Irwin D. Waldman, Ph.D.
E-mail: psyiw@emory.edu

I did my undergraduate degree in Human Development and Family Studies at Cornell University, graduating in 1982. Following graduation, I attended graduate school in clinical psychology at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada and earned my Ph.D. in 1988.

In my Master's and dissertation research, I examined the relations among non-social information processing (i.e., inattention and impulsivity), social perception, and aggressive and withdrawn behavior in 7 to 12 year old children.

Following my year-long clinical internship at the Lafayette Clinic in Detroit (1987-88), I completed a three-year, NIMH-funded Postdoctoral Fellowship in Behavioral Genetics at the University of Minnesota. I began as a faculty member in the Psychology Department at Emory University in the fall of 1991.

During the spring of 1996, I was a Visiting Faculty Scholar at the Henry A. Murray Research Center at Harvard, and a Visiting Professor at the Institute for Behavioral Genetics at the University of Colorado, Boulder. In the fall of 1998, I was a Visiting Professor and Honorary Lecturer at the Centre for Social, Genetic, and Developmental Psychiatry Research at the Institute of Psychiatry, University of London, UK.

I am an Associate Editor of the journal, Behavior Genetics, and am on the editorial boards of two other journals (Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, The Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice). I have also reviewed grants for NIH, as well as for the Medical Research Council and Wellcome Trust in the UK. I was a member-at-large of the Executive Committee of the Behavior Genetics Association from 1998-2000, and a member of the task force on social, legal, and research implications of behavioral genetics of the American Society of Human Genetics from 1995-96. I was also a statistical consultant to the DSM-IV Disruptive Behavior Disorders Field Trials.

I am currently Principal Investigator on an NIMH grant to study the molecular genetics of childhood disruptive disorders, and am Co-Principal Investigator on an NIMH grant which funds a behavior genetic study of child externalizing problems.

Current Graduate Student Lab Members

Devon LoParo, M.A.
Fourth year graduate student
E-mail: devon.loparo@emory.edu

I graduated with distinction from Duke University in 2010 with a Bachelors of Science after majoring in psychology and minoring in biology. While at Duke, I worked on a senior thesis project with Dr. Avshalom Caspi and Dr. Terrie Moffitt in which I examined the interaction of the MAOA gene and childhood maltreatment affecting children's self-report of conduct problems as well as personality variables. I also worked in a visual cognition laboratory and a borderline personality disorder research lab while at Duke. I began graduate school in clinical psychology in the fall of 2010 at Emory University, where I am currently examining genetic influences on specific types of aggression. For my master's research, I plan on attempting to establish social cognitive variables such as facial emotion recognition as endophenotypes of aggression.

Ryan Hackett
First year grduate student
E-mail: hackett.ryan@gmail.com

I graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor's in sociology in 2009 and went on to work as a teacher for adolescents and young adults with autism spectrum disorders at The Community School in Decatur, GA. At the same time I implemented behavioral interventions for children with developmental delays under the supervision of a group of professionals at an outpatient mental health facility called Floortime Atlanta. In 2011, I began work as a research assistant at Georgia State University with Dr. Diana Robins studying the assessment of autism in toddlers. In 2012, I came to Emory to work in the lab of Dr. Patricia Brennan. At the Brennan lab, I assisted in a longitudinal investigation of the impact of early exposure to psychotropic medications on social, emotional, cognitive, hormonal and behavioral outcomes for children of mothers with mood disorders. In the fall of 2013, I will become a graduate student in Dr. Waldman's lab, where I intend to study the genetic and environmental influences contributing to the development of antisocial behavior, with a special focus on the role of association with deviant peers.

Current Undergraduate Student Lab Members

Katy Heath
I am a junior in Emory College pursuing a BA in Psychology and Spanish. After Emory, I hope to attend graduate school for Clinical Psychology. My research interests focus on autism and its biological and environmental influences. I spend my summers working with autistic children and adults at day camp. I am also an Intern at the Illinois Chapter of the Autism Society of America.

Marissa Koven

Josh Weinstock

I am a junior in Emory College studying psychology and mathematics. I intend to pursue either biostatistics or quanitative psychology as a career. I am currently a data analysis consultant to the Washington Nationals baseball team.