Kaitlyn Ahlers is a postdoctoral fellow in the Research in Autism and the Brain (RAB) Lab and the UW Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) program. She received her PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Montana. Her research and clinical work focus on the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric co-morbidity in youth with developmental disabilities and the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based practices for this population. She is particularly interested in engaging individuals with developmental disabilities and their families as partners in research.

Stephanie Brewer is a postdoctoral fellow at the School Mental Health Assessment, Research, & Training (SMART) Center. Dr. Brewer’s research aims to promote equitable access to high-quality mental health services for all children and adolescents. To accomplish this goal, Dr. Brewer focuses on school-based mental health and integrates perspectives from implementation science and cultural adaptation of interventions. She is particularly interested in (1) developing school-based interventions that are easy to implement, contextually relevant, and culturally responsive; and (2) improving the implementation of contextually relevant, culturally responsive EBTs in schools. Dr. Brewer was awarded a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship (F32) to better understand what modifications are made to EBTs in real-world practice contexts, thereby allowing for future projects to optimize the implementation of EBTs in accessible service settings such as schools.

Deidre completed her MSc at the University of Ottawa where she studied molecular mechanisms of insulin and calcium signalling in pancreatic beta cells. She completed her PhD in Molecular Neuropharmacology at the University of Auckland, New Zealand where she investigated the role of inflammation and signalling pathway important in human brain pericyte biology. Ongoing projects have branched out to include the use of novel MRI techniques for blood-brain barrier imaging in humans, inflammatory bio marker analysis, as well as ongoing molecular work in human primary cells to identify drug targets for neurodegenerative diseases. New projects in the Iliff lab will surround the role of the choroid plexus in glymphatic clearance, and how this may impact/or be impacted by age-related neurodegeneration.