Shyla Kahn (dark hair) and Claire Beach using the driving simulator at the Austin Hatcher Foundation for Pediatric Cancer. Photo by Angela Foster.
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga graduate Shyla Khan never expected she’d be monitoring someone driving race cars for her summer internship.
For the last year, Khan—who earned a Master of Science in Psychological Science degree from UTC in spring 2025—has been working at the Austin Hatcher Foundation for Pediatric Cancer, conducting research utilizing a driving simulator.
Khan’s role was to examine the impact of using a driving simulator on participants’ cognition. This was done by measuring various aspects, including reaction time and memory exercises.
Dr. Max Teaford, assistant professor of psychology, and Khan worked together over the past two years, during which Khan held roles as a research lab coordinator and graduate teaching assistant.
“I tried to talk her into staying for a third year,” Teaford said. “It’s been a pleasure to work with Shyla. She’s been pivotal in helping get my lab up and running and in coordinating the undergraduate students. She’s been a great help.”
While working on her thesis, Khan presented a sample of her data at a Tennessee Psychological Association conference in October 2024. She looked at the effects of colorism in the media on South Asian women and how beauty standards affect their mental health by doing a cross-cultural examination.
She earned first place, winning the graduate research award.
“I was blown away by it,” said Khan, who grew up in Columbus, Georgia. “I felt so validated. Honestly, it showed me that even people who don’t really understand my experiences and all these women’s experiences find it still important. It’s still something that people want to hear about.”
When Khan was deciding where to pursue her graduate degree, she wanted to find a community that would support her and help her reach the goals she had set.
It didn’t take long for her to find a home at UTC, connecting with the campus on her first tour.
“I came to UTC and met my thesis advisor, who was going to be Dr. Ruth Walker in the psychology department,” Khan recalled. “She had been completing a workshop at the time, so I sent her a text letting her know that I was going to be visiting campus—and if she had time, to see if I could just meet her in person. She came out of her workshop and spoke to my parents and me for a solid two and a half hours during the middle of the day over the summer. She showed us around the entire department.
“I was just so blown away at how considerate and sincere she was.”
May graduate Shyla Khan, left, spent the summer months training grad student Claire Beach to take over her Austin Hatcher Foundation internship responsibilities.
When looking for an internship, Khan said she wanted to find something that fit her and would look good on an application when applying for a doctorate program.
She found that role in an unlikely place.
“I just happened to scroll past Austin Hatcher Foundation for Pediatric Cancer and they had an intern position open in marketing and events,” Khan said. “The requirements were to be an undergrad student and to be a marketing major or a communications major.
“I was a grad student and my major was psychology. It was completely not what they were asking for but I applied.”
The Austin Hatcher Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to “Provide a lifetime of free, comprehensive support to pediatric cancer patients and their families through mental, behavioral, educational and social services, so they can cope in the present and thrive in the future.”
Previously working as a registered behavioral technician, Khan said she was trying to sell her previous research work experience when she went there for the interview.
Instead of the original role, a new internship was created based on Khan’s experience.
“I appreciated that they were trying to put in so much effort in making me feel like I was a priority to them,” Khan said. “It’s already one of the biggest compliments I’ve ever received—being told that they’re going to create this position for me.”
Khan’s role was to renew a past study that had been put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, using a driving simulator.
Khan said this was an easy transition to make because of similar work she had done on her thesis, such as obtaining approval from the Institutional Review Board.
One main difference was getting confidentiality and HIPAA approvals.
After approval, she was able to begin the study, but first needed to lean on the UTC community for help.
Teaford helped by providing information and hands-on experience with similar equipment.
“There are a lot of similarities between simulators and virtual reality headsets, which is what we use,” Teaford explained. “We recently got a motion simulator, which is also very similar—some of the basic skills transfer between the two.
“They were interested in pulse oximetry. We measure people’s blood oxygenation. Austin Hatcher was interested in that as well. She took what she learned working with me doing research and something completely different, and then transferred that over to what they wanted to do.”
Shyla Khan earned a Master of Science in Psychological Science degree from UTC in spring 2025.
After Khan graduated in May, the foundation began looking for an internship replacement—and didn’t have to search far. Claire Beach is a graduate student at UTC who is currently pursuing the same master’s degree.
Khan spent the summer months training Beach to take over her responsibilities.
“It lined up perfectly because I had the most experience doing data collection, which is my favorite part of research,” Beach said. “Setting up a research study is not the fun part for me. I’m glad that I get to do the data collection and the data analysis.”
Teaford said that these are important opportunities for students in the psychology department.
“One of the big things for a lot of our students is getting them more real-world experience and doing research in other places besides academic ones,” Teaford said, “because oftentimes the students coming out of the psychology science graduate program are going to be doing research somewhere and it’s not always at a school.”
Khan said that this opportunity further prepared her for pursuing her Ph.D. or entering the workforce.
“I’m so grateful for the opportunity,” she said. “It helped me do so much research. I could continue growing my resume and gain hands-on experience with a wide range of equipment. I don’t think I ever would’ve had the opportunity to do it anywhere else.”
Khan, who will be returning to Columbus for the foreseeable future, said the things she will remember the most during her time at UTC were the connections with students and faculty made on campus.
“I found a home here and I feel like I was able to accomplish more here than I was ever expecting,” Khan said.
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