Co-ops help expand research experience, career path

Ariana Mechem’s two co-op positions helped formulate her career objectives. At Dreamlane, a Bay Area autism treatment provider, she served as a behavioral therapist, conducting home visits to implement individualized therapy programs for young children. As a research assistant in the Brain Game Center on Northeastern’s Oakland campus, she assessed games’ effectiveness at improving cognitive function for older adults living with HIV. These experiences with neurological populations inspired the behavioral neuroscience major’s next co-op at Boston Children’s Hospital, examining sensory encoding in children on the autism spectrum.