Christina Kundrak, PhD, is a Senior Research Associate at the USC Center for Affective Neuroscience, Development, Learning and Education (CANDLE). Dr. Kundrak investigates the neurobiological and psychological processes supporting learning and development using a developmental psychology and educational neuroscience approach. Dr. Kundrak utilizes innovative interdisciplinary, mixed-methods to study student and teacher beliefs, motivation, engagement, and learning. Utilizing her expertise from her time as an educator in early childhood, secondary, and post-secondary classrooms, Dr. Kundrak is involved in several initiatives working closely with schools, districts, and teachers to apply the aforementioned research to better support students in their academic and personal growth, and reimagine educational systems. Her projects include an observational and neuroimaging study of teachers, funded by the Templeton Foundation, and new work on youths’ agentic identity development and meaning-making from the Jacobs Foundation. Dr. Kundrak received her PhD in Urban Education Policy from USC Rossier School of Education.