Biography

Lianna Yakubov is a second-year Ph.D. student in Clinical Psychology at Palo Alto University pursuing the neuropsychology emphasis, and a graduate researcher in the Affective Development Lab. She received her bachelor's degrees in neurobiology and psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research interests center on strengths-based approaches to understanding neurodevelopmental conditions, including autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and learning disabilities, with a particular interest in qualitative and language-based methods. In the lab, she is involved in projects examining how autistic individuals express distress in their own words and prosocial behavior in neurodivergent populations. Her clinical interests include pediatric neuropsychological assessment with medically complex children and DBT skills-based interventions for youth with emotion regulation difficulties.

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Currently, she is a student therapist at The Clinics @ PAU and a teaching assistant for Child and Adolescent Development. Before starting doctoral training, she spent three years as a psychometrist and later lead psychometrist in the neuropsychology department at UW Health, where she rotated across clinics that included pediatric TBI and congenital heart disease, epilepsy, and memory assessment. She also worked as a lab assistant at the Waisman Center PET Lab, supporting neuroimaging research on neurodegenerative conditions.

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Outside of her clinical and research work, she enjoys various arts and crafts, live music, and spending time in the sun.