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Kate Driscoll Kate Driscoll, PhD

Dr. Kate Driscoll studied Human Development at Colby College before receiving her PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Virginia in 2007. With expertise in early childhood assessment and intervention, she currently serves as a staff psychologist in the Developmental Medicine Center (DMC) at Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH). Dr. Driscoll has collaborated in several research studies, including a teacher-child intervention in Head Start classrooms and a pilot study of the use of a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) intervention with young children diagnosed with co-occurring autism and anxiety conditions. In the Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience (LCN), Dr. Driscoll assists the team in providing neurodevelopmental and neuropsychological assessment to children with neurodevelopmental conditions and other mental health diagnoses. Dr. Driscoll loves to spend time with her family and running. She has completed 29 marathons including Boston.

 

Aanchal Sharma Aanchal Sharma, MD, MPH

Aanchal is currently a developmental/behavioral pediatrician in the Department of Developmental Medicine here at Boston Children’s Hospital. She was also a fellow in the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) Program-Boston. Aanchal received her bachelor of Arts in neuroscience and Master of Public Health with a concentration in maternal and child health from Boston University. She went on to receive her Doctor of Medicine degree from St. George’s University. She completed her residency training in pediatrics at Staten Island University Hospital in Staten Island, NY, where she was a three-time recipient of the resident of the year award. Aanchal has a passion for research and advocacy. Her goal is to work in multidisciplinary settings to serve and support her patients, their families, and their communities. Aanchal identifies herself as a culinary enthusiast, a.k.a. a “foodie,” and loves all things related to food. In her time outside of work, Aanchal enjoys spending quality time with her daughter.

 

Ellen Doernberg Ellen Doernberg, PhD

Ellen is originally from northern New Jersey. She earned her doctoral degree in clinical psychology from the Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. She recently completed her clinical internship at Marcus Autism Center through Emory University/Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, where she provided comprehensive diagnostic assessments to children and adolescents presenting with concerns related to autism, as well as early intervention services via caregiver-training. Ellen is passionate about serving children and families from diverse backgrounds with evidence-based practices, pursuing translational research that is grounded in the dissemination of naturalistic/play-based and developmentally focused strategies, and investigating early indicators of autism to facilitate optimized assessments and interventions for individuals on the spectrum. Personally, Ellen enjoys spending time with her family and friends, traveling, cooking, hiking, and exploring restaurants.

 

Maryam Moravvej, MA, LLM Maryam Moravvej, MA, LLM

Maryam completed her Master’s degree in Applied Developmental and Educational Psychology from Boston College with a certificate in Autism Spectrum in 2019. During her Master’s program, she was a fellow at the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) program at Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH) and a psychology extern at the Autism Center at BCH. Maryam is passionate about inclusion culture, social model of disability, neurodiversity, mental health, accessibility, and autism advocacy. In particular, she is enthusiastic about integrating these concepts into autism research and practice. Over the past three years, Maryam has worked with autistic children, adolescents, and their families in different settings. During the pandemic, she also held online educational workshops for Farsi-speaking families of newly diagnosed autistic children from different parts of the world. Maryam also develops educational and motivational content about autism for her Instagram page, trying to bridge the gap between science and community. Outside work and advocacy, she enjoys reading and writing poems in Farsi, painting, listening to audiobooks and music, learning to play Santoor (a traditional Iranian instrument), nature, camping, traveling, and, most importantly, spending time with her spouse and their two children.

 

Gina Schnur Gina Schnur, EdM

Gina holds a Master’s in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she specialized in Human Development and Psychology, and a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech. After completing her graduate studies, she investigated the developmental trajectories of children with rare neurogenetic disorders at Boston Children’s Hospital. Then she contributed to early education research at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. Her research has broadly focused on the development of social-emotional and executive function skills in early childhood, which inspired her to join the Faja Lab as the coordinator for the IDEA Study in 2021. She now works as a psychometrist on multiple studies in the lab and hopes to continue working closely with families across settings. Gina is passionate about bridging research and practice and is excited to continue learning in her new role! 

 

Trevor Bissert Trevor Bissert, MS

Trevor is originally from Boulder, Colorado. He attended University of Oregon for his bachelor’s degree and completed his Master’s of Science in Clinical Psychology at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam in The Netherlands where he focused on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on socioemotional functioning in adults. He has been working in the Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience for almost three years and is currently working in the Faja lab as a psychometrist/clinician as well as the coordinator for the LEAP project in the Nelson lab. He is interested in researching and identifying individual differences in perception and their relation to different cognitive mechanisms, social factors, and early environmental adversity. He uses neuroimaging, eye tracking, and behavioral methodology in this work. Trevor hopes to start a PhD program in Cognitive Psychology in fall 2025, focusing on the emergence and development of executive functioning across cultures. For fun he enjoys trying new food and going to concerts with friends.

 

Karen Garcia Karen Garcia Alday, MA

Karen is originally from Mexico City; she is a passionate advocate for ensuring equitable access to mental health care and evidence-based interventions for neurodiverse people from underserved communities. Karen earned a master’s degree in psychology at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). During her master’s program, she worked as a research assistant at UNAM’s graduate studies laboratories, where she conducted research to identify underlying socio-emotional and educational needs among high schoolers from an under-resourced community. In 2017, she founded Fundación Abriendo Posibilidades, a non-profit organization in Mexico City that provides diagnostic assessments and specialized interventions for autistic children and teenagers. Abriendo Posibilidades serves about 200 families annually, helping bridge the socioeconomic gap to access specialized services for autistic individuals. Karen is excited to be part of the Faja Lab team, where she aims to explore her research interests in potential predictors of mental health outcomes among autistic people, parent-child-mediated interventions, early indicators of autism, learning processes in autistic children, and the transition to adulthood among autistic individuals. Outside the lab, Karen loves taking long walks with her two dogs, dancing to Latin music, traveling, and exploring new restaurants with her spouse and friends.

 

Nicole Nadwodny Nicole L Nadwodny, MA

Nicole is a clinical psychology doctoral student working with Drs. Alice Carter and Abbey Eisenhower at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Nicole obtained her bachelor’s degree in cognitive and brain science from Tufts University and her master’s degree in clinical psychology from the University of Massachusetts Boston. Nicole is dedicated to increasing access to neurodiversity-affirming mental healthcare and facilitating access to autism diagnostic evaluations, particularly for adults and among communities with marginalized identities. She engages in community-participatory research examining how to improve the school experiences of autistic students and provides coaching on neurodiversity-affirming practices to teachers. Clinically, Nicole has trained in a variety of settings, which have included conducting child and family therapy at Bradley Hospital’s children’s partial hospitalization program, providing diagnostic assessments in English and Spanish for children participating in Dr. Alice Carter’s research studies, and providing long-term individual psychotherapy at the University of Massachusetts Boston’s counseling center. In her free time, Nicole enjoys hanging out with her French bulldog, cooking, hiking, and spending time with friends and family.

 

Zachary Pessia Zachary Pessia, MA

Zach is a doctoral student in the clinical psychology program at William James College. He holds a bachelor's degree in clinical psychology from Boston College. Zach's research is concentrated on anxiety in children and adolescents on the autism spectrum and identifying evidence-based interventions for managing anxiety in this population. He also serves as a practicum student at the Integrated Center for Child Development, where he performs neuropsychological assessments for children and adolescents with developmental and socio-emotional conditions. His clinical training includes a focus on exposure therapy through his prior practicum experience at the McLean OCD Institute. Additionally, Zach has worked with autistic children in educational settings.