My clinical and research interests have focused on the study of language development and related cognitive processes in normal and impaired populations with an emphasis on autism spectrum disorders. My earlier career as a clinician has greatly influenced and aided my more current research career in allowing me to realistically identify and then carefully define the behavioral characteristics used to develop behavioral biomarkers for autism spectrum disorders as well as oral and written language impairments.

Some past research endeavors include defining subtypes of developmental language disorders at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. At the Rutgers Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience in Newark, I investigated the genetic basis of Specific Language Impairment, the integrated study of behavioral, functional, and structural brain development in infants, young children, and children with autism, and identified early predictors of later language and learning problems.