Faculty & Staff

Ami Klin, Ph.D. is the Harris Associate Professor of Child Psychology and Psychiatry at the Yale Child Study Center. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of London, and completed clinical and research post-doctoral fellowships at the Yale Child Study Center. He directs the Autism Program at Yale, which is one of the National Institutes of Health Autism Centers of Excellence. This program includes a broad range of diagnostic and treatment services, and an interdisciplinary program of research that includes behavioral, brain, and genetics investigations. The program also provides training in a broad range of disciplines, and is strongly committed to advocacy at the local, national and international levels. Dr. Klin's primary research activities focus on the social mind and the social brain, and on aspects of autism from infancy through adulthood. These studies include novel techniques such as the eye-tracking laboratories co-directed with Warren Jones, which allow researchers to see the world through the eyes of individuals with autism. These techniques are now being applied in the screening of babies at risk for autism in the Simons Laboratory of Social Neuroscience in Infancy. He is the author of over 150 publications in the field of autism and related conditions. He is also the co-editor of a textbook on Asperger Syndrome published by Guilford Press (soon to be released in its second edition), the third edition of the Handbook of Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorders published by Wiley, and several special issues of professional journals focused on autism and related disorders.

 

Fred R. Volkmar, M.D. is a child psychiatrist who trained at Stanford University and at Yale. He has a long standing interest in the assessment and classification of autism and related disorders. He was the coordinator of the International Field Trial for autism and related disorders, which developed the definition of autism used in DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association, Fourth Edition,1994). He is also an Associate editor of Psychoses and Pervasive Developmental Disorders in Childhood and Adolescence and, along with Drs. Paul, Klin & Cohen, of the Handbook of Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorders, Third Edition.

 

Sara S. Sparrow, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus and Senior Research Scientist at Yale University's Child Study Center and Department of Psychology. She received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology and neuropsychology at the University of Florida. Dr. Sparrow is the author of over 100 articles and chapters in the fields of psychological assessment and developmental disabilities. She is the senior author of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales and is actively engaged in the Revision of the Vineland, Vineland II. She is also co-editor (along with Drs. Ami Klin and Fred Volkmar) of a recent book on Asperger Syndrome. Her main research interests involve the assessment of adaptive behavior, autism spectrum disorders, mental retardation, child neuropsychology, and other developmental disabilities. Dr. Sparrow recently served on National Research Council, (National Academy of Sciences) Committee on Disability Determination for Mental Retardation. She was cofounder of the Journal of Child Neuropsychology and served as co-editor for five years. She recently received the career Scientist award from the American Academy of Mental Retardation.

 

Domenic V. Cicchetti, Ph.D., is a graduate of the University of Connecticut, with a Ph.D. in Social Psychology (1965) and a minor in Statistics. He currently holds three academic positions in the Yale University School of Medicine. He is a Senior Research Scientist, Senior Research Psychologist and Senior Biostatistician, with a primary appointment at the Child Study Center. He holds joint appointments in Psychiatry, and in Biometry, in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health. He also holds an international academic appointment as Professor at the College of Science, Technology, and Medicine, Department of Mental and Public Health in London, U.K.; and a second appointment as Adjunct Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Windsor, in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

Rhea Paul, Ph.D. hails from Mount Carmel, Pennsylania. She received her B.A. from Brandeis University, her Ed.M. from Harvard Graduate School of Education, and her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Dr. Paul has published over 50 papers in referred journals, and has written five books on children's language development and disorders. She has been the recipient of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's New Investigator Award, the Millar Award for Faculty Excellence, the Faculty Scholar Award from SCSU, and the Editor's Award from the American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. She is a Fellow of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association. Dr. Paul holds a joint appointment at SCSU, where she is Professor of Communication Disorders, and the Yale Child Study Center, where she pursues research on autism and related disabilities.

 

Katarzyna (Kasia) Chawarska, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Child Study at the Yale Child Study Center. She received her graduate degree from the Department of Psychology at Yale and completed her postgraduate training at the Yale Child Study Center. Her research work and publications focus on (1) understanding mechanisms that underlie social attention abnormalities observed in infants and toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorders; and (2) better defining the early phenotypic and clinical expression of ASD. Work in her lab is focused on studying face and gaze processing in children under the age of 2 years using eye-tracking technology. Determining which components of gaze and face processing are impaired and which are preserved in infants with ASD will help advance our appreciation of mechanisms underlying abnormalities in the early stages of the disorder. This evolving understanding of the condition will be consequential for designing early screening and intervention methods. Dr. Chawarska's research has been founded by both private (Autism Speaks, NAAR, Korczak Foundation) and federal (NICHD) agencies. She is a co-editor of the book titled, "Autism in Infants and Toddlers: Diagnosis, Assessment and Treatment" published in 2008. She lectures nationally and internationally on issues related to early diagnosis of ASD. She is a director of the Toddler Developmental Disabilities Clinic at the Yale Autism Program.

 

Rosalie Greenbaum, Ph.D. is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the Yale Child Study Center. She received her Ph.D. in 1981 Yeshiva University and did her clinical training at Yale. She is currently a supervisor of psychological evaluations in the Yale Child Study Center Developmental Disabilities Clinic, having previously also been a coordinator of the School Consultation Program there. In her capacity as adjunct faculty, she also led a seminar for seven years in preschool assessment. Dr. Greenbaum's past and current research and publishing interests have focused on the unfolding of constitutional vulnerabilities in infancy and early childhood as well as the mutual regulatory and communication system in parent/infant interaction. A member of the faculty of the Parent-Infant Program of the Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, she also maintains a private practice in New Canaan, CT.

 

Celine Saulnier, Ph.D., is an Associate Research Scientist at the Child Study Center. She received her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of Connecticut, where she concentrated in neuropsychology with Dr. Deborah Fein. Celine completed a two-year NAAR postdoctoral fellowship at the Child Study Center under the close supervision of Drs. Klin, Volkmar, and Chawarska. Presently, Celine conducts and supervises diagnostic assessments in both the Developmental Disabilities Clinic and the Infant and Toddler Clinic. Her current research focuses on higher functioning individuals, specifically on the discrepancy between cognitive potential and adaptive, real-life success. Additional interests include the investigation of alternative interventions in autism, as well as impairments in sensory processing.

James McPartland, Ph.D. is an Associate Research Scientist at the Child Study Center . He obtained his doctoral degree in Child Clinical Psychology from the University of Washington, where he studied autism spectrum disorders under the guidance of Dr. Geraldine Dawson. He completed an autism-focused post-doctoral fellowship at the Yale Child Study Center, mentored by Drs. Klin, Schultz, Volkmar, and Chawarska. Dr. McPartland currently evaluates children through the Yale Autism Resource Program and the Infant and Toddler Clinic. His research uses electrophysiological methods to investigate brain function in individuals with autism, with particular focus on visual perception of social information. Dr. McPartland is also co-author of the book, A Parent's Guide to Asperger Syndrome and High-Functioning Autism: How to Meet the Challenges and Help Your Child Thrive, published by Guilford Press.

 

Warren Jones is a Research Associate at the Yale Child Study Center. He received his B.A. in Art and Engineering at Yale University, and is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Neuroscience, also at Yale. His research is focused on the use of eye-tracking technologies to characterize and quantify the social phenotype in autism, Asperger's Syndrome, and related conditions. The aim of the research is to better understand the perspectives and struggles of individuals with social disabilities, to quantify phenotypic variation in the manifestation of such disabilities, to improve efforts at early diagnosis, and to develop future strategies for intervention.

 

Kathleen Koenig, M.S. is an Associate Research Scientist working in clinical evaluation of children with developmental disabilities, as well as research in PDD and genetic forms of mental retardation, including Williams Syndrome and Prader-Willi Syndrome. Kathy received her master's degree from the Yale School of Nursing. She has published on assessment and psychopharmalogical intervention in pervasive developmental disorder. Kathy is currently invlolved in psychopharmacology trials and social skills intervention. Kathy's areas of interest are intervention in autism and PDD and understanding social development in developmental disorders, with particular focus on sex differences and the way in which these differences impact the developmental trajectory. To view a list of Kathy's publications, visit http://info.med.yale.edu/chldstdy/autism/koenigpublications.html.

 

Tammy Babitz, M.A. is our Research Project Coordinator for the Family Study of the Yale Social Learning Disabilities Project. She recieved her M.A. in Psychology from Southern Connecticut State University.

 

 

 

Diane Goudreau earned her Master's degree from Yale University. For over two decades she has carried out research in the fields of psychology and autism, with a focus on psychiatric and developmental disabilities. She specializes in autism spectrum disorders and adaptive behavior. Also an ordained minister, she has been appointed by the University Chaplain to the volunteer position of Interfaith Chaplain for the Center.

 

Karyn Bailey received her master's degree in social work at the University of Kansas and completed post-graduate fellowships at Yale. As a member of the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Clinic research and assessment team, she provides clinical support for families, facilitates parent support groups, serves as a liason between families and the community, consults with schools, and provides counseling in the areas of advocacy and special education law.

 

Rebecca A. Carman, MSW, is a Clinical Social Worker on the clinical and research team in the Developmental Disabilities Clinic/Autism Program. Her educational and professional work has been in the disability field, in which she has conducted research, provided strategic planning, as well as participated in medical and developmental disabilities clinics. Prior to Yale, she worked overseas providing direct practice work for children with disabilities and their families. Rebecca co-leads a social skills group for children who have a diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder, provides clinical support to families during children's evaluations, liaison between clinic families and community, consults with families, school personnel, and community agencies regarding ASD, conducts school observations, edits evaluation reports, coordinator of research project, etc. Rebecca has had training for administration of clinical and research assessment tools (Autism Diagnostic Interview - Revised and Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales - Expanded Form). She is the author of a DVD review, Understanding Brothers and Sisters on the Autism Spectrum, published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. She is also a family member of a person with a neurodevelopmental disability.

 

Moira Lewis is a speech-language pathologist within the developmental disabilities clinic, performing clinical evaluations of children ranging from toddlers to young adults under a number of research projects, as well as co-leading a weekly social skills group for adolescents with autism spectrum disorders. Moira is currently involved in a treatment study designed to evaluate the effectiveness of two therapy models aimed at eliciting speech in nonverbal children with autism. Moira received her Master's degree in communication disorders at Miami University, and completed her clinical fellowship under the supervision of Dr. Rhea Paul.

 

Amy Carney is a Clinical Social Worker in the Developmental Disabilities Clinic for Infants and Toddlers. She received her B.S in Human Development and Family Relations from the University of Connecticut, and earned her Master's Degree in Social Work at Southern Connecticut State University. Previous experience includes work with children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders and behavioral and emotional challenges, as well as childcare for children on the autism spectrum. Currently, Amy provides clinical support to families, serves as a liason between families and the community, edits clinical reports, administers the Autism Diagnostic Interview, and conducts parent interviews regarding the developmental, medical and intervention histories of their children. Her current related interests include advocacy and special education law.

 

Kristin Kramer is the computer & information systems support specialist for the Developmental Disabilities Clinic and the various research projects at the Clinic. She is also our database manager and webmaster. Kristin received her B.S. in Computer and Information Systems from Towson University in Towson, Maryland.

 

 

Evelyn Pomichter is the Administrative Coordinator at the Developmental Disabilities Clinic for Infants and Toddlers. She provides a high level of administrative and clerical support with regard to all aspects of clinical and research functions. In addition, she is a central source of information to both families and members of the developmental disabilities clinical/research teams. She responds to patient concerns and requests ensuring smooth resolution. She is responsible for the management of clinical fees, including preparation of evaluation summary statements, provided to families upon request, for submission to their insurance provider for possible reimbursement. Ev has over 20 years experience working with families of children and adults with disabilities, having previously worked at the Yale Center for Children with Special Health Care Needs and the Easter Seals Rehabilitation Center.

 

Betty Litto is the Senior Intake Officer for the Autism Program at Yale. She has had extensive experience working in a clinical setting in the Psychology Department at Yale University where she worked with clients within a wide range of needs. She attended Temple University in Philadelphia, PA where her interests were in the fields of psychology, sociology, and behavioral disorders. Betty's personal interest in working with children with developmental disabilities brings her to our autism program.

 

Research Assistants and Other Staff

Stephanie Huckins assists with the Yale Social Learning Disabilities Project study of high-functioning autism and Asperger’s Syndrome. She received a B.A. in Psychology from Saint Michael’s College in Burlington, VT and graduated summa cum laude.

 

 

Allison Lee assists with the Receptive and Expressive Prosody in Autism Study for ages 4-7. She graduated from the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT where she received her B.A. in Communication Disorders with a minor in Linguistics.

 

 

Daria Diakonova assists with the Receptive and Expressive Prosody in Autism Study for ages 8-17. She graduated from the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, MI where she received a B.A. in Psychology, as well as a B.A. in French and Francophone Studies.

 

 

Andy Auerbach is our main data entry person and office assistant, and also assists the principal investigators. He studied liberal arts at Edward Williams College, and attended Chapel Haven's vocational program for four years. He is currently a member of Chapel Haven's outreach program.