Anila D'Mello, Ph.D. Titles and Appointments Assistant Professor Endowed Title Jon Heighten Scholar in Autism Research Schools Medical School | Graduate School Departments Psychiatry | Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute Graduate Programs Biomedical Engineering, Neuroscience Biography Dr. Anila D'Mello is an assistant professor and Jon Heighten Scholar in Autism Research in the Department of Psychiatry and O'Donnell Brain Institute at UT Southwestern. She is also faculty within the Department of Psychology at the University of Texas at Dallas. Dr. D'Mello received her BA in Psychology from Georgetown University and completed a PhD in Behavior, Cognition, and Neuroscience at American University. She completed postdoctoral training at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. D’Mello’s research combines tools from cognitive neuroscience, psychiatry, and developmental psychology to elucidate the brain circuits and mechanisms that support language and cognition in humans. Her lab applies these tools to understand how these circuits differ in neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism. Dr. D’Mello is particularly interested in the role of cerebro-cerebellar circuits in language, cognition, development, and disorders. Research Interest Cognitive neuroscience of language and social cognition across development and in disorders. Neuroimaging of language and cognition across typical and atypical neurodevelopment. Role of cerebro-cerebellar circuits in language, cognition, and autism spectrum disorders. Publications Featured Publications A seat at the (language) table: incorporating the cerebellum into frameworks for language processing LeBel, A., D'Mello, A.M Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences 2024 Neurodiversity in the brain: More variable localization of face regions in autism. O'Brien AM, Perrachione TK, Gabrieli JDE, D'Mello AM, bioRxiv 2026 May Incorporating special interests to investigate the language system in autism: A feasibility pilot fMRI study. Olson HA, Johnson KT, Nishith S, D'Mello AM, bioRxiv 2025 Apr Personalized neuroimaging reveals the impact of children's interests on language processing in the brain. Olson HA, Johnson KT, Nishith S, Frosch IR, Gabrieli JDE, D'Mello AM, Imaging Neurosci (Camb) 2024 2 Diminished Repetition Suppression Reveals Selective and Systems-Level Face Processing Differences in ASD. D'Mello AM, Frosch IR, Meisler SL, Grotzinger H, Perrachione TK, Gabrieli JDE, J Neurosci 2023 Mar 43 11 1952-1962 Personal interests amplify engagement of language regions in the brains of children with and without autism. D'Mello AM, Olson HA, Johnson KT, Nishith S, Frosch IR, Gabrieli JDE, bioRxiv 2023 Mar Exclusion of females in autism research: Empirical evidence for a "leaky" recruitment-to-research pipeline. D'Mello AM, Frosch IR, Li CE, Cardinaux AL, Gabrieli JDE, Autism Res 2022 Aug Cerebellar Contributions to Social Cognition in ASD: A Predictive Processing Framework. Frosch IR, Mittal VA, D'Mello AM, Front Integr Neurosci 2022 16 810425 Enhanced rationality in autism spectrum disorder. Rozenkrantz L, D'Mello AM, Gabrieli JDE, Trends Cogn Sci 2021 08 25 8 685-696 Differential Behavioral and Neural Effects of Regional Cerebellar tDCS. Rice LC, D'Mello AM, Stoodley CJ, Neuroscience 2021 05 462 288-302 Results 1-10 of 23 1 2 3 Next Last Honors & Awards Jon Heighten Scholar in Autism Research (2022) SFARI Bridge to Independence Fellow (2022) Professional Associations/Affiliations Center for Vital Longevity (2022) Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Dallas (2022) Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing, University of Texas at Dallas (2023)
