Center for Children and Families of WNY - FIU

Team

• Gregory Fabiano

  
  
  Email: gfabiano@fiu.edu 
  CASE Profile

  Dr. Fabiano is a professor of psychology at Florida International University (FIU). He is a core faculty member in the Clinical Science in Child in Adolescent Psychology Doctoral Program and the Center for Children and Families (CCF).

  His program of research has focused on the development, validation and implementation of effective assessments and interventions for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and their families. He has expertise in assessment and intervention development and implementation for youth with ADHD. This has included the development a rating scale teachers and parents can use to indicate impairment in daily life functioning, a parenting intervention for fathers of children with ADHD, a school-based behavioral intervention for children with ADHD in special education placements and an intensive psychosocial intervention for novice teen drivers with ADHD. He has served as principal investigator or co-investigator on multiple clinical trials that investigated psychosocial and/or pharmacological treatments for ADHD, and these studies have included multiple designs (single-subject, cross-over, between group, adaptive treatment).

  Fun fact: When not at work, Dr. Fabiano enjoys coaching one of his children’s sports teams or cheering them on from the sidelines!

• Brittany Merrill

  
  
  Email: brmerril@fiu.edu

  Dr. Merrill is a postdoctoral researcher and clinician at the Center for Children and Families in WNY. Dr. Merrill joined the team in Buffalo in 2020 and was a doctoral student at FIU working at the CCF in Miami until 2019. Her domains of research are the evidence-based treatment of childhood ADHD as well as the long-term outcomes of ADHD into adulthood. Her work centers around the goals of 1) improving the academic functioning of children with ADHD, and 2) improving the reach and availability of evidence-based behavioral treatments. Toward these goals, she is currently developing technology-assisted behavioral interventions targeting academic functioning and homework management among children with ADHD.

  Fun Fact: Dr. Merrill recently adopted her furry friend Binx who is fondly referred to as a cat-dog because of his skills in fetch and overt friendliness! Dr. Merrill has spent the pandemic cuddling with Binx and watching all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies in chronological order, and she is very excited to get back outside and enjoy Buffalo this year!

• Amy Boeckel

  Email: aboeckel@fiu.edu

  Amy Boeckel is a Research Coordinator at the Center for Children and Families in WNY. Amy has her Master's degree from Canisius College in Buffalo, NY in School Counselling. Previously Amy was a Case Coordinator at a residential treatment facility providing mental health counselling to children and families. She enjoys meeting with families and working in the schools with teachers and students.

  Fun Fact: Amy enjoys spending time outdoors with her children and traveling.

• Devon Tower

  
  
  Email: dtower@fiu.edu 

  Devon Tower is a project coordinator at the Center for Children and Families in WNY and has been working with Dr. Fabiano since 2017. Previously Devon was an elementary teacher in Manassas Park, Virginia for twelve years and holds an MS in Educational Psychology from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. She enjoys meeting with the families that visit our Buffalo office!  
  
  Fun Fact: Devon enjoys spending time outside with her two young daughters and her yellow lab, Cannoli.

• Morgan Jusko

  

  Email: mjusko@fiu.edu

  Morgan Jusko is a fifth-year doctoral student in the Clinical Science program, under the mentorship of Dr. Fabiano. Her primary research interests are two-fold: first, to understand how basic cognitive processes translate to real world outcomes (e.g., driving behaviors) for youth with ADHD; and second, to integrate advanced data analytic methods (e.g., time series analysis, latent class analysis) to improve our understanding of how treatments work (and for whom). Her dissertation focuses on examining the factors which contribute to delays in licensure for individuals with ADHD.

  Fun Fact: I have been taking spin classes since I was in high school, and I aspire to be a spin instructor one day.

• Melanie Rengel

  

  Email: mreng005@fiu.edu

  My research interests center around the increase in quality and span of evidence-based interventions for children with externalizing. I am interested in the development, evaluation, and dissemination of early interventions across multiple domains to promote school readiness and socio-emotional functioning. I aspire to develop and deliver evidence-based treatments to improve parent and child behaviors and understand the mental health problems affecting children by learning effective implementations of school-based interventions to improve daily life functioning. More specifically, my focus includes investigating the practice of tailored interventions to increase the effectiveness and efficacy of treatments in children experiencing externalizing challenges. 

  Fun Fact: Melanie likes to spend time with her Golden Retriever, Rocky, and enjoys being in circus studios practicing aerial arts. 

• Jennifer Sikov

  

  Email: jsikov@fiu.edu

   Jen is a first year Clinical Science doctoral student at Florida International University. After graduating with a BA in Psychology from Brandeis University, she completed an MA at Boston University Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. She recently worked as a clinical research coordinator at Boston Medical Center Department of Psychiatry REACH 4 ADHD lab and Kids FACE FEARS multisite project. Jen’s research interests center on exploring the sociocultural contexts and environmental influences on treatment trajectory and utilization in youth ADHD. She hopes to leverage emerging technology and community-partnered research to develop and implement interventions for ADHD in youth serving community settings to mitigate disparities in access and promote youth resiliency.

   

• Emily Sutton

  

  Emily graduated from SUNY University at Buffalo in May 2023 with a BA in Psychology.  She has worked in both social psychology and social work labs, integrating clinical knowledge with social psychological theories. She currently works at WNY's Children and Families Center as a research assistant aiding in recruitment, data coding, and treatment interventions.

  Fun Fact: Emily has a cat named Reggie who has cow spots! 

• Carolina Ramirez

  

  Email: carramir@fiu.edu

  Carolina is a doctoral student in the Clinical Science program, under the mentorship of Dr. Greg Fabiano. She received her BA in psychology at Florida International University. Her research interests include addressing the challenges surrounding child ADHD within the Hispanic community. She aspires to enhance treatment options, school interventions, and overall accessibility for this group while improving representation. More specifically, she's interested in examining the multi-faceted impacts of social interactions between Hispanic parents and children who have ADHD. By exploring the dynamics within the family unit, she seeks to discover ways that can inform more comprehensive and effective interventions and assessments.  

  Fun Fact: Carolina enjoys playing with her cat Jupiter-Grape and creating stickers/stationary.