Marisa Spann

Columbia University

Aberrant brain development of attention and language circuits as early risk markers of autism

2014-2015: Spring

Marisa Spann obtained a PhD in clinical psychology with a specialization in neuropsychology from George Washington University and a MPH at Yale School of Public Health. She recently completed a T32 postdoctoral research fellowship at Columbia University, College of Physicians & Surgeons/New York State Psychiatric Institute with emphasis on translational child psychiatry and developmental neuroimaging. She continues at Columbia as an Associate Research Scientist. Her research centers on how prenatal risk factors affect brain and cognitive development during early childhood, and result in later childhood psychopathology. She is also interested in identifying sensitive timeframes during brain and cognitive development that confer the greatest risk for childhood psychopathology.