2023 Awards Recipients
CHADD is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2023 Young Scientist Research Awards: Zoe R. Smith, PhD, and Jess N. Smith, MS. Chosen from an extremely competitive pool of talented applicants by renowned experts in the field, these young researchers are helping to advance our knowledge of ADHD. The awards are currently supported by individual donations. Winners will receive their awards at the 2023 Annual International Conference on ADHD in Baltimore, Maryland, November 30–December 2, 2023.
Zoe R. Smith, PhD
Zoe R. Smith, PhD, is an assistant professor in the department of psychology at Loyola University Chicago. She earned her PhD in clinical psychology, with a concentration in child and adolescent psychology, from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2020, under the mentorship of Dr. Joshua Langberg. She completed her clinical internship at University of Chicago Medicine and postdoctoral fellowship with Grayson Holmbeck, PhD. Dr. Smith is part of the inaugural class of the Health Equity Scholars for Action, and her research focuses on creating and providing culturally responsive mental health services for Black and/or Latina/e/o (Latine) adolescents with ADHD. Her current Robert Wood Johnson-funded project, “Culturally Responsive Assessments for Teens (CRAFT)” provides free psychodiagnostic assessments for Black and/or Latine adolescents with suspected ADHD in the Chicagoland area. This project includes teen and parent advisory boards, where one learns about the intersectionality of having ADHD and discrimination experienced by families. Dr. Smith’s team, along with community partners, focuses on increasing awareness of bias in ADHD diagnosis, increasing health equity models of mental health services, creating culturally responsive assessments and interventions, and serving Black and/or Latine families with ADHD. This work also seeks to increase public mental health services in the Chicagoland area through advocacy-based research.
Jess N. Smith, MS
Jess N. Smith, MS, is a doctoral candidate in the clinical science in child and adolescent psychology program at Florida International University. She received her bachelor of arts in psychology from Ohio University and her master of science in psychology from FIU. Her dissertation and research submission for this award, funded by an NIH National Research Service Award fellowship, is titled "Transdiagnostic Mechanisms of Youth Externalizing Psychopathology from Childhood to Adolescence: A Longitudinal Person-Centered Approach." This project will consider the symptoms of ADHD and disruptive behavior problems that tend to co-occur and how these symptomatic groups change over time. It will also consider predictors (such as cognitive and emotional functioning) and outcomes (such as academic/social impairment, substance use) of these groups and common pathways between groups over time. More broadly, her program of research is focused on the measurement of cognitive functioning as well as the potential causes of ADHD's diverse presentation and its high rate of co-occurrence with related disorders in youth. The long-term goal is that this work may improve assessment and intervention efforts.
2022 Awards Recipients
Courtney Zulauf-McCurdy, PhD
Courtney Zulauf-McCurdy, PhD, is an acting assistant professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington. She earned her PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2020, where she found that the reason Black boys are being disproportionately expelled from preschool is at least in part related to teachers’ biased perceptions of parents. She completed her predoctoral internship at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where she focused on integrating evidence-based treatments for ADHD into community settings. She recently finished an Institute of Education Sciences postdoctoral fellowship focused on implementation science at the University of Washington SMART Center. Dr. Zulauf-McCurdy’s work is driven by a commitment to improve outcomes for young children with ADHD from historically minoritized backgrounds. She is focused on adapting interventions to improve engagement in underserved communities. To date, the majority of ADHD interventions have been designed without the input of historically minoritized families, resulting in interventions that do not adequately address barriers that these parents face. Her work uses research methods, such as community advisory boards and qualitative methods, that seek to elevate the voices of parents, educators, and practitioners to understand the needs of historically disadvantaged families and to use this information to (re)design interventions to promote engagement. Through continued collaboration with community partners, dissemination of her findings to stakeholders and policy makers, and connecting her research to inform culturally responsive practice and policies, she hopes to dismantle disparities in preschool ADHD outcomes.
Catrina Calub, MA
Catrina Calub is a doctoral candidate in the clinical psychology program at the University of Central Florida and is currently completing her predoctoral internship at Oregon Health and Science University. She received her undergraduate degree in psychobiology at UCLA and her master’s degree in psychology at California State University Sacramento. Her research interests have primarily focused on understanding the behavioral and neurocognitive mechanisms underlying ADHD. Under the mentorship of Mark Rapport, PhD, her research project for this award examines whether children with ADHD and typically developing children differ in their attention control abilities based on a novel attention control task and prefrontal hemodynamic functioning (oxyHb) using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), a movement-tolerant neuroimaging tool. These findings may help us understand why a wide range of poor functional outcomes persist for individuals with ADHD despite receipt of gold-standard treatments and offers insight into a potential target for intervention. She will be a postdoctoral scholar at UC Davis under the mentorship of Julie Schweitzer, PhD, to expand her knowledge of the neurobiological and cognitive underpinnings of ADHD and engage in interdisciplinary epidemiological research to investigate environmental factors of ADHD outcomes. Her long-term goal is not only to use empirical evidence to improve existing therapies and develop novel interventions for individuals with neurodevelopmental differences, but to also address the inequities that exist in our current healthcare system.
2021 Awards Recipients
Melissa Dvorsky, PhD
Melissa Dvorsky, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Director of the ADHD & Learning Differences Program at Children’s National Hospital and the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. She received a PhD in Clinical Psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University. She completed her pre-doctoral internship at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and her postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Dvorsky’s work centers on ADHD in adolescence and school-based interventions. With funding from the National Institutes of Mental Health, she is developing and piloting ATOM (Advanced Tools for Organization Management), a technology-enhanced intervention for adolescents with ADHD. This work aims to optimize treatment engagement and promote sustained improvements for adolescents with ADHD. Another area of her work investigates risk and resilience mechanisms for social, emotional, and academic functioning, as well as substance use prevention for youth with ADHD. Finally, the majority of her research focuses on school-based interventions for youth with ADHD. Her work in this area started during undergraduate training at Ohio University and continues to this day. This work ranges from examining how youth are initially referred and assessed, developing feasible models for intervention delivery by school mental health providers, and identifying mediators/moderators of treatment success.
Samantha Margherio, MA
Samantha Margherio, MA, is a graduate student in the clinical psychology program at Ohio University. Samantha works under the mentorship of Dr. Steven Evans within the Center for Intervention Research in Schools (CIRS). She completed her undergraduate degree in psychology at Missouri University of Science & Technology, followed by her master’s in clinical psychology at Sam Houston State University. After completing her master’s, Samantha joined a research lab at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic studying bipolar spectrum disorders. These collective experiences led her to develop a passion for improving treatment outcomes for children and adolescents. Within CIRS, Samantha’s work has focused on investigating risk factors for health risk behaviors among adolescents with ADHD, improving and streamlining screening and assessment processes, and examining effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of interventions for youth with ADHD. To support her dissertation, Samantha obtained the NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein Individual Predoctoral NRSA to examine the longitudinal effects of a training intervention on the alcohol use of adolescents with ADHD, considering emotion dysregulation as a potential intervention mechanism of change. This work will contribute to Samantha’s overarching research goals to develop and evaluate interventions capable of producing potent, durable effects without undue economic burden for children and families.
2020 Awards Recipients
Whitney Fosco, PhD
Whitney Fosco, PhD, is an assistant professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral health at Penn State Hershey Medical Center. Dr. Fosco received her PhD in clinical psychology from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 2018, under the mentorship of Dr. Larry Hawk, and completed her predoctoral internship at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. She recently completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Florida International University’s Center for Children and Families, which focused on acquiring the relevant expertise to incorporate neuroimaging methodology into her work. Dr. Fosco’s research takes a translational approach to evaluating the role of basic cognitive (e.g., working memory, attention) and motivational (e.g., reward/punishment sensitivity) processes in the etiology and treatment of externalizing disorders, with a particular focus on ADHD. Her research seeks to identify contexts under which cognitive and motivational aberrations are exacerbated or mitigated in youth with ADHD, and ultimately to leverage this information to improve treatment outcomes. The long-term goal of her research program is to bridge basic and applied clinical science by incorporating the assessment of mechanistic processes into treatment studies to advance the field’s understanding of how and for whom treatments are effective.
Lauren Oddo, MS
Lauren Oddo, MS, is a doctoral candidate in the clinical psychology program at the University of Maryland, College Park, working under the mentorship of Dr. Andrea Chronis-Tuscano. She completed her undergraduate training at the University of Richmond, graduating with honors in 2015. After graduation, she worked as a research coordinator at Virginia Commonwealth University, where she coordinated school-based intervention studies for adolescents with ADHD. Oddo’s research and clinical work focuses on developmental trajectories, adjustment, and treatment of individuals with ADHD across the lifespan, particularly in high-risk transitional periods (e.g., adolescence and young adulthood). Specifically, she is interested in using longitudinal methodology and ecological momentary assessment approaches to understand the etiology and development of depression, alcohol/substance misuse, and related problems among individuals with ADHD as they enter adolescence and young adulthood. Her dissertation project and research submission, funded by an NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein Individual Predoctoral NRSA and co-sponsored by Dr. Chronis-Tuscano and Dr. James Murphy, incorporates novel mobile survey technology and behavioral economic measures to examine daily decision-making processes and social-emotional experiences that underlie risk for alcohol misuse and related problems in college students with ADHD. Results from this research will inform optimal intervention for problem alcohol use and related risk behaviors in youth with ADHD.
2019 Awards Recipients
Rosanna Breaux, PhD
Rosanna Breaux, PhD, is an assistant professor in the department of psychology at Virginia Tech. She earned her PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2017, under the mentorship of Dr. Elizabeth Harvey. Dr. Breaux completed her predoctoral internship at Penn State Hershey Medical Center, with her primary research project being completed under the mentorship of Drs. Dan Waschbusch, Dara Babinski, and James Waxmonsky. She recently completed her postdoctoral fellowship at Virginia Commonwealth University under the mentorship of Dr. Joshua Langberg. Dr. Breaux's research interests focus on the emotional and social functioning of children and adolescents with ADHD, with a focus on emotion regulation. She utilizes a multi-method assessment of emotional development, including informant behavioral ratings, behavioral observations, and psychophysiological measures of ANS activity. Additionally, as evidenced by her research submission, " Improving Emotion Regulation in Adolescents with ADHD: Development of the RELAX (Regulating Emotions Like An eXpert) Intervention,” Dr. Breaux is working to evaluate and disseminate the RELAX intervention. RELAX targets emotion dysregulation and interpersonal conflict and works with parents to provide a supportive environment in which adolescents can effectively use these skills at home, school, and with peers.
Samuel J. Eckrich, MS
Samuel J. Eckrich, MS, is a doctoral candidate in the clinical psychology program at University of Central Florida (UCF) and is currently completing his predoctoral internship at Kennedy Krieger Institute/Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in the behavioral management/neuropsychology track. Eckrich completed his undergraduate work at St. John’s University (MN) and worked as a psychiatric associate on an inpatient child/adolescent psychiatric unit at the University of Minnesota. He went on to earn a master’s degree in psychobiology within the neuroscience program at Florida State University. His research interests revolve around understanding underlying cognitive deficits in ADHD, documenting the educational and psychosocial sequelae of the disorder, and evaluating interventions to ameliorate ADHD-related behavioral and educational difficulties. Eckrich works closely with his advisor, Dr. Mark Rapport, and the Children’s Learning Clinic at UCF to explore the role of working memory and movement in children with ADHD using a portable neuroimaging technique (functional near-infrared spectroscopy). His research was recently awarded a Doctoral Research Support Award by UCF College of Graduate Studies. The upshot of the research will refine understanding of the neurophysiological underpinnings of ADHD-related deficits in working memory. Further, the findings may identify accurate neurological targets for novel cognitive training programs.
2018 Awards Recipients
Connor H. G. Patros, PhD
Connor H. G. Patros, PhD, is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Psychology at Temple University. He completed his BS at Eastern Connecticut State University, and earned his MS and PhD in Clinical Psychology at Oklahoma State University. Additionally, Dr. Patros completed his clinical internship training at the Kennedy Krieger Institute. His research primarily aims to explore underlying neurocognitive factors that are associated with the manifestation of hyperactivity/impulsivity among children with ADHD. Dr. Patros has spent much of his postdoctoral research fellowship, under the mentorship of Dr. Thomas Olino, acquiring skills within the domain of neuroscience methodology (e.g., fMRI and DTI/NODDI) that he plans to use to more comprehensively examine several of his research questions. Ultimately, Dr. Patros would like to more closely tie together the complex link between white matter integrity, neurocognitive functioning, and the maladaptive behavioral profile that is commonly present among individuals with ADHD. His hope is that this program of research will be used to refine current theoretical models of ADHD and subsequently lead to modifications regarding how the disorder is assessed and treated.
Patrick A. LaCount, MS
Patrick A. LaCount, MS, is a doctoral candidate in the clinical psychology program at University of Wyoming and is currently completing his pre-doctoral internship at Duke University Medical Center. Patrick’s doctoral research, conducted under the mentorship of Dr. Cynthia Hartung, centers on the manifestation and treatment of ADHD in association with the adjustment to adulthood. He is particularly interested in researching treatments that are tailored to address the unique needs and developmental context of emerging adulthood (ages 18-25) and college. His dissertation and research submission was titled, “Acute Cognitive Effects of High-Intensity Aerobic Exercise in College Students with ADHD.” This research aims to compare the immediate, short-term benefits of vigorous aerobic exercise on executive functioning and mood between college students with and without ADHD. Patrick’s research has been supported by the Charles Ksir fellowship and a National Institute of General Medical Sciences fellowship. In addition to refining and gathering evidence-based information through research endeavors, he is passionate about improving dissemination and collaboration with the ADHD community and volunteers as a research consultant for the “How to ADHD” YouTube channel.
2017 Awards Recipients
Matthew J. Gormley, PhD
Matthew J. Gormley, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of School Psychology in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He earned his PhD in School Psychology from Lehigh University in 2016 where he received the Elizabeth V. Stout Dissertation Award. Dr. Gormley completed his pre-doctoral internship at the Munroe-Meyer Institute in the Nebraska Internship Consortium in Professional Psychology in Omaha, Nebraska and his post-doctoral fellowship was completed at Geisinger Health System in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. Dr. Gormley's research interests focus on the development and evaluation of individual interventions, intervention packages, and service delivery models for individuals at-risk for and diagnosed with ADHD. He is particularly interested in the development and application of individualized and continuous supports across major (e.g., secondary to post-secondary) and minor transitions (e.g., second to third grade) within, to, and from academic settings. Additionally, Dr. Gormley is interested in the intersections and collaborations between families, schools, and healthcare settings, and aims to develop interventions that support individuals with ADHD as they move between and through these settings. His research submission was titled, "Consistency in Transition: Supporting Students with ADHD Through Their Academic Carriers." Collectively, his work seeks to develop a comprehensive evidence-based service delivery system grounded in the chronic care model to enhance outcomes for individuals with ADHD.
Jaclyn Kamradt, MA
Jaclyn Kamradt, MA, is a doctoral candidate in the Clinical Psychology Program at the University of Iowa’s Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. After receiving her Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Iowa in 2012, she continued to seek out opportunities to further enhance her research skills, especially in the area of clinical science. Currently, Jaclyn is in her fourth year of graduate training, working under the mentorship of Dr. Molly Nikolas in the Iowa ADHD and Development Lab. Additionally, in collaboration with Dr. Nikolas and Dr. Stephen Becker, a leader in the emerging field of Sluggish Cognitive Tempo, Jaclyn recently resubmitted an F31 NRSA grant, which serves as the basis of both her CHADD research submission and dissertation prospectus. Ms. Kamradt's research program focuses on understanding and treating ADHD, with an emphasis on understanding the role of transdiagnostic constructs in the etiology and treatment of this complex psychiatric disorder. Her work aims to expand on the current knowledge regarding ADHD and comorbid conditions, (e.g., overlapping internalizing disorders), by evaluating potential links that contribute to such overlap, particularly sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT). Her research submission was titled, "Sluggish Cognitive Tempo as a Transdiagnostic Link Between Adult ADHD and Internalizing Symptoms." To date, her research in this area suggests that SCT may play a contributory role in adults with ADHD and comorbid anxiety and depression symptoms, explaining some of the heterogeneity in ADHD, and her current line of work aims to investigate this more thoroughly. Ultimately, she aims for this research to translate into innovative prevention and treatment target strategies for individuals with ADHD.
2016 Awards Recipients
Joseph Raiker, PhD
Joseph Raiker, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology and Director of the Program for Attention, Learning, and Memory (PALM) at Florida International University. He received his BS in Psychology as well as his MS and PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Central Florida. Additionally, he completed his clinical internship training at the University of Mississippi Medical Center where he was the recipient of the 2014 Excellence in Research Award. He is a 2015 National Institutes of Mental Health CHIPS Fellow and has also been awarded a 2015 NARSAD Young Investigator Grant by the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation. Additionally, he is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology. Broadly, Dr. Raiker’s research focuses on understanding neurocognitive dysfunction in individuals with ADHD. Specifically, his project entitled, “The implications of cognitive deficits for improving treatment response in children with ADHD,” will examine the extent to which neurocognitive abilities in children with ADHD can aid in our prediction of their response to treatment. By leveraging our increasing understanding of cognitive dysfunction in this way, the goal of this research is to ultimately improve the efficacy of already well-established treatments for the disorder.
Michael Meinzer, PhD
Michael Meinzer, PhD, received his BA in Psychology and BS in Human Physiology from Boston University in 2010. He completed his doctoral training at Florida International University in August, 2016. Dr. Meinzer’s research focuses on the prevalence of, explanations for, and treatment of comorbid ADHD and depression. For his dissertation, Dr. Meinzer developed and conducted an open trial of a depression prevention program for adolescents with ADHD. This was his research submission. His program (Behaviorally Enhancing Adolescents’ Mood; BEAM) targeted variables that have been empirically identified as mediators for the relationship between ADHD and depression. Following the defense of his dissertation, Dr. Meinzer completed his pre-doctoral clinical internship at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Charleston, SC. Currently, he is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Maryland. There he is working with Dr. Andrea Chronis-Tuscano on an NIAAA-funded study, “Behavioral Activation to Reduce Problem Alcohol Use in College Students with ADHD.” Dr. Meinzer was awarded a Clinical Research Loan Repayment Program Award from NIH for his work investigating the depressive and substance use outcomes associated with a history of ADHD and the mechanisms by which this comorbidity occurs. Dr. Meinzer also aims to use the findings from his dissertation study to revise the BEAM program and secure federal funding to conduct a randomized control trial.
2015 Awards Recipients
Meghan Miller, PhD
Meghan Miller, PhD, is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and the MIND Institute at the University of California, Davis. She received a BA in Psychology from San Diego State University in 2006 and a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley in 2013. After completing a predoctoral clinical internship in pediatric psychology and developmental disabilities at Oregon Health & Science University, Dr. Miller was a postdoctoral fellow in the NIMH T32-funded Autism Research Training Program at the MIND Institute. Dr. Miller’s research uses a developmental psychopathology framework and aims to identify developmental pathways by which symptoms and impairments associated with neurodevelopmental disorders – particularly ADHD and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) – emerge over time. Her current projects focus on identifying shared and distinct early signs of ADHD and ASD among infants at familial risk for these conditions. Her submission was titled “Infants at risk of ADHD: A longitudinal study.” The hope is that this line of research will promote earlier identification and more prompt and efficient treatment of ADHD and across neurodevelopmental disorders.
Walter Roberts, MS
Walter Roberts, MS, is a doctoral candidate in the clinical psychology program at the University of Kentucky and is currently completing his pre-doctoral internship in the University of Kentucky Internship Consortium Program. Mr. Roberts graduated from Middle Tennessee State University in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology before enrolling at the University of Kentucky that same year. Under the guidance of Drs. Mark Fillmore and Richard Milich, Mr. Roberts conducts human behavioral pharmacology experiments examining the acute behavioral effects of alcohol in young adults with ADHD, with a specific interest in identifying how increased sensitivity to this drug may place adults with ADHD at increased risk to transition from social drinking to problematic use. This work has identified key differences adults with ADHD and their nonclinical peers that may help explain why adults with ADHD are at risk to develop alcohol use disorders. Another focus of his research is characterizing inhibitory deficits found in adults with ADHD and linking these cognitive deficits with hallmark features of ADHD such as impulsivity. His research submission was titled, “Risk for Alcohol Use Disorder in Adults with ADHD: The Role of Acute Alcohol Effects.”
2014 Awards Recipients
Margaret H. Sibley, PhD
Margaret H. Sibley, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health at Florida International University in the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. She received a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 2012. She holds a MA in Psychological Sciences from James Madison University and received her undergraduate training at Wake Forest University. Dr. Sibley’s work centers on ADHD in adolescence. She is currently a Klingenstein 3rd Generation Foundation ADHD Fellow, as well as a past and present APF Fellow. Some of her work investigates longitudinal outcomes (PALS, MTA, and preschool ADHD studies) of children diagnosed with ADHD followed into adolescence. The purpose of this research is to better characterize the functional problems of teens with ADHD. Another area of her work investigates the best way to diagnostically define and identify ADHD in adolescence. Finally, the majority of her research focuses on developing feasible models for the everyday delivery of psychosocial treatments to adolescents with ADHD. This work primarily includes family-based approaches to treatment delivered in community settings. Her research submission was titled, "Family-Based Treatment for Adolescents with ADHD: Comparing Individual vs. Group Delivery Models.”
Stephen P. Becker, MA
Stephen P. Becker, MA, is a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at Miami University and is currently completing his pre-doctoral clinical internship at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Mr. Becker’s research submission was titled, “Phenotypic Correlates Distinguishing Sluggish Cognitive Tempo from ADHD”. His doctoral research, conducted under the mentorship of Drs. Aaron Luebbe, Joshua Langberg, and Jeffery Epstein, focuses on comorbidity among children and adolescents with ADHD, with a particular interest in how internalizing symptoms, sleep problems, and sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) impact the social and academic adjustment of youth with ADHD. Mr. Becker’s research uses a developmental psychopathology framework to examine developmental pathways of risk and resilience in typically developing youth and clinical samples of youth with ADHD. His graduate research has been funded by a grant from the Ohio Department of Mental Health and a scholarship from the American Psychological Foundation/Council of Graduate Departments of Psychology. He serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Attention Disorders and the Journal of Youth and Adolescence. In addition, Mr. Becker recently co-organized a Special Section on SCT that appeared in the January, 2014 issue of the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology. Ultimately, Mr. Becker aims for his research to inform diagnostic nosology as well as prevention and intervention strategies for youth with attention problems.
2013 Awards Recipients
Karen E. Seymour, PhD
Karen E. Seymour, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Her research submission was titled, “Bio-behavioral correlates of Frustrative Non-Reward in Children with ADHD.” She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Notre Dame in 2001 with a BA in psychology, and then earned Master’s and Doctoral degrees in clinical psychology at the University of Maryland, College Park. She completed her pre-doctoral clinical internship at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC. During graduate school, Dr. Seymour engaged in research examining the role of parent psychopathology on treatment outcomes for children with ADHD, and research examining the role of emotion regulation in the relationship between ADHD and depression in youth. Following graduation, Dr. Seymour completed a 2-year, NIH T32 postdoctoral fellowship in Child Mental Health at Brown University’s Alpert School of Medicine where she received training in the use of affective neuroscience techniques, including fMRI, to examine brain-behavior interactions underlying psychopathology, particularly ADHD and mood disorders, in children and adolescents. She received an NIH Pediatric Loan Repayment Program grant for her work examining brain-behavior interactions involved in emotion regulation processes, such as emotional face processing, in children and adolescents with ADHD and/or mood disorders. At Johns Hopkins, Dr. Seymour will continue her work examining bio-behavioral correlates of Frustrative Non-Reward (FNR), a form of emotion regulation difficulty, in youth with and without ADHD, and examine the relationship between FNR and mood disorders in youth with ADHD.
Kathryn L. Humphreys, MA, EdM
Kathryn L. Humphreys, MA, EdM, is a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles and is currently completing her clinical internship at the Tulane University School of Medicine with a concentration in Infant Mental Health. Humphreys graduated summa cum laude from Vanderbilt University with a bachelor’s degree in child development and cognitive studies in 2005. She enrolled in the Risk and Prevention program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and graduated with her master’s degree in education in 2006. Her doctoral research, conducted under the mentorship of Steve Lee, PhD, and Nim Tottenham, PhD, investigates the function of risk taking behavior in children and adults, including her proposed study (“Examining Risky Behavior in Children with ADHD: A Laboratory-Based Assessment Approach”). She was also awarded the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and the Charles E. and Sue K. Young Graduate Student Award to support her research investigating the biological and environmental causes of attention problems. Her research program includes an emphasis on typical and atypical development, with an aim to identify potential pathways to ADHD and externalizing problems. In particular, she is interested in examining heterogeneity within ADHD and the corresponding cause, presentation, course, and treatment implications for individuals with attention problems.
2012 Awards Recipients
Michael J. Kofler, PhD
Michael J. Kofler, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Services at the University of Virginia, where he is affiliated with the Youth-Nex Center to Promote Effective Youth Development. He completed his undergraduate work at Tulane University, earned Master’s and Doctoral degrees in clinical psychology at the University of Central Florida, and completed his clinical Internship at the Medical University of South Carolina (Charleston Consortium). He was a 2011 NIMH Child Intervention, Prevention, and Services (CHIPS) fellow, and was recently awarded a National Institute of Health Loan Repayment grant. His primary research interests (“Central Executive Working Memory Training for Children with ADHD: A Translational Research Agenda”) center on understanding the relationship between underlying neurocognitive factors and associated behavioral and functional impairments for individuals with ADHD, and translating this knowledge into effective and efficacious interventions for these individuals. His recent experimental work - in collaboration with Dr. Mark Rapport and the Children’s Learning Clinic research team - has collectively revealed that ADHD-related deficits in key components of working memory appear to underlie many of the hallmark features of ADHD, including inattentive behavior, hyperactivity, impulsivity, social problems, and behavioral disinhibition. He is currently working to further isolate the specific, cognitive sub-processes responsible for these findings, and developing novel, non-pharmacological treatments with the potential for sustained, generalizable improvements in functioning across settings.
James J. Li, MA
James J. Li, MA, is a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and is currently completing his clinical internship at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic/University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Li graduated with a BA from Johns Hopkins University in 2007 and conducted his doctoral research at UCLA under the guidance of Steve S. Lee, PhD. Li’s dissertation research (“Risk and Resilience: An Empirical Examination of Differential Susceptibility for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder”) investigates the plausibility of genetic differential susceptibility in the context of ADHD, which hypothesizes that certain individuals with genetic predispositions may be more sensitive to environmental adversity and enrichment. Li has previously been awarded the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship to study gene-environment interactions for neurocognitive phenotypes related to ADHD, and a fellowship from the UCLA Institute for Society and Genetics, where he collaborated with multidisciplinary faculty on research related to legal, ethical, biological and sociological implications of genetic research. His recent work has examined associations between the dopamine transporter gene and natural variations in parenting behavior on childhood ADHD symptoms, and the interaction of risk genotypes with family environmental factors on adolescent depression. Overall, Li’s research encompasses developmental theory, molecular genetics, and advanced quantitative applications with the goal of refining the understanding and the treatment of childhood psychopathology.
2009 Awards Recipients
L. Cinnamon Bidwell, MA
L. Cinnamon Bidwell, MA, is a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology and behavioral genetics at the University of Colorado at Boulder, submitted her research entitled “Association of DRD4, DAT1, and 5HTT with Putative Neuropsychological Endophenotypes in Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.” Bidwell graduated magna cum laude from Tufts University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. At the University of Colorado, she conducted her graduate training under Erik G. Willcutt, PhD, and collaborated with Bruce F. Pennington, PhD, at the University of Denver. Her training continues with her clinical psychology internship at Duke University Medical Center under the mentorship of Scott H. Kollins, PhD. Bidwell’s research investigates the links from genes to brain dysfunction to symptom presentation in ADHD. Her dissertation research examines multiple measures of putative neuropsychological deficits in ADHD with the aim of further delineating specific genetic influences and in turn how these influences confer susceptibility for the disorder through neurocognitive pathways. She was also awarded a predoctoral National Research Service Award (NRSA) from the National Institute of Mental Health in order to study the maintenance of ADHD into adulthood using neuropsychological, structural neuroimaging, and genetic approaches. Her research program cuts across the fields of clinical psychology and psychopathology, neuroscience, and behavioral and molecular genetics with the goal of contributing to the development of a comprehensive causal model for ADHD.
Molly Nikolas, MA
Molly Nikolas, MA, is a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at Michigan State University. She graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2002, earning a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. At Michigan State, she has studied under Joel Nigg, PhD, and S. Alexandra Burt, PhD, on projects involving the genetics of ADHD, neuropsychological performance, and disruptive behavior disorders. Nikolas’ dissertation (“Youth Appraisals of Marital Conflict and Genetic Risk for Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Examination of Gene x Environment Interactions Using Behavioral and Molecular Genetic Methodologies”) makes use of both behavioral and molecular genetic approaches to examine interactions between genetic and environmental factors that contribute to the development of ADHD. Specifically, Nikolas is examining whether children’s cognitive appraisals of interparental conflict moderate latent or inferred genetic influences for ADHD within a community sample of twins, as well as interact specifically with a functional marker from the serotonin transporter gene in predicting ADHD symptoms within a clinically-diagnosed sample. This novel strategy for studying gene-environment interactions allows her to examine these effects across multiple levels of analysis, thereby strengthening the power of such studies to detect interactions between genetic and environmental influences on ADHD. Nikolas plans to pursue a clinical research career investigating gene-environment interplay for ADHD and associated phenotypes (neuropsychological performance, disruptive behavior disorders.)
2008 Awards Recipients
Postdoctoral Category
Joshua M. Langberg, PhD
Joshua M. Langberg, PhD, assistant professor at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in the Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology, Center for ADHD, submitted a paper titled, “Intervention with Physicians to Promote Improved ADHD Care in the Community.” After earning his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, Langberg completed a master’s degree in psychological sciences at James Madison University. Doctoral training in clinical/community psychology at the University of South Carolina and internship at Duke University Medical Center followed. After a postdoctoral fellowship at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in 2006, Langberg joined the faculty in 2007. Langberg’s research interests include the development and evaluation of interventions for children and adolescents with ADHD. His research focuses on improving access to evidence-based care by implementing interventions in school and community-based settings. Langberg’s paper reports on an intervention called the ADHD Collaborative that promotes the adoption of evidence-based ADHD assessment and treatment practices among community pediatricians.
Postdoctoral Category
Heather A. Jones, PhD
Heather A. Jones, PhD, visiting assistant professor of psychology at the University of Akron, submitted “Parenting African-American Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.” Jones graduated from Brown University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and completed doctoral training in clinical psychology at the University of Maryland in College Park in 2006. Her training continued with a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Center for the Management of ADHD. She joined the faculty at the University of Akron in 2008. Jones’s paper is part of larger research agenda aimed at improving engagement in treatment and functional outcomes for African-American children with ADHD. Her research focuses on mixed-method approaches to exploring ethnic differences in parenting children with ADHD, the investigation of a collaborative intervention for urban children with ADHD, and the development and evaluation of a multidimensional model of treatment engagement.
Doctoral Candidate Category
Frances W. Arnold, MS
Frances W. Arnold, MS, is a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York, submitted “Examining Parents’ Preferences for Variations to Behavioral Parent Programs.” Arnold graduated from the University of Virginia with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. At Buffalo, Arnold studied under William E. Pelham, PhD, and she recently collaborated with Charles E. Cunningham, PhD, at McMaster University. Arnold’s dissertation utilizes sophisticated marketing techniques and analyses to investigate whether parents differ in their preferences for variations to behavioral treatment packages for children with ADHD. She is also examining whether offering alternative packages that match parents’ preferences results in greater share of preference among families affected by ADHD. She hopes to use results from these studies to modify behavioral parent programs in order to maximize their effectiveness for families with various backgrounds and individual needs. As the clinic coordinator at the Center for Children and Families at the University at Buffalo, Arnold has become intimately interested in ways to increase uptake in behavioral treatments among families affected by ADHD. She is working to develop user-friendly, media-based behavioral treatment tools that would be accessible to more families. She plans to pursue a clinical research career investigating ways to improve behavioral parent programs by using marketing and media-focused strategies.
2007 Awards Recipients
Postdoctoral Category
Kate Flory, PhD
Kate Flory, PhD, assistant professor of clinical psychology at the University of South Carolina, submitted a paper entitled, "Do peer factors explain why adolescents with ADHD smoke cigarettes?" After graduating from Duke University with a BA in psychology, Flory completed her doctoral training in clinical psychology at the University of Kentucky in 2004. She then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Department of Psychiatry. Flory began her current position at USC in 2005. Flory’s paper is part of a larger research study investigating possible social, cognitive, and emotional explanations for why adolescents with ADHD are at greater risk of cigarette smoking than their peers who do not have the disorder. Flory hopes to eventually use her findings to develop a smoking prevention program designed specifically for adolescents with ADHD. Flory’s other research interests include understanding why children with ADHD have social skills deficits, and understanding the risky sexual behaviors of adults with childhood ADHD.
Postdoctoral Category
Steve S. Lee, PhD
Steve S. Lee, PhD, assistant professor of psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), submitted the paper, “Gene-Environment Interplay for ADHD: Integrating Nature and Nurture.” After earning his BA in psychology from the University of Chicago, Lee completed his doctoral training in clinical psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, in 2004. He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship in psychiatric genetics in the department of psychiatry at the University of Chicago. He joined the clinical psychology faculty at UCLA in 2006. Lee’s research interests integrate the principles and methods of developmental psychopathology and genetic epidemiology to increase understanding of ADHD and related behavior disorders. His research addresses several issues: identifying genetic and environmental influences through processes such as gene-environment interactions and gene-environment correlations, developing improved and clinically significant measures of impairment and overall functioning, and highlighting biological and psychosocial mechanisms involved in sex differences in ADHD and externalizing behavior disorders.
Doctoral Candidate Category
Brian T. Wymbs
Brian T. Wymbs is a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York, submitted “Does Disruptive Behavior Cause Interpersonal Discord? An Experimental Manipulation.” Wymbs graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a BA in psychology and computer applications. At Buffalo, Wymbs has been studying under William E. Pelham, PhD, and is currently completing his clinical internship at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He focused his clinical research endeavors on examining the interplay between interparental discord and disruptive child behavior in families with children with ADHD. His dissertation explored the degree to which disruptive child behavior causes conflict between parents of children with and without ADHD. Wymbs was awarded an Elizabeth Munsterberg Koppitz Fellowship from the American Psychological Foundation as well as dissertation awards from several notable research organizations (American Psychological Association, Association for Psychological Science, Society for Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, Melissa Institute for Violence Prevention and Treatment) to support his work. He intends to carry out his clinical research career investigating ways to enhance evidence-based interventions (such as behavioral parent training) for ADHD by remediating interparental discord, particularly regarding childrearing issues.
2006 Awards Recipients
Postdoctoral Category
Amori Yee Mikami, PhD
Amori Yee Mikami, PhD, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, for her ongoing research entitled, “Parents as Friendship-Training Coaches for Children with ADHD.” Mikami's research program investigates peer relationship difficulties among children with ADHD, with the goal of integrating science and clinical practice to develop better interventions to serve this population.
Postdoctoral Category
Andrea M. Chronis, PhD
Andrea M. Chronis, PhD, assistant professor of clinical psychology at the University of Maryland and director of the Maryland ADHD Program, and adjunct assistant professor of pediatrics at the George Washington University School of Medicine. Her submission, “Integrated Intervention for Depressed Mothers of Children with ADHD,” is part of a larger research program entitled, “The Role of Parental Psychopathology in Developmental and Treatment Outcomes for Children with ADHD.”
Doctoral Candidate Category
Anne-Claude V. Bédard, MSc, PhD
Anne-Claude V. Bédard, MSc, PhD, candidate in medical science/neuroscience at the Institute of Medical Science of the University of Toronto. Her submission was entitled, “Effects of Methylphenidate on Working Memory in Children and Adolescents with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.” Many activities depend on good working memory—adding numbers in one’s head, following and understanding conversation or a text, remembering the rules of sports and games while playing them, remembering directions en route to a destination. Some research suggests that people with ADHD may have more problems with working memory than people without ADHD. Bédard is studying whether stimulant medication helps children and adolescents retain and organize information in their minds for a few seconds. While research has shown that stimulant medication improves behavioral symptoms, helping most children and adolescents with ADHD to pay attention and concentrate better, it is still not known whether stimulant medication improves working memory. Bédard’s study may help us better understand the effects of stimulant medication on working memory, or whether other treatment approaches are needed to improve working memory in children and adolescents with ADHD.