Dr. Yates Flanagan, is a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Autism Research and is mentored by Whitney Guthrie, PhD. Dr. Yates Flanagan received her doctorate in School Psychology from Tulane University and holds a master's degree in Counseling from New York University. She completed her APA-accredited internship with the University of Tennessee Psychology Consortium, where she also trained in the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities program. As a result of Dr. Yates Flanagan’s leadership role during her internship, she was listed as a 2022 Emerging Leader for the Association of University Centers on Disabilities. As a fellow at the Center for Autism Research, she serves primarily in two distinct roles: clinician and researcher.

Dr. Yates Flanagan’s clinical role is embedded within the context of research and involves administering cognitive and developmental assessments with children in early development and their caregivers. Invested in culturally sensitive approaches in the clinical assessment of autism, Dr. Yates Flanagan is committed to centering the influence of culture, race, gender, identity, and difference in her assessment practices.

In her research role, Dr. Yates Flanagan serves in a leadership capacity across studies at CAR, specifically utilizing her qualitative expertise to make meaning of cultural perspectives and experiences within autism. She is Co-Investigator, with Drs. Whitney Guthrie and Casey Zampella, of a multi-methods project advancing culturally responsive research methods to identify infants at risk for ASD in CHOP’s primary care settings, via computer vision analysis methods. This project anchors her research at CAR and aids her award as a selected 2023 CHOP Postdoctoral Fellow in Academic Diversity, a partnership with University of Pennsylvania’s Provost Fellowship Program to increase the diversity of the academic research community at the University of Pennsylvania and CHOP. 

Ultimately, Dr. Yates Flanagan’s research aims include co-constructing culturally responsive research designs for children on the autism spectrum and families identifying as Black, that explore early identification of ASD, gaps in services related to ASD, and caregivers’ perspectives and experiences of ASD services.