Investigators

There are 56 investigators in the NDRC.

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Eva Anton .... | Email | Web Site | Projects
Professor, Cell and Molecular Physiology, Cell and Molecular Physiology
Research Interests: Cortical Development and Neuronal Migration

Don Bailey .... | Email | Web Site | Projects | Publications
Distinguised Fellow, RTI International, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute
Research Interests: Families and disability; early intervention for children with disabilities; fragile X syndrome; inclusion of children with disabilities in preschool

Grace Baranek .... | Email | Web Site | Publications
Associate Professor, Division of Occupational Science, Deparment of Allied Health Sciences; Director, Clinical Core - NC Autism STAART Center, Allied Health Sciences
Research Interests: Early identification/diagnosis of children with autism, fragile X syndrome and related developmental disabilities; impact of sensory processing disruptions on play skills and social engagement; early intervention; occupational therapy interventions.

Aysenil Belger .... | Email | Web Site
Associate Professor, Psychiatry, Psychiatry
Research Interests: Functional Neuroimaging and Electrophysiology of Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Manzoor Bhat .... | Email | Web Site | Projects
Associate Professor, Cell and Molecular Physiology, Cell and Molecular Physiology
Research Interests: Genetic dissection of axon-glial interactions in drosophila and mice.

James Bodfish .... | Email | Web Site | Projects
Professor, Psychiatry, Psychiatry
Research Interests: Integration of behavioral and medication therapies for the treatment of severe behavior disorders (e.g. stereotypies, rituals, self-injury, aggression, overactivity) with children and adults with autism and related developmental disorders.

Jay Brenman .... | Email | Web Site
Assistant Professor, Cell and Developmental Biology, Cell and Developmental Biology
Research Interests: Cortical development and mental illness; differentiation, axon growth and regeneration; synaptogenesis and synaptic function.

Margaret (Peg) Burchinal .... | Email | Web Site | Publications
Senior Scientist, FPG Child Development Institute, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute
Research Interests: Statistical models, especially for longitudinal data; effects of child care on cognitive, academic, and social development; family and school predictors of children's development outcomes for at-risk children.

Frances Campbell .... | Email | Web Site | Projects | Publications
Senior Scientist, FPG Child Development Institute, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute
Research Interests: Long-term outcomes of early educational intervention for poor children; cognitive development; young adulthood; effects of poverty; school performance of poor children.

Martha Cox .... | Email | Web Site | Publications
Director, Center for Developmental Science and Professor of Psychology, Center for Developmental Science
Research Interests: Family processes and child development; marital and parenting processes; transition to parenthood; effects of early child care on child and family outcomes; collaboration of family and school in child outcomes at middle childhood; effects of poverty on children and families

Stephen Crews .... | Email | Web Site | Projects
Professor, Biochemistry and Biophysics, Biochemistry and Biophysics
Research Interests: Molecular genetics of nervous system development.

Julie Daniels .... | Email | Web Site
Assistant Professor, Epidemiology, Epidemiology
Research Interests: Perinatal environmental exposures that may be associated with pediatric health.

Marsha Davenport .... | Email | Web Site
Professor, Pediatrics, Pediatrics
Research Interests: Hormonal control of growth, Turner syndrome.

A. Joseph D'Ercole .... | Email | Web Site | Projects
Chief, Division of Pediatric Endocrinology and Professor, Pediatrics, Pediatric Endocrinology
Research Interests: Insulin-like growth factor-I actions and mechanisms of action.

Mohanish Deshmukh .... | Email | Web Site | Projects
Assistant Professor, Cell and Developmental Biology
Research Interests: Neuronal apoptosis.

Gabriel Dichter .... | Email | Web Site
Assistant Professor, Psychiatry & NDRC, Psychiatry
Research Interests: Dr. Dichter’s research focuses on assessing core symptoms and treatment response in autism using brain imaging and psychophysiology.

Gary Duncan .... | Email | Web Site | Projects
Associate Professor, Psychiatry, Psychiatry
Research Interests: Effects of drugs used to treat schizophrenia; elementary and middle school neuroscience education curriculum development.

Maria Escolar .... | Email | Projects
Assistant Professor, Pediatrics, Center for Development and Learning
Research Interests: Neurodevelopmental function in rare disorders www.nfrd.cdl.unc.edu

John Gilmore .... | Email | Web Site
Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Psychiatry
Research Interests: Schizophrenia, Prenatal Infection and Brain Development, Ultrasound Imaging of Brain Dvelopment

Stephen Hooper .... | Email | Publications
Professor of Psychiatry, Pediatrics, Psychology, and Education; Associate Director, Center for Development and Learning, Psychiatry/ Center for Development and Learning
Research Interests: I am interested in the neurocognitive outcomes of children with different types of neurodevelopmental disorders, and the associated measurement for the targeted outcomes. Neurocognitive outcomes pertinent to frontal and prefrontal brain regions (e.g., attention regulation, memory, executive functions) are of particular interest.

Joseph Hopfinger .... | Email | Web Site | Publications
Assistant Professor, Psychology, Psychology
Research Interests: Neural consequences of shifts of visual attention, understanding human attention systems using PET and fMRI.

Josephine Johns .... | Email | Web Site
Associate Professor, Psychiatry, Psychiatry
Research Interests: Drugs of abuse; infant development; maternal behavior and aggression; neurochemical basis of psychotic behavior.

Rebecca Knickmeyer .... | Email | Publications
Research Assistant Professor, Psychiatry
Research Interests: Dr. Knickmeyer’s research is focused on understanding the mechanisms which modulate the differential vulnerability to and expression of neurodevelopmental disorders in each sex. In particular, she is interested in how gonadal steroids, such as testosterone, and genes on the sex chromosomes modulate early brain development and risk for psychopathology. She is currently using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to explore the sexual differentiation of the brain in human children and primates. She is also studying early brain development in children with sex chromosome abnormalities, such as Turner Syndrome, and the effects of prenatal exposure to antidepressant medications on early brain development.

Joe Kornegay .... | Email | Publications
Professor, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Research Interests: Our research involves a canine model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. This model has played an increasingly important role in preclinical (translational) research. We have been the lead group in developing phenotypic biomarkers to determine outcome of preclinical animal testing.

Anthony LaMantia .... | Email | Web Site | Projects
Professor, Cell and Molecular Physiology, Cellular and Molecular Physiology
Research Interests: Cortical development; tissue induction; retinoids.

Lori Leibold .... | Email | Web Site | Publications
Assistant Professor, Allied Health Sciences
Research Interests: Dr. Leibold’s primary area of interest is auditory development. The current focus of her research is to determine how children learn to hear and separate auditory signals in the presence of competing background sounds. Of particular interest is whether the developmental time course for hearing is slowed or altered for children with hearing loss. In addition, experiments focus on the identification of cues that improve hearing in noise for infants and children.

Pat Levitt .... | Email | Publications
Director and Professor, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development
Research Interests: My laboratory uses molecular and cellular methods to study the development of forebrain circuitry involved in mood and emotional regulation, social behavior and learning and memory. Human genetic studies are done to understand how allelic variations in developmentally relevant genes may increase risk for autism, schizophrenia and other neuropsychiatric disorders.

Molly Losh .... | Email | Web Site
Assistant Professor, Psychiatry & NDRC, Psychiatry
Research Interests: Language and social cognition in autism and related neurogenetic disorders. Gene-behavior relationships in autism and subthreshold phenotypes present among relatives.

Terry Magnuson .... | Email | Web Site | Publications
Sarah Graham Kenan Professor and Chair, Genetics, Genetics
Research Interests: Mammalian genetics/genomics; development/mouse models of human disease.

C.J. Malanga .... | Email | Web Site | Publications
Assistant Professor of Neurology, Pediatrics and Psychology, UNC Department of Neurology
Research Interests: Physiology and pharmacology of the basal ganglia; neurobiology of motivation and reward; substance abuse neurobiology; and neurobehavioral teratology. Our laboratory studies the development and function of neural circuitry involved in the perception of reward and the reinforcement of motivated behavior. We investigate these phenomena in several mouse models of neurodevelopmental disorders, including prenatal and adolescent exposure to drugs of abuse, such as alcohol or cocaine; and genetic models relevant to the study of autism, such as inactivation of the Fmr1 (Fragile-X Mental Retardation Protein, FMRP) or MeCP2 (Methyl-CpG Binding Protein) genes. Our laboratory employs techniques in behavioral pharmacology, including intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS); in vitro patch-clamp electrophysiology; and immunohistochemistry with design-based stereology.

Patricia Maness .... | Email | Web Site | Projects
Professor, Biochemistry & Biophysics, Biochemistry & Biophysics
Research Interests: Axon guidance and signal transduction in nervous system development

Glenn Matsushima .... | Email | Web Site
Associate Professor, Microbiology and Immunology, Microbiology and Immunology
Research Interests: Inflammation; CNS myelination; demyelination and remyelination

Ken McCarthy .... | Email | Web Site | Projects
Professor, Pharmacology, Pharmacology
Research Interests: Neuronal-glial signaling in normal and abnormal brain function

Gary Mesibov .... | Email
Director, Division TEACCH; Professor of Psychiatry & Psychology, Division TEACCH
Research Interests: Social and educational treatments of Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Sheryl Moy .... | Email | Web Site | Publications
Research Associate Professor, Director, NDRC Mouse Behavioral Phenotyping Laboratory, Psychiatry
Research Interests: My research is focused on the characterization of mouse models for neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism and schizophrenia. As director of the Mouse Behavioral Phenotyping Core, I am involved in multiple studies to evaluate the consequences of genetic alteration in mutant mouse lines. A current project is focused on the NMDA receptor NR1-subunit hypomorphic mouse as a model for the intrinsic deficits in NMDA receptor function that may underlie symptoms in schizophrenia. This model provides a unique system for determining specific drug efficacy against recalcitrant negative symptoms and against disease progression, and for exploring neural mechanisms for behavioral deficits. One goal of the project is to evaluate whether chronic treatment with olanzapine or risperidone, initiated in the post-weanling period, will delay or prevent the deficits in social behavior, sensorimotor gating, and habituation observed in NR1 hypomorphic mice.

Sam Odom .... | Email | Publications
Director, FPG Child Development Institute, FPG Child Development Institute
Research Interests: My primary research interests are in focused intervention and comprehensive treatment programs for children and youth with autism spectrum disorders and their families. In addition, I am involved in professional development that translates research on intervention into practice.

Steven Offenbacher .... | Email | Web Site
OraPharma Distinguished Professor, Periodontal Medicine; Director, Center for Oral and Systemic Diseases, School of Dentistry
Research Interests: Maternal oral infection and perinatal morbidity

Peter Ornstein .... | Email | Web Site | Projects
F. Stuart Chapin Professor, Psychology, Psychology
Research Interests: Cognitive development, development of memory and learning

Cort Pedersen .... | Email | Web Site
Professor, Psychiatry, Psychiatry
Research Interests: Neurobiology of parenting behavior; sexual behavior; oxytocin; psychiatric disorders and psychopharmacology during pregnancy and the postpartum period; psychopharmacology of mood and anxiety disorders

David Penn .... | Email | Web Site | Projects
Associate Professor, Psychology, Psychology
Research Interests: Social cognition in schizophrenia, psychosocial treatment of schizophrenia, stigma

Larysa Pevny .... | Email | Web Site | Projects | Publications
Assistant Professor, Genetics, Genetics
Research Interests: Differentiation, axon growth and regeneration

Ben Philpot .... | Email | Web Site | Publications
Assistant Professor, Department of Cell and Molecular Physiology
Research Interests: Dr. Philpot is known for his work examining the mechanisms by which experience regulates synaptic plasticity in the neocortex. His work demonstrates that experience-dependent changes in the composition of the NMDA-type glutamate receptor can regulate the ability to strengthen and weaken synapses. He has recently started a line of research, using mouse models, to elucidate the synaptic basis for autism and autism spectrum disorders.

Joseph Piven .... | Email | Web Site | Projects
Director, UNC NDRC; Professor, Psychiatry and Pediatrics, Psychiatry
Research Interests: The pathogenesis of autism - genetics and neurobiologic mechanisms

Franck Polleux .... | Email | Web Site | Publications
Assistant Professor, Pharmacology, Pharmacology
Research Interests: Cellular and molecular mechanisms patterning cortical interneurons migration and thalamocortical connectivity in mammals

J. Steven Reznick .... | Email | Web Site | Publications
Professor of Psychology; Director of Developmental Psychology Program, Psychology
Research Interests: Infant cognitive and social development including working memory, visual expectations, perseverative behavior, and intentionality; language development; parent perception of infant intentionality; early temperament and personality

Bryan Roth .... | Email | Publications
Michael Hooker Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology, Pharmacology
Research Interests: Psychiatric drug discovery, particularly as it relates to G-protein coupled receptors.

Linmarie Sikich .... | Email | Web Site | Projects
Assistant Professor, Psychiatry, Psychiatry
Research Interests: Autism, psychopharmacology, child and adolescent psychosis

William Snider .... | Email | Web Site | Projects | Publications
Professor/Director, UNC Neuroscience Center, UNC Neuroscience Center
Research Interests: Apoptosis and growth factor signaling; differentiation, axon growth and regeneration; pain

Jair Soares .... | Email | Publications
Yeargan Distinguised Professor, Psychiatry
Research Interests: Dr. Soares conducts various clinical research projects that focus on the pathophysiology of mood disorders and the mechanisms of action of pharmacological treatments for these conditions. Some of the ongoing work includes morphometric and functional brain measurements in bipolar and unipolar disorder patients, examining the hypothesis of regional abnormalities in brain regions involved in mood regulation. Other projects also involve in vivo neurochemical brain measurements to examine changes in the chemical composition of the human brain. Some studies will attempt to pinpoint brain mechanisms involved in treatment response in these illnesses. Yet others investigate new candidate drugs for possible better treatments as well as extensive neurocognitive evaluations.

Martin Styner .... | Email | Web Site | Publications
Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Computer Science
Research Interests: My research interest is in medical image processing and analysis, more specifically in anatomical structure and tissue modeling and segmentation, brain morphometry using shape analysis, atlas building, diffusion tensor image analysis as well as intra and inter-modality registration. Application-wise, my focus is on the structural and connectivity based analysis within the developing brain in humans, primates and rodents.

Kathleen Sulik .... | Email | Web Site | Publications
Professor, Cell and Developmental Biology, Cell and Developmental Biology
Research Interests: Mechanisms and pathogenesis associated with a variety of environmentally induced or genetically based birth defects

Deborah Thorpe .... | Email | Web Site | Publications
Assistant Professor, Allied Health Sciences, Allied Health Sciences
Research Interests: I presently have a study funded through NIH/NCRR to Investigate the development of secondary conditons and the effects of aquatic-based interventions on functional outcomes in persons aging with cerebral palsy. I am also working with a multi-cite team of investigators to develop community based fitness programs for adolescents with cerebral palsy and to determine the effects of these programs on function, fitness and quality of life. Finally I am working with a team of investigators to determine the characteristics of fine motor control in young children with autism as compared to children with developmental delay and children who are typically developing .

Mark Tommerdahl .... | Email | Web Site | Publications
Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering
Research Interests: The long-term goals of our research are (1) analysis of the encoding of natural skin stimuli by somatosensory cerebral cortical neuroelectrical activity, (2) determination of how encoding changes with time after stimulus onset, (3) identification of the responsible cellular neural mechanisms, (4) characterization of cortical-cortical dynamic interactions that occur within and between different cortical regions and (5) translational research that applies the principles of cortical-cortical dynamics to the development of a sensory diagnostic toolbox.

Linda Watson .... | Email | Web Site
Clinical Associate Professor, Allied Health Sciences, Allied Health Sciences
Research Interests: Social and communication development in children with autism, communication intervention with toddlers and preschoolers, emergent literacy in children with communication disorders, phonological development and disorders in children

Steven Zeisel .... | Email | Web Site
Professor and Chair, Nutrition, Nutrition
Research Interests: Nutrients as they influence brain development and carcinogenesis

Hongtu Zhu .... | Email
Associate Professor, Biostatistics/BRIC
Research Interests: I have diverse interest in solving methodological issues in statistics and medical imaging analysis. I have developed methods and software for the analysis of the data from a state-of-the art magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique including MRI, functional MRI, and diffusion tensor image. We have developed and enhanced tools in data mining, Monte Carlo method, statistical modeling, and applied them to scientific problems to understand the function and structure of the brain. My collaborators and I work closely to study healthy and neurologically disordered children and adults.