Faculty

Bio

Andrew (Andy) Barnes, MD, MPH is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota Medical School, where he directs the fellowship program in Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics.
Dr. Barnes's clinical work with children and families focuses on helping children gain mastery of their own mind-body interactions. Some of the ways that he helps children become more competent in this regard includes teaching them how to use biofeedback, mindfulness, and self-hypnosis to help themselves better regulate their own thoughts, feelings, and actions.
Dr. Barnes's research focuses on promoting resilience in children under stress, and on the interplay between behavior and biology. His current work focuses on the health and self-regulation of children growing up in homeless families.
Dr. Barnes also enjoys teaching pediatric trainees about self-regulation and the fundamentals of early child development and behavior, and helps direct professional trainings in pediatric clinical hypnosis. He frequently presents and teaches on these topics at local and national symposia and conferences.

Clinical Summary

Clinical hypnosis; Biofeedback; Mind-body medicine; Behavioral pediatrics

Bio

Dr. Catherine (Casey) Burrows is an Assistant Professor and licensed psychologist in the Autism and Neurodevelopment Clinic at the University of Minnesota. She completed her doctoral (PhD) training at the University of Miami, and clinical pre-doctoral internship at Duke University Medical Center in the autism track. She received a postdoctoral fellowship from the University of Minnesota's Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (MNLEND) program.
Clinically, Dr. Burrows conducts comprehensive evaluations for autism spectrum disorders and related neurodevelopmental disorders. She also conducts individual and group therapy in the Autism and Neurodevelopment Clinic, and is a certified Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) therapist.
Dr. Burrows's research focuses on identifying and treating co-occurring mental health problems in individuals with autism spectrum disorder. She oversees clinical training activities within several autism-focused grants at the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota and maintains research collaborations with national and international colleagues. She is a member of several professional organizations, including the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR), Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD), and the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD).

Research Summary

Primary research and education interests are FASD, children from domestic and international adoption and children in foster care.

Clinical Summary

International and Domestically adopted children; Children in foster care; Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.

Bio

Dr. Julie Eisengart is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and the Director of the Neurodevelopmental Program in Rare Disease. As a pediatric neuropsychologist, she specializes in rare neurodegenerative disorders of childhood as well as a range of complex medical conditions, and she works with patients from infancy to young adulthood. Her clinical interests include assessing the strengths and needs of children affected by complex medical diagnoses, throughout their medical journeys, to optimize whole-child, whole-family care and supports. As a clinical supervisor and mentor, she values her role in training future psychologists and supporting their development into independent, balanced professionals.
Dr. Eisengart's research focuses on the changing relationships between brain structure, biochemical abnormalities, and brain function in rare disease, with the goal of predicting outcomes and improving supportive planning. She has been heavily involved in examining outcomes of early diagnosis, newborn screening, and/or novel therapies for rare disease. Her research extends to defining and measuring aspects of disease that are under-represented in the clinical and research communities but are important and meaningful to patients and their families, such as neurobehavioral symptoms and the caregiver lived experience.

Research Summary

Natural Histories and Treatment Outcomes of Rare Diseases Involving the Central Nervous System
Lysosomal Storage Disorders

Clinical Summary

Rare Genetic Diseases of Childhood; Storage and Metabolic Disorders; Pre- and Post-Transplant Evaluation; Prenatal and Perinatal Injury; Traumatic Brain Injury; Complex Medical Involvement

Bio

Dr. Nora Erickson is a clinical child psychologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Clinical Behavioral Neuroscience at University of Minnesota Medical School. She received her PhD in clinical psychology from Washington State University and completed both a predoctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan. Her clinical and research work focuses on the intersection between perinatal well-being and early childhood mental health, with a specific emphasis on trauma, toxic stress, and resiliency. Dr. Erickson has prior training in several evidence-based early childhood interventions, including intergenerational and group-based modalities.

Bio

Dr. Esler is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and a licensed psychologist. She completed her PhD in school psychology from the University of Minnesota and worked as a school psychologist for 3 years prior to specializing in autism spectrum disorder. Dr. Esler is the Section Head of the Autism and Neurodevelopment Clinic and Director of the Fragile X Clinic at the University of Minnesota. Her clinical interests include early diagnosis of autism, care and treatment of individuals with severe forms of autism, and care and treatment of individuals with fragile X and other rare genetic conditions. She performs diagnostic and follow-up evaluations with individuals from infancy through adulthood.
Dr. Esler is actively involved in federally funded research and co-leads a CDC-funded study of autism prevalence in Minnesota. Her research focuses on improving access to care and quality of care in early detection, early diagnosis, and services and supports throughout the lifespan. Her research in this area has focused on tracking racial/ethnic disparities in autism prevalence and age of identification, developing and refining diagnostic measures for autism, and understanding differences in the autism characteristics across sex, race/ethnicity, and culture. Her recent work focuses on health needs across the lifespan, including improving clinical interventions for obesity in autism and for individuals at the severe end of the spectrum. She regularly collaborates with autism and fragile X researchers across North America on research and clinical issues.
Dr. Esler is an international trainer on diagnostic measures for autism, the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, 2nd edition and the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised, and is actively involved in refining and expanding training options for these measures. Dr. Esler is a member of the Center for Neurobehavioral Development at the University of Minnesota, the International Society for Autism Research, and the American Association of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

Clinical Summary

Autism Spectrum Disorder; Fragile X; Other Developmental Disabilities

Research Summary

The Fair laboratory focuses on mechanisms and principles that underlie the developing brain. The majority of this work uses functional MRI and resting state functional connectivity MRI to assess typical and atypical populations. Dr. Fair is the co-director of the new Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain.

Bio

Dr. Gross is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics. She completed her MS at North Dakota State University and PhD at Western Michigan University. Her clinical internship was in Behavioral Pediatrics at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and post-doctoral fellowship was at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Gross is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. Dr. Gross is the Section Head and Training Director of the Pediatric Psychology Program at the University of Minnesota. Her clinical interests include pediatric weight management and weight loss surgery; chronic disease management; as well as Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders and other neurodevelopmental disorders. Dr. Gross is actively involved in NIH-funded research in the area of pediatric severe obesity. She is the Associate Director for Clinical Care in the Center for Pediatric Obesity Medicine at the University of Minnesota, and is a member of the Association for Behavior Analysis and The Obesity Society.

Dr. Gross is involved in the following clinics:
- Pediatric Psychology
- Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
- International Adoption Clinic
- Pediatric Weight Management Clinic
- Teen Weight Loss Surgery Clinic
- Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Follow-up Clinic
- Metabolic Disorders Follow-up Clinic

Bio

Dr. Lidan Gu is a pediatric psychologist specializing psychological evaluation and consultation for children and adolescents with chronic medical conditions and neurodevelopmental disorders. She is currently involved with the outpatient pediatric psychology clinic, type 1 diabetes clinic, and kidney transplant follow up clinic.
Dr. Gu received her PhD in counseling and student personnel psychology from University of Minnesota. She completed her predoctoral internship through the psychology internship program at the University of Minnesota medical school and her postdoctoral training at the Children's Hospital of Minnesota in Minneapolis. She is a certified parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) therapist, and is also board certified in clinical child and adolescent psychology.
Dr. Gu’s research interests include the impacts of mental health on health-related decision making. She is also a training faculty, and enjoys teaching and supervising predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees.

Research Summary

Primary research and education interests include special health care needs of adoptive children and children who have experience in the foster care system, socio-emotional trauma impact on development, racial and cultural social identity development for transracially adoptive or foster care children, and racial discrimination among historically marginalized youth in the United States.

Clinical Summary

Internationally and Domestically Adoptive Children, Children who have experienced Foster Care, Prenatal Substance Exposures (including Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders), Pediatric Acute Urgent Care and Emergency Care.