July 2013
Marika C. Coffman
marika.coffman@gmail.com
EDUCATION
B.S., Vanderbilt University
Majors in child studies and psychology with honors
concentrations in neuroscience and English
Aug 2005 - Aug 2009
University of Warwick, England
Courses in psychology and English
Jan 2008 – June 2008
Southern Connecticut State University
Graduate courses in Chinese (Mandarin)
Aug 2009 – May 2011
HONORS AND FELLOWSHIPS
Sara S. Sparrow Clinical Neuroscience Fellow, Yale Child Study Center
Jul 2011 - Present
Zigler Fellow, Child Development & Social Policy, Yale Child Study Center
Aug 2009 - Present
Psychology with Honors Program, Vanderbilt University
Aug 2007 - May 2009
Eldon Stevenson Scholarship, Vanderbilt University, $200,000
Aug 2005 - May 2009
HOPE Scholarship, Tennessee State Scholarship, $12,000
Aug 2005 - May 2009
ACADEMIC POSITIONS
Sara S. Sparrow Clinical Neuroscience Fellow
Developmental Electrophysiology Lab
Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, CT
Advisor: Dr. James McPartland
Jul 2011 – Jul 2013
Research Assistant
Yale Early Social Cognition Laboratory (YESCog)
Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, CT
Advisor: Dr. Katarzyna Chawarska
Jun 2009 – Jul 2011
Undergraduate Honors Student Researcher
Psychophysiology of Emotion and Personality Lab
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Stephen Benning
Aug 2007 – Jun 2009
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Department of Psychology
Peabody College, Nashville, TN
Advisor: Dr. Steven McFadyen-Ketchum
Jun 2006 – May 2009
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Department of Psychology
Warwick University, Coventry, UK
Jan 2008 – Jun 2008
PUBLICATIONS
McPartland, J., Coffman, M., Pelphrey, K. (2011). Recent advances in understanding the neural bases of
autism spectrum disorder. Current Opinions in Pediatrics, 23(6), 628-32.
Anderson, L.C., Bolling, D.Z., Schelinski, S., Coffman, M., Kaiser, M.D., Pelphrey, K.A. Sex Differences in the
Development of Brain Mechanisms for Biological Motion. Under review.
Coffman, M., Naples, A., Anderson, L, McPartland, J. Sex Differences in Social Information Processing in Children with
ASD. Under review.
TALKS
Coffman, M., Anderson, L., Jack, A. Sex differences in Autism Spectrum Disorders. (April, 2013). Invited talk given for
World Autism Awareness Day, hosted by Yale for Autism Awareness.
Coffman, M., Shultz, S., Jones, W., Klin, A., McPartland, J. (April, 2013). Children’s Neural Response to Human
Faces is Modulated by Social Context. Paper presented at the Society for Research on Child Development biennual
meeting, Seattle, WA.
Coffman, M., Bernier, R. Naples, A. Kresse, A., Mukerji, C., Tillman, R., McPartland, J. (November, 2013). Affective
face perception is related to social behavior in children with autism. Paper presented at the Society for
Neuroscience, San Diego, CA.
McPartland, J., Naples, A., Coffman, M., Kresse, A., Mukerji, C.E., Bernier, R. (May, 2013). Individual Differences in
Affective Social Perception in ASD: Neural, Behavioral, and Psychiatric Contributions. Paper presented at the
International Meeting for Autism Research.
Tillman, R., Rolison, M., Righi, G., Mukerji, C., Naples, A., Coffman, M., Cuevas, C., Foss-Feig, J., Hashim, P.,
McPartland, J. (November, 2013). Developmental electrophysiological indices of biological motion and audio-visual
integration in infants at-risk for autism. Paper presented at the Society for Neuroscience, San Diego, CA.
Wolf, J., Coffman, M., Bradshaw, J., Herlihy, L. (May, 2013). Impact of a Support Group for Siblings of Children with
ASD on the Quality of Sibling Relationships. Paper presented at the International Meeting for Autism Research.
Coffman, M., Naples, A., Perszyk, D., Mukerji, C., & McPartland, J. (May, 2012). Sex Differences in Social Information
Processing in ASD. Paper presented at the International Meeting For Autism Research, Toronto, Canada.
Coffman, M. (June, 2012). Sex Differences in Social Information Processing in Children with ASD. Invited talk given at
the Yale Autism Program Science Meeting, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT.
McPartland, J., Coffman, M., Faja, S., Kresse, A., Mukerji, C., Naples, A., & Bernier, R. (May, 2012). Level of Autistic
Traits Modulates Activity in Face and Action Perception Systems. Paper presented at the International Meeting For
Autism Research, Toronto, Canada.
McPartland, J., Righi, G., Mukerji, C., Coffman, M., Naples, A., & Mayes, L. (August, 2012). Paper presented at the
American Psychological Association Annual Convention, Orland, FL.
PRESENTATIONS
Coffman, M., Shultz, S., Jones, W., Klin, A., McPartland, J. (May, 2013) Modulatory Effect of Context on Children with
ASD. Presented at the International Meeting for Autism Research, San Sebastian, Spain.
Desai, A., Naples, A., Coffman, M., Mukerji, C. E., Tillman, R., Kresse, A., Bernier, R., & McPartland, J.C. (May, 2013).
Relative Contribution of Autistic Traits Versus Alexithymic Traits in the Neural Processing of Social Information.
Presented at the International Meeting for Autism Research, San Sebastian, Spain.
Hashim, P., Coffman, M., Mukerji, C.E., Tillman, R., Derszyk, D., Terner, J.S., Travieso, R., Landi, N., Mayes, L.,
Persing, J.A., McPartland, J. (May, 2013). Specificity of Atypical Neural Development for Language in Infants At Risk
for ASD. Presented at the International Meeting for Autism Research, San Sebastian, Spain.
Hashim, P., Coffman, M., Mukerji, C. E.,Tillman, R., Naples, A., Righi, G., Terner, J. S., Travieso, R., Steinbacher, D.,
Mayes, L., Persing, J. A., McPartland, J. (November, 2013). Understanding developmental mechanisms of
language delay in autism through comparison to infant cranial asymmetry. Presented at the Society for Neuroscience
Research, San Diego, CA.
Naples, A., Coffman, M., Mukerji, C. E., Tillman, R., McPartland, J. (May, 2013). Adolescents with ASD Show
Attenuated Neural Response to Reciprocal Eye Contact. Presented at the International Meeting for Autism Research,
San Sebastian, Spain.
Tillman, R., Rolison, M., Righi, G., Mukerji, C.E., Naples, A., Coffman, M., Foss-Feig, J., Hashim, P., McPartland, J.
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(May, 2013). Neural Sensitivity to Biological Motion Versus Audio-Visual Synchrony in Infants At Risk for Autism.
Presented at the International Meeting for Autism Research, San Sebastian, Spain.
Cox, A., Naples, A., Rutherford, H., Coffman, M., Mukerji, C., Mayes, L., & McPartland, J. (May, 2012). Neural
Mechanisms of Social and Non-Social Reward and Their Relation to Autistic Traits. Poster presented at the
International Meeting For Autism Research, Toronto, Canada.
Moseley, G., Naples, A., Bernier, R., Mukerji, C., Coffman, M., Righi, G., & McPartland, J. (May, 2012). Animacy and
Intentionality in the Mirror Neuron System in the Broader Autism Phenotype. Poster presented at the International
Meeting For Autism Research, Toronto, Canada.
Mukerji, C., Bernier, R., Naples, A., Righi, G., Perszyk, D., Coffman, M., & McPartland, J. (May, 2012).
Electrophysiological Indices of Empathic Response and Their Relation to Autistic Traits. Poster presented at the
International Meeting For Autism Research, Toronto, Canada.
Naples, A., Coffman, M., Mukerji, C., Wu, J., Mayes, L., & McPartland, J. (May, 2012). Brain Response to Gaze
Contingent Eye-Contact in ASD. Poster presented at the International Meeting For Autism Research, Toronto,
Canada.
Righi, G., Mukerji, C., Coffman, M., Naples, A., Mayes, L., & McPartland, J. (May, 2012). Electrophysiological Markers
of Social Perception in Infants At Risk for Autism. Poster presented at the International Meeting For Autism
Research, Toronto, Canada.
Coffman, M., Shic, F., Meltvedt, M., Bradshaw, J. & Chawarska, K. (May, 2011). Where’s Wendy? Toddlers with ASD
Exhibit Limited Attentional Capture by Faces. Poster presented at the International Meeting For Autism Research,
San Diego, CA.
Meltvedt, M., Macari, S., Shic, F., Coffman, M., Chawarska, K. (May, 2011). Look at This, Mommy! Profiles of
Spontaneous Social Communication In Toddlers with ASD, DD, and TD During Solitary Object Exploration. Poster
presented at the International Meeting For Autism Research, San Diego, CA.
TECHNICAL SKILLS
MATLAB, Visual Basic, iView, SmartEye, SMI, SR - EyeLink, ISCAN, E-Prime, Premiere, Neuroscan, Netstation,
EEGLab, SPSS/PASW, Noldus Observer, Adobe Photoshop, GIMP, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Premiere, Final Cut
Studio, Autodesk Softimage, Maya FaceGen, EndNote
CLINICAL SKILLS
Administration of: Autism Diagnostic Interview – Revised (research reliable), Mullen Scales of Early Learning, Wechsler
Abbreviated Scales of Intelligence, Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Pivotal Response Training, Uzgiris-Hunt
Scales, Benton Facial Recognition Task.
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