College of Arts and Sciences

Curriculum Vitae:

Curriculum Vitae (PDF)

Research Interests:

• Neuropsychological and neuroanatomic correlates of intellectual and developmental disabilities
• Language, reading, and executive function in Down syndrome and other genetic disorders
• Comorbid autism spectrum disorder symptoms in youth with genetic disorders
• Neuroanatomic correlates of individual differences in typical and atypical cognition

Bio:

Nancy Raitano Lee, PhD, is a clinical child psychologist who specializes in developmental neuropsychology. She received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Human Development and Family Studies from Cornell University and her doctorate in Clinical Child Psychology from the University of Denver. Her clinical training includes the completion of a pre-doctoral internship at the Children’s Hospital of Colorado and a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Colorado School of Medicine’s Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities. Following her training in psychology, Lee completed a fellowship at the National Institute of Mental Health focused on the use of structural neuroimaging to study the developing brain in youth with genetic disorders and those with typical development.

As a child psychologist working within a developmental cognitive neuroscience framework, Lee’s research program aims to augment knowledge about the causes and correlates of developmental learning disorders through the use of innovative neuropsychological and neuroimaging technologies. Much of her research over the past several years has focused on two primary areas of investigation: (a) cognitive and social development in children and young adults with different neurodevelopmental disorders, and (b) brain development in youth with Down syndrome and other chromosomal aneuploidies. For a list of representative publications related to these topics, please see below.

Active research projects in Professor Lee’s lab include studies of:

• Cognition and real world outcomes in children and young adults with neurodevelopmental disorders
• Memory skills in youth with Down and fragile X syndromes¹
• Reading comprehension difficulties in children with Down syndrome²
• Parent-child interactions and cognitive development in Down syndrome²
• Employment and quality of life among young adults with autism spectrum disorder¹
• Brain development in Down syndrome
• Use of fNIRS to study the neural correlates of executive function in Down syndrome¹
• Structural and functional MRI studies of Down syndrome²

¹ Data collection ongoing; ² Data collection complete; data analysis phase

How we make a difference – The LADDER Lab:

Lee and the students in the LADDER lab conduct research that aims to improve adult outcomes and quality of life for individuals with intellectual disabilities and other neurodevelopmental disorders. Intellectual disability, formerly known as mental retardation, is a neurodevelopmental disorder that impacts 1% of the population. It is characterized by global learning difficulties that greatly reduce academic achievement, employment, and independence. Despite the frequency of this diagnosis and its profound impact on everyday functioning, there is a limited understanding of the mechanisms that contribute to poor outcomes. Moreover, specialized treatments that target key cognitive processes that are contributing to outcomes are lacking.

Lee’s research is making an impact for this community in two ways. First, her team is working to identify which aspects of cognition relate to real world functioning, such as reading, daily living skills, employment, and independent living, so that more precise and targeted interventions can be implemented. Second, her work is examining malleable factors, such as parenting strategies, that are predictive of better outcomes in order to develop a parent-implemented intervention to improve higher level thinking and problem-solving skills in youth with intellectual disability. Thus, Lee’s team is making a difference through their commitment to serving a community that has been underserved by scientists but is in great need of additional supports to optimize quality of life.

Representative Publications:

Cognitive and Social Development in Children with Genetic Disorders

• Stephan C, Clasen L, Adeyemi E, Lee NR. Speech Impairments Explain Unique Variance in Adaptive Behavior Skills in Young People With Down Syndrome. Am J Speech Lang Pathol. 2020 Nov 16;:1-7.  [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 33197320.
• Hamner T, Hepburn S, Zhang F, Fidler D, Robinson Rosenberg C, Robins DL, Lee NR. Cognitive Profiles and Autism Symptoms in Comorbid Down Syndrome and Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2019 Oct 8;PubMed PMID: 31599791.
• Godfrey M, Hepburn S, Fidler DJ, Tapera T, Zhang F, Rosenberg CR, Raitano Lee N. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptom profiles of children with comorbid Down syndrome (DS) and ASD: A comparison with children with DS-only and ASD-only. Res Dev Disabil. 2019 Jun;89:83-93. PubMed PMID: 30959431.
• Godfrey M, Lee NR. Memory profiles in Down syndrome across development: a review of memory abilities through the lifespan. J Neurodev Disord. 2018 Jan 29;10(1):5. PubMed PMID: 29378508; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5789527.
• Udhnani M, Maiman M, Blumenthal JD, Clasen LS, Wallace GL, Giedd JN, Raznahan A, Lee NR. Phonemic and Semantic Verbal Fluency in Sex Chromosome Aneuploidy: Contrasting the Effects of Supernumerary X versus Y Chromosomes on Performance. J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2018 Oct;24(9):917-927. PubMed PMID: 30375320.
• Lee NR, Wallace GL, Adeyemi EI, Lopez KC, Blumenthal JD, Clasen LS, Giedd JN. Dosage effects of X and Y chromosomes on language and social functioning in children with supernumerary sex chromosome aneuploidies: implications for idiopathic language impairment and autism spectrum disorders. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2012 Oct;53(10):1072-81. PubMed PMID: 22827287; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3480208.
  

Brain Development in Down Syndrome and Other Genetic Disorders

• Lee NR, Nayak A, Irfanoglu MO, Sadeghi N, Stoodley CJ, Adeyemi E, Clasen LS, Pierpaoli C. Hypoplasia of cerebellar afferent networks in Down syndrome revealed by DTI-driven tensor based morphometry. Sci Rep. 2020 Mar 25;10(1):5447. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-61799-1. PubMed PMID: 32214129; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7096514.
• Lee NR, Perez M, Hamner T, Adeyemi E, Clasen LS. A preliminary examination of brain morphometry in youth with Down syndrome with and without parent-reported sleep difficulties. Res Dev Disabil. 2020 Feb 24;99:103575. doi: 10.1016/j.ridd.2020.103575. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 32106035; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7483358.
• Hamner T, Udhnani MD, Osipowicz KZ, Lee NR. Pediatric Brain Development in Down Syndrome: A Field in Its Infancy. J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2018 Oct;24(9):966-976. PubMed PMID: 29789029; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6207466.
• Lee NR, Adeyemi EI, Lin A, Clasen LS, Lalonde FM, Condon E, Driver DI, Shaw P, Gogtay N, Raznahan A, Giedd JN. Dissociations in Cortical Morphometry in Youth with Down Syndrome: Evidence for Reduced Surface Area but Increased Thickness. Cereb Cortex. 2016 Jul;26(7):2982-90. PubMed PMID: 26088974; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4898663.
• Adeyemi EI, Giedd JN, Lee NR. A case study of brain morphometry in triplets discordant for Down syndrome. Am J Med Genet A. 2015 May;167A(5):1107-10. PubMed PMID: 25820455.

Note for students applying to the Clinical Psychology Program for the 2022-2023 academic year: Dr. Lee will only be accepting a student into the Clinical Child Major Area of Study; she is not able to accept a student who wishes to pursue the Clinical Neuropsychology Major Area of Study for the upcoming academic year.