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Director Kevin Pelphrey, Ph.D. is a cognitive
neuroscientist who completed his doctoral studies in Psychology at the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill in 2001. He then undertook postdoctoral training in Cognitive Neuroscience at Duke
University. Work in Dr. Pelphrey's laboratory focuses on discovering brain mechanisms underlying
the development of different aspects of social cognition. This work employs cognitive neuroscience
methods including functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging, imaging genetics, visual
scanpath recordings, and virtual reality techniques. The laboratory conducts studies focused on
fundamental questions regarding the typical and atypical development of social cognition in children
with and without autism. Dr. Pelphrey has received a Scientist Career Development Award from the
National Institutes of Health, a John Merck Scholars Award for his work on the biology of
developmental disorders, and the American Psychological Association's Boyd McCandless Award for
distinguished early career theoretical contributions to Developmental Psychology. His research
program is funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Simons Foundation, Autism Speaks, and
the National Science Foundation.
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Associate Director Brent Vander Wyk, Ph.D. is an
Associate Research Scientist of the Child Neuroscience Lab at the Yale Child Study Center. He earned his degree in Cognitive
Neuroscience from Carnegie Mellon University and the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition. He is
interested in the basic cognitive and brain mechanisms involved in social cognition and how those
mechanisms relate to those involved in nominally non-social skills, such as number processing. The
aim is to develop explicit models of neural functioning that offer a better understanding of typical
and atypical development. Working in collaboration with Dr. Kevin Pelphrey, he has recently begun a
longitudinal investigation of these issues in children using fMRI, eye-tracking, and behavioral
assessments.
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Associate Director Martha Kaiser, Ph.D. is an Associate Research Scientist in the Child Study Center. She earned her doctoral degree in Experimental Psychology at Rutgers University and completed her postdoctoral training in the Child Neuroscience Laboratory at the Yale Child Study Center. Her past work has examined individual differences in the visual perception of biological motion and faces in a variety of populations including children and adults with and without autism as well as individuals with acquired prosopagnosia. In addition, Dr. Kaiser helped to develop and implement a research informed intervention for young children with autism. Her current research is focused on understanding typical and atypical development of brain mechanisms for social cognition. Dr. Kaiser is examining these issues in infants and children using fMRI, eye-tracking and behavioral methods.
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Pamela Ventola, Ph.D. is an associate research
scientist at the Yale Child Study Center. She earned her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology
with a concentration in Neuropsychology from the University of Connecticut, where she worked under
the mentorship of Dr. Deborah Fein. She completed autism-focused pre-doctoral and post-doctoral
fellowships at the Yale Child Study Center under the supervision of Drs. Klin, Tsatsanis, Saulnier,
and Chawarska. Currently, she conducts and supervises evaluations in the Developmental Disabilities
Clinic. Her current research interests include the neuropsychological profiles, particularly
executive functioning skills, in individuals with autism spectrum disorders. Other interests
include the identification and diagnosis of autism in toddlers and preschool-aged children.
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Julie Wolf, Ph.D. is an Associate Research Scientist at the
Child Study Center. She received her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of
Connecticut, where she studied autism spectrum disorders (ASD) under the mentorship of Dr. Deborah
Fein. She completed her clinical internship at the University of Chicago, including rotations in
ASD and neuropsychology. She completed her post-doctoral fellowship at the Yale Child Study Center
under the mentorship of Dr. Robert Schultz, during which time she was involved in a study
investigating the effectiveness of a computer-based intervention (Let's Face It!) targeting face
processing skills in children with ASD. Dr. Wolf currently conducts evaluations through the
Developmental Disabilities Clinic as well as for various research projects. Her additional interests
include social skills training and sibling support.
