Professional Advisory Board

Bridget Taylor PsyD, BCBA-D; Licensed Psychologist	Dr. Taylor is co-founder and Executive Director of Alpine Learning Group. She has specialized in the education and treatment of children with autism for over twenty-five years. She holds a Doctorate of Psychology from Rutgers University, and received her Master’s degree in Early Childhood Special Education from Columbia University. She is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and a Licensed Psychologist. Dr. Taylor is active in the autism research community and has published numerous articles on effective interventions for autism. She serves on several editorial boards including the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Behavioral Interventions, and Behavior Analysis in Practice. She is also a member of the Autism Advisory Group for the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies, is a board member of the Association for Science in Autism Treatment, and serves on the professional advisory board for the Association of Professional Behavior Analysts. Dr. Taylor is also Senior Clinical Advisor for Rethink Autism - an innovative web-based curriculum for children with autism. She is a national and international speaker and has been influential in the development of autism treatment programs in Italy, Canada, France, Australia and Kosovo.
Cathleen Piazza PhD, BCBA-D; Licensed Psychologist	Dr. Piazza is a Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Pediatric Feeding Disorders Program at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. She previously directed similar programs at the Marcus Institute in Atlanta and at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. Dr. Piazza and her colleagues have examined various aspects of feeding behavior and have developed a series of interventions to address one of the most common health problems in children. Her research in this area has been among the most systematic in the field and has firmly established behavioral approaches as preferred methods for assessment and treatment. In her roles as clinical, research, and training director, Dr. Piazza has mentored a large number of interns and fellows who have gone on to make significant contributions to the field. Highly regarded for her general expertise in research methodology, Dr. Piazza is a former Editor of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis.
Linda LeBlanc PhD, BCBA-D; Licensed Psychologist	Dr. LeBlanc is a Professor of Psychology and the director of the Applied Behavior Analysis graduate program at Auburn University. More recently she joined Trumpet Behavioral Health as the Director of Research and Clinical Services. Dr. LeBlanc received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology in 1996 from Louisiana State University and is both a licensed clinical psychologist and board certified behavior analyst. Her publications have examined the effectiveness of behavioral interventions for children with autism and developmental disabilities including technology-based interventions and naturalistic language interventions. She has served as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Behavior Analysis in Practice and Education and Treatment of Children and on the editorial boards of Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders and Research in Developmental Disabilities.
Nathan Call PhD, BCBA-D; Licensed Psychologist	Dr. Call is the director of the Behavior Treatment Clinics at the Marcus Autism Center. Dr. Call received his Ph.D. in School Psychology in 2003 from the University of Iowa and is both a licensed psychologist and board certified behavior analyst. He has an active research agenda with publications in the area of assessment and treatment of severe behavior disorders. His specific interests include identifying the basic behavioral mechanisms that influence the occurrence and maintenance of problem behavior, and developing clinical methods that incorporate these mechanisms into the assessment and treatment of problem behaviors. He also has an interest in identification and manipulation of the variables that impact the integrity with which caregivers implement behavioral treatment recommendations in the natural environment. Dr. Call also serves on the board editors for several journals.
William Ahearn PhD, BCBA-D	Dr. Ahearn is the Director of Research at the New England Center for Children. He is also a Clinical Assistant Professor in Northeastern University’s Master’s program in Applied Behavior Analysis and Adjunct Faculty in Western New England College’s doctoral program. Bill was named the 2009 American Psychological Association – Division 25 awardee for Enduring Contributions to Applied Behavioral Research. Bill is the ACE coordinator for providing BCBA continuing education at NECC and for the Berkshire Association for Behavior Analysis and Therapy. He also serves on the Autism Advisory Committees for the Association of Professional Behavior Analysts and the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies. Bill’s research interests include social skills in children with autism, verbal behavior, assessment and treatment of stereotypy, severe problem behavior, and pediatric feeding difficulties. He is also interested in resistance to change, behavioral economics, and conditioned reinforcement. His work has been published in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, Behavioral Interventions, Behavior Modification, The Lancet, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders and has written book chapters on teaching children with autism and pediatric feeding problems in children with autism. Bill is currently on the Editorial Boards for the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, and Behavioral Interventions and has served as a guest reviewer for several other journals. He has also been Principal Investigator on an NIH-funded grant with Dr. William Dube, is funded through by the Organization for Autism Research along with Dr. Becky MacDonald, and is a past-President of the Berkshire Association for Behavior Analysis and Therapy.