
Lauren Kenworthy, PhD
- Division Chief, Neuropsychology
- Director, Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders
- Pediatric Neuropsychologist
Lauren Kenworthy, PhD, is division chief, neuropsychology and director of the Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders at Children’s National Hospital and professor of neurology, pediatrics and psychiatry at the George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences.
Dr. Kenworthy is an author of more than 100 peer-reviewed publications regarding: executive function phenotypes and interventions for neurodiverse youth, diagnosis of autism in women and girls and community-based implementation of executive function interventions. She is an author of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF), which has been used in thousands of research publications to document executive functioning in various clinical groups. She is also author of a school-based, executive function intervention for children in elementary, middle and high school, called Unstuck and On Target. She is currently working closely with autistic self-advocates to develop a self-report measure of autistic traits as part of her work leading the GENDER Autism Center of Excellence Network. She is leading two other NIH funded projects: investigating the role of executive functions and access to services in predicting successful transition from high school for autistic youth; and studying the neural, learning and cognitive mechanisms underlying a positive response to the Unstuck intervention.
Dr. Kenworthy is the author of four books and multiple chapters on autism and executive functions. A national and international speaker on autism spectrum disorders and executive functions, Dr. Kenworthy also serves on dissertation committees and journal editorial boards.