B.A. 2006 Neuroscience, Bowdoin College

As a research assistant on the Williams Syndrome and Language and Social Communication in Autism projects, my primary responsibilities include designing and implementing experiments involving eye tracking, psychophysiology, and reaction time, as well as administering standardized cognitive and language-based assessments.

I first became interested in developmental disorders and autism in particular while spending time volunteering and interning in the neuromotor and child development clinics at a healthcare center for low-income families in my hometown. I then transferred my interest in deviations in social behavior to my neuroscience major as I completed an honors thesis examining the molecular and genetic mechanisms underlying variations in social approach behavior in goldfish.

I hope to continue studying autism and the links between genes, the brain, and behavior in the future as a neuropsychologist or pediatric neurologist.

contact: mkenned3@bu.edu