Dr. Stuart Shanker is Distinguished Research Professor of Philosophy and Psychology at York University. He was educated at Oxford, where he obtained a First in PPE (Philosophy, Politics, and Economics) and won the Marian Buck Fellowship at Christ Church, where he obtained a First in a B.Phil in Philosophy and a D.Phil with Distinction in Philosophy. Among his awards are a Canada Council Doctoral Fellowship and Postdoctoral Fellowship; a Calgary Institute for the Humanities Fellowship; a University of Alberta Mactaggart Fellowship; an Iszaak Walton Killam Fellowship; and the Walter L. Gordon Fellowship. He has received many grants, among them a $7,000,000 grant from the Harris Steel Foundation to establish the Milton and Ethel Harris Research Initiative (MEHRI).

Among Dr. Shanker’s recent monographs are Apes, language and the human mind (with Sue Savage-Rumbaugh and Talbot Taylor, 1998); Wittgenstein’s remarks on the foundations of AI (1998); Toward a Psychology of Global Interdependency (with Stanley Greenspan, 2002); The First Idea (with Stanley Greenspan, 2004); Early Years Study II (with J. Fraser Mustard and Margaret McCain, 2006); and El rizoma de la racionalidad (with Pedro Reygadas, 2007). He is also the editor of several collections, among them The Routledge History of Philosophy (with G.H.R. Parkinson, 1994-2000); Jerome Bruner: Language, Culture, Self (with David Bakhurst, 2001); Ludwig Wittgenstein: Critical Assessments (with David Kilfoyle, 2002); Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual (as a member of the PDM Steering Committee, 2006); and Human Development in the Twenty-First Century (with Alan Fogel and Barbara King, 2008).

Dr. Shanker has just been appointed the Director of EPIC: an international initiative created to promote the educational potential in children by enhancing their self-regulation. He has served as the Director of the Council of Human Development for the past ten years; Director of the Canada-Cuba Research Alliance for the past six years; and he was the first President of the Council of Early Child Development in Canada. Over the past decade he has served as an advisor on early child development to government organizations across Canada and the US and countries around the world, among them Australia, Colombia, England, Ireland, Macedonia, Madagascar, Mexico, Northern Ireland, Peru, Romania and Serbia. Most notable among these is his involvement in the creation of the new early learning program in Ontario (viz. "The Pascal Report," for which he also wrote the preface).

Dr. Lisa Bayrami completed her Ph.D. in Psychology at York University in the area of Developmental and Cognitive Processes. She has conducted research on the early identification of autistic spectrum disorders and is also currently involved in several studies investigating the outcomes of social-emotional learning programs in children and young adolescents. Dr. Bayrami is also involved in research exploring the nature of maternal-fetal attachment.

Dr. Devin Casenhiser completed his Ph.D. at the University of Illinois specializing in Psycholinguistics and comes to us from Princeton University where he had been conducting post-doctoral research in the department of psychology. Dr. Casenhiser's research explores the roles of function, pragmatics, and semantics in language learning and child development. This has most recently led him to investigate learning in children with autism spectrum disorders since they often have constrictions in these same areas. Dr. Casenhiser is in charge of the behavioral and cogntiive research at MEHRI, oversees the research staff, and works closely with the treatment team members. (For more details, visit Dr. Casenhiser's Home Page.)

Olga Morderer has been fortunate to work in different positions in MEHRI over the past 3 years. She started as a volunteer, filming therapy sessions; then helped part time with different research projects. Upon graduation from the University of Toronto with Honors BSc. in Psychology, Olga joined the MEHRI team full time as a research assistant. Currently, as a Data Manager, Olga’s work is focused on handling and organizing research projects in MEHRI under the direction of Dr. Devin Casenhiser.

Dr. Jim Stieben is the director of the clinical and developmental neuroscience unit, where he oversees all neuroscience research and neuroscience research staff. His research is broadly focused on clinical and developmental neuroscience in children and adolescence.

Dr. Stieben’s research is focused on four main areas: 1) The core research focus in the MEHRI lab is intervention neuroscience with a number of studies assessing EEG and event related potential (ERP) changes associated with interventions e.g., DIR/Floortime intervention in young children with autism and neurophysiological changes using the Roots of Empathy program, 2) The neurophysiology of parenting with a focus on the effects of parenting style on frontal lobe development in children, 3) The effects of violent video game play on the development of the frontal lobe in adolescence, and 4) The development of joint attention in infancy.

Dr. Stieben’s lab is specialized for the collection of 128 channel dense-array EEG (EGI), psychophysiological methods (Biopac) including ECG, heart rate variability, vagal tone and skin conductance. He also utilizes eye-tracking methods (Tobii) to monitor participants gaze behaviour during EEG/ERP data collection. His lab is designed to acquire concurrent EEG, psychophysiology and video observation from two research participants simultaneously. This method provides us with a unique ability to study joint behaviour in our research participants (e.g., mother-infant dyads).

Amanda Binns is a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist who graduated from the State University at Buffalo, Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders. She began her career working in a private practice, seeing a wide range of clients in schools, hospitals, and in home settings. She has been at MEHRI since 2006, when the clinical program was founded. Amanda is now part of a multidisciplinary team collaborating on the DIR based treatment efficacy study. This work includes a combination of transdisciplinary parent coaching, reflective parent meetings, and direct therapy for pre-school and school-aged children who have an Autism diagnosis. Amanda is a DIR certified Speech Language Pathologist and is a Facilitator in the ICDL DIR institute training program. She provides educational training and tutoring to professionals across North America who are in the DIR certification program.

Eunice Lee is a Registered Social Worker who, for almost ten years, has focused her practice on working with children with special needs and their families. She received dual Master's degrees in Social Work and Special Education from Columbia University and Bank Street College of Education in New York City. And, since then, Eunice has supported children and their parents/caregivers in a variety of settings—including a children's mental health clinic, Head Start program, therapeutic nursery, and a social service agency dedicated to serving individuals with an autism spectrum disorder and their families. As a clinician, she has provided individual therapy/counseling for children and adults, psycho-educational workshops, and support groups for parents and siblings. Eunice joined MEHRI in 2007 and is a fully certified DIR therapist.

Fay McGill is a licensed speech-language pathologist who has been practicing since 2004. She received her masters degree in Communicative Disorders and Sciences from the State University of New York at Buffalo and graduated with an honours bachelor of arts in Linguistics from York University. In her clinical practice, she has gained extensive experience with child language development, motor speech disorders, augmentative and alternative communication, phonology, and articulation. Since joining MEHRI in 2007, she has enjoyed working as a part of a multidisciplinary team to treat children with autism, using a DIR®-based treatment approach. Fay is a fully certified DIR® therapist.

Christine (Chris) Robinson has been working as an Occupational Therapist for twenty-five years, specializing primarily in the areas of early intervention and school-based practice. With a Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy from the University of Toronto and certification to work in both Canada and the United States, Chris has enjoyed working with children who experience a variety of disabilities, their families, and schools in diverse rural and urban settings. Chris has also enjoyed the challenges of creating culturally-relevant family-centered practice as a member of multidisciplinary teams in such diverse places as the Outports of Newfoundland and the cattle farms of Nebraska. She has also appreciated the opportunity to work as part of technology access teams within the field of Augmentative and Alternative Communication in major urban centers of Southern Ontario. Chris joined MEHRI in 2007 and is a level III DIR® Certificate Candidate.

Alicia Allison has been with MEHRI for the past 5 years as a Community Liaison Officer. She is MEHRI’s vital communication link between therapists, families and outside organizations. For over 15 years, Alicia has enjoyed working in various capacities in homes, schools and other community organizations supporting children who have a variety of special needs, including autism. Through her experiences, she sees how important it is to support the family unit. She brings a passion, commitment and enthusiasm to her work that is matched by few.  If you have any questions about our work at MEHRI, please feel free to contact Alicia, as she’ll be glad to help!