R. Bob Smith, III Excellence in Psychological Assessment Award: Elizabeth Kryszak, PhD

R. Bob Smith, III Excellence in Psychological Assessment Award: Elizabeth Kryszak, PhD

The 2024 R. Bob Smith, III Excellence in Psychological Assessment Award for a significant contribution to the field related to evidence-based assessment is awarded to Elizabeth Kryszak, PhD. 

Dr. Kryszak is a psychologist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and clinical associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University. She has led an interdisciplinary team of psychology, developmental behavioral pediatrics, neurology, speech pathology, social work, and genetics in developing a comprehensive, interdisciplinary evaluation model for the assessment of autism called the Virtual Evaluation Diagnostic Assessment (VEDA) that includes a structured Adapted Virtual Autism Behavior Observation (AVABO) for all ages. As part of this model, she also worked with an international team of psychologists to create the Autism Detection in Early Childhood-Virtual (ADEC-V), a telehealth assessment tool to assess for autism symptoms specifically in very young children adapted from the in-clinic ADEC. Launched during the pandemic, this innovative approach to assessment of autism has been incorporated by hospitals across the country.

This telehealth assessment model offers a valuable and highly acceptable “gold standard” of diagnostic tools within a virtual space for assessment and diagnosis of autism and has the ability to serve patients within remote and underserved areas. In an effort to reduce burden to care, the implementation of the VEDA model and related observation tools has increased feasibility compared to other tools for assessing autism. Finally, the VEDA model allows for the opportunity to expand the virtual assessment age range of autism beyond young children to include adolescents and young adults. Ongoing efforts are being made for expansion of validation to address a tremendous need.

Additionally this model has allowed Dr. Kryszak to create an incredible learning community. With the development of Project ECHO Telehealth Autism Assessment, she incorporates an educational case based learning curriculum to disseminate best practices for assessing autism symptoms through telehealth methods to clinicians in the United States and across the globe in Argentina, Canada, and China. 

Please join us in thanking Dr. Kryszak for her contribution and congratulating her for this award!