Members

Emi Furukawa, PhD, Group Leader

I've had the privilege to work with the Human Developmental Neurobiology Unit/Children's Research Center since when it was first established!

I received a PhD in Clinical Psychology from George Mason University, completed an internship and residency in child psychology, and maintain a clinical psychology license in Virginia, USA. I speak Japanese and English. My research focuses on reinforcement processing in ADHD, ranging from experimental imaging and behavioral studies to evaluating the feasibility and effectiveness of translating the basic knowledge into to practice (caregiver training). I hope our work will lead to improved assessment and treatment for ADHD and will help many families! 

Publications: https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/326266/overview

Catherine Williams, PhD, Staff Scientist

My role within the Tripp Unit is to guide the assessment and diagnosis of our wonderful volunteers!  I am a clinical neuropsychologist by training, having completed a PhD in Clinical Psychology at Idaho State University in 2017 and a postdoctoral fellowship in neuropsychology at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in 2019.  I have been working with the Tripp Unit since 2022 and continue to maintain an active license to practice psychology in the state of Vermont.

My clinical interests are broad, ranging from ADHD to movement disorders to intractable epilepsy.  I love my clinical work, but I have always been fascinated by research that explores how our brains regulate desire and reward.  In the Unit, I get to enjoy both!

Hend Samniya, Ph.D. Student

I’m a PhD candidate at OIST under the supervision of Professor Gail Tripp. I’m clinically trained as a speech and language therapist, and I’m also a licensed audiologist. In my master’s degree, I studied auditory neurophysiology using clinical electrophysiology methods to investigate central auditory processing in the brain. Before I joined the Tripp Unit, I worked in assessment and intervention with children with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD), and in auditory assessments and rehabilitation of people with hearing disorders. 

Since I joined the Unit, I conduct language and social functioning assessments as part of my studies on language and social communication in children with and without ADHD.