Staff

Katarina Ament: Research Assistant I; Ament@kennedykrieger.org; Katarina earned her BS in Psychology from the University of Iowa in 2010 and is currently working toward earning a MA in Clinical Psychology from Loyola University of Maryland. As a research assistant, her primary duties include structural imaging and behavioral coding.

Anita Barber, PhD: Post-doctoral fellow; BarberA@kennedykrieger.org; Dr. Barber received her Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience from the University of Pittsburgh. She joined Dr. Mostofsky’s lab in 2010. Her research interests include healthy development and dysfunction in executive and motor systems and their impact on cognition and behavior. She is interested in understanding the development of these systems in typically developing children and the interactions between brain networks that may underlie dysfunction in neurological disorders such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Becky Buhlman, MA: Research Assistant II; Buhlman@kennedykrieger.org; Becky is a Research Assistant II for LNIR, and her responsibilities include administering and scoring various cognitive, neuropsychological, and experimental assessments; entering and analyzing data; and recruiting participants for studies. Becky earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Salisbury University in 2006 and went on to earn a Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology from Towson University in 2009. Prior to working at LNIR, Becky interned at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NIH), worked at the Kennedy Krieger Montgomery County School for individuals with autism, and tutored at a learning center with a variety of age groups and developmental levels.

Deana Crocetti, BS: Manager/Senior Research Assistant; crocetti@kennedykrieger.org; Deana is responsible for the management of structural imaging projects. Her primary responsibilities include data analyses and interpretation, writing research manuscripts, assisting with grant applications and revisions, and the supervision of staff and students. Her research interests include the use of magnetic resonance and image processing techniques to study brain function and physiology. In 1998, Deana received a BS degree in Psychology from Mount Saint Mary’s College after which she began working at the Kennedy Krieger Institute on the Inpatient Neurobehavioral Unit and in 2001 became part of Laboratory for Neurocognitive and Imaging Research.

Benjamin Dirlikov, MA: Research Assistant II; Dirlikov@kennedykrieger.org; Ben received his BS degree in brain, behavior, and cognitive sciences from the University of Michigan in 2007. He went on to receive his MA degree from the department of psychological and brain sciences at Johns Hopkins University in 2009. In 2011 he joined the LNIR team where his primary responsibilities are to employ a variety of imaging methodologies to explore brain-behavior differences in children with neurodevelopmental disorders.

Andrew Gaddis, MHS: Research Assistant II; Andrew received his BS in Neuroscience from the Johns Hopkins University in 2009, and his MHS in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2010. He is involved in both aMRI and fMRI data analysis on data from children with various neurodevelopmental disorders, including Autism, ADHD and Tourette’s Syndrome. He is also involved in data acquisition and management.

Katelynn Griffin: Research Assistant I; Griffink@kennedykrieger.org; Katie earned a BA in Psychology from Gettysburg College in 2011. Katie is the research coordinator for the lab. She will greet you and your child on the day of testing, go over study details, and is the primary contact person for information on our studies. Katie is also responsible for participant screening, behavioral testing, and data analysis.

John Muschelli, ScM: Pre-doctoral Biostatistician; jmuschel@jhsph.edu; John earned his BS in Biomathematics and Neuroscience at University of Scranton in 2008. Additionally, he received his ScM in Biostatistics in 2010 from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. John is involved with functional MRI analysis, structural modeling, and temporal derivative use in latency analysis.

Mary Beth Nebel, PhD: Post-doctoral fellow; Nebel@kennedykrieger.org; Mary Beth recently completed her PhD in Biomedical Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the topic of which was cortical mechanisms underlying the modulation of somatosensory perception. As a post doctoral fellow at Kennedy Krieger, her research will focus on the application of advanced image acquisition and analysis techniques to study somatosensory processing and cortical connectivity aspects of Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Keri Shiels, PhD: Post-doctoral fellow; Shiels@kennedykrieger.org; Dr. Shiels received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University at Buffalo. She joined Dr. Mostofsky’s lab in 2011 after completing her internship at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Her research interests include cognitive and motivational processes in children with ADHD and typically developing children. As a post-doctoral fellow at Kennedy Krieger, she will examine delay-related impulsive and anomalous motor physiology in children with ADHD. Keri is also involved in scanning the children and administering transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).

Michelle Talley, MA: Psychology Associate; TalleyMi@kennedykrieger.org; Michelle earned a B.A. degree in Psychology from Loyola College in Maryland in 1989. Additionally, she earned a M.A. degree in Clinical Psychology from Loyola College in Maryland in 2001. As a psychology associate, Michelle’s primary responsibilities in the lab include administration and scoring of a variety of cognitive, neuropsychological, and experimental assessments, data analysis, and database management. She also plays a role in training/preparing our research participants for the MRI session.

Rachel Tillman: Research Trainee; Tillman@kennedykriger.org; Rachael is earning her BA in Psychology from Johns Hopkins University. Among other things, she performs behavioral and fMRI data analysis, recruitment and testing of children with and without anxiety disorders, and manuscript preparation. Her research interests include affective neuroscience, pediatric anxiety disorders, and emotional influences on information processing.

Elizabeth Youle, BA: Administrative Assistant; Youle@kennedykrieger.org; Elizabeth received her BA in Comparative Literature from Hampshire College in 2009. She is responsible for a variety of administrative tasks, including maintaining and securing patient records including medical reports, results, documents, and general correspondence, assisting with the creation of new study participant charts, and a range of clerical tasks.