Allison
Gornik
,
PhD
1750 E. Fairmount Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21231
United States
About
Dr. Allison Gornik is a licensed and board-certified child and adolescent clinical psychologist in Kennedy Krieger Institute’s Center for Neuropsychological and Psychological Assessment. She also holds an appointment as an assistant professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Gornik works with children, adolescents, young adults and their families across a broad range of ages and presenting difficulties, typically focusing on the intersection of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric concerns. Dr. Gornik is committed to providing care that is gender-affirming, culturally humble and promotes equity. She sees patients within the department’s outpatient program, including via the Pathways to Young Adulthood Clinic and Executive Function Clinic. Additionally, she supervises postdoctoral fellows through a departmental clinical service that helps caregivers navigate challenges they may encounter when implementing recommendations following an evaluation, and she coordinates the Neuropsychology Research Training Program.
Education
Dr. Gornik received her bachelor's degree in Psychology from New College of Florida and her master's and doctoral degrees in Clinical Psychology from Michigan State University. She completed an APA-accredited internship in child clinical and pediatric psychology at Children's National in Washington, DC, before completing a postdoctoral fellowship in Child and Adolescent Clinical Psychology with Kennedy Krieger and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Research
Dr. Gornik's work focuses on improving access to equitable healthcare and strengthening psychological assessment for children, adolescents and families. Her research examines practical strategies that can improve care delivery, with an emphasis on evaluating procedures designed to increase equity and better understand how they affect youth and families. This has included studying factors associated with missed appointments and the value of follow-up check-ins after initial evaluations. Dr. Gornik also studies ways to improve psychological assessment so it better serves patients. Her work includes research on universal suicide risk screening, factors associated with suicidal thoughts and behaviors among youth with neurodevelopmental differences, and disparities in commonly used assessment tools. Across her research, she aims to generate findings that are both scientifically rigorous and directly applicable to clinical practice.