Cilla was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs of Illinois and graduated from North Central College with a Master’s of Science in Occupational Therapy with honors. She is passionate about interoception, mental health, and self regulation with experiences in public schools, therapeutic day schools, and private pediatric clinics. As a trilingual first-generation American, she thrives on filling language barrier gaps that affect health literacy and quality of life. In her free time, Cilla enjoys researching, advocating, presenting, and writing evidence-based articles on pediatric developmental approaches to self-regulation with a recent publication for the Illinois Occupational Therapy Association’s Communique Winter 2022 edition. Aside from academia, you will frequently find Cilla painting, singing, reading, and baking.