Team Bios
Fragile X Clinicians
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.
Elizabeth Smith, 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.
Meredith Nelson, 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.
Debra Reisinger, PhD
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.
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.
Shivali Sarawgi
Trainees
Faculty and Staff
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.
Makoto Miyakoshi, 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.
Nina Gross, PhD
Jennifer Combs, LISW, MSSA is the Clinical Research Manager in the Division of Psychiatry at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Since joining the institution in 2007, Jennifer has served in both clinical and research capacities—first as an outpatient therapist and later as a project manager overseeing a diverse portfolio of research initiatives within the division. She is deeply committed to advancing mental health outcomes for children and families and is passionate about fostering innovation and learning through research.
Jennifer Combs, LISW, MSSA
Dr. Lisa De Stefano is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Fragile X Center. She received her PhD in Cellular and Behavioral Neurobiology - Psychology from the University of Oklahoma, where she used EEG to study sensation and cognition in fragile X syndrome and other neurodevelopmental disorders.
Lisa De Stefano, PhD
Clinical Research Coordinators
Hannah Sachs
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
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 recently ran a drug trial for adults with Fragile X that combined clinic and in-home visits, and is the primary coordinator for in-home research visits for both adults and children.
Sarah Richter
Kyle Lacher
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.
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.
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.
Grace Westerkamp
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.
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.
Jack Liu
Jack is a Clinical Research Coordinator with the Fragile X Center who works with Dr. Ernest Pedapati. He has been part of the team since 2021 and administers EEG for clinical trials and observational studies with infants. His research interests include using EEG to study sensory hypersensitivity and language learning in patients with FXS.
Eva McCord
Eva is a Research Assistant II with the Cincinnati Fragile X Research and Treatment Center. In the lab, she is particularly interested in the RNA-level diversity of Fragile X Syndrome and exploring if RNA expression of the Fmr1 gene may correspond to behavioral presentation and clinical outcomes. In 2025, Eva graduated with her Honors BS in Neuroscience from The University of Chicago, where she researched how nuclear proteins epigenetically control stem cells’ development into neurons. At UChicago, she was also a Goldwater Scholar, a Bucksbaum-Siegler Clinical Excellence Scholar, and UChicago Medicine Exceptional Service Award Recipient.
Ryan Zix
Ryan is a clinical research coordinator with the Fragile X Center. He graduated with a BA from Vanderbilt University in May of 2025 and has been with the team ever since. He mostly works with people with Fragile X Syndrome between 5- and 22-years-old in characterizing the clinical and biological presentation of FXS. However, he is happy to help out families and participants of all ages in any way that he can!