#TosteTeam
Our research team is focused on educational supports for students with learning disabilities, particularly in the area of reading. The questions that drive our work center around how best to support students’ reading development. Dr. Toste is specifically interested in methods for intensifying and individualizing interventions for students with reading disabilities (including dyslexia).
Dr. Toste will be accepting new doctoral students for fall 2027. Please reach out for more information or visit the Department of Special Education website.
Current Team Members
Gabriela Ordaz
PhD Student
LADDER Scholar
Gabriela (she/her) is a doctoral student in the LD/BD program at The University of Texas at Austin and a LADDER scholar. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Applied Learning and Development - Special Education as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Plan II Honors from UT Austin. She also holds a Master of Education in Education Policy and Leadership from American University. Gabriela has dedicated her career to supporting students with disabilities by teaching in various Special Education settings, acting as a Special Education Instructional Coach, and, most recently, serving as an Assistant Principal overseeing a High School Special Education Department. Gabriela’s experience and passion to support individuals and families that receive Special Education services, led her to pursue her Ph.D. She hopes to study how to better prepare Special Education teachers to support students with academic disabilities and behavioral disorders, as well as their families. As a first generation, bilingual American, Gabriela is also interested in better understanding the intersection between disability and bilingualism.
Roy'al Sanyika
PhD Student
LADDER Scholar
Roy’al (he/him) is a doctoral student in the LD/BD program at The University of Texas at Austin. Roy’al received a bachelor of arts in political science, and a master of education in special education from Boston University. Prior to beginning his Ph.D. at UT Austin, Roy’al worked as a special education teacher at a charter school in Boston, Massachusetts supporting K-8th grade students with moderate disabilities and their families. His work in the field prompted him to pursue his Ph.D., to study intensive literacy interventions for students identified with both reading disabilities and behavior disorders.
Emily Farris, PhD
Research Associate
Emily is a research associate for Project IDARE. She earned her PhD in experimental psychology from the University of Texas Arlington, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in psychiatry and neuroscience at the University of California San Francisco. Emily spent five years as an Assistant Director at the Tennessee Center for the Study and Treatment of Dyslexia at Middle Tennessee State University (i.e., MTSU Center for Dyslexia). As a developmental cognitive psychologist, Emily’s research focuses on (a) understanding cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying foundational literacy skills and reading disabilities, (b) reading resilience, (c) changes in these skills and mechanisms over time or in response to intervention, (d) aspects of classification and identification models of dyslexia, and (e) educator knowledge of literacy. She also serves as an associate editor for Annals of Dyslexia.
Mona Maclay
Project Manager
Mona (she/her) is the coordinator for the SDLMI-R project. She earned her MEd at the University of Illinois at Chicago in Educational Psychology, Youth Development. Mona has previously worked as a tutoring coordinator for America Reads – UIC. She has also worked as a lab manager, research assistant, and teaching assistant. She is interested in how social and emotional processes can support positive educational and developmental outcomes in youth.
Harrison
Team Mascot