Affiliated Faculty & Collaborators
University of Houston
Candice A. Alfano, Ph.D.
Dr. Candice Alfano is Associate Professor of Psychology, a licensed clinical psychologist, and Director of the Sleep and Anxiety Center of Houston (SACH) at the University of Houston. She received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Maryland at College Park in 2005. Dr. Alfano’s research program integrates several overlapping fields of study including the role of sleep-wake processes in the pathogenesis of anxious and affective psychopathology, the development of evidence-based interventions for children and adolescents, and family-based mechanisms of risk and resilience.
Bruno Breitmeyer, Ph.D.
In 1972 Dr. Breitmeyer joined the Psychology faculty at the University of Houston. From 1973 to 1974 he worked in the Vision Laboratory of Bela Julesz at Bell Telephone Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey, and from 1976 to 1977 he collaborated with Lothar Spillmann at the Neurological Clinic of Freiburg University, Germany. Except for those two years, he has been at the University of Houston pursuing research in the area of visual cognition. Besides having published numerous research articles, he has authored or co-authored four published books, with a fifth currently in press.
Paul T. Cirino, Ph.D.
Dr. Cirino completed his Ph.D. in Clinical Neuropsychology from the University of Houston, and his APA/Division 40 clinical internship at the Arizona Health Sciences Center at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Subsequently he was the Kirk Dornbush postdoctoral fellow in developmental neuropsychology at Georgia State University, which was completed in 1998; he also obtained licensure as a psychologist at that time, and has been continuously licensed since.
Jack M. Fletcher, Ph.D., ABPP — TCHRC Director
Dr. Jack Fletcher, Cullen Distinguished Professor, Chair of the Department of Psychology and Project Principal Investigator of the nationally funded Texas Center for Learning Disabilities (TCLD) and TCLD colleagues are conducting research to evaluate approaches for identifying and treating children who struggle to learn to read.
David J. Francis, Ph.D. — TCHRC Director
Dr. David Francis, Cullen Distinguished University Chair, Professor of Psychology, Director of TIMES, and Director of Center for Advanced Computing and Data Systems (CACDS) established the National Research and Development Center for English Language Learners to address language and literacy skills of elementary to high school students.
Elena Grigorenko, Ph.D.
Bio Coming soon....
Arturo E. Hernandez, Ph.D.
Joined University of Houston faculty in 2003 following 6 years as an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. During the past fifteen years, he has been investigating the nature of language processing using both behavioral and neuroimaging methods to inform his work. His view is very much in line with the current emergentist view of language in which language development, processing and its neural bases are a reflection of multiple processes interacting at multiple levels.
J. Leigh Leasure, Ph.D.
Dr. Leasure's research interest are: Exercise-driven neuroplasticity; Binge alcohol damage; Gliovascular complex; Hippocampal neurogenesis
Paul J. Massman, Ph.D.
My current research is focused on the measurement and correlates of progression of neuropsychological deficits in Alzheimer's disease. I utilize the database of the Baylor College of Medicine Alzheimer's Disease and Memory Disorders Center, and collaborate with its director, Rachelle Doody, M.D., Ph.D., as well as other investigators from Baylor and the University of Texas Health Science Center. I also collaborate with other investigators in the Texas Alzheimer's Research Consortium (TARC), funded by the state of Texas, of which Baylor is a key member institution.
Carla Sharp, Ph.D.
Dr. Sharp trained as a clinical psychologist (University of Stellenbosch, South Africa) from 1994-1997, after which she completed a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychopathology at Cambridge University, UK, 1997-2000. In 2001, she obtained full licensure as a clinical psychologist in the UK. From 2001-2004 she was appointed as a Research Post-doctoral Fellow in Developmental Psychopathology, Cambridge University. In 2004, she moved to the United States to take up an appointment as Assistant Professor in the Menninger Department of Psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine.
Karla Stuebing, Ph.D.
Bio coming soon
Jennifer L. Tackett, Ph.D.
Dr. Tackett completed her Ph.D. in clinical psychology with minors in statistics, behavior genetics, and personality at the University of Minnesota. She is a graduate of the Texas Academy of Math and Science and of Texas A&M University. Prior to coming to UH, she completed her clinical internship at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center and was a tenured member of the faculty at the University of Toronto. Her research is grounded in an interest of the many personality characteristics that exist early in life and their influence on behavioral development.
University of Texas, Houston
Marcia A. Barnes, Ph.D.
Dr. Marcia Barnes is an adjunct professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. She primarily works as a professor of special education at the University of Texas-Austin where she holds the Manuel J. Justiz Endowed Chair in Math, Science, and Technology in Teacher Education. Dr. Barnes researches academic skill development and learning disabilities in mathematics and reading comprehension in preschoolers, school-age children, and adolescents.
Carolyn A. Denton, Ph.D.
Dr. Carolyn Denton is a professor in the Children’s Learning Institute, part of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Dr. Denton’s research focuses on the prevention and remediation of reading difficulties and disabilities in students from kindergarten through grade 12. Her current research projects examine interventions for children who have both ADHD and serious reading difficulties, an early reading intervention targeting both comprehension and decoding, and adolescent reading engagement and reading comprehension.
Linda Ewing-Cobbs, Ph.D.
Dr. Ewing-Cobbs directs the academic outreach programs of the Dan L. Duncan Children’s Neurodevelopmental Clinic that provide enrichment as well as intensive, evidence-based Tier II and III intervention in reading to students in grades 1-5 enrolled at Houston ISD, charter schools, and private schools. With support from the Sanchez Family Foundation, the outreach program developed and implemented a reading intervention program in Spanish for children in grades 1 and 2.
Jenifer Juranek, Ph.D.
Dr. Jenifer Juranek is an associate professor and director of Brain Research Analysis in Neurodevelopment (BRAIN Lab) at the Children’s Learning Institute at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. She earned her doctorate degree in Neuroscience from the University of California Riverside. Dr. Juranek’s research focuses on neuroimaging in clinical and neurodevelopmental populations. At the Children’s Learning Institute, Dr. Juranek supervises neuroimaging research projects while mentoring graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.
University of Texas, Austin
Jessica Church-Fall, Ph.D.
Dr. Church-Lang received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Washington University in St. Louis in 2008. She has a strong interest in how cognitive processes develop over age, and in how research on atypical development illuminates the vulnerable aspects of typical cognitive development. Research in the lab currently focuses on the development of cognitive skills such as task switching and reading in late childhood and early adolescence. Dr. Church-Lang is heading the neuroimaging arm of the Meadows and Vaughn Gross Center project on 4th grade reading intervention at UT Austin.
Kathryn P. Harden, Ph.D.
Paige Harden received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Virginia. She completed her clinical internship in the Department of Psychiatry at McLean Hospital / Harvard Medical School, in Belmont, MA. Dr. Harden’s research is broadly concerned with adolescent developmental psychopathology. She is particularly interested in how family and social environments combine with genetic factors to shape atypical adolescent development.
Elliot Tucker-Drob, Ph.D.
Elliot Tucker-Drob received his Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Virginia. He has held fellowships at Harvard Medical School and the Max Planck Institute for Human Development. Dr. Tucker-Drob's research focuses on psychological development across the entire lifespan. He is particularly interested in the developmental pathways by which genes and social and educational environments interact to produce changes in personality, cognitive abilities, and academic achievement.
Sharon Vaughn, Ph.D.
Dr. Vaughn is the recipient of the AERA SIG distinguished researcher award and The University of Texas Distinguished faculty award. She is the author of numerous books and research articles that address the reading and social outcomes of students with learning difficulties. She is currently the Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator on several Institute for Education Sciences, National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, and U.S. Department of Education research grants investigating effective interventions for students with reading difficulties and students who are English language learners.
BCM
Leandra N Berry, Ph.D.
Dr. Berry is currently an Assistant Professor in the Section of Psychology within the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM). She is also a pediatric neuropsychologist and the Associate Director of Clinical Services for the Autism Center at Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH). Dr. Berry provides clinical assessments to patients in the Autism Center and conducts evaluations for several ASD phenotyping studies. She is currently the Co-PI for the Autism Treatment Network at the BCM/TCH site and served as the Lead Clinician for the Simons Variation in Individuals Project.
M. Douglas Ris, Ph.D. ABPP-CN
Dr. Douglas Ris continues his research on the neurobehavioral outcomes of children treated for brain tumors after joining Baylor in February, 2009 from the Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. He leads two National Cancer Institute Grants, the first investigating the relationship between radiation dosimetry and neurobehavioral and brain effects two years post-treatment.
Texas Children Hospital
Leandra N Berry, Ph.D.
Dr. Berry is currently an Assistant Professor in the Section of Psychology within the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM). She is also a pediatric neuropsychologist and the Associate Director of Clinical Services for the Autism Center at Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH). Dr. Berry provides clinical assessments to patients in the Autism Center and conducts evaluations for several ASD phenotyping studies. She is currently the Co-PI for the Autism Treatment Network at the BCM/TCH site and served as the Lead Clinician for the Simons Variation in Individuals Project.
M. Waleed Gaber, Ph.D.
Dr. Waleed Gaber’s work aims at optimizing brain tumor therapy through designing targeted drugs that can cross the blood brain barrier and through the study of the combined side effect of tumor microenvironment and radiation therapy on brain vasculature and parenchyma. Dr. Gaber also works on developing a combined whole body radiation and injury animal model to be used in the development of a treatment strategy that will promote survival and wound healing in individuals exposed to total body irradiation who suffer from traumatic mechanical injury.
Daniel G. Glaze, M.D.
Dr. Glaze’s research interests are focused upon Rett Syndrome and include a natural history study including genotype/phenotype correlations, quality of life, and survival. Dr. Glaze is also interested in the characterization of sleep behavior in children with rare neurological disorders. He is also interested in the study of sleep, cytokines, and impact on daytime functioning in children infected with HIV. Dr. Glaze studies sleep disorders in children with neurological disorders and developmental disorders.
Kathryn K. Ostermaier, Ph.D.
Dr. Kathryn Ostermaier graduated magna cum laude from Texas A&M University in 1992 with a B.S. degree in Genetics. She completed medical school at Baylor College of Medicine in 1996 and did her Pediatric Residency at Baylor College of Medicine from 1996 - 1999. After completing her training, she joined Baylor as faculty. She has been committed to providing the best care possible to children with special health care needs, and started the Special Needs Clinic at Ben Taub General Hospital in 2001, one of only 2 such clinics in the area at the time.
M. Douglas Ris, Ph.D. ABPP-CN
Dr. Douglas Ris continues his research on the neurobehavioral outcomes of children treated for brain tumors after joining Baylor in February, 2009 from the Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. He leads two National Cancer Institute Grants, the first investigating the relationship between radiation dosimetry and neurobehavioral and brain effects two years post-treatment.