Postdoctoral Fellowship in Pediatric Neuropsychology

The Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (DCAPBS) at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) has an opening for a postdoctoral fellow in pediatric neuropsychology for the 2024 – 2026 training years (start date July 2024).

This unique, two-year fellowship is designed for those interested in a career as a scientist/practitioner in pediatric neuropsychology. It meets the criteria set forth by the Houston Conference Policy Statement on education and training, and participates in the match process through the Association of Postdoctoral Programs in Clinical Neuropsychology (APPCN).

The mission of our neuropsychology training program is to educate future neuropsychologists at all levels of training, including externship, internship and fellowship-level trainees. DCAPBS sponsors a child clinical predoctoral psychology internship that is accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA) and that offers specialized tracks in pediatric neuropsychology, pediatric psychology, integrated healthcare, school and community psychology, and autism spectrum disorders. The department also houses a number of postdoctoral psychology fellowships focused on both clinical training and research.

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Fellowship directors

Hannah-Lise Tirado Schofield, Ph.D., ABPP-CN
Dr. Schofield, a board-certified pediatric neuropsychologist, is primarily affiliated with CHOP’s Cancer Center. In this role, she conducts evaluations with children and adolescents during various stages of cancer treatment, including patients followed within the Childhood Cancer Survivorship Program. She has a primary clinical and research interest in the neuropsychological outcomes of hematopoietic stem cell transplant and CAR T-cell therapy. Dr. Schofield is the director of the Neuropsychology Fellowship.

Lauren Krivitzky, PhD, ABPP-Cn
Dr. Krivitzky is a board certified pediatric neuropsychologist affiliated with the Pediatric Stroke Program. She is the Director of Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship Training. Clinical and research interests include neuropsychological functioning in pediatric stroke and predictors of neuropsychological outcomes in children with rare metabolic disorders. 

Section director

Thomas Flynn, PhD, ABPP-CN
Dr. Flynn is a board-certified clinical neuropsychologist and the Director of Neuropsychology and Assessment Program at CHOP. His clinical and research interests include epilepsy and outcomes of children with congenital heart defects.

Neuropsychologists

Chelsea Black, PhD, ABPP-CN
Dr. Black is a pediatric neuropsychologist who provides comprehensive outpatient neuropsychological evaluations in the Neuropsychology and Assessment Service. She also serves as the supervising neuropsychologist in the Behavioral Neuroscience Core of CHOP’s Center for Human Phenomic Science. She has clinical and research interests in the disruption of mood, language, and executive function processes in pediatric medical disorders, with a particular interest in multiple sclerosis and other neuroinflammatory disorders.

Lisa Blaskey, PhD
Dr. Blaskey is a pediatric neuropsychologist in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, the Center for Autism Research, and the Autism Integrated Care Program at CHOP.

Emily DiVirgilio, PhD
Dr. DiVirgilio primarily provides Neuropsychology services to patients in acute stages of recovery following an acquired traumatic or non-traumatic brain injury. She is part of CHOP’s Inpatient Acute Rehabilitation program, Day Hospital Rehabilitation program, and BRIDGE Interdisciplinary Outpatient Clinic. Clinical and research interests include understanding and optimizing recovery following an acquired brain injury.

Matt Fasano-McCarron, PsyD
Dr. Fasano is an English-American Sign Language bilingual clinician who specializes in providing neuropsychological consultation and evaluation services to d/Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children and their families. He collaborates closely with multidisciplinary colleagues in CHOP’s Center for Childhood Communication. His research interests primarily relate to cognitive, language, and psychosocial outcomes for DHH children who have additional medical/developmental complexities.

Lyla El-Messidi Hampton, PhD, ABPP-CN
Dr. Hampton is a pediatric neuropsychologist in CHOP’s Cardiac Kids Developmental Follow-up Program. Her clinical and research interests include neuropsychological outcomes in children treated for congenital heart defects and genetic disorders.

Sophie C. Foss, PhD
Dr. Foss is a pediatric neuropsychologist primarily affiliated with the Congenital Hyperinsulinism Center and the Craniofacial Program, where she provides consultation and assessment services for infants, children, and adolescents. Her clinical interests include neuropsychological development in children with congenital disorders, early childhood assessment, and epilepsy. Her research interests include developmental and fetal origins of brain health and neurocognitive functioning, identification of early predictors of neurodevelopmental outcomes, and the development of executive control and self-regulation capacity in children.

Mary Iampietro, PhD
Dr. Iampietro is a pediatric neuropsychologist in CHOP's Minds Matter Concussion Program. Her clinical and research interests include understanding the neuropsychological, medical, psychological, and neurodevelopmental contributions to recovery in mild, moderate, and severe traumatic brain injury.

Kelly Janke, PhD, ABPP-CN
Dr. Janke is a board-certified neuropsychologist in the Cancer Center. She primary sees patients in the Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Program and Neurofibromatosis Program. Her clinical research interests focus on early childhood development in these high risk populations and identifying models of care to meet their unique needs.

Kara A. Jones, PsyD
Dr. Jones is a pediatric neuropsychologist who provides neuropsychological consultation and evaluation for children and adolescents on the Neuropsychology Assessment Service. Her clinical interests include increasing access to neuropsychological evaluations and providing culturally sensitive care.

Sarah C. Murphy, PsyD
Dr. Murphy is a pediatric neuropsychologist in the Neuropsychology and Assessment Service, where she conducts evaluations with children and adolescents with a wide range of medical diagnoses. She has a special interest in targeted evaluation and Turner syndrome.

Iris Paltin, PhD, ABPP-CN
Dr. Paltin, a pediatric neuropsychologist, is a member of the multidisciplinary Cancer Center with primary responsibilities in the Pediatric Neuro-Oncology, Pediatric Proton Therapy, and Childhood Cancer Survivorship programs. Her research interests include neuropsychological and social-emotional functioning of pediatric brain tumor survivors, cognitive interventions to improve quality of life, and improving neuropsychology service delivery.

Juhi Pandey, PhD
Dr. Pandey is a pediatric neuropsychologist and scientist at the Center for Autism Research. She has a special interest in the early identification and diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, clinical phenotyping and brain-behavior relationships that impact diagnosis and treatment outcome.

Kathryn Ritchie, PhD
Dr. Ritchie is a pediatric neuropsychologist who primarily works with children who have experienced acquired brain injury in the inpatient acute care and inpatient rehabilitation setting. She also works with patients through the multidisciplinary Recovery and Return Clinic. Her clinical and research interests include recovery from acquired brain injury across the rehabilitation continuum of care.

Jane Schreiber, PhD, ABPP-CN
Dr. Schreiber, a pediatric neuropsychologist embedded in the Division of Pediatric General, Fetal and Thoracic Surgery, provides neurodevelopmental and neuropsychological follow-up for patients who have undergone early surgical procedures and subsequent medical treatment. Her research interests are in long-term neuropsychological outcomes.

Arianna K. Stefanatos, PhD
Dr. Stefanatos is a pediatric neuropsychologist within the Metabolic Disease Program. Her research interests involve examining predictors of neurocognitive, socioemotional and behavioral functioning within at-risk populations over time.

Megan Sy, PsyD
Dr. Sy is a pediatric neuropsychologist primarily affiliated with the Cancer Center. Her clinical role focuses on the early identification of cognitive and psychosocial effects of cancer treatment, particularly in patients with hematological malignancies and solid tumors. She also has a special interest in the development of novel models of neuropsychological care.

Nina Hattiangadi Thomas, PhD, ABPP-CN
Dr. Thomas is a board-certified pediatric neuropsychologist with subspecialty certification in pediatric neuropsychology.  She is a clinical neuropsychologist as well as Director of the Behavioral Neuroscience Core of CHOP’s Center for Human Phenomic Science. Her research interests include neuropsychological effects of multiple medical conditions including congenital heart defects, craniofacial conditions, epilepsy, metabolic illness, sleep apnea, organ transplant, and exposure to anesthesia.

The postdoctoral fellowship in pediatric neuropsychology has three key components:

1. Clinical experience (60-70 percent)
2. Supervision/didactic experience (20 percent)
3. Research experience (10-20 percent)

Clinical experience

The fellow will spend approximately 60 to 70 percent of time devoted to clinical work with the remaining time split between supervision/didactic experiences and research.

The clinical work consists of a combination of general outpatient services and focused clinical experiences. The following is a list of potential clinical experiences the fellow will encounter over the course of two years.

• General outpatient service: Throughout the two years, the fellow will spend a portion of clinical time providing consultation and neuropsychological evaluation to general outpatients referred by general neurology, hematology/oncology, rehabilitation medicine, cardiology, metabolism/genetics, plastic surgery, developmental pediatrics and other medical subspecialties.
• Pediatric Epilepsy Program: The epilepsy rotation offers the opportunity to participate in the multidisciplinary Epilepsy Team Conference, which involves providers from neurology, neuroradiology and neurosurgery in evaluation and consultation activities for children and adolescents diagnosed with epilepsy. The fellow will follow surgery candidates through baseline assessment, possible magnetoencephalography (MEG)/Wada evaluation of language and memory function, cortical mapping, and/or functional imaging, as well as postsurgical evaluation. The fellow will also assist the attending psychologist as a liaison between neuropsychology and the Epilepsy Program.
• Pediatric Stroke Program: The fellow will develop skills in consultation and assessment of children with a history of stroke. The fellow will work with a multidisciplinary team including neurology, physical/occupational/speech-language therapies, social work, school intervention and neuropsychology. The fellow may have the opportunity to provide both outpatient and inpatient consultation services with this population in addition to seeing outpatients with other vascular malformations, sickle cell disease, and other complex neurologic and genetic disorders resulting in stroke. Learn about our Pediatric Stroke Program.
• Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit: The primary objective of this rotation is to develop skills in providing neuropsychological assessment services to a wide variety of patients with acute neurological injury or insult, such as those with traumatic brain injury, brain tumors, stroke, encephalitis, and seizure disorders. As a member of the interdisciplinary team, there will be opportunities to conduct serial cognitive assessments, co-treat with other team members, and participate in meetings for the family, treatment planning, and school re-entry. Select opportunities for case consultation, outpatient cognitive screenings, behavioral management, individual psychotherapy, family therapy, education, and overall team support are also available.
• Cardiac Kids Developmental Follow-up Program: This program provides comprehensive medical and developmental evaluations for children with congenital heart disorders and associated neurologic complications. The fellow will have the opportunity to complete early childhood assessments and work with a multidisciplinary team that includes physicians, therapists and nurses. Learn about the Cardiac Kids Developmental Follow-up Program.
• Metabolic Disease Program: This rotation involves conducting serial neurodevelopmental and neuropsychological evaluations of individuals with a range of metabolic and genetic conditions from infancy through young adulthood. The fellow will also have the opportunity to provide consultation and work within a multidisciplinary team that includes physicians, dieticians, therapists and nurses. Learn about the Metabolic Disease Program.
• General Surgery Neurodevelopmental Follow-up: This rotation involves conducting neurodevelopmental evaluations with infants and young children who have undergone fetal surgery for myelomeningocele or other intrauterine procedures. Children who have received early surgical treatment for other congenital conditions (e.g., congenital hydrocephalus, congenital diaphragmatic hernias, congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation (CCAM), and giant omphalocele) are also evaluated. The fellow will have the opportunity to learn infant and early childhood assessment and development a better understanding of the associations between prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal medical complications requiring surgical intervention and later developmental outcomes.
• Concussion Program: This program provides neuropsychological consultation, evaluation, and intervention services to children and adolescents who have sustained mild traumatic brain injuries. The fellow will have the opportunity to conduct brief neuropsychological screening evaluations and to provide psychoeducation and intervention services within a clinic model of care. The fellow will also communicate with medical, psychology, and therapy providers to coordinate care within the multidisciplinary Concussion Program.
• Adult neurology: In conjunction with the Department of Neurology at the neighboring Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP), a minor rotation in adult neuropsychology is offered. The fellow will gain experience with patients from adult neurology populations such as Parkinson’s, dementia, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, lupus and concussion. Opportunities to participate in Wada testing are also available. This rotation is supervised by two adult neuropsychologists.

In addition to the above listed rotations, the fellow may have the opportunity to create individualized experiences based on his or her interests.

Didactics/supervision experience

The fellow will spend approximately 20 percent of their time in supervision and didactic experiences. Specific didactics include:

• Neuropsychology seminar
• Neuropsychology group supervision
• Clinical neuroscience conferences
• Brain cuttings
• Psychiatry grand rounds at CHOP
• Neurology grand rounds at HUP
• Lectures on ethical practice and cultural awareness/diversity

Additional experiences support the fellow’s specific clinical responsibilities at the time, including attending weekly stroke conferences, rehabilitation team meetings and epilepsy planning meetings. The fellow will also have the opportunity to:

• Participate in mock fact-finding examinations in preparation for board certification in neuropsychology through the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP)
• Be a member of the Program Planning Committee for the Neuropsychology and the Psychology Seminar Series, both of which provide APA-approved CE credits for psychologists
• Lead a “Fellows” seminar for junior neuropsychology trainees, including interns and externs

The fellow will receive approximately two to three hours of individual supervision per week, to support clinic activities, plan assessments, analyze data, and provide oral and written feedback. The fellow may also have the opportunity to provide supervision to intern- and extern-level neuropsychology students through an umbrella supervision model.

Research experience

Approximately 10 to 20 percent of the fellow’s time should be dedicated to research. The fellow will be assigned a primary research mentor and will be expected to demonstrate competency for independent research after completing the fellowship. For example, fellows are expected to present at local and professional conferences or submit a review paper or chapter by the end of the fellowship.

The stipend for this fellowship is consistent with NIH salary guidelines for postdoctoral fellows. Stipends are distributed evenly across the year in biweekly checks.

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia provides a generous benefits package, including multiple options for individual health insurance coverage that becomes available upon completion of the first 30 days of postdoctoral fellowship training. At this time, fellows may choose to purchase health insurance for a spouse or dependent(s) through one of the available group plan options. We strongly recommend that fellows continue pre-existing individual health insurance coverage through the first month of the postdoctoral training program. Fellows are also given a stipend for professional development/conference travel.

Fellows will accrue 20 paid time off (PTO) days to be used as needed for vacation, personal time or illness. Fellow employees are eligible to draw upon their PPL bank only following the first 90 days of employment at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. In addition, fellows will be allowed the eight announced holidays. Fellows may request an additional 5 day leave for participation in professional conferences, as long as coverage for clinical responsibilities is arranged.

The fellow is provided with a computer and a personal workspace within the Psychology office suite. They have access to the library resources both through CHOP and through the University of Pennsylvania library system.

Applications must be submitted through the APPA CAS portal and should include the following documents:

• A one-to-two-page cover letter describing previous professional academic preparation and work experience relevant to a postdoctoral fellowship in neuropsychology, career interests and specific plans, and reasons for applying to the Fellowship Program. Please specify that you are applying to the neuropsychology fellowship (as CHOP may have several open positions in other areas of psychology).
• A curriculum vitae.
• Three letters of recommendation from academic or work supervisors.
• Two de-identified neuropsychological reports.
• An unofficial transcript from your doctoral training program (an official transcript will be required upon acceptance of a fellowship).
• APPCN “Verification of Completion of Doctorate” form.

The application deadline is December 15, 2023.

This fellowship program participates in the APPCN match program conducted by National Matching Services Inc., and adheres to all match procedures. All applicants to APPCN programs should register for the match. Our program code for the match is 8941. Interviews will be conducted virtually in winter 2024.