Assessment of Caregiver Experiences and Their Influence on Global Dna Methylation within the Adolescent Hippocampus and Amygdala

iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank Dr. Tania Roth for being one of the most influential and exceptional mentors I have ever had. Her constant support and guidance has helped me mature both personally and as a researcher. I have learned an unbelievable amount in the past three years as an undergraduate in her lab, and I feel so fortunate and proud to be a part of this research. I will always be incredibly grateful to Dr. Roth for enabling me to have such significant experiences and for preparing me to have a successful future in research. Furthermore, I want to thank Tiffany Doherty for being a wonderful graduate student to work with on this project. I appreciate her patience and her willingness to teach me while she herself was still troubleshooting much of the new lab work. I hope we worked out many kinks together that will make future projects run more smoothly! I learned a great deal that goes beyond the Roth Lab from Tiffany, and I am glad to say that I can take away so much from our work together. I would also like to thank Jen Blaze for her early mentoring in the lab, training me for various protocols, and helping me acclimate to the new environment. Additionally, I want to thank all of the other Roth Lab members—both former and current—for all of their help. Of course, I must thank my amazing parents for their unwavering love and support, as well as the rest of my family and friends for theirs.