Neuropsychology & Cognitive Health

The Neuropsychology and Cognitive Health program provides clinical services, education and training and clinical research related to the assessment and treatment of memory and other cognitive abilities in older adults. The mission of our program is to provide excellence and leadership in clinical neuropsychological services.

Clinical Services

• Clinical Services:
  The program provides neuropsychological assessment, intervention, and consultation across Baycrest programs and to external organizations.
   

  • Neuropsychological Evaluation Services contribute to the diagnosis of cognitive disorders and treatment planning.

  • Neuropsychological intervention is offered to clients with mild to severe cognitive changes.

    • The Mira and Saul Koschitsky Neuropsychology Treatment Programs provide training and support for clients with memory concerns and their families. These include the following programs:

      • The Memory and Aging Program serves older adults with age-normal memory changes.

      • Learning the Ropes for Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) serves clients with MCI and their family members.

      • Memory-Link targets clients with moderate to severe memory impairment and their family members.

    • Goal Management Training is a cognitive rehabilitation program designed to help individuals with impairments in executive functioning improve their ability to plan and achieve goals.

  • External neuropsychological consultation services are provided to Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences.

  • Behavioural consultation helps Baycrest teams manage responsive behaviours in patients with cognitive disorders

Education and training

Clinical research

Ruth Brickman

MSW, RSW

Ruth is a social worker in the Memory-Link program, an internship supervisor of the Memory Intervention rotation, and a practicum supervisor. She practices within an inter-professional team to provide psychosocial support to Memory-Link program clients and their families. This includes individual counselling, facilitation of psychoeducational support groups, and assistance for clients in accessing a variety of resources in their communities.

Bri Darboh

PHD, CPSYCH (SUPERVISED PRACTICE)

Bri is a psychologist in supervised practice in the Hybrid Cognitive Program clinical research project, an internship supervisor, and a practicum supervisor. She also serves as an adjunct faculty member in the MBA Health Industry Management specialization at the Schulich School of Business. Bri’s research centres on neurocognitive aging, strategy in healthcare, and innovation in residential care.

Alexandra Coutts-MacNeil

MA, BCBA

Alexandra is a behaviour analyst working primarily with the Behavioural Neurology unit, and a practicum supervisor for applied behaviour analysis students. She practices within an inter-professional team to manage behavioural symptoms of dementia using evidence-based non-pharmacological intervention strategies. This includes assessment, intervention planning, training and ongoing monitoring.

Keera Fishman

PHD, CPSYCH

Keera is a psychologist in the Learning the Ropes for Living with MCI program, an internship supervisor, and practicum coordinator. She provides neuropsychology consultation services to the geriatrics units at Ontario Shores. She is also completing her postdoctoral fellowship as the Neuropsychology Lead of the Ontario Neurodegenerative Disease Research Initiative. Her research interests include understanding how neuropsychiatric symptoms impact cognition.

Alessandra Giovinazzo

Medical Secretary

Alessandra is a medical secretary for Neuropsychology and Cognitive Health. Her key roles include assisting with all aspects of administrative management and logistics, scheduling and registering client appointments, managing inventory of tests and supplies, managing psychology health records, and managing day-to-day operation matters.

Yael Goldberg

PhD, CPsych

Yael is a psychologist in Austin Centre Virtual Behavioural Medicine program, the director of training for our Pre-doctoral Internship in Clinical Neuropsychology, internship supervisor of the Behaviour Management and Psychotherapy rotation, and a practicum supervisor.  Her primary clinical and research interests focus on behavioural and emotional disturbances associated with CNS dysfunction, and evaluating the effectiveness of intervention strategies aimed at reducing behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia. Her other interests include evidence-based assessment of responsive behaviour, and family caregiver support.

Dora Ladowski

PHD, CPSYCH

Dora is a psychologist in the Memory Link program and the Learning the Ropes for Living with MCI program. She is also a course instructor at Glendon College of York University. Her clinical work focuses on the treatment of cognitive changes related to mild cognitive impairment and acquired brain injury. Dora’s research interests include optimizing the assessment and treatment of memory changes in brain injury and illness.

Carmina Iannuccilli

Administrative Coordinator

Carm supports the Paul and Pamela Austin Centre for Neurology and Behavioural Support, the Sam and Ida Ross Memory Clinic, and the Neuropsychology and Cognitive Health program. She oversees the daily high-level operations in our clinics, handling office and administrative tasks, and encouraging communication between teams and management. She works to enhance our processes and procedures to guarantee that everyday operations run smoothly.

Jessie Lin

MSW, RSW

Jessie is a social worker with the Learning the Ropes for Living with MCI program. She provides psychosocial support to clients and family members. This includes individual counselling, family and couples counselling, facilitation of psychoeducational support groups and assistance for clients in accessing a variety of resources in their communities.

Matt McPhee

PHD, CPSYCH

Matt is a psychologist in the Learning the Ropes for Living with MCI® program, an internship supervisor, and a practicum supervisor. He is also a post-doctoral fellow at the Rotman Research Institute. His clinical interests include neuropsychological assessment and intervention with adults and older adults. Matt’s current research program maintains an emphasis on the study of real-world effectiveness of cognitive interventions.

Morris Moscovitch

PhD, CPsych

Morris is a consulting psychologist in Neuropsychology and Cognitive Health, a senior scientist at the Rotman Research Institute, and professor at the University of Toronto. His research focuses on cognition and memory with a particular emphasis on the neural mechanisms mediating explicit and implicit memory, face recognition, and attention across the lifespan in healthy people and in people with neurological disorders.

Kelly Murphy

PhD, CPsych

Kelly is a visiting researcher in the Neuropsychology and Cognitive Health program and assistant professor at the University of Toronto. Her research in the program focuses on cognitive changes and memory intervention in mild cognitive impairment, including evaluation of the Learning the Ropes for Living with MCI program.

Ruby Nishioka

General Secretary

Ruby is the General Secretary for Neuropsychology and Cognitive Health. Her key roles include assisting with all aspects of administrative management and logistics, scheduling and registering client appointments, managing inventory of tests and supplies, managing psychology health records, and managing day-to-day operation matters.

Farena Pinnock

PHD, CPSYCH

Farena’s clinical and research interests focus on psychological and neuropsychological assessment and intervention with older adults, individuals with severe psychiatric illness, and acquired brain injury, as well as program development.

Jill Rich

PhD, CPsych

Jill is a visiting researcher with Neuropsychology and Cognitive Health and an associate professor of psychology at York University. Her research interests focus primarily on normal and abnormal memory and cognition (e.g., associative memory, semantic memory, implicit memory, prospective memory), particularly in older adults. She and her students are currently examining factors that impact cognition in neurodegenerative disorders.

Komal Shaikh

PHD, CPSYCH

Komal is a psychologist in the Goal Management Training® Program and Mental Health Programs, an internship supervisor for the Mental Health rotation, and a practicum supervisor. Her clinical interests include psychological and neuropsychological assessment and intervention with older adults, individuals with severe psychiatric illness, and acquired brain injury. Research interests include everyday impact of cognitive changes in older adults.

Prathiba Shammi

PhD, CPsych

Prathiba is a consulting psychologist in the Brain Sciences Program at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, and a practicum supervisor. Her role includes clinical neuropsychological diagnostic assessment and consultation, teaching, and clinical supervision. Prathiba’s clinical and research interests include multiple sclerosis and cognition in normal aging.

Kathryn Stokes

PhD, CPsych

Kathryn is a psychologist in the Sam and Ida Ross Memory Clinic, an internship supervisor of the Neuropsychological Assessment rotation, and a practicum supervisor. She runs outpatient clinical neuropsychology services and is involved in student training. Kathryn’s primary research interests are validation of tools for early detection of cognitive impairment and neuropsychological profiles within neurodegenerative disorders such as posterior cortical atrophy syndromes.

Angela Troyer

PhD, CPsych

Angie is the program director of Neuropsychology and Cognitive Health, interprofessional practice chief, assistant professor at the University of Toronto, and an adjunct faculty member at York University. Her primary clinical interest is neuropsychological evaluation of MCI and dementia, and memory intervention in normal aging and MCI. Angie’s research interests focus on memory changes across the spectrum of aging, test development, and effectiveness of memory interventions in aging.

Susan Vandermorris

PhD, CPsych

Susan is a psychologist in the Memory and Aging Program® and the Neuropsychological Evaluation services. She supervises clinical trainees at Baycrest, and serves as an adjunct faculty member in the Psychology Department at York University. In clinical, teaching, and research roles, she works to assess, educate, and empower individuals and families facing changes in memory and thinking skills.

Brandon Vasquez

PHD, CPSYCH

Brandon is a psychologist in the Memory Link program, an internship supervisor for the Memory Intervention rotation, a practicum supervisor, and assistant professor at the University of Toronto. His clinical interests include neuropsychological assessment of acquired brain injury and cognitive rehabilitation. Brandon’s research interests focus on implicit learning in amnesia, the integration of technology into assessment and intervention of cognitive dysfunction, as well as intraindividual variability in response time.