Melissa C. Goldberg

Biography

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: Dr. Goldberg received her bachelor's of arts in psychology in 1990 from Washington University in St. Louis and her master's of education in counseling psychology in 1992 from Harvard University. Dr. Goldberg received her doctorate in developmental psychology in 1998 from McMaster University. During her doctoral studies, Dr. Goldberg also took research internships in the cognitive neuroscience laboratory at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at the National Institutes of Health and at the Institute for Child Study of the University of Maryland. Dr. Goldberg completed a post-doctoral fellowship in 2000 in child and adolescent psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, conducting research and training on autism at REACH, Research Excellence in Autism and Communication Disorders at Hopkins. In 2000, Dr. Goldberg joined the faculty at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and became an assistant professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. RESEARCH SUMMARY: The overall focus of Dr. Goldberg's research is to advance understanding about the cognitive neuropsychological mechanisms underlying autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders. Autism is a childhood-onset neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by abnormalities in reciprocal social interactions, impairments in verbal and non-verbal communication and the presence of stereotyped behaviors and a restricted range of interests and activities. Autism is thought to have multiple causes, with various brain regions being reported as being abnormal. In her research, Dr. Goldberg uses behavioral paradigms together with brain-imaging techniques such as, MRI and functional-MRI as tools to investigate the neural mechanisms of autism. Some of her research has also focused on eye movements, attention, executive function, and face processing. Dr. Goldberg’s most recent research involves an NIH-funded study to investigate the reward system in children with high functioning autism. Dr. Goldberg completed an NIH-funded Career Development Award (K-Award) study in which she examined executive functions and brain mechanisms in children with high functioning autism (HFA) and in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Research Interest

Psychiatry