Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University School of Medicine offer pediatric neuropsychology fellowship training to promising neuropsychologists interested in an outstanding experience at an academically productive and clinically robust center.
We offer a unique training experience that uses the diverse clinical cases at Children’s and the academic strength of Emory to provide a comprehensive training program in pediatric neuropsychology. There are also opportunities to collaborate with our research affiliates, including the Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia State University, University of Georgia and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to employ cutting-edge technology in understanding brain-behavior relationships.
The Pediatric Neuropsychology Fellowship Program at Children’s is part of the Association of Postdoctoral Programs in Clinical Neuropsychology (APPCN) and is designed to meet guidelines set forth by the Houston Conference on Specialty Education and Training in Clinical Neuropsychology.
Building skills in pediatric neuropsychology
The Pediatric Neuropsychology Fellowship Program builds competency in the assessment and treatment of children who have a wide range of central nervous system and developmental disorders while also providing opportunities to pursue research interests. The patient population ranges from newborns to young adults. Upon completion of the two-year, full-time program, fellows will have gained the necessary clinical and research skills required for independent practice and academic pursuits in pediatric neuropsychology. They will also obtain the necessary experience required to pursue board certification.
The fellows’ training is divided across clinical (50%), research (20%), supervision and professional development (15%), and didactics (15%) as follows:
Year 1:
- Rotation 1: Outpatient genetics and cardiac
- Rotation 2: Epilepsy and cognitive remediation
Year 2:
- Rotation 3: Inpatient rehabilitation program and epilepsy
- Rotation 4: Day rehabilitation program and concussion clinic
Fellows will have the opportunity to participate in the Cognitive Remediation Program, which is offered to outpatients with neurological disorders who have been evaluated and found to have particular executive deficits that could negatively affect their transition of care to adult medical providers. The program consists of pre- and post-testing, in addition to an eight-session module of cognitive behavioral intervention to promote skill acquisition in home living, health and medication, school or social domains. Parents are taught to give assistance using graduated guidance and to implement a reinforcement program. This program gives fellows an opportunity to be the first-line supervisor of the student-therapists and to work with patients directly. Fellows will also have an opportunity for school consultation as needed, as well as telemedicine visits.
Fellows will have an opportunity to conduct targeted evaluations and provide treatment services for children and adolescents who are recovering from concussions. In order to promote healthy coping skills, services might include a combination of diagnostic intake, formal assessment, and education to assist with adaptive coping and returning to school. Fellows may also have the opportunity to conduct consultations and assessments at the newly established Multidisciplinary Concussion Clinic, as well as the Neuropsychology Concussion Screening Clinic, which are both located at the Center for Advanced Pediatrics.
The Day Rehabilitation Program provides continued rehabilitation therapies on an outpatient basis for patients who no longer require inpatient medical management. Many patients transition to the program following discharge from the Inpatient Rehabilitation Program. Patients participate in therapies Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
On rehabilitation rotations, fellows will:
- Participate in serial monitoring of cognitive status and ongoing recovery.
- Conduct diagnostic interviews and brain injury education with families.
- Consult and collaborate with the rehabilitation team.
- Complete brief cognitive screenings.
- Conduct neuropsychological evaluations to facilitate discharge planning and school re-entry.
This clinic provides follow-up services for children with a history of premature birth and related perinatal complications. Fellows have the opportunity to participate in neurocognitive evaluations of early school-age children as they transition from early intervention services to school-based programs. Experiences include exposure to neonatal course and intervention, interdisciplinary consultation, parent education and support, cognitive and developmental screening, and exposure to the implementation of special education services.
The early childhood rotation involves seeing patients in the Neurodevelopmental Program and Early Childhood Clinic (ECC). The patient population for this rotation is infants and toddlers with a wide variety of acquired brain injuries (TBI/AHT, anoxic brain injury, brain tumors, stroke, brain infections). Experiences include diagnostic interviews, neurobehavioral assessment, report writing and feedback, as well as brain injury education with caregivers that may occur in the inpatient and outpatient settings (CIRU, PICU, NICU, Neuropsychology Clinic). Fellows will receive training on typical and atypical infant and toddler development, risk factors for neurobehavioral outcomes, administration of early childhood assessments and how to guide caregivers through evidence-based interventions and accessing early intervention, as well as preschool special education services.
The epilepsy rotation will include pre- and post-surgical assessments, as well as general inpatient and outpatient assessments of patients with epilepsy. In addition, fellows will be exposed to a number of epilepsy diagnostic procedures and attend a monthly interdisciplinary surgical conference that includes epileptologists, neurologists, neurosurgeons, neuropsychologists, neuroradiologists, physiatrists, social workers and child life specialists. Exposure to a number of technologies may be available, including advanced neuroimaging, DTI, EEG and functional MRI (fMRI). When available, fellows may be able to observe a Wada test and/or other neurosurgical procedures. Fellows will also help facilitate the Epilepsy Support Group, which occurs once per month at the Children’s Support Center.
Fellows will assess and work with children with genetic and neurodevelopmental conditions, both in the outpatient setting and as part of multidisciplinary teams within hospital clinics. Patient populations include children with neurofibromatosis, tuberous sclerosis, 22q deletion syndrome, Turner syndrome, Down syndrome and Fragile X syndrome, as well as mitochondrial disorders and other metabolic conditions.
Our Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit, accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), is a 28-bed inpatient unit that provides intensive rehabilitation therapies for patients who require ongoing medical management and intensive neurorehabilitation. Patient diagnoses include acquired injuries e.g., (traumatic brain injury, anoxic brain injury, stroke), new-onset illness (e.g., meningitis, encephalitis, brain tumors), and various neurodevelopmental and chronic neurological conditions (e.g., spastic cerebral palsy, spina bifida, intractable epilepsy).
Fellows will have an opportunity to work with patients with a history of neuro-immunological diseases (e.g., anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis, neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder, multiple sclerosis, ADEM). Responsibilities will include conducting outpatient screening, as well as brief and comprehensive outpatient assessments.
All supervising faculty are licensed in Georgia and have staff appointments at Children’s and academic appointments at Emory. Fellows will work with a variety of faculty members, typically two over each six-month period. Fellows receive at least two hours of individual supervision a week.
The developmental model:
- Fellows meet with their supervisors at the beginning of the fellowship to assess established and APPCN competencies and define specific goals.
- Fellows are then provided with increasingly challenging clinical, research and professional experiences while gradually gaining greater independence over the course of their fellowship.
- Goals are reviewed at least every three months.
- The ultimate goal is to prepare the fellow for independent practice in pediatric neuropsychology.
Supervision of graduate student externs
Fellows will have the opportunity to supervise graduate student externs during their first and/or second year. During this period, fellows are supervised using a hierarchical supervision model. The goal of this experience is to help the fellows develop competencies in various supervisory roles while also receiving close guidance and regular, timely feedback regarding their supervisory activities.
Group supervision
Participation in group supervision focuses on presenting cases, reviewing current research and receiving feedback on job talks when preparing for job interviews. Fellows also lead a basic neuropsychology seminar for externs and interns that meets weekly throughout the academic year.
Each fellow chooses two job mentors who assist in developing a career path and goals, and in securing a job. Fellows meet with their mentors regularly (monthly is advised) and receive guidance with networking throughout their job searches. To further aid in their professional networking endeavors, all fellows are expected to be active in at least one national professional neuropsychology organization.
By the completion of the fellowship, all fellows will have more than the requisite 1,500 hours supervision and direct service experience needed for licensure in Georgia and other jurisdictions that fall within the rubric of the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards. In addition, all fellows are required to sit for the written part of the national licensure examination, Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP), during the two-year fellowship. Most fellows choose to complete this requirement during the latter part of their first year.
The goal of required and recommended didactics is to prepare fellows for independent clinical practice, academic research and the ABPP/CN boarding process.
Required
- Advanced Pediatric Neuropsychology Seminar: This seminar occurs twice a month and is intended for interns, fellows and faculty. It targets the different components of the ABPP/CN board certification process, in addition to new research and practice guidelines in neuropsychology. Journal club, case presentation and neuroanatomy are core components of this seminar. Several seminars throughout the year are also conducted in conjunction with the Neuropsychology training program through the Emory Department of Rehabilitation. These focus on lifespan neuropsychology topics.
- Basic Pediatric Neuropsychology Seminar: Fellows assist in coordinating this weekly seminar geared toward training graduate students by covering various topics related to test administration and scoring, interpretation of data, neuropathology, ethics and professional issues.
- Board Certification Preparation/Fact Finding: This monthly series provides preparation for the ABPP-CN boarding process. “Examinees” will be provided a case by a boarded member of the faculty to simulate aspects of the oral examination (fact finding, ethics vignette, practice samples).
- Emory Post-Doctoral Fellowship Seminar: Fellows will meet monthly with Dr. Nadine Kaslow and other post-doctoral fellows at Emory University and Marcus Autism Center. This seminar focuses on professional development issues, including board preparation and job searching.
- Brain Cutting: Brain cutting observations occur once per semester and are led by Children’s neuropathologist, Matt Schniederjan, MD.
- Morbidity and Mortality Conference (Inpatient Rehabilitation Program rotation): This conference is led by the rehab medical team. Residents present cases on specific medical conditions, complications (e.g., management of post-traumatic seizures, pressure ulcers), and treatment procedures (e.g., adherence with baclofen pumps). It also explores ways to improve quality of patient care and current clinical pathways.
- Weekly Rounds (Inpatient Rehabilitation Program and Day Rehabilitation Program rotations): Fellows participate in weekly rounds to discuss patient progress, ongoing needs and estimated length of stay for intensive rehabilitation.
Encouraged
- Pediatric Neuroradiology Conference: The monthly conference led by neuroradiologists and neurosurgeons typically features cases involving brain tumors, neuro-ophthalmological disorders, spinal cord disorders and intracranial abnormalities. Various neuroimaging procedures (e.g., DTI, MR spectroscopy, FLAIR sequences) are also discussed as they relate to the case being presented. Fellows are expected to present at least one case at the conference during their training.
- Epilepsy Surgical Conference: The monthly conference identifies and reviews clinical information to make surgical recommendations for patients with intractable epilepsy, resection of a brain tumor or lesion. This conference includes a multidisciplinary group that reviews the EEG, MRI, fMRI, DTI, fi tracking, SPECT/PET, MR spectroscopy, neuropsychological evaluations and social work assessments.
- Emory Neuropsychology Case Conference: Fellows have the opportunity to participate in a weekly case conference with postdoctoral fellows in the adult neuropsychology program at Emory University in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Fellows will gain experience in adult neuropsychology cases in addition to observing fact finding cases and board preparation.
- Grand Rounds at Emory: Grand Rounds may be attended in any department at Emory. Renowned researchers and clinician-researchers present their work and take questions. The training director distributes the Grand Rounds schedules for all the relevant departments by email in August.
Extensive research collaborations exist with Emory, Marcus Autism Center, the CDC, Georgia Tech and Georgia State. Fellows are required to participate in and/or develop a research project in the field of pediatric neuropsychology. Fellows are expected to:
- Participate in paper and/or poster presentations at national conferences.
- Submit a manuscript to a peer-reviewed journal by the end of their two years.
- Participate in all steps of the research process, including securing Institutional Review Board approval and maintaining current Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative certification.
Interested candidates must submit materials by Dec. 1.
The Children’s Neuropsychology Fellowship Program participates in the APPCN Resident Matching Program.
Applications for the program should be submitted electronically through the APPIC Psychology Postdoctoral Application Centralized Application System (APPA CAS).
The APPIC Psychology Postdoctoral Application (APPA) is a service of the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers. APPA allows interns to apply to a number of participating programs offering postdoctoral fellowships through a centralized application process.
Salary and Benefits
The yearly stipend for the fellowship is updated each year and is based on Postdoctoral fellow salary levels established by the NIH. Salary for the first-year Fellow in 2026 is: $63,480. Fellows receive a comprehensive Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta employee benefits package.
Paid time off includes 15 vacation days, seven major holidays, four personal floating holidays (prorated based on start date), and five sick days.
Fellows are given three professional days a year to attend conferences (with a stipend if presenting), in addition to a professional day to take the EPPP.
Other benefits available include:
- Free parking.
- Free lunch in the Physician Dining room at Arthur M. Blank Hospital and Scottish Rite.
- Full access to medical library services, including multiple databases and search engines.
Contact Information
David Marcus, PhD, ABPP
Training Co-Director
Phone: 404-785-2813
Fax: 404-785-0978
Email: david.marcus@choa.org
Laura Blackwell, PhD, ABPP
Training Co-Director
Phone: 404-785-5895
Fax: 404-785-2851
Email: laura.blackwell@choa.org