Caroline G. Richter, Ph.D., and S. Justin Thomas, Ph.D., associate professor in the department of Psychiatry and Behavior Neurobiology, have received the 2024-2025 McNulty Civitan Scientist Award, they will work closely with Sylvie Mrug, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Psychology.

This award is given on behalf of the McNulty Civitan Scientist Committee and the Civitan International Research Center (CIRC) for neurodevelopment and neurodevelopmental disorders. The purpose of the award is to fund interdisciplinary clinical or fundamental science research aimed at enhancing understanding of typical and atypical brain development, autism spectrum disorders, intellectual disabilities, neurodevelopmental disabilities and malformations, impaired cognitive development, or the effects of environmental toxins on brain development. The UAB Civitan International Research Center offers $100,000 through the McNulty Award for interdisciplinary research focused on neurodevelopmental disorders.

This team of investigators is studying sleep disorders in individuals with Down Syndrome (DS) with the intention to improve quality of life for them and for their families.

July 10-13, 2024 – Dr. Richter presented a poster at the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading (SSSR) in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Richter, C. G., Stein, B., Johnson, R. J., Hart, S., & Gallen, C. L. (2024, July). Association between reading achievement, general anxiety, and test anxiety. Poster presented at the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, Copenhagen, Denmark.

May 23-26, 2024 – Our Lab presented three posters at the Association for Psychological Science (APS) in San Francisco, CA.

Yu, W., Li, C. M., Stein, B., Mercier, A., Chen, J., Hoeft, F., & Richter, C. G. (2024, May). The impact of parenting styles on adolescents’ anxiety and emotional well-being: Parental well-being as mediator. Poster presented at the Association for Psychological Science (APS), San Francisco, CA. 

Li, C. M., Jones, M., Stein, B., Mercier, A., Berisha, A., Chen, J. M., Hoeft, F., & Richter, C. G. (2024, May). Risk and resilience factors in adolescents with specific learning disabilities: Exploring the relations between internalizing behaviors and emotional well-being. Poster presented at the Association for Psychological Science (APS), San Francisco, CA. 

Kehl, M., P., Stein, B., Kirshy, S. M., Albright, M.G., Mrug, S., Austin, H. M., Campbell, K., & Richter, C. G. (2024, May). Examining the relationship between anxiety, executive functioning, and reading achievement in adolescents with specific learning disabilities. Poster presented at the Association for Psychological Science (APS), San Francisco, CA. 

The STARS lab presented several posters at the Gatlinburg Conference in Kansas City, MO.

Dahlman, A., Mercier, A., Arnold, P. H., Mervis, B. C., & Richter, G. C. (2024, April). The Role of Persistence on Adaptive Functioning in Children with Williams Syndrome Ages 6 to 8. Poster presented at the 56th Gatlinburg Conference, Kansas City, MO.

Hawrych, R., Moore, J., Lovejoy, K., Moore, K., Jones, M., Deaver, J., & Richter, C. G. (2024, April). Executive functions of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities: A systematic review. Poster presented at the 56th Gatlinburg Conference, Kansas City, MO.

Mercier, A., Hall, S., Ruiz, O., Kirshy, S., Koslouski, J., Chafouleas, S. & Richter, C.G. (April, 2024) Emotional well-being measures used with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their psychometric properties. Poster presented at 56th Gatlinburg Conference, Kansas City, MO.

Our lab watched the UAB Blazers basketball game (UAB vs San Diego State) at Bartow Arena on Friday, March 22.

Dr. Richter was featured at the Superpower Mentors interview. The interview covered one of our latest co-authored research study surrounding the topic of Stereotype Threat. A study that looks into how stereotypes and stigmas impact individuals with learning differences and their ability to learn.

The interview can be found here: (28) How Stereotypes and Stigmas Impact Individuals with Learning Differences! | LinkedIn

Dr. Caroline G. Richter gave a talk about Williams syndrome at the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) Core Lecture Series hosted by the Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities at UAB.

The lecture can be watched here: Core Lecture 2023-24 – Zoom

Learning objectives: 

1)  Describe the behavioral phenotype of children with Williams syndrome

 2)  Explain the pattern of strengths and weaknesses in the cognitive profile of children with Williams syndrome

 3)  Be able to recognize differences between Williams syndrome and autism spectrum disorders

 4)  List the differences between Williams syndrome and 7q11.23 Duplication (Dup7)

February 23, 2024 – Our lab attended and presented at the 23rd Annual Alabama Autism Conference.

*Boatright, V. A., *Kirshy, S., & Richter, C. G. (2024, February). Navigating Puberty: A comprehensive review of sex and puberty education for children with autism spectrum disorder. Poster presented at the 23^rd Annual Alabama Autism Conference, Tuscaloosa, AL.

Dr. Caroline G. Richter talks about the STARS lab research project that aims at evaluating biopsychosocial outcomes of mindfulness-based instruction in school-aged children with specific learning disabilities at the Spring Valley School podcast. This project was funded by UAB CEDHARS.

You can watch or listen to the podcast here:

YouTube:

Spotify:

Dr. Caroline G. Richter gives a talk on Neurodiversity: Understanding the supports and value of diverse learning in the classroom. This talk was organized by the Cornell University Community Accessible Neuroscience Lecture, on December 14, 2023.

The complete recording of the lecture can be found here.