Bios
Elizabeth Smith, PhD
Dr. Smith is a clinical psychologist who specializes in neurodevelopmental disorders in children and adolescents. Her research focuses on understanding how neurobiological differences during brain development affect social communication, language, and cognition. This work relies on a combination of neuroimaging techniques, behavioral measures, and parent reports of their child’s abilities and preferences. She also studies how autistic individuals and individuals with Fragile X Syndrome process auditory information in their environment and how this affects social interactions and communication.
Makoto Miyakoshi, PhD
I am Makoto, an experimental psychologist and methodologist specializing in EEG and fMRI techniques to explore brain functions. At Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, I am committed to advancing pediatric clinical neuroscience, focusing on improving diagnostic methods and therapeutic strategies for developmental disorders, particularly Fragile X Syndrome. My passion for integrating computational neuroscience with psychiatry fuels my dedication to innovative research and effective patient care.
Walker McKinney, PhD
I am a post-doctoral fellow in Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology. My clinical work centers on the assessment and treatment of individuals with neurodevelopmental disabilities, including autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and intellectual/developmental disabilities (IDDs), including Fragile X syndrome. My research in the Fragile X Research and Treatment Center focuses on clarifying how biological (e.g., neurophysiology) and non-biological factors (e.g., access to healthcare, economic stability) explain individual differences in people with neurodevelopmental disabilities. The long-term goal of my research is to use this understanding of individual differences to better predict who will respond to which treatment and develop new treatments.
Debra Reisinger, PhD
Dr. Debra Reisinger, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist with expertise in assessment and treatment services with FXS, autism, and other neurodevelopmental disorders. She provides telehealth behavioral intervention and parent training services to individuals with FXS across the lifespan. Dr. Reisinger also provides psychological testing services and support for many of our ongoing research grants. Her research interests include the integration of biological and behavioral responses in developmental and treatment outcomes in FXS.
Nina Gross, PhD
Dr. Gross is a basic neuroscientist studying the molecular mechanisms underlying neurodevelopmental disorders including autism and epilepsy with the ultimate goal of using this knowledge for the development of therapeutic strategies and molecular biomarkers. Using in vivo mouse and cell culture models, Dr. Gross’ lab combines molecular and cellular techniques, cell- and brain-morphological and behavioral analyses with EEG recordings to reveal the roles of intracellular signal transduction and noncoding RNAs in these disorders.
Meredith Nelson, PhD
Dr. Nelson is a licensed clinical psychologist and assistant professor of pediatrics who specializes in assessment of neurodevelopmental disorders. She has worked with the Fragile X team at Cincinnati Children’s for over 10 years as a clinical research assessor and has been a co-investigator on several projects. Her research interests focus on assessment and outcome measures.
Rebecca Shaffer, PhD
Dr. Shaffer is a clinical psychologist and associate professor of pediatrics in Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology. I am also the director of psychological services for the Cincinnati Fragile X Center. My research focuses on emotion dysregulation in neurobehavioral conditions including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), fragile X syndrome, and intellectual disability.
Lauren Schmitt, PhD
Dr. Schmitt is a licensed clinical psychologist with extensive training in neurodevelopmental disorders who joined the team in 2017. Broadly, her work focuses on identifying clinical correlates of neurophysiological and molecular biomarkers as well as characterizing potential subgroups of drug responders in FXS. She also working to help enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts within the Cincinnati Fragile X Center.
Riley Argonis
Riley graduated from the University of Cincinnati in spring 2023 with a degree in neuropsychology and minors in Japanese language and culture, and philosophy. She is the lead coordinator for the NIH Toolbox studies, which includes the developmental arm and the Quillivant trial. A fun fact about her is that she has studied Japanese for nearly 10 years.
Jae Citarella
Jae Citarella received her B.A. from the American University of Paris, where she studied psychology and philosophy. She then completed a post-baccalaureate pre-medical program at Columbia University. She is currently serving as the lead coordinator for the FX ENTRAIN study.
Lily Barber, M.Ed
Lily Barber has been a research coordinator since 2021, the same year she moved to Cincinnati. She grew up in San Francisco and went to college at Cornell to play volleyball. Most of her experience prior has been with young children with Autism, and she has truly loved getting to know the Fragile X community that comes to the clinic. She has a Masters in Behavior Analysis and will soon go to work at Cincinnati Center for Autism.
Grace Westerkamp
Grace is a Clinical Research Coordinator with a strong interest in the treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders. Since joining the lab in 2020, she has been involved in multiple clinical intervention studies. Grace has specialized training in transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) as well as electroencephalography (EEG) acquisition, preprocessing, and analysis.
Sarah Richter
Sarah is a research coordinator with the Neurobehavioral Research Team. She worked as a student in the lab before graduating with a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Cincinnati. She will be the lead coordinator for the Spinogenix drug study, and is currently recruiting healthy controls and individuals with developmental disabilities ages 5-55.
Libby Blank
Libby is a research coordinator in the NBRT lab conducting studies under Dr. Pedapati. She primarily run trials involving youth and young adults with autism, Fragile X Syndrome (FXS), and mood disorders. She previously ran the RESTORE pilot study, which investigated Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) for treating treatment-resistant depression in youth with ASD. She currently works on TETRA, a study involving a new drug for cognitive enhancement in children with FXS.
Hannah Sachs, MPA
Hannah is a Clinical Research Coordinator with the Fragile X Center. Hannah graduated with her BA from Butler University in 2016 and graduated with her Masters of Public Administration from DePaul University in 2019. She has been a part of the team since 2020 and has run several drug trials with adults with Autism and Fragile X. She currently works with adults (over 18 years old) and kids (under the age of 8). She has a strong passion for connecting with families and providing resources for them.
Kyle Lacher
Richard Kyle Lacher graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Behavioral Neuroscience from the University of Cincinnati in 2008. After graduation he began his carrier at Yale University, studying the effects of early life stress on adolescent brain development and characterizing immune cell populations involved in tumor progression. He returned to his hometown of Cincinnati in 2016 in order to study the roles of microRNAs in epilepsy at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. In 2022 he joined the Neurobehavioral Treatment Discovery Team under Craig Erickson, MD. Kyle's current research focuses on investigating novel preclinical drug treatments and electrophysiological biomarker discovery in mouse models of Fragile X Syndrome.
Braeden Heald
Braeden Heald graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Neuroscience and a Biology allied field from Northwestern University in 2022. During this endeavor, he was a student assistant with the Brainvolts Lab under Nina Kraus, PhD, in Evanston, IL, focusing on the auditory pathways affected by a diagnosable concussion. After graduation, he began his MBA in healthcare systems with the University of Maine, completing this in 2023. In 2024, he joined the Neurobehavioral Treatment Discovery Team under Craig Erickson, MD, with a current research focus on quantifiable measures of Fragile X Syndrome at the DNA, RNA, and protein levels.
Shivali Sarawgi
Shivali Sarawgi received her bachelor's degree from Vanderbilt University before earning her PhD at Florida State University. She completed her residency and fellowship at the Indiana University School of Medicine and went on to begin her career at Bradley Hospital/Warren Alpert School of Medicine at Brown University providing outpatient services through the Verrecchia Clinic for Children and Adolescents with Developmental Disabilities. She returned to her hometown of Cincinnati in 2021 and currently provides outpatient therapy through the Fragile X Clinic. Shivali has a clinical interest in family-based and exposure-based interventions as well as a research interest in transdiagnostic maintaining factors such as intolerance of uncertainty.
Ashley Dapore
Ashley is a Clinical Research Coordinator with the Fragile X Center. She joined the team in 2021 after graduating with her BA in Neuroscience from DePauw University. She is currently the lead coordinator for the HealX drug trial, and works primarily with adult participants with Fragile X.