RUSH NeuroBehavioral Center - Building on the strenghts of children, teens and young adults
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RUSH University Medical Center

Research Staff

Click on the names below to read their biographies:

Clark McKown, Ph.D.

Nicole Russo, Ph.D.

Bernadette Evans-Smith, Ph.D.

Adelaide Allen, Ed.M.

Jason K. Johnson, B.S.

Clark-McKown__DSC6995Clark McKown, Ph.D.

Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Pediatrics
Associate Executive Director and Research Director
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Behavioral Sciences

Education and Training

  • University of California, Berkeley, PhD, Psychology
  • Stanford’s Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, Predoctoral internship
  • Yale University, BA, Psychology

Areas of Expertise

  • Child assessment and therapy
  • School consultation
  • Academic, social, behavioral, and emotional disorders of childhood
  • Social development and friendship

Research

  • Typical and atypical social development
  • Assessment and treatment of social problems
  • Instructional environments and children’s well-being
  • Program evaluation

Nicole-Russo_DSC7077Nicole Russo, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Behavioral Sciences

 

Education and Training

  • Northwestern University, Ph.D., Neuroscience
  • Loyola University Chicago, B.S., Biology
  • Certified research reliable in administration of the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (Lord, Rutter, & Le Couteur, 1994)
  • Certified research reliable in administration of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (Lord C, Rutter M, DiLavore P, et al., 1999)

Project Director

Assessing Social-Emotional Learning Among Children with Diagnosed NeuroBehavioral Disorders

Areas of Expertise

  • Autism spectrum disorders, fragile X syndrome, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and language-based learning problems
  • Neurophysiology
  • Nonverbal awareness, prosody, facial affect
  • Social information processing

Research Interests

  • Improving objective assessment of functioning for children with neurodevelopmental disabilities
  • Direct assessment of social-emotional learning skills and self-regulation in typically-developing and clinical pediatric populations
  • Evaluation of intervention efficacy and the development of new treatment programs

Bernadette-Evans-Smith__DSC6643Bernadette Evans-Smith, Ph.D.

Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Pediatrics
Clinical Director
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Behavioral Sciences

Education and Training

  • University of Rhode Island, Ph.D. in Psychology
  • University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), BA in Psychology
  • Children’s Hospital, Oakland, Postdoctoral Fellow
  • University of Virginia, Postdoctorate Training/Neuropsychological Assessment
  • Rhode Island Youth Guidance Center, Predoctoral Internship

Areas of Expertise

  • School and Clinical Psychology
  • Child and Adolescent Assessment
  • Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy – individual, family, and group
  • School Consultation
  • Childhood Disorders including Autism Spectrum Disorders, Learning Disabilities, Anxiety and Mood Disorders, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Research

  • Social Emotional Learning and Development in Children and Adolescents
  • Reading Disabilities
  • Pain Management

Adelaide Allen, Ed.M.

Research Manager

Scholarship Coordinator

Education and Training

  • Harvard Graduate School of Education, Ed.M., Human Development and Psychology
  • University of Michigan, B.A., Psychology

Project Manager

Investigating the Effectiveness of Group Interventions to Promote Children’s Social Competence

Areas of Expertise

  • Early Childhood Development
  • School-based Social Skills Interventions
  • Executive Functions and Study Skill Development
  • Educational Software Research and Design: Reading and Cognitive Development
  • Universal Design for Learning: Curriculum Design

Research Interests

  • Screening and assessment services for identifying social-emotional difficulties within a problem solving model (RTI)
  • Designing  and implementing social emotional support services in schools, including effective progress monitoring assessments
  • Implementation and effectiveness of Executive Functions Curriculum  in elementary through high school aged students
  • Social Network Analysis and its use in schools for identifying students with social needs and students with social strengths
  • The relationship between classroom climate and student learning

Jason-Johnson__DSC6259Jason K. Johnson, B.S.

Research Assistant


How do you tell if your child needs help?

If you have a sense that something isn’t right, that your child is struggling in school, having trouble making friends, or controlling behavior… >>

Some kids face challenges, but every kid has strengths to build on

At RNBC, we value the fact that every child is different. We know, too, that the goals for every child will also be different… >>

What's Executive
Function and why is it for kids?

Executive Functions are cognitive processes that allow people to plan, organize, make decisions, pay attention, and regulate behavior… >>

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