Heather Cody Hazlett, Ph.D.

Email:  heather_cody@med.unc.edu

Office Phone:  (919) 966-4099

Education:

B.S., Psychology, Birmingham-Southern College

M.Ed., Educational Psychology, University of Georgia

Ph.D., School Psychology (specialization in child neuropsychology), University of Georgia

Psychology Internship, Children’s Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

Postdoctoral Fellowship, Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Summary Statement:

Dr. Hazlett coordinates and supervises two longitudinal neuroimaging projects investigating brain development in neurodevelopmental disorders.  Currently, the projects involve performing brain scans using MRI on young children (1½ to 5½ years old) with autism, developmental delay, fragile x disorder, and typical development. MRI scans and psychological assessments are used to track the maturity of the children across two time points. By comparing the brain development of the typically developing children to those that have a neurodevelopmental disorder, our research team hopes to learn more about the brain structures involved in these disorders. The researchers use sophisticated brain imaging software that allows them to measure the size and shape of brain structures.

Representative Publications:

1. Hazlett HC, Poe MD, Gerig G, Styner M, Chappell C, Smith RG, Vachet, C., & Piven, J. (2011). Early brain overgrowth in autism results from an increase in cortical surface area before age 2. Arch of Gen Psych, 68(5): 467-476. [PMID: 21536976].
2. Hazlett, HC, Poe, MD, Lightbody, AA, Gerig, G, MacFall, JR, Ross, AK, Provenzale, J, Martin, A, Reiss, AL, & Piven, J (2009). Teasing apart the heterogeneity of autism: Same behavior, different brains in toddlers with autistic disorder with and without fragile X syndrome. Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 1: 81-90. [PMCID: 2917990].
3. Mosconi, MW, Hazlett, HC, Poe, MD, Gerig G, Smith RG, and Piven J (2009). A longitudinal study of amygdala volume and joint attention in 2-4 year old children with autism. Arch of Gen Psych, 66(5): 509-516. [PMCID: 19414710].
4. Hazlett HC, Poe MD, Gerig G, Gimpel R, & Piven J (2006). Cortical gray and white tissue volume in adolescents and adults with autism. Biological Psychiatry, 59: 1-6. [PMCID: 16139816].
5. Hazlett HC, Poe MD, Gerig G, Smith RG, Provenzale J, Ross A, Gilmore J, & Piven J (2005). An MRI and head Circumference Study of Brain Size in Autism: Birth through Age Two Years. Arch of Gen Psychiatry, 62: 1366-1376. [PMCID: 1330725].