Meet the Team

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As Lead Occupational Therapist, Allison is committed to improving therapists' and families' access to evidence-based interventions. She oversees therapy-based research studies and works with community partners to develop new projects. Allison studied Movement Science at the University of Michigan, received her OT degree from Eastern Michigan University, and is pursuing a PhD in Translational Health Sciences at George Washington University.

Paige grew up in the suburbs of Atlanta and graduated from Duke University in 2016 with a degree in psychology. She worked on a few projects while she was at Duke, including a study looking at how infants understand and learn about emotional expressions and a study evaluating a music therapy program for kids with autism. In the BBOP Lab, Paige coordinates the MIND NICU study and APPLES-tele study.

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Megan is a board-certified music therapist with 8 years of experience among infants, children, and adults. She has a B.A. from Pepperdine University, received her Master’s in Music Therapy from Maryville University St. Louis, and is certified in NICU Music Therapy by the National Institute for Infant & Child Medical Music Therapy. She is interested in the effects of singing on development, speech, and respiratory function.

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Will is a licensed educator; his primary focus at BBOP is supporting and managing our student research assistants and coordinating the HINE Validation study. Will also works with community programming at the BBOP lab and is passionate about further supporting children and parents in the metro-Atlanta community.

Natalie is a licensed speech-language pathologist on the BBOP team. Natalie participates in parent training efforts and leads developmental assessments within longitudinal studies. Natalie is passionate about early social communication development and supporting and empowering caregivers. In addition to Natalie’s BBOP contributions, she is also involved in clinical and research programs at Marcus Autism Center, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

Dr. Castro, a bilingual (En/Es) OT, completed her Doctorate in Occupational Therapy and the Early SPOTS program at Georgia State University. She supports APPLES-TELE and MANZANAS (a culturally adapted version of APPLES-TELE for Hispanic families). Her passion lies in continuous learning for the early intervention community and providing OT to Spanish-speaking people. She serves as an OT and interpreter for Babies Can't Wait.

Dr. Kempfert is an experienced pediatric PT and researcher investigating how early motor behaviors, reflex patterns, and muscle tone impact neurological health. She specializes in neurorehabilitation and provides her CHOA clients with engaging, evidence-based care. She has expertise in evaluating infants’ gross motor development and is certified in the GMA. There’s nothing she loves more than tiny baby feet!

Kate is a Research Specialist with a background in Chemistry and Global Health. At BBOP, she is responsible for managing participant recruitment, coordinating visits, and performing WECS coding to support NICU research and follow-up study. Her work focuses on improving access to healthcare and developing care models for vulnerable pediatric populations, particularly those with disabilities.

Joselyn is a post-baccalaureate researcher working under an NIH Diversity Supplement. Her project focuses on creating a culturally appropriate adaptation of the APPLES-Tele study for Hispanic families, known as MANZANAS. Joselyn is passionate about early intervention, parent education and exploring cultural perspectives on disability. She is dedicated to ensuring that interventions are inclusive and accessible to all families. With a strong commitment to global health, she strives to raise awareness of developmental disabilities and improve healthcare access for underserved communities worldwide.

Kanishka Baduni is a doctoral student at the University of Georgia collaborating with the BBOP lab. She is a physical therapist by profession who is passionate about pediatrics! She aims to better understand the relation between movement and cognitive constructs, problem-solving abilities in infants to be precise and hopes to eventually contribute towards science to promote holistic and child-focused development interventions.

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Adele is a second year MSW graduate student and Coverdell Fellow at Georgia State University. Previously she earned a B.S. in Foods & Nutrition at San Diego State and served as a Health Education Peace Corps Volunteer in Moldova. At BBOP, she supports the 1998 and ROI studies. Her populations of interest are non-English speaking people and rural families.

Katie is an undergraduate student at Emory University double majoring in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology and Music on the pre-PhD track. She supports the APPLES-TELE, GMAT, and CORD studies. Her research interests include using music therapy for rehabilitation in clinical settings and examining the impact of social determinants of health in pediatric populations.

Chaya is an undergraduate student at Emory University double majoring in English and biology. At BBOP, she assists with the 1998 and Apples-tele studies. Once a 2-lb preemie baby and "NICU graduate," Chaya is passionate about giving back to research on pre-term infants.

Jodit is a Senior at Emory University on the Pre-med track. She is a Human Health major and Spanish minor with a specific research interest in maternal and child health. At the BBOP Lab, she assists in data evaluation and participant follow-up as a student research assistant to the MIND and SNAKE studies. She also works on CAMP data entry and evaluation.

Ruby is an undergraduate student at Emory University studying Anthropology and Human Biology, and minoring in Quantitative Sciences. At the BBOP lab, she conducts data entry and analysis for the 1998 study. Her research interests include neonatal development and early childhood language acquisition.

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Kayla is an undergraduate student at Emory University majoring in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology and minoring in Music. At BBOP, she is currently working on the CP360 project. Her research interests include Early intervention and detection in CP.

Katherine is an undergraduate student at Emory University majoring in Human Health on the pre-med track. At BBOP, she coordinates many data collection projects, including within DPC research and current BBOP studies. With a passion for equitable healthcare access, her specific research interests include developing effective low-cost programs for vulnerable pediatric populations and the social determinants of health.

Heather Smyth is an undergraduate student at Emory University currently majoring in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology.

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Ammar is a senior at Emory University studying Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology with a double-major in Theater Studies. At BBOP, he primarily works on the HINE Validation study, assisting with recruitment and outreach. His prior research experience includes assisting with data processing and outreach to LGBTQ+ communities in Alzheimer's Research and article extraction for a systematic review on AI use in regional healthcare by the Cornell-Qatar Institute for Population Health. His present research interests are overcoming barriers to healthcare access and racial inequality in public health.