLab focusing on older adults and emergency preparedness. Grace assists in study coordination for the LAUNCH Lab. In her free time, Grace enjoys reading and pursuing her passion of stand up comedy.

Kevin Battles

Graphic Designer

Kevin completed his Master’s degree in Physics from UAB in August 2020. After graduating, he moved to Atlanta to join the Quantum Systems Division (QSD) as a Research Scientist at the Georgia Tech Research Institute’s (GTRI) CIPHER Laboratory. Kevin assists with the lab’s graphic design needs, including designing our C-READY logo and our LAUNCH logo. He also contributes his graphic design expertise across all of our social media and research promotional materials.

Graduate Students

Victoria Seghatol-Eslami

Fifth Year Medical-Clinical Psychology Graduate Student

Victoria earned her BS in psychology from UAB in 2017. Prior to starting graduate school in 2019, Victoria worked as a research assistant in Dr. Rajesh Kana’s Cognition, Brain, and Autism Laboratory and as a clinical research coordinator at the Institute for Cancer Outcomes and Survivorship under the supervision of Dr. Donna Murdaugh and Dr. Noha Sharafeldin. Victoria’s research interests include the cognitive and emotional/behavioral outcomes of childhood cancer survivors. She is especially interested in using functional neuroimaging and neuropsychological testing to examine how executive dysfunction affects adaptive functioning in survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Victoria is a current Cancer Prevention and Control Training Program (T32) predoctoral trainee.

Amanda Cook

Fourth Year Medical-Clinical Psychology Graduate Student

Amanda Cook received her BS from the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW), where she majored in Biology and minored in Psychology, Neuroscience, and Spanish. At UNCW, Amanda was a part of a cross-cultural neuropsychology lab, a clinical neuropsychology private practice, and a community clinic. After graduating, she was a Research Coordinator in a forensic clinical cognitive neuroscience lab. She joined the LAUNCH Lab in 2021. She is interested in factors that are associated with neurocognitive outcomes, such as neural mechanisms, in cancer survivors and other neurological populations. Broadly, she hopes to improve rehabilitation strategies and patient centered outcomes in these populations.

Sarah Sant

First Year Medical-Clinical Psychology Graduate Student

Sarah (she/her) completed her post-secondary education in England earning a BSc Psychology (Honours) degree from Durham University and an MSc Clinical and Developmental Neuropsychology degree from Bournemouth University. Before starting in the LAUNCH Lab in 2024, Sarah worked as a Clinical Research Coordinator with the New England Family Study as part of the HALS Lab at Brown University and the Clinical Neuroscience Lab of Sex Differences in the Brain at Massachusetts General Hospital. Sarah’s research interests include utilizing insights from neuropsychology and neuroimaging to identify risk factors and interventions to improve longitudinal cognitive and psychosocial outcomes for young people with complex medical histories.

Click here for more information on the Medical/Clinical Psychology Dotoral Program

Undergraduate Students

Emily Hatcher

Emily is an undergraduate student at UAB majoring in Neuroscience and is also a part of the Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s (ABM) Program pursuing a Master’s degree in Multidisciplinary Biomedical Science. She is also involved in the Honors College where she is a part of the Global and Community Leadership (GCL) program. Emily joined the LAUNCH lab in the Fall of 2023. In her free time, Emily enjoys reading, going to concerts, and watching her favorite movies and TV shows.

Deagan Benjamin

Daegan Benjamin is an undergraduate student at UAB pursuing a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering and a minor in neuroengineering. She is on the pre-med track and in the UAB honors program. In addition to her academic pursuits, she is a member of the Marching Blazers and the Youth Movement Against Alzheimer’s UAB Chapter. Her future career plan is to provide medical support to underserved communities to reduce healthcare disparities. She joined the launch lab in spring 2025.

Are you an undergraduate student looking to apply to our lab? Click here!

Former Lab Members