The Team
Lab Director – Ruth Grossman
Dr. Grossman is professor at Emerson College where she teaches graduate and undergraduate classes in the department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. Her research is focused on various aspects of face-to-face communication in autistic and neurotypical individuals within the framework of double-empathy. This framework aims to shift the focus from a medical to a social model of autism and emphasizes that miscommunications in daily social interactions are caused by reciprocal and mutual misunderstandings between neurodivergent and neurotypical communication partners that we need to understand better.
Learn more about Dr. Ruth Grossman’s Research here
Listen to her podcast “Who Gets Autism?” on Harvard Radcliffe Institute’s Born Curious
Find Out More About Dr. Grossman.
Current Lab Members
Elana Groves – Clinical Research Coordinator
Elana Graduated from Northeastern University in December of 2023. Elana Majored in Behavioral Neuroscience with a minor in the Health Sciences. After working as a Behavioral Technician for two years, Elana works at the FACE Lab to continue learning about the intersection of ASD, communication, and identity formation. She hopes to become a Child Psychiatrist and better the standard of care each child receives.
Chloe Kim – Undergraduate Student
Chloe is an undergraduate student at Brandeis University majoring in psychology. She is working at the FACE lab to gain research experience and learn more about autism research. She hopes to pursue psychiatry in the future.
Mika Or-Barkan – Undergraduate Student
Mika is an undergraduate psychology student at Boston University. She is passionate about autism research and hopes to further the understanding of autism in women in the future. She is working as an RA at the FACE Lab to gain more hands on experience in research that aligns with her interests!
Lab Alumni
Lila Hite – Research Assistant
Cai Conners – Graduate Student
Rose Abraham – Undergraduate Student
Sara Berliner – Graduate Student
Tori Lajous – Undergraduate Student
Christian Uva – Undergraduate Student
Dillon Griscom – Undergraduate Student
Alexis Mickelson – Undergraduate Student
Thuy Buonocore – Research Coordinator
Victoria Trainor – Research Assistant
Lior Jokel – Graduate Student
Devine Bauman – Undergraduate Student
Sarah Naticchia – Undergraduate Student
Paul Palmer – Undergraduate Student
Ruth Ashley – Research Assistant
Millie Smith – Research Assistant
Sarah LaFontaine – Graduate Student
Urvisha Shethia – Graduate Student
Ashlyn Murphy – Graduate Student
Lauren Powell – Research Assistant
Julia Mertens – Research Assistant
Emily Zane – Postdoctoral Research Associate
Anna Zembo – Undergraduate Student
Natalie Fenske – Undergraduate Student
Kiran Khalani – Graduate Assistant
Kelly Mcclintock – Graduate Student
Aimee Garciano – Graduate Student
Margaret Griesmer – Graduate Assistant
Alexandra Nikolaidis – Undergraduate Student
Amy Schapiro – Undergraduate Student
Kayla Neumeyer – Graduate Assistant
Diana Frenze – Undergraduate Student
Grace Connolly – Graduate Student
Sarah Lovell – B.S. Endicott College
Aaron Shield – B.A. Wesleyan University, M.A. University of Texas at Austin, Ph.D. University of Texas at Austin
Sandra Buck – B.S. Dickinson College, M.S., Communication Disorders, Emerson College ’15
Marlee Galper – B.S., Communication Disorders, Emerson College ’15
Rebecca Baker – B.S., Communication Disorders, Emerson College ’15Darren Hedley – B. Psych, Ph.D., Flinders University