The Team

Dr. Decker graduated from the Ball State University School Psychology program in 2001 with a specialty in neuropsychology and research methodology. While in graduate school, Dr. Decker was a supervisor for a school psychology clinic, research director for the neuropsychology laboratory, and provided consultation for local schools. After graduation, Dr. Decker worked at Riverside Publishing as a neuropsychological test developer. While at Riverside Publishing he worked on numerous test projects including the Woodcock-Johnson Third Edition Tests of Cognitive Abilities and Tests of Achievement, the WJ-III Diagnostic Supplement, Dean-Woodcock Neuropsychological Assessment System, and Stanford-Binet Fifth Edition. Additionally, he was a co-author of the Bender-Gestalt Second Edition. In 2003, Dr. Decker taught neuropsychology and research methodology at Roosevelt University in Chicago. Additionally, he served in a joint appointment at the University of Illinois at Chicago Neuropsychiatric Institute as a pediatric neuropsychologist where he worked with children with a variety of developmental disorders and neuropsychological problems.

Dr. Decker is the principal investigator of the Applied Cognitive Neuropsychology lab. His research interests include neuropsychological assessment, diagnostic decision making, academic assessment, development, and evolutionary psychology. He regularly conducts workshops involving neuropsychological assessment for school districts in various locations across the U.S. In addition to his continued interest in assessment, he has also been involved with research at the Language Research Center investigating primate cognition and comparative methodologies in applications to child cognitive development. 

Christopher Anzalone is a fifth-year student in the school psychology doctoral program. He earned a bachelor's of science in Brain and Cognitive Sciences with a minor in Psychology from the University of Rochester. His research interests include neuropsychological assessment and intervention (with a specific focus on pediatric TBI) and pediatric learning and cognitive disorders. He is currently completing his pre-doctoral internship in the Pediatric Neuropsychology track at the University of Minnesota Medical School. Chris aims to pursue a career as a board-certified neuropsychologist in a pediatric academic medical center integrating clinical practice and research.

Jessica Luedke is a fourth-year doctoral student in the school psychology program. She earned her B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Neuroscience from Texas A&M University. Before graduate school, she researched emotion and pain processing, the physiological effects of acceptance and commitment therapy, and neural activity during regulation. Her research interests include: neuropsychological assessment of children, understanding the brain mechanisms and self-regulation processes that are involved in different learning and cognitive disorders, regulation interventions, and executive function. In her free time she enjoys cooking, video-games, and playing with her cat.

Clare is a student in School Psychology doctoral program. She graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 2019 with a B.S. in Neuroscience and a minor in Psychology. During her time as an undergraduate, she joined the Laboratory for Cognitive and Affective Neuropsychology, where she worked as a research assistant testing undergraduate students for dyslexia research studies. Before attending the University of South Carolina, she joined the Reading and Literacy Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital as a research coordinator. Here she studied the impact of literacy programs, such as Reach out and Read and Imagination Library, in community health clinics. Her research interests include neuropsychological assessment and intervention in children, specific learning disorders, and early childhood reading skills acquisition. In her free time she enjoys cooking, hiking, and spending time with her dog.

Shaun Smith is a student in the School Psychology doctoral program. He earned a BA in Public Administration at Shippensburg University, MS in Secondary Education from Johns Hopkins University, and was a Teach for America Corps Member from 2017 to 2019, where he taught middle school Special Education in rural South Carolina. His research interests include neuropsychological assessment and intervention in children, learning and cognitive disorders, and executive function. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his family, running, and listening to audiobooks