Our Team
Director
Robert T. Schultz, PhD
Dr. Schultz is a clinical psychologist with expertise in neuropsychology and neuroimaging. He is the director of the Developmental Neuroimaging Laboratory and the Center for Autism Research at the Joseph Stokes Jr. Research Institute at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and holds an endowed chair in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Schultz is active nationally and internationally within the autism community, serving on the scientific advisory board of Autism Speaks as well as several other groups. He is also the president of the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) and is an associate editor for INSAR's journal, Autism Research. He currently has several National Institute of Health grants funding his research on brain mechanism in the autism spectrum disorders, which include magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of brain anatomy and development and functional MRI (fMRI) studies of social perception and social cognition.
He is well known for his fMRI work on person perception in autism and the temporal lobe deficits related to these social perceptual difficulties. His research group — in collaboration with James Tanaka, Ph.D. at the University of Victoria — has created a computerized gaming platform titled Let's Face It! for use as an intervention tool to help children improve recognition and understand faces.
Investigators
Sarah Paterson, PhD
Dr. Paterson is a scientist in the Developmental Neuroimaging Laboratory and a research assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania. She is project coordinator of the Infant Brain Imaging Study of Infants at Risk for Autism and conducts brain imaging and cognitive studies of infants at risk for autism and other developmental disorders.
She earned her doctorate in developmental psychology in 2000. Working under the supervision of professor Annette Karmiloff-Smith, Ph.D. at the Institute of Child Health, University College London, she studied language and number understanding in infants and adults with Williams and Down syndromes.
Her research interests are in developmental cognitive neuroscience, and in particular, brain imaging, language and cognition in infants and young children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Before joining the center, Dr. Paterson was an associate research scientist at the Yale Child Study Center.
John Herrington, PhD
Dr. Herrington is a a clinical psychologist in the Developmental Neuroimaging Laboratory at the Center for Autism Research with expertise in neuropsychology, psychophysiology and cognitive neuroscience. His research focuses on the neurobiology of social and emotional functions in autism.
Dr. Herrington earned his doctorate in clinical/community psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2006. His clinical training focused on neuropsychological assessment and psychotherapy. His doctoral research focused on prefrontal cortex contributions to emotion processes among individuals with depressive symptoms. Dr. Herrington also received a master of philosophy degree working with Simon Baron-Cohen at the University of Cambridge. His work at Cambridge focused on biological motion perception among individuals with Asperger syndrome.
Dr. Herrington's research focuses on visual and motor cortex contributions to social understanding (i.e., the mirror neuron system), measured via fMRI. He also studies mechanisms of empathy and social reciprocity, measured via facial electromyography.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Susan Faja, PhD
Dr. Faja is a research fellow at the Center for Autism Research. After receiving her bachelor's degree in neuroscience from the University of Michigan, she earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Washington. Working with the UW Autism Center team led by Dr. Geraldine Dawson, she contributed to projects investigating the early diagnosis, longitudinal brain and behavioral development, and genetic basis of autism, and she developed computerized training to improve the face recognition skills of adults with autism spectrum disorders. She completed her clinical internship at the University of California, Los Angeles, with a specialization in developmental disabilities.
Susan's research interests include investigation of the neural systems underlying social cognition and their plasticity in response to intervention and learning. Her dissertation investigated how reward feedback impacts decision making and executive function in children with autism spectrum disorders. Her clinical interests include assessment of developmental disabilities and targeted treatments to improve social functioning.
Clinician
Susan Epstein, PhD
Dr. Epstein is a clinical neuropsychologist at the Center for Autism Research. She began her career as a psychiatric social worker at New York University in 1981. Following her daughter's autism diagnosis, she returned to graduate school and received her doctorate in clinical psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University in 2005.
Dr. Epstein completed a dual-track internship at North Shore University Hospital in child clinical psychology and pediatric neuropsychology. She has worked at the Fay J. Lindner Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities of the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Medical Center as part of a transdisciplinary diagnostic team and at the Barbara C. Wilson Preschool Development. In these positions she performed evaluations, consulted educational staff and counseled parents.
Dr. Epstein also maintained private practices in New York City, and Westchester County, N.Y., where she provided general psychotherapy services, pediatric neuropsychological evaluations and comprehensive autism diagnostic evaluations. She has a special interest in differential diagnoses of complex childhood neurodevelopmental disorders.
Research Associates
Lawrence Win
Larry received his bachelor's in psychology from the University of Connecticut in 1996. Since then he has been working with Dr. Schultz on MRI studies of autism and mental retardation. Currently he is the Developmental Neuroimaging Laboratory manager, where he is responsible for all aspects of the lab's computer network, hardware and software. He is also in charge of all morphometric analyses, a responsibility that cuts across multiple federally funded projects. He supervises student research projects in the lab and works closely with various postdoctoral fellows and faculty throughout the University of Pennsylvania to develop new approaches to brain measurement and to collect pilot data for new grant applications.
Debra Dunn
Deb is the public relations director and recruitment coordinator for the Developmental Neuroimaging Laboratory and the Center for Autism Research. She received her bachelor's degree with honors in political science from Duke University in 1990 and her juris doctorate with honors from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 1994. She has served on a number of boards for disability organizations in the greater Philadelphia area, including the ASCEND Group, Autism Society of America Greater Philadelphia Chapter and the Right to Education Task Force of Delaware County.
Resource Coordinator
Stephanie Ricchini-Egan
Stephanie is the resource coordinator for the Center for Autism Research at the Stokes Institute. Stephanie greets visitors at the door with a friendly face and guides them through their visit at the Center for Autism Research.
Consultant
Elinora Hunyadi
Elinora is a research associate with the Developmental Neuroimaging Laboratory, and she collaborates on study design, task programming, fMRI data collection and fMRI data analyses. She is the lab's expert on the Brain Voyager fMRI data analysis package. Elinora received her bachelor's in cognitive science and Japanese studies from Wellesley College in 2001.
Research Assistants
Christine Shin
Christine is a research assistant involved in the planning, implementation and analyses of various fMRI studies. She also has expertise with the Brain Voyager fMRI data analysis package. Christine graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2007 and received her bachelor's in the biological basis of behavior and healthcare management.
Meghan Riley
Meghan is a research assistant involved in fMRI studies of neural plasticity as it relates to autism. She graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2005 with a bachelor's in biology. Meghan also received a master's in neuroscience from the University of Rochester in 2008, where she worked with Krystel Huxlin, PhD, on projects dealing with plasticity in the damaged visual system.
Erin Bogue
Erin is a research assistant working on subject recruitment, outreach and data coordination. She received her bachelor's in neuroscience and behavior from Columbia University in 2008, where she was involved in personality and social psychology research.
Christine Ghilain
Christine is a clinical research assistant working as a part of the Infant Brain Imaging Study. She graduated from Bucknell University with honors in psychology and education in 2008, where she conducted research on ritualistic and repetitive behaviors of children with autism.
Harini Eavani
Harini is a research data analyst working on Diffusion Tensor Imaging. She received her Masters degree in EE:Systems from the University of Michigan in 2008.
James Taylor
James is a research assistant involved in fMRI studies of neural plasticity as it relates to autism. James graduated in 2009 from Gettysburg College with a bachelor's in Psychology and a minor in Neuroscience, where he worked with Kevin Wilson, PhD, on projects involving neural correlates of visual attention.
Janelle Letzen
Janelle is a research assistant working on studies of steady-state and psychophysiological responses in children with autism. She graduated from the University of Florida in 2009 with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology, where she completed an honors thesis which examined the effects of strategy training on working memory in younger and older adults.