Pediatric Neuropsychology Residency Program Core Training Faculty

E. Mark Mahone, PhD, ABPP
Director, Department of Neuropsychology
Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Mahone@kennedykrieger.org

Dr. Mahone is the Director of Neuropsychology at Kennedy Krieger Institute, and is on the core faculty in psychology for the Institute's Maternal and Child Health Bureau Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities training program (LEND; 6T73MC0019) and the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (HD024061). He was Director of Neuropsychology Training at Kennedy Krieger from 1996 until 2009. He is board certified in clinical neuropsychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology and a fellow of the National Academy of Neuropsychology. Dr. Mahone is the incoming president-elect of the American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology (AACN), and has been a member of the AACN Board of Directors since 2006. He was also on the Board of Directors of the Association of Postdoctoral Programs in Clinical Neuropsychology (APPCN) from 2007-2011. Dr. Mahone is a full-time editorial board member for six journals: Assessment, Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, Child Neuropsychology, Developmental Neuropsychology, The Clinical Neuropsychologist, and the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society.

Dr. Mahone's research involves understanding brain-behavior relationships in children with neurodevelopmental disorders and the development and validation (using neurobehavioral assessment and neuroimaging) of assessment methods to better characterize neurobehavioral development. He is the Principal Investigator for the studies: "Frontostriatal Glutamate in ADHD: Neuropsychological and Behavioral Correlates" (R21 MH092693), which uses magnetic resonance spectroscopy obtained at 7.0 Tesla, in children with and without ADHD; and, and a research grant (1R01 HD068425, "Development of ADHD in Preschool Children: Neuroimaging and Behavioral Correlates"), which uses brain mapping and neurobehavioral assessment to characterize the development of preschool children identified as at risk for ADHD. Dr. Mahone is also Principal Investigator of the AACN-sponsored Outcomes Consortium for ADHD, and the AACN Foundation funded study: "The Incremental Validity of Neuropsychological Assessment in Children with ADHD."

Beth Slomine, PhD, ABPP
Director of Neuropsychological Rehabilitation Services
Director of Training
Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Associate Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Slomine@kennedykrieger.org

Dr. Slomine is a board certified clinical neuropsychologist. She is currently the Director of Training for the Department of Neuropsychology. In addition, Dr. Slomine coordinates neuropsychological services throughout the rehabilitation continuum of care. She also supervises postdoctoral residents, predoctoral interns, and predoctoral externs in providing comprehensive clinical neuropsychological services to inpatients at Kennedy Krieger Institute as well as outpatients who are being evaluated and treated through the Institute's Rehabilitation Continuum of Care.

Dr. Slomine's primary research interests involve the study of outcome following pediatric brain injury. In particular, Dr. Slomine has examined acute care, neurological, family, and individual factors that predict neuropsychological and functioning outcome following traumatic and anoxic brain injury. Since 1996, Dr. Slomine has collaborated with researchers throughout the Johns Hopkins community on research projects through the Departments of Psychiatry, Emergency Medicine, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, and Anesthesiology. She has also been involved with multi-center funded studies involving other universities throughout the United States and Canada. She has been a co-investigator for research projects funded by National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control. In addition, Dr. Slomine developed a measure, the Cognitive and Linguistic Scale, to track recovery following pediatric brain injury. At the present time, Dr. Slomine has more than 25 peer-reviewed research publications and several book chapters. She is also currently overseeing collection of outcomes data for a multi-center trial examining the efficacy of hypothermia treatment acutely after pediatric cardiac arrest. Over the last few years, she has actively mentored postdoctoral residents and junior faculty in research, resulting in numerous presentations and publications.

Cynthia Salorio, PhD
Director of Rehabilitation Outcomes and Related Research
Assistant Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Salorio@kennedykrieger.org

Dr. Salorio is a pediatric neuropsychologist and a primary supervisor for doctoral students, interns, and residents. She provides clinical neuropsychological services to children through Kennedy Krieger's inpatient neurorehabilitation service, the outpatient neuropsychology service, the multi-disciplinary rehabilitation follow-up clinic, and the multi-disciplinary hemispherectomy pre-surgical clinic.

Dr. Salorio's primary research interest is in clinical factors (e.g., neurobiological mechanisms, secondary injury variables, and rehabilitation interventions) that impact rehabilitation outcomes in children with a variety of acquired and congenital neurological disorders. Recent research focuses on predictors of cognitive, functional, and quality of life outcomes in children following traumatic brain injury, epilepsy, and hemispherectomy. Current grant-funded studies include using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to examine brain structure in children at different stages of recovery from TBI and how it relates to neuropsychological status and predictors of neurodevelopmental outcomes in children with congenital heart defects.

In addition, Dr. Salorio is one of the founding members of the International Pediatric Rehabilitation Collaborative. She currently serves on the professional advisory board of the Hemispherectomy Foundation and the Abilities Network/Epilepsy Foundation Chesapeake Region, and was the past president of the American Psychological Association, Division 22, Section 1 (pediatric rehabilitation).

T. Andrew Zabel, PhD, ABPP
Director of Clinical Services
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
ZabelA@kennedykrieger.org

Dr. Zabel is the clinical director of neuropsychology at Ken­nedy Krieger Institute, and supervises neuropsychology trainees at the doctoral, internship, and residency level as part of the Institute’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities training program (LEND; 6T73MC0019).  Professional affiliations include the editorial board for The Clinical Neuropsychologist and the professional advisory board of the Spina Bifida Association. 

Dr. Zabel’s research focuses upon the adaptive and neuropsychological functioning of individuals with congenital and acquired disorders of the brain’s white matter, with particular emphasis on persons with hydrocephalus, spina bifida, Sturge Weber Syndrome, and cerebral palsy.  Recent publications have focused upon the executive components of medical self-care, self-management, and transition into adulthood.  Within KKI, Dr. Zabel and his collaborators have instituted a system of internet-based clinical data collection to facilitate efficient parent- and teacher-report of behavior.  Outside of KKI, Dr. Zabel and his collaborators have created the Kennedy Krieger Independence Scales – Spina Bifida Version (KKIS-SB) to measure the executive components of spina bifida related health care.  The KKIS-SB and other instruments have been accrued into a nationally available online dashboard of parent, teacher, and self-report questionnaires to help facilitate the systematic provision of evidence-based spina bifida-related care. 

Rebecca Vaurio, PhD
Neuropsychologist, Department of Neuropsychology and Center for Autism and Related Disorders
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Vaurio@kennedykrieger.org

Dr. Vaurio's interests include characterizing how genetic disorders and environmental factors change the course of development. She is currently assisting with studies investigating how dietary interventions can change the medical and cognitive outcome for children with adrenoleukodystrophy. She is also assisting with studies evaluating the genetic factors contributing to social behavioral difficulties in children with Fragile X syndrome, Down syndrome, and autism. She is interested in learning and memory in children with ADHD, autism spectrum disorders, and reading disabilities. She is currently site PI for the recently funded multi-site study, "Longitudinal Study of Cognition in Subjects with Nemann Pick Disease-Type C."

John Beetar, PhD, ABPP
Director of Psychological Services, Kennedy Krieger Schools
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Beetar@kennedykrieger.org

Dr. Beetar joined the Department of Neuropsychol­ogy at Kennedy Krieger in 2007, following faculty posi­tions at Brown University and Ohio State University. As a primary supervisor for the postdoctoral residency in neuropsychology at Kennedy Krieger Institute, Dr. Beetar is developing a training program of national prominence for school psychologists (at both predoctoral and postdoctoral levels) that incorporates state-of-the-art neuropsychological methods in a nationally recognized school affiliated with a major academic medical center. At present, no other such training program exists in the United States.

Dr. Beetar was a co-investigator on a descriptive study, published last year, on the use of restraint and seclusion in a special education school. He has worked with several prior fellows on a single-subject design of an intervention for a student with dyslexia. Dr. Beetar has also investigated gender and age effects on WISC-III and WISC-IV scores in a clinic sample.

Ericka Wodka, PhD, ABPP
Neuropsychologist, Center for Autism and Related Disorders
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Wodka@kennedykrieger.org

Dr. Wodka is a pediatric neuropsychologist at the Center for Autism and Related Disorders, and is a primary supervisor for the postdoctoral residency in neuropsychology at Kennedy Krieger Institute. Her research interests include examining motor development, attention, and other aspects higher-order cognitive processes in neurodevelopmental disorders, particularly autism.   She is the principle investigator on an externally funded project examining the relationship between attention, tactile perception, and abnormal sensory behavior in autism.  She has also recently presented and published findings related to language outcomes for severely language delayed children with autism. Other research interests include examining differences in children with autism, with and without comorbidities (e.g., anxiety, ADHD, aggression), as well as collaborating in the development of an autism screening measure.

Lisa Jacobson, PhD, NCSP
Neuropsychologist, Department of Neuropsychology
Instructor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Jacobson@kennedykrieger.org

Dr. Jacobson is a licensed psychologist and pediatric neuropsychologist. Clinically, she coordinates the Executive Function and Oncology clinics within the department's outpatient specialty services. Within these clinics, she sees children referred for neuropsychological evaluation with a variety of developmental and medical conditions.

Dr. Jacobson's research interests include characterizing how children's developing executive functions interact with their developmental contexts at home and school to influence brain development and neurobehavioral functioning. She is interested in studying children with identified disorders affecting executive functioning (e.g., ADHD, Spina Bifida, cancers and cancer treatment), as well as children at risk for developing executive dysfunction. She is developing clinical screening tools for identifying children with neurocognitive difficulties which can be used as part of typical medical care visits for specific clinical populations. She has collaborated on Institute projects examining response variability in children with ADHD, characteristics of attentional disorders in referred children, influences of working memory and response variability on reading fluency in ADHD, executive functioning in spina bifida, and validation of an online version the Kennedy Krieger Independence Scales -- Spina Bifida Version (KKIS).

Jennifer Reesman, PhD
Neuropsychologist, Department of Neuropsychology
Instructor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Reesman@kennedykrieger.org

Dr. Reesman is a pediatric neuropsychologist in the Department of Neuropsychology. She provides training and supervision to neuropsychology doctoral students, interns, and post-doctoral residents. She has special expertise in the assessment of children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, individuals who use American Sign Language, as well as in assessment of children pre- and post-cochlear implant surgery. Dr. Reesman oversees and provides clinical services in the Deafness Related Evaluations and More (DREAM) clinic, and is the attending neuropsychologist for the multi-disciplinary Neurorehabilitation Concussion Clinic, part of Kennedy Krieger's Rehabilitation Continuum of Care.

Dr. Reesman's research interests include examining the accessibility and validity of various neuropsychological assessment techniques with children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, interventions to improve working memory, and promoting recovery from mild TBI in young children. Her past research projects have examined neuropsychological functioning in children with Sturge-Weber syndrome, as well as validation of novel assessment measures used in evaluation of pediatric mild TBI.

Vanessa L. Ramos, PhD
Pediatric Neuropsychologist, Department of Neuropsychology
ramosv@kennedykrieger.org

Dr. Ramos is a pediatric neuropsychologist and supervisor to doctoral students, and post-doctoral residents in the Outpatient Neuropsychology Department. She has special expertise in the assessment of children diagnosed with epilepsy/seizure disorders, as well as traumatic brain injuries. Dr. Ramos provides outpatient neuropsychological services in the Epilepsy Brain Injury Clinic. She also evaluates children with other medical, congenital, acquired, and neurodevelopmental disorders such as cerebral palsy, spina bifida, pediatric cancer, and ADHD. Dr. Ramos is also involved in efforts to increase the quality of services for Latino families. She is fluent in Spanish and  Portuguese and provides outpatient neuropsychological evaluations for Spanish/Portuguese-speaking/bilingual patients and families.

Gianna Locascio, PsyD, ABPP-CN
Neuropsychologist, Department of Neuropsychology and Fairmount Rehabilitation Programs
Locascio@kennedykrieger.org

Dr. Locascio is a pediatric neuropsychologist who provides training and supervision for students and postdoctoral residents. Her pri­mary interests and recent publications have focused on the cognitive sequelae and evidence-based treat­ment options for children and adolescents recovering from a wide range of acquired brain injuries, includ­ing concussions, moderate to severe TBI, cerebrovascular accidents, and brain tumors. She also evaluates children with other congenital, acquired, and neu­rodevelopmental disorders, including cerebral palsy, epilepsy, spina bifida, spinal cord injuries, chronic pain, and ADHD.

Megan Kramer, PhD
Neuropsychologist, Department of Neuropsychology
Kramerm@kennedykrieger.org

Dr. Kramer is a pediatric neuropsychologist in the Department of Neuropsychology. She provides training and supervision to pre-doctoral externs, interns, and post-doctoral residents. Dr. Kramer provides clinical neuropsychological services to children throughout the Kennedy Krieger Institute's Rehabilitation Continuum of Care, including the inpatient neurorehabilitation unit, Neurorehabilitation Concussion Clinic, and Community Rehabilitation program.

Dr. Kramer's primary research interests involve measuring and predicting outcome following pediatric brain injury. Her previous projects have used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine brain correlates of performance during cognitive tasks in children with traumatic brain injuries. Her current projects focus on characterizing the recovery trajectories of children with disorders of consciousness and examining early predictors of outcome in this population. In addition, Dr. Kramer is also interested in examining factors impacting recovery following mild traumatic brain injury.