Staff

Dr. Benedict is a board-certified clinical neuropsychologist and director of neuropsychological services for the Department of Neurology at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University 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 two 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.

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.  

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.

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.

Jacob Balconi's 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. Jacob plans on pursuing a clinical psychology PhD with a specialization in neuropsychology.

Research is one of Omid's primary focuses, concentrating on neurological disorders, particularly MS and NMOSD. Omid’s responsibilities include testing research subjects, grading neuropsychological exams, data entry and recruitment. Omid is considering applying to medical schools to complete a residency in clinical neurology.

Michael's 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.

Xinluan's 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.