Ralph H.B. Benedict, PhD
Professor of Neurology, State University of New York at Buffalo
Clinical Neuropsychologist, UBMD Neurology
Dr. Benedict is a board-certified clinical neuropsychologist and Director of Neuropsychological Services for the Department of Neurology for the School of Biomedical Sciences at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He has extensive training and experience in the assessment and management of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. He has published more than 350 peer-reviewed manuscripts and is the author of 2 widely used neuropsychological tests, the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test Revised and the Brief Visuospatial Memory Test Revised. He also developed the MS Neuropsychological Screening Questionnaire, a widely used screening test of MS cognitive disorder. He has served as a consultant to several national and international organizations in neurology and neuropsychology dedicated to peer-reviewed symposia on MS and cognitive impairment, or consensus opinions on clinical matters related to MS. Dr. Benedict is currently pursuing research studies on quantitative MRI findings in MS and their relationship with personality, cognition, and neuropsychiatric disorders. His current interests also concentrate on the development of new measures of processing speed of memory and work capacity.
View Faculty Profile
Email: benedict@buffalo.edu
Joy Parrish, PhD
Clinical Neuropsychologist, UBMD Neurology
Dr. Joy Parrish is a board-certified clinical neuropsychologist, with subspecialty board certification in pediatric neuropsychology. She serves as the director of the Pediatric Neuropsychology Clinic and of clinical training within the Neuropsychology group. Dr. Parrish participates in collaborative care with several specialty clinics throughout UBMD and Kaleida Health including the Epilepsy and Epilepsy pre-surgical Clinic, Pediatric MS Clinic, Neurofibromatosis and Neuro-oncology Clinic, Head Injury Clinic, Children’s Guild Foundation ASD Clinic, and the Craniofacial Center. She has extensive experience working with children and adults with epilepsy. She has ongoing research in epilepsy and surgical intervention outcomes, as well as cognitive and psychosocial functioning in children with demyelinating disorders. Dr. Parrish has several publications in these areas, and has provided expert consultation regarding assessment and application of neuropsychological findings to guide patient care and intervention services. She has particular interest in advancing pre-surgical functional mapping and understanding risk factors for cognitive change in patients with intractable seizures disorder following surgical intervention, including resection, deep brain stimulation, and responsive neurostimulation.
Email: jparrish@buffalo.edu
Tatyana Raby, PhD
Clinical Neuropsychologist, UBMD Neurology
Dr. Tatyana Raby completed her doctoral degree in Counseling and School Psychology at the University at Buffalo, SUNY in 2013. She finished her post-doctoral training in clinical neuropsychology under Dr. Benedict’s mentorship in 2015. She continues independent practice at UBMD Neurology focusing on diagnostic neuropsychological evaluations across adulthood with a special interest in age-associated neurodegenerative disorders. She is part of several clinical trials taking place at the UBMD Alzheimer’s Disease and Memory Disorders Center aimed at reducing cognitive impairment in patients with disorders related to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.
View Faculty Profile
Email: tps7@buffalo.edu
Natalie Emmert, PhD
Clinical Neuropsychologist, UBMD Neurology
Dr. Natalie Emmert is a clinical neuropsychologist who practices in the adult neuropsychology clinic. She has particular clinical interests in neurodegenerative disorders, movement disorders, and neuro-oncologic populations. She participates in collaborative care with specialty clinics at UBMD such as the Alzheimer’s Disease and Memory Disorders Center and the Deep Brain Stimulation Program. She is involved in clinical training, supervision, and mentoring of psychology doctoral students. She is interested in neuropsychological research that is clinically informative. Her work has been presented at national conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals. She is currently involved in an Alzheimer’s Disease clinical trial.
View Faculty Profile
Email: naemmert@buffalo.edu
Kathleen Larkin, MA
Chief Psychometrist
Kathleen Is currently working under Dr. Benedict as the chief psychometric technician. Her responsibilities include administering and scoring of neuropsychological tests and training students to do the same. She will soon be joining the team in clinical research projects at the department under Dr. Benedict. She has completed her Masters in Psychology at Medaille College in Buffalo NY. She is interested in pursuing a PsyD in clinical psychology with intent to specialize in clinical neuropsychology.
Email: klarkin3@buffalo.edu
Michael Jaworski III, MA
Clinical Research Coordinator
Michael currently works as the UBMD Neuropsychology clinical research coordinator under Dr. Benedict. His responsibilities include testing research participants, scoring of neuropsychological tests, data entry, and recruitment. Michael is currently in a PhD program in clinical psychology. Michael enjoys traveling to new and exciting places in his free time.
Email: mgjawors@buffalo.edu
Jacob Balconi, MA
Clinical Research Coordinator
Jacob Balconi works as the UBMD Neuropsychology clinical research coordinator under Dr. Benedict. His current research projects are related to the development of a new processing speed test for patients with multiple sclerosis, which served as the basis for his recent master’s project.
Email: jbalconi@buffalo.edu
Xinluan Dong
Research Assistant
Xinluan is a student at SUNY Buffalo majoring in psychology, who will be beginning her senior year this fall. Her work is typically oriented to dementia research, which includes her current research project investigating the measurement of anosognosia. Her other responsibilities include scoring neuropsychological tests, entering data, and quality checking large archived databases. After graduating this spring, Xinluan plans on pursuing a PhD in clinical psychology with a specialization in neuropsychology.
Email: xinluand@buffalo.edu
© Copyright 2023 – All rights reserved
UBMD Neurology: Division of Neuropsychology 