Patricia L. Davies, Ph.D., OTR
Director, Human Development Lab

Dr. Davies is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy and in the Department of Psychology at Colorado State University. Her responsibilities including teaching graduate courses, conducting research, and supervising student thesis and plan B research projects. Since receiving her doctorate degree in Psychology with specialties in Neuroscience and Development from the University of Wyoming, Dr. Davies has focused her research interests in motor development and cognitive development in children with and without disabilities. She has 20 years of experience as a pediatric occupational therapist.

She has taught intensive one-week courses in the Department of Occupational Therapy, Yamagata Prefectural University of Health Science in Yamagata, Japan and was invited to present her research on cognitive and motor development in adolescents at the School of Sport Sciences, Waseda University, Saitama, Japan. She has also presented her research on cognitive event-related potentials at an international conferences in Granada, Spain and Lisbon, Portugal and across the country at national conferences such as the Society for Neuroscience, Society for Psychophysiological Research, Society for Research in Child Development, and the American Occupational Therapy Association.

William J. Gavin, Ph.D.
Director, Human Development Lab

Dr. Gavin also serves a Director of the Human Development Lab and holds special faculty appointment as a Research Scientist/Scholar III in the Occupational Therapy Department at Colorado State University. His primarily responsibilities are to assist in the day to day management of the Human Development Lab and to conduct self-funded research. Dr. Gavin is also a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences at the University of Colorado. Throughout his career he has taught courses in Psychology Departments, and in several departments providing clinical training in the Allied Health Professions including the disciplines of Speech Language Pathology, Audiology, and Occupational Therapy.

Since receiving his doctorate degree in Experimental Psychology at the University of Miami (Coral Gables, Florida), he has been conducting research on a variety of topics related to child development. His early research focused primarily on speech and language development in infants and toddlers. More recently, he has developed a program of research on sensory processing and cognitive development in children and adolescents utilizing electroencephalography (EEG) and event-related potentials (ERPs) methodologies. He has also presented his research on cognitive event-related potentials at an international conference in Granada, Spain and Lisbon, Portugal as well as across the country at national conferences such as the Society for Neuroscience, Society for Psychophysiological Research, Society for Research in Child Development, and the American Occupational Therapy Association.