Abigail Hogan, PhD
Dr. Abigail Hogan is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Associate Director of the Neurodevelopmental Disorders Lab. Dr. Hogan completed her PhD in Communication Sciences and Disorders at Northwestern University in 2016. Her doctoral research investigated the relation of physiological arousal and visual processing to social communication in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their siblings. After obtaining her PhD, Dr. Hogan joined the NDD lab for a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Jane Roberts , which she completed in 2018. Dr. Hogan’s postdoctoral research program focused on identifying the early biobehavioral predictors of anxiety in infants who are at risk for ASD, such as infant siblings of children with ASD and infants with fragile X syndrome.
Dr. Hogan’s ongoing research aims to characterize the predictors of social-emotional functioning in siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It is estimated that 30-40% of siblings of children with ASD, even those not later diagnosed with ASD themselves, are at risk for a variety of social-emotional challenges throughout their lives, including early developmental delay, language disorders, anxiety, and poorer social functioning. Thus, Dr. Hogan’s research program addresses three primary research questions:
- What social-emotional challenges do siblings of children with ASD experience in early childhood?
- What risk factors contribute to these challenges and differences?
- How can we identify those siblings who are at highest risk for poor social-emotional outcomes early in life, ideally in infancy, so that targeted interventions may be delivered during critical developmental periods?
Her work utilizes multiple methods, including eye tracking, heart activity measurement, electroencephalogram (EEG), and behavioral phenotyping.
For more detailed information regarding Dr. Hogan's research, funding, and teaching, you can review her curriculum vitae and ResearchGate profile.