Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology and Psychology
The overall aims of the research conducted in our lab address questions about the essential characteristics of the cognitive/psychological phenotype that define different neurodevelopmental disorders with special interest in autism, specific language impairment (SLI) and Williams syndrome. Our goals are: 1) to define the disorders themselves- i.e., to shed light on the nature of the deficits and spared capacities that are unique and specific to particular syndromes; and 2) to identify cognitive “markers” that will facilitate research on underlying genetics (especially for autism and SLI, which are both complex genetic disorders) and the neuropathology of the syndromes.