Matthew
Lerner, Ph.D.

Matthew D. Lerner, Ph.D.

Matthew D. Lerner, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Psychology Psychiatry, & Pediatrics in the Department of Psychology at Stony Brook University, where he directs the Social Competence and Treatment Lab. He is a Founder and Research Director of the Stony Brook Autism Initiative, and Co-Director of the Stony Brook LEND Center. He is the founding Director and current Research Director of the Spotlight Program at the Northeast Arc in Massachusetts, a year-round program for social competence and confidence development, serving more than 200 youth annually. He has provided clinical services for children, adolescents, and adults in hospital, clinical, educational, and community settings; he currently supervises clinical psychology Doctoral students seeing child and adolescent cases in the Krasner Psychological Center. He has presented at more than 150 national and international conferences on topics related to social development and developmental disorders.

Dr. Lerner’s research focuses on understanding emergence and “real world” implications of social problems in children and adolescents (especially those with Autism Spectrum Disorders [ASD]), as well as development, evaluation, and dissemination of novel, evidence-based approaches for ameliorating those problems. He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters; he serves as Associate Editor of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, and on the Editorial Boards of 7 other academic outlets, including Child Development, the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, the Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, Behavior Therapy, and Clinical Child & Family Psychology Review. Dr. Lerner has received grants from organizations including the National Institutes of Health, the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, the Simons Foundation, the Medical Foundation, the American Psychological Association, the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. He has received several acknowledgments and awards, including the Biobehavioral Research Award for Innovative New Scientists (BRAINS) from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the Early Career Research Contributions Award from the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD), the David Shakow Early Career Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions to Clinical Psychology from the Society of Clinical Psychology (APA Division 12), the Sara S. Sparrow Early Career Research Award (APA Division 33), the Susan Nolen-Hoeksema Early Career Research Award from the Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology, the Richard “Dick” Abidin Early Career Award from the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology (APA Division 53), Young Investigator Awards from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (NARSAD) and the International Society for Autism Research, the Outstanding Mentor Award and the Transformative Contributions Award from the Autism & Developmental Disabilities SIG of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, and the Rising Star designation from the Association for Psychological Science.