People

  • Shawn Christ
  • Shawn Christ, Ph.D.
  • Director

  • Shawn Christ is the Director of the Clinical Neuropsychology Laboratory. He obtained his Ph.D. in 2004 from Washington University in St. Louis with a specialization in clinical pediatric neuropsychology. He later completed a 2-year postdoctoral fellowship in cognitive neuroscience at Washington University during which his training focused on the utilization of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology in humans and the study of the neurocognitive processes involved in deception and lying.

    Dr. Christ is currently Associate Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at the University of Missouri and an Adjunct Professor at the MU Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders. He also currently serves as the MRI Director at the MU Cognitive Neuroscience Systems Core Facility.

  • - Gage Crum
  • Gage Crum
  • Senior Research Coordinator

  • Gage is the full-time Senior Research Coordinator for the Clinical Neuropsychology Lab. He received his B.S. in biology with minors in psychology and Spanish from the University of Missouri. Gage worked previously in the Social Cognitive and Addiction Neuroscience (SCAN) Lab under Dr. Bruce Bartholow, examining various cognitive and motor processes that suffer from the effects of alcohol addiction, such as reflex response and depression symptoms. He also held a Research Assistant role in Dr. Sara Gable’s Nutrition and Exercise Physiology Lab at the University of Missouri, studying the ability of pre-K children and their ability to comprehend cardinal principal knowledge through various means of intervention administration, including active versus sedentary assessment.

  • Mackenzie Cissne
  • Mackenzie Cissne
  • Graduate Student

  • Mackenzie is a 3rd year graduate student in the Clinical Neuropsychology Laboratory. She received her B.A. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a psychology major and biological sciences minor. During her undergraduate career, Mackenzie worked in Dr. Kathy Chiou’s Clinical Neuroscience and Neuropsychology lab studying neuropsychological outcomes and neural underpinnings of individuals with traumatic brain injury. Following graduation, Mackenzie worked as the lab manager for Dr. Chiou’s lab. Mackenzie joined the Clinical Neuropsychology Lab in the fall of 2020 and her current research interests involve studying the cognitive and functional outcomes of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), specifically outcomes in executive functioning.

  • Hayley Clocksin
  • Hayley Clocksin
  • Graduate Student

  • Hayley is a 5th year graduate student in the Clinical Neuropsychology Lab. She received her B.A. in cognitive neuroscience with minors in linguistics and anthropology from Washington University in St. Louis. Her current research focuses on using neuroimaging techniques such as fMRI and DTI to investigate cognitive and neurological differences in individuals with phenylketonuria (PKU) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

  • Scout Crowell
  • Scout Crowell
  • Graduate Student

  • Scout is a first-year graduate student in the Clinical Neuropsychology Lab. She received her B.A. in Psychology and Spanish from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. After completing her undergraduate studies, Scout worked as a research coordinator in the Center for Biobehavioral Health at Nationwide Children’s Hospital for the Social Cognition, Adjustment, and Neurodevelopment (SCAN) Lab and the Brain Development and Social Cognition Lab under the mentorship or Drs. Kristen R. Hoskinson and Eric E. Nelson. Scout’s current research is concerned with elucidating the neural mechanisms behind behavioral differences in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and phenylketonuria (PKU).

  • Braden Hayse
  • Braden Hayse
  • Graduate Student

  • Braden is a 3rd-year student in the Clinical Neuropsychology Laboratory. He received his B.S. in psychology with a minor in biopsychology from Evangel University in Springfield, MO, before obtaining his M.S. in applied cognition and neuroscience at the University of Texas at Dallas. He joined the Clinical Neuropsychology Lab in the fall of 2020 after working with children with neurodevelopmental disorders for several years. His current research focuses on investigating the mechanisms and influences of sleep and sleep disturbances in individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or phenylketonuria (PKU). Additionally, he is interested in the effects of sleep treatment on cognitive abilities in the same populations.

  • Maia Zalik
  • Maia Zalik
  • Graduate Student

  • Maia is a first-year graduate student in the Clinical Neuropsychology Laboratory. She received her B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis, where she majored in Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology and Art History. After graduation, Maia worked in Dr. Laura Bierut’s laboratory at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis investigating the factors that affect the risk for alcoholism. She then went on to work as psychometrist at the Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders. Maia joined the Clinical Neuropsychology Lab in the fall of 2022, and her current research interests involve using neuroimaging technology to examine executive functioning differences in individuals with phenylketonuria (PKU).

Past Doctoral Graduates

Kelly Boland
Pediatric Psychology Fellow at St. Louis Children’s Hospital

Katherine Bellesheim
Postdoctoral Fellow in pediatric neuropsychology and rehabilitation at the University of Michigan

Kimberly Bodner
Pediatric Neuropsychologist at The MetroHealth System (Cleveland, OH)
Assistant Professor at Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine

Current & Past Collaborators

Richard Abrams, Dept of Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis

Kristina Aldridge, Dept of Pathology & Anatomical Sciences, University of Missouri School of Medicine 

David Beversdorf, Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders, University of Missouri 

Kimberly Bodner, Dept of Psychology, Case Western Reserve University

Nelson Cowan, Dept of Psychology, University of Missouri

Ye Duan, Dept of Computer Science, University of Missouri 

Jeffery Johnson, Dept of Psychology, University of Missouri

Stephen Kanne, Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders, University of Missouri

Micah Mazurek, Dept of Human Services, University of Virginia

Christina McCrae, Dept of Psychiatry, University of Missouri

Judith Miles, Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders, University of Missouri

Esperanza Font Montgomery, Dept of Genetics, Mercy Hospital Springfield

Dawn Peck, Dept of Genetics, Mayo Clinic

Janine Stichter, Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders, University of Missouri

Desiree White, Dept of Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis 

Gary Yao, Dept of Biological Engineering, University of Missouri