Director
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Matthew D. Lerner, Ph.D
Dr. Lerner is an Associate Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry, & Pediatrics in the Department of Psychology at Stony Brook University. Feel free to read more about him and his work here.
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Post-Doctoral scholars
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Kathryn Mary Hauschild, Ph.D
Dr. Hauschild received her doctoral degree in developmental psychology from the University of Pittsburgh in 2018. During her time at the University of Pittsburgh her research focused on the development of face perception and object knowledge in typically developing infants and infants at familial risk for autism spectrum disorders. Moving forward, she aims to utilize a developmental perspective to 1) explore the connection between early cognitive and social communication deficits associated with ASD, 2) examine how these deficits may have cascading effects on social functioning and interaction later in life, and 3) apply this knowledge to the development and implementation of early intervention programs.
Angela Turner Dougherty, Ph.D
Dr. Dougherty graduated from the clinical psychology program at Gallaudet University, in Washington, DC, with a specialization in working with individuals who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Her clinical training has focused on psychological assessment and cognitive-behaviorally informed therapy for individuals with developmental differences. Her research interests include resilience processes in the presence of developmental and learning differences.
Peter Felsman
Peter received his Ph.D. in social work and social psychology at the University of Michigan. His dissertation focuses on understanding improvisational theater as a psychological intervention.
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Lab CoordinatorS
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Debi received her master's degree in May 2016 in the Department of Theatre Arts here at Stony Brook University. She is very excited to be working with Dr. Lerner in fusing the arts and sciences in research regarding children with ASD. Debi's primary role in the SCTL is managing our new SENSE study! She also enjoyed her time as an interventionist for our study Social Groups for Youth with ASD.
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Lee Ann is an undergraduate Biochemistry major on the pre-med track. She is interested in understanding how children with ASD view the world and how different methods of intervention can enhance their social interactions. She was a member of our Spotlight Summer Study 2015 Coding Team and our Social Groups.
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Rebecca received her MS in health and social psychology from Maastricht University in February 2017. She is interested in social interaction differences between children with and without ASD.
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Heather graduated with Summa Cum Laude honors in Psychology in May 2018. She is interested in comorbid psychiatric diagnoses and how they play a role within the autism spectrum, and eventually hopes to apply her knowledge and experiences through a career in medicine.She actively trains SCTL team members on how to use our data collection platform and has helped create all of our surveys that families use to answer questions. Heather plans on applying to Medical School after graduation.
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Ayla graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Massachusetts Amherst's Honors College in December 2017. She has worked both in research and clinical settings with young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder. She is interested in assessing intervention programs for individuals with ASD. In the future she hopes to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology.
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clinical ConsultantS
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Rebecca is a licensed social worker who has worked with children, adolescents and adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders for over a decade. She currently works at the Developmental Disabilities Institute’s Center of Excellence, a New York State grant to improve quality of care for individuals with ASD living in residential care. Her other clinical interests include groups-based social skills interventions for children and adolescents and successful college experiences (academically and socially) for students with ASD.
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As a Licensed Psychologist in New York and Virginia, Dr. Lea A. Theodore currently serves as a clinical consultant in the Social Competence and Treatment Lab at Stony Brook University. Having worked in academic settings as a researcher, professor, and graduate program director, as well as in private practice conducting applied service work, she is especially passionate about empirically supported, efficacious, and equitable service provision for children and adolescents across multiple settings. Her career focus has been on promoting science, practice, and policy surrounding the development of effective and efficient intervention strategies to improve student academic and behavioral functioning.
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Ph.D. Students
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Heather is in her fifth year of the Integrative Neuroscience Ph.D. program, where her primary mentor is Dr. Patricia Whitaker-Azmitia. She is interested in research on the neurophysiological underpinnings of autism.
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Erin is in her fifth year of the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program. She is interested in understanding various and complex factors underlying developmental disabilities, ASD in particular, and in interventions for addressing socio-emotional challenges in children and adolescents with ASD.
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Tamara is in her fifth year of the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program. She is interested in evidence-based interventions for ASD, and novel approaches that may improve intervention efficacy. She is also interested in the study of ASD comorbidities, and how they add to our understanding of the ASD phenotype.
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Cara is in her fourth year of the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program. She is interested in studying social motivation in individuals with ASD and in the development of naturalistic neuroimaging and behavioral paradigms that capture this phenomenon.
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Alan is in his third year of the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program. He is interested in identifying predictors of variability in treatment outcomes by examining mechanisms of therapeutic change in individuals with ASD. Ultimately, his goal is to maximize patient benefit through individualizing interventions.
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Elizabeth is in her fifth year of the Cognitive Science Ph.D. program, where her primary mentor is Dr. Christian Luhmann. She is interested in decision making behavior and the electrophysiological correlates of reward processing. At the SCTL she studies how the brain processes information about social situations.
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Erin is in her second year of the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program. She is interested in exploring the heterogeneity of ASD behavioral phenotypes, including symptom presentation in girls and individuals without intellectual disability. She aims to optimize intervention strategies for individuals with ASD by identifying factors which mediate and moderate intervention outcomes, and exploring the use of electrophysiological methods to measure and predict variability in individuals’ response to treatment.
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Jiaqi is in her fourth year of the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program. She is interested in studying the romantic relationship functioning. She is also interested in developing targeted interventions for adolescences and adults with difficulties in romantic relationships. Her primary mentor is Dr. Joanne Davila.
Talena Day
Talena is in her first year of the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program. She is interested in the presentation and treatment of internalizing symptoms in ASD. In addition to studying these clinical features, she aims to study neural markers of socio-emotional behavior to better understand the biological underpinnings of internalizing symptoms in ASD.
Morgan McNair
Morgan will be starting her first year in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program in fall 2019. She is interested in exploring the neurophysiological underpinnings of social communication difficulties in individuals with ASD as well as how these underlying processes can predict outcomes and inform interventions targeting social functioning.
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Visiting scholars
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Bianca Marro, M.A.
Bianca graduated from Stony Brook in May 2016 with her Master's in Psychology. She just finished her second year in the school psychology EdM/BCBA program at Teacher's College-Columbia University. She currently works as a behavior and Autism consultant for Positive Behavior Supports & Consulting (PBS) and will be beginning her full time school psychology internship at West Babylon school district this fall. Bianca is part of the reports writing team, the assessment training team, and is also running Spotlight groups with adult participants in conjunction with PBS. Bianca is also completing research on co-exisiting psychiatric conditions of individuals with ASD in residential care with SCTL.
Juan Mayor Torres, MSc.
Juan is a visiting scholar from the University of Trento, Italy. He is a second year PhD candidate in Computer Science. In 2010 and 2014 he received a BS and MSc in Electrical Engineering from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia respectively. He is interested in characterizing empathy and Theory-of-Mind (ToM) measures from neural correlates, thus evaluating the prediction of emotion, ToM scores, and behavioral outcome measures in ASD population using neural responses and stimuli features.
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Noy Halevy, MD
Noy is a second year pediatric resident at Stony Brook University Hospital with a strong interest in developmental and behavioral pediatrics, more specifically in Autism Spectrum Disorder. She completed her undergraduate studies at Binghamton University where she received her BA in Biology, and then continued on to Sackler School of Medicine- New York Program in Tel Aviv, Israel where she received my MD. She is looking forward to collaborating with Dr. Lerner and the rest of the team in evaluating primary care providers' knowledge of ASD symptomatology and their competence in appropriately identifying and referring these patients to the services they need.
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Master's Students
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Jessica Granieri, B.A.
Jessica graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Delaware in the Spring of 2018 with a BA in psychology and a minor in disability studies. Upon graduating she worked as an ABA provider for a year, prior to her acceptance into Stony Brook’s MA psychology program. Jessica is interested in exploring at what age stigma around developmental disability begins to develop and in what ways psycho-education and inclusion affects certain stigma around disabilities, as well as peer relationships. She has a secondary research interest in how anxiety disorders affect peer relationships in those with developmental disabilities, and if there is any correlation between the effectiveness of interventions which target anxiety and interventions which target social skills.
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Lab Volunteers
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Russell Vogel, B.A.
Russell graduated from Hofstra University in 2016 with a B.A. in
Psychology and a Minor in Neuroscience. He is currently a student in the Neuroscience M.S. program. His research interests are in neuropsychology, neuroimaging, psychophysiology and disorder/disease etiology, particularly in how gaining a better understanding of neurodevelopmental disorders such as ASD and ADHD can lead to improved treatment methods. Valarie graduated from Stony Brook in May 2017 with a BA in Psychology and a concentration in Sociology. She is interested in studying individuals, particularly children, with Autism Spectrum Disorders and different treatments and interventions.
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Fanny Talledo, B.A.
Fanny graduated with a Psychology major in May 2018 with a concentration in Women Studies. She is very interested in how religion and cultural factors affect the way people deal with trauma as well as how the behavior of those with ASD is affected by these factors. Fanny was a part of our recruitment team and then moved to proctoring EEG visits.
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Christopher Esposito, B.S.
Christopher graduated with a degree in Psychology with a minor in Biology in May 2018. He is interested in research on individuals with ASD, particularly family life, social perception, and communication impediments. Chris currently focuses his lab time on the Employment Study that has since been internationally spread to individuals, families, and employers who work with employees on the Autism Spectrum.
Jaime Mangalathu
Jaime graduated from Stony Brook University in 2018 with a B.S. in Biology/concentration in Ecology and Evolution. She is currently pursuing her M.A in Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care, and Bioethics at Stony Brook Medicine. She is very excited and interested to learn about the social interactions of children with and without ASD. She is interested in addiction therapy and treatment of addiction and hopes to become an addiction psychiatrist in the future.
Joseph Giacomantonio
Joe is an undergraduate Psychology major and is interested in understanding and further probing the heterogeneity of those diagnosed with ASD. Joe is excited to work with Dr. Lerner to further the research into ASD and the way it effects interactions and the way those with ASD perceive the world.
Cassie Donohue
Cassie is an undergraduate double major in Biology and Spanish on a pre med track. She has an interest in clinical psychology and in working with SCTL to learn more about the social development of children with ASD. She is also a member of the Autism Awareness Club.
Alexa Gombert
Alexa is an undergraduate Biology major and Chemistry minor on the pre-med track. Alexa hopes to learn more about the neurological and physiological aspects of ASD and the role it plays in the lives of children. Alexa aspires to become a pediatric surgeon or pediatric anesthesiologist.
Malia Lundahl
Malia Lundahl is an undergraduate Psychology major with a Sociology concentration. She is interested in learning which types of interventions are most effective for building social skills in Autism Spectrum Disorders as well as what factors, such as gender, influence their effectiveness. Malia plans to go to Nursing school when she graduates.
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Undergraduate Research Assistants
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Kevin Carroll is a double major in Psychology and Biology. Having a diagnosis on the spectrum himself, he is interested in all aspects of autism research, particularly relating to the development of social skills, the reduction of familial stress, and all forms of autism interventions/therapies.
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Megan is an undergraduate Psychology and Sociology double major. She is interested in studying how certain personality dispositions in early childhood may influence the development of anxiety disorders or depression later in life and intervention strategies to prevent or lessen the severity of such disorders. She currently works as a recreational therapist and she is planning to go to graduate school to obtain a PhD in developmental psychology. Megan is currently on our recruitment team!
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Ariana Sullivan
Ariana is an undergraduate Biology major on the pre-med track. She has an interest in learning about the effect of clinical disorders on children and their families. Ariana's goal is to learn more about ASD and ADHD through her work in SCTL. She hopes to pursue a career relating to pediatrics in the future.
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Darsiya Krishnathasan
Darsiya is an undergraduate majoring in Biology on the pre-med track. She is interested in working with SCTL and clinical research, hoping to learn more about how social interactions and communication can be improved among children with ASD.
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Roberta Geffrard
Roberta is an undergraduate Biology major on the pre-med track. She is interested in learning about the social interactions and behavior of children with and without ASD and ADHD. She hopes to pursue a career in pediatrics in the future.
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Isha Malik
Isha is a pre-med student majoring in Biology. She is passionate about doing research geared towards children with ASD and understanding the disorder in hopes of finding a possible treatment to improve it.
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Finley Kankus
Finley is an undergraduate Psychology major and Creative Writing minor. They are interested in the development of autistic individuals, as well as how best to help families of autistic children support their children. They plan to attend graduate school for either School Psychology or Industrial/Organizational Psychology.
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Melissa Madigan
Melissa is an undergraduate biology major on the pre-med track. After being involved with the ASD community since high school, Melissa is passionate about working at the SCTL. Through her work in this lab, Melissa hopes to learn more about social interactions in children with ASD and how to better support them.
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Nathaniel Iskhakov
Nate is an Undergraduate Political Science major on the pre-med track. He is passionate about doing research with children to better understand social interactions and development of children with ASD
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Michelle Nemirovsky
Michelle is an undergraduate Biology major on a pre-health track, minoring in Business Management and Professional Writing. She hopes to become an optometrist, and pursue research within the optometry field. She anticipates that by participating in this research, she can better understand and learn more about children with ASD.
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Nandini Sharma
Nandini is an undergraduate Biology major on the pre-med track. By working with the SCTL, she hopes to gain a better understanding about the effects ASD can have on the social development of children, and use this knowledge to find a way to improve it.
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Rabbi Rahman
Rabbi is an undergraduate Biology major on the pre-med track. She is interested in gaining a better understanding of how individuals with ASD interact and experience/respond to stimuli. She is also interested in learned how different approaches can improve social interactions and experiences for children and teens diagnosed with ASD.
Jack McCarron
Jack is a first year biology major on the pre-med track. He hopes to go into pediatrics and to help improve his community. He is interested in research as a way to learn, understand, and then solve issues.
Tomotaka Mizuno
Tomotaka is an undergraduate Biology major on the pre-med track. He is interested in learning and improving current intervention methods to improve social competency for children with ASD. He hopes to apply this knowledge to continue to help kids with special needs in the future.
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Tess Andrade
Tess is an undergraduate majoring in Health Science. Tess is interested in how ASD can impact family relationships. By participating in SCTL, she hopes to gain experience and insight in working with people who have ASD. She aspires to work with children as an occupational therapist.
Tasfia Bushra
Tasfia is an undergraduate double major in Biochemistry and Economics. She is interested in understanding the cause of ASD and related disorders, and the development of novel diagnostic tools. Tasfia will pursue a career in medicine to become a neurodevelopmental pediatrician.
Michael Farber
Michael is an undergraduate student who is on the pre-med track. He is interested in working with children in a clinical setting and exploring their talents. Michael hopes to enroll in medical school and become a pediatric gastroenterologist.
Sidney Alvarado
Sidney is an undergraduate psychology B.S. major and a studio art minor. She is interested in working with children on the spectrum and plans to attend graduate school for a PhD in clinical psychology. Sidney aspires to one day start a non-profit organization for those with ASD that focuses on art therapy.
Jackie Avione
Jackie is an undergraduate Psychology major and History minor. She is interested in comorbidity of disorders alongside Autism Spectrum Disorder and how they effect a person's educational needs. She was drawn to the SCTL Lab because she wants to learn more about how social intervention can help individuals with ASD.
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Xiao Kuang
Xiao is an undergraduate Biology major and a philosophy minor on the pre-med track. She joined SCTL to work with children in a clinical setting and to gain an understanding of how developing youth with ASD and ADHD perceive their social environment. She hopes to become a pediatrician in the future.
Alexander Velaoras
Alexander is an undergraduate student studying Business Management on the pre-med track. Alex first became interested in learning about ASD after his cousin was diagnosed on the spectrum. He hopes to learn more about how children with ASD interact in different social settings and about the challenges they face.
Nicholas Doss-hom
Nicholas is an undergraduate double major in Biology and Psychology on the Pre-Med track. He is interested in gaining new insights into how children with ASD develop and communicate. Nicholas hopes to enroll in medical school and one day pursue a career in psychiatry.
Julianne Mirmina
Julianne is an undergraduate Psychology major with a minor in Biology. She is interested in learning about the neurological aspects of ASD/ADHD and understanding the impact they have on social development. Her goal is to get a doctorate in neuroscience and continue research in the biopsychological field.
Nisha Mehta
Nisha is currently a junior studying Psychology at Stony Brook University. She is interested in the social development in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. She believes that researching disorders is a great way to help others understand mental disorders and dissolve the stigma around them.
Emily Wu
Emily is an undergraduate Biology B.S. major. She is interested in working with children and gaining more insight about individuals with ASD and how it effects their social interactions. Emily hopes to use the knowledge she gains from this research opportunity to further help children with ASD in the future.
Huijin Zhou
Huijin is an undergraduate double major in Psychology and Linguistics. She hopes to go into speech language pathology in the future. Huijin developed her passion for Autism when her younger brother was diagnosed with it at the age of 3. By working with SCTL, Huijin hopes to gain experience and learn more about children with ASD from a research perspective.
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